You can learn so much about a student by how they write...

Flamboyant boys often write like girls.

Disturbed students often have strange drawings.

Good students often have neat handwriting.

I'm just offering my generalizations for the future. Nothing scientific, just a teacher noting some things about handwriting.

Picking out the information we all want...

This podcast with Lewis Lapham has a great line from the guest, Tony Judt. Paraphrased:

• With the age of infinite information, we all can pick and choose our points. We don't have a basic "common knowledge" anymore.

How can we get the public to consider alternate points of view? How can we stop all the "preaching to the choir"?

• Without a common culture, we have no chance of understanding one another.

This leads to less control over politics.

Turn off the talking points. At least let's consider the sources:

This comes from one of the biggest brains behind "The Daily Show":

• Chodikoff doesn’t use Google to turn up inconsistencies, preferring news stories on LexisNexis, and he ignores Wikipedia. Explaining why he prefers print over the Web, he cites a scene from the movie “Back to School,” when Rodney Dangerfield asks his son why he’s buying used books. “And he says, ‘Because they’re already underlined, see?’ And Rodney says, ‘But that guy could have been a maniac.’ And that’s the problem with the Internet.”

Yet every maniac now has a voice. Kinda scary. That's why I was a newspaper subscriber.

Why is intelligence such a touchy subject?

When people begin to discuss height, they have no trouble imagining it has a genetic component. When people mention intelligence, they get very nervous.

What I learned while canvassing...

I spent some of the afternoon today canvassing for Barack Obama. From the individuals I talked to, people are sick of the direction this country is going. I mean absolutely SICK of it. They are so disillusioned, they don't even see the possibility of a Barack Obama presidency changing anything.

I tried my best to give them some hope. It's hard when you hear the despair.

It was eye-opening though and I'd like to continue to canvass. It's exciting!

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Closer to home I made this website to help shore up support for less development in South Florida:

http://www.notoparkland.blogspot.com

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Even though I disagree with much of the "right wing", I respect the thoughtful and involved. No one benefits when they feel they have a monopoly on truth. No one benefits from spending all day attacking people over the Internet.

Human contact is effective. Some people really seemed relieved to have someone to talk to on a Sunday afternoon. Besides, the exercise is good for you. I really encourage everyone to get out and canvass.

http://my.barackobama.com/

it's not hard to get started and it's fun!

I'm not going to even attempt bipartisanship here. If you still support McCain after this erratic campaign, eight years of Bush, and disasterous pick Palin...you've got some splainin to do in the comments.

But seriously, chances are if you are reading this that you spent too much time online today preaching to the converted. There are people who have no idea what a blog is or what RSS does. Some have never used YouTube.

So here's my online plea to get you to join me offline before this election is over. See you at the local campaign hq or on the street!

Why Educators Should Vote for Obama

Some of my students are fearful of the standardized test that's looming large in their future. They hold out some naive hope that Obama will remove this obstacle. I explain about "No Child Left Behind" and how education is a combination of local, state, and federal laws.

Still, I think Obama is a better choice for educators. Here's why.

First of all, Obama was a professor at one of the best law schools in the country, the University of Chicago. He appreciates the doors education can open for people. Meanwhile, John McCain graduated at the bottom of his class at the Naval Academy. He used his father and grandfather's influence to get by.

Obama seems to be a deep thinker. He writes his own speeches. He picked a vice presidential candidate who is rational and intelligent. He was a community organizer when he could've been making a fortune on Wall Street. Some things are more important than money.

America needs a new start after the last misreable eight years.

I'd think many scientists would agree.