NCSFCU - Can you join?

One of the best kept secrets (in my opinion, of course) in the Milton School District, is that all of the students and their families in the District are eligible for membership in the Northumberland County Schools Federal Credit Union. 

Sometimes bigger is not better. NCSFCU is a small, member owned, financial institution. If personal service is important to you; if you like doing business where the person on the other side of the counter knows your name; if you want a voice in your financial institutions operations and decision making; you should consider NCSFCU.

"Lifehacker" explains why you should join a Credit Union -http://lifehacker.com/5055408/why-choose-a-credit-union-over-a-bank 

"My BankTracker" compares Credit Power Index of Banks and Credit Unions - http://www.mybanktracker.com/bank-news/2011/08/29/credit-union-vs-bank-how-to-choose/

Rocket Cam One

First Post from the classroom blog

Thought I might save some effort and repost my entry from the classroom blog.  Here it is --

This is the obligatory "First Post".

It is an important post for two reasons -

1. It gives me something to use to set the width of the post column and ensure everything fits on the page.

2. The aspirations for creating the site can be set down so that others can understand the purpose of the site.

The first is done. On to the second.

I can recall, from when I was a high school student, the "fear" teachers had about electronic calculators. This new technology was going to destroy the math skills of every student who owned one and brought it to school. They should be banned! What right minded parent would buy such a thing for their kids?

Embracing new technology can often be troublesome. Often times, it seems, public schools are slow to adapt to or accept new innovations when they should be racing to be the first. Youth have embraced the internet and cell phone culture. If a teenager doesn't have a Facebook page, they likely have one on MySpace. Almost half (48%) of the population 12 years of age or older have a profile on a social media network. The typical American teen sends or receives more than 50 text messages a day. Almost 2/3 of teens text during school. (Resource)

To ignore the opportunity to incorporate web content and mobile texting into the educational experience would be to pass up a significant opportunity to engage students with a modality that they are familiar and comfortable with.  

Therefore, it is the intent or purpose of this site to provide a first step into incorporating these technologies into my classroom.  This site will serve as a home base for future endeavors.  It is foreseeable that assignments or extra-credit material will be posted on this site.  Student generated content may be included.  This site may also be a place where photos of school activities will be posted.  I am sure students will also have suggestions for what this site could be used for.   

Who is the Bully?

You may recall that this past January there was a troublesome suicide in which a 15-year-old ninth grader hanged herself because, as the media portrayed it at the time, she had been the subject of terrible bullying and abuse at the hands of a half-dozen of her peers - The Hadley Six.  The young girl, Phoebe Prince, had recently moved from Ireland to South Hadley Massachusetts.  Immediately after her suicide, several students were the focus of accusations claiming their bullying had directly led to Phoebe taking her life.  A(n over) zealous District Attorney, Elizabeth Scheibel, decided to charge six students with various charges relating to the tragic incident.

http://www.slate.com/id/2260952/entry/2260953/

I clearly remember discussing this with my co-workers at school.  The consensus was that this was a witch hunt. The DA was trying to win points with the community by sacrificing teenagers who may have bullied Phoebe.  The first indication to me that the whole story was not being told was that rarely enforced statutory rape laws were being used to charge the two young men involved.  In Massachusetts any sex under 16 is statutory rape.  A 17 year old and an 18 year old have been charged for allegedly having sex with the 15 year old Phoebe.  The law here was not the focus.  If it were, there would be a lot more students in trouble.  Instead, the DA is citing an infrequently used statute for leverage in her campaign.  The DA's attempt to prosecute the students for criminal homicide in Phoebe's death is also rarely used because it is rarely successful.

In her three part article "What Really Happened to Phoebe Prince?", Emily Bazelon masterfully accomplishes what rarely happens in journalism today.  She has spent the time and put forth the effort to dig into the facts of this under reported travesty.  Emily Bazelon presents a much truer explanation of what led up to Phoebe Prince's untimely death and examines how the over use of the legal system can freeze a community and prevent any effectual recovery from a tragedy like Phoebe's.  It is a longer piece then most people surfing the internet would take the time to read, but it is worth the extra time.  There are also a few links to other media or information that break up the reading.

Of interest beyond the article is the comments section.  Posts a-plenty and with extra hot sauce - flaming!  People have strong opinions about this article and the case it covers.  I must say though, I doubt more than half the people commenting actually read the whole article and did a little extra research on their own.

My favorite quote from the article is from Alan Dershowitz with regards to trying to charge the defendants with a civil rights violation with bodily injury - "That's a real stretch.  People want to think that there's always legal accountability where there should be moral accountability.  But in the criminal context, you should always err against overextending the law."

http://www.slate.com/id/2260952/entry/2260953/

Take A Pill!

It is no secret that I am not a fan of behavioral meds; especially when it involves kids I have in my home or at school.  It's not that I am totally against their use.  My father, depending on which doctor you ask, is either schizophrenic or manic depressive.  You wouldn't know it.  When he is on his medication he is as "normal" as the next person.  But get him off his meds . . . 


I was classified as a hyperkinetic child when I was in elementary school.  My parents nor my teachers (I just used "nor") gave me pills.  And, as much as I would like to say they did, they didn't apply a 2x4 or a paddle.  I did miss quite a few recesses.  There were some early bedtimes.  I was allowed to pace back and forth as I read books in fifth grade.  And I survived school.  


Most of the students I get that are labeled ADD/ADHD do just fine if they are given a little extra structure and, at times, leeway.  Same with foster children.  I've had kids, Thomas for instance, who have shown up on my doorsteps so doped up that they are doing a damn good impersonation of a zombie, except they can't even work up enough energy to growl "Brains".