It was refreshing to see John McCain and Barack Obama call a truce due to 9-11. Certainly there are events that transcend politics. On 9-11, we should not be thinking about politics, we should be reflecting on the good and the bad. In terms of my discussion on ethics, perhaps this idea fits right in.
It is my thought that we should all take a moment to reflect. It is my thought we should all appreciate the country in which we live. It is my hope that we never see such a tragedy again, be it in this country or on foreign soil.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Staggered Courses
I will be beginning my second class next week. Since this is a class for High School students, taught at the College Campus, it always starts a few weeks later than the “traditional” college classes. It is always interesting to see how such a process plays out.
This semester, these are the only two classes I am teaching and they are both on TR. In one sense, it would be much easier to simply use the same lecture for both classes. Life would be so much simpler if the two classes were on identical schedules. Obviously, if the starting date differs by three weeks, that cannot happen. This means I need to put extra time into having two lesson plans set, even though the courses are the same.
On the positive side, one of the things that used to frustrate me as a student was a teacher who simply repeated the same lesson, session after session in the day. If the teacher had already covered the material three times in a given day and you had this individual for the fourth session s/he taught that day, the instructor would probably sound bored and be tired of teaching the same material. By teaching different things, it forces me to stay fresh.
Another advantage is, if I am not happy with the way a particular lecture went, if I am disappointed that I did not have time to look over the material as much as I had hoped, had wanted, maybe even had needed, I get a second chance a few weeks later.
So, there is both good and bad in having the classes staggered by a few weeks. Since I have no control over that, I might as well accept it and enjoy it. I hope classes are going well for all of you who are either teaching, or taking them.
This semester, these are the only two classes I am teaching and they are both on TR. In one sense, it would be much easier to simply use the same lecture for both classes. Life would be so much simpler if the two classes were on identical schedules. Obviously, if the starting date differs by three weeks, that cannot happen. This means I need to put extra time into having two lesson plans set, even though the courses are the same.
On the positive side, one of the things that used to frustrate me as a student was a teacher who simply repeated the same lesson, session after session in the day. If the teacher had already covered the material three times in a given day and you had this individual for the fourth session s/he taught that day, the instructor would probably sound bored and be tired of teaching the same material. By teaching different things, it forces me to stay fresh.
Another advantage is, if I am not happy with the way a particular lecture went, if I am disappointed that I did not have time to look over the material as much as I had hoped, had wanted, maybe even had needed, I get a second chance a few weeks later.
So, there is both good and bad in having the classes staggered by a few weeks. Since I have no control over that, I might as well accept it and enjoy it. I hope classes are going well for all of you who are either teaching, or taking them.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
The Pot Calling The Kettle Black
In response to my last post, I recently learned of this clip on youtube which has McCain making his own comment about putting lipstick on a pig. I guess people who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.
Click Here if you want to see the clip.
Click Here if you want to see the clip.
Lipstick On A Pig
One of the things I try to teach my students is, one giving a speech, while no topic is off limits, you have to be careful not to offend anyone. I understand that and I agree with it (although certainly this can be taken to an extreme). So, is it offensive, when talking about a person, to say if you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig.
This comment came out of the presidential campaign. In case you are unaware, this situation went something like this: At the convention, VP candidate Sarah Palin, in her acceptance speech, asked what the difference was between a Hockey Mom and a pitbull. The answer, she said, “Lipstick”. Obviously, the point she was making was she can be a strong and tenacious (both as a VP candidate and as VP) as a pitbull.
Barack Obama then took this line of Palin’s and twisted it around. Obama said that if you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig. He then went on to say, “You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years”. The point he was making is that, regardless of appearance, regardless of gender, Palin’s record is her record and her lack of experience is her lack of experience. Moreover, he was suggesting that McCain’s ideas were nothing more than George W. Bush proposals said by someone else.
Was Obama’s comment unfair? Was it sexist? That is what the McCain camp is claiming and I am sure that there are many who agree. In terms of public speaking, one has to be aware of comments that someone MAY find offensive. Of course, in politics, it is not necessarily that the comment has offended someone, it is a mater of trying to make it sound offensive so the point of the comment has the shelf life of spoiled milk while the comment itself continues to live on. By the way, Obama was guilty of doing this when Hillary Clinton made a comment about Robert Kennedy being assassinated in the primary in 1968. The point she was making was, until the party has a nominee, you never can be sure who it is going to be. The Obama campaign, however, argued that this, in effect, was suggesting that someone could, and many even should, assassinate Obama.
So, was Obama out of line with his lipstck comment? I am sure there are some who felt he was. Personally, I think Palin was the one who first used this image and Obama in no way was suggesting the Palin was a pig. Still, it points out just how careful someone has to be on the campaign trail and when speaking. I devote an entire class to the ethics of speaking so this episode will now enter my repertoire of things to use when discussing ethics.
This comment came out of the presidential campaign. In case you are unaware, this situation went something like this: At the convention, VP candidate Sarah Palin, in her acceptance speech, asked what the difference was between a Hockey Mom and a pitbull. The answer, she said, “Lipstick”. Obviously, the point she was making was she can be a strong and tenacious (both as a VP candidate and as VP) as a pitbull.
Barack Obama then took this line of Palin’s and twisted it around. Obama said that if you put lipstick on a pig, it is still a pig. He then went on to say, “You can wrap an old fish in a piece of paper called change. It's still going to stink after eight years”. The point he was making is that, regardless of appearance, regardless of gender, Palin’s record is her record and her lack of experience is her lack of experience. Moreover, he was suggesting that McCain’s ideas were nothing more than George W. Bush proposals said by someone else.
Was Obama’s comment unfair? Was it sexist? That is what the McCain camp is claiming and I am sure that there are many who agree. In terms of public speaking, one has to be aware of comments that someone MAY find offensive. Of course, in politics, it is not necessarily that the comment has offended someone, it is a mater of trying to make it sound offensive so the point of the comment has the shelf life of spoiled milk while the comment itself continues to live on. By the way, Obama was guilty of doing this when Hillary Clinton made a comment about Robert Kennedy being assassinated in the primary in 1968. The point she was making was, until the party has a nominee, you never can be sure who it is going to be. The Obama campaign, however, argued that this, in effect, was suggesting that someone could, and many even should, assassinate Obama.
So, was Obama out of line with his lipstck comment? I am sure there are some who felt he was. Personally, I think Palin was the one who first used this image and Obama in no way was suggesting the Palin was a pig. Still, it points out just how careful someone has to be on the campaign trail and when speaking. I devote an entire class to the ethics of speaking so this episode will now enter my repertoire of things to use when discussing ethics.
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Icebreakers
I find it ironic that it is a non-graded assignment that takes the most amount of energy out of me during the course of the semester. One of the first assignments I give my students is to deliver an icebreaker. This is a speech where they introduce themselves to the entire class. I tell them, however, I am not looking for them to come up tot he front of the class and give an autobiographical sketch of their lives. I want to learn something about the individual’s personality. What makes him/her who he/she is?
The assignment has many purposes. First, it gets the students thinking. It gets them up in front of the class, having to give a structured speech. It lets me learn each student’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to public speaking. It also gives each student and idea of how I grade and what I am looking for in a speech.
The speech, itself, is not graded, other than Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. It is early in the semester and I have not yet gone through the chapters in the book the deal with putting a speech together. Still, it is important to get them up there. So, I get all the students in class up on a given day and each one does the icebreaker. Last semester it was 22 of them; this semester it was only 20 of them in a class. Still, sitting through 20 speeches in one class, taking notes on them, staying focused, is a lot (for me as well as the students). I know I could do it over two days but, first I want to get them out of the way and second, and more importantly, I don’t want some to feel that it is unfair because some students had an extra day or two to prepare.
All icebreakers were given on Thursday and the next few days were spent typing up 20 critiques. Anytime that I type up a critique, I put time and effort into it. For the icebreaker, I put extra time and effort into it. Students learn what I think, how I would grade it they were getting a grade on the assignment, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. In addition, if I can show them early on how much I stay focused on the speech, how intent I am on making suggestions to help, than I earn their respect earlier, instead of later. So, while there is no grade that gets entered into the gradebook, I just finished one of the busiest times of the year.
The assignment has many purposes. First, it gets the students thinking. It gets them up in front of the class, having to give a structured speech. It lets me learn each student’s strengths and weaknesses when it comes to public speaking. It also gives each student and idea of how I grade and what I am looking for in a speech.
The speech, itself, is not graded, other than Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. It is early in the semester and I have not yet gone through the chapters in the book the deal with putting a speech together. Still, it is important to get them up there. So, I get all the students in class up on a given day and each one does the icebreaker. Last semester it was 22 of them; this semester it was only 20 of them in a class. Still, sitting through 20 speeches in one class, taking notes on them, staying focused, is a lot (for me as well as the students). I know I could do it over two days but, first I want to get them out of the way and second, and more importantly, I don’t want some to feel that it is unfair because some students had an extra day or two to prepare.
All icebreakers were given on Thursday and the next few days were spent typing up 20 critiques. Anytime that I type up a critique, I put time and effort into it. For the icebreaker, I put extra time and effort into it. Students learn what I think, how I would grade it they were getting a grade on the assignment, and what their strengths and weaknesses are. In addition, if I can show them early on how much I stay focused on the speech, how intent I am on making suggestions to help, than I earn their respect earlier, instead of later. So, while there is no grade that gets entered into the gradebook, I just finished one of the busiest times of the year.
Friday, September 5, 2008
One Last Look At Sarah Palin
One of the things I teach my students is, when you give a speech, not only is how you say something important, so is what you say. Certainly it is important to do research and important to be accurate. So, how accurate was what Sarah Palin said in her acceptance speech?
Yesterday, on Yahoo’s homepage, I came across a story that examined some claims made by Sarah Palin in her speech compared to the truth about the situations. The article suggesting something to the effect of Fact vs. Fiction for Palin’s speech, did not stay up too long. I have tried to find it since but it appears to be gone. I would have liked to have included a link.
There are two specific items I recall. First had to do with the so called Bridge to Nowhere. It is true that Palin argued against it. This, however, did not occur in the early stages. She actually supported the bridge and wanted to claim the funds. It wasn’t until others started criticizing building a bridge to an area with only 50 house and until she started taking some heat on the issue that she changed her position.
I have nothing against changing position but when you are accusing others of doing that for political gain, be careful of engaging in the same tactics. After all, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
A second claim that was pointed out had to do with Obama not sponsoring a piece of legislation. It was pointed out that while certain measures may not have his name on them, he certainly worked with others in the drafting and wording of the legislation.
One thing which is true is she did put the jet up for auction on e-bay. It did not sell there and she did sell it elsewhere.
Yesterday, on Yahoo’s homepage, I came across a story that examined some claims made by Sarah Palin in her speech compared to the truth about the situations. The article suggesting something to the effect of Fact vs. Fiction for Palin’s speech, did not stay up too long. I have tried to find it since but it appears to be gone. I would have liked to have included a link.
There are two specific items I recall. First had to do with the so called Bridge to Nowhere. It is true that Palin argued against it. This, however, did not occur in the early stages. She actually supported the bridge and wanted to claim the funds. It wasn’t until others started criticizing building a bridge to an area with only 50 house and until she started taking some heat on the issue that she changed her position.
I have nothing against changing position but when you are accusing others of doing that for political gain, be careful of engaging in the same tactics. After all, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.
A second claim that was pointed out had to do with Obama not sponsoring a piece of legislation. It was pointed out that while certain measures may not have his name on them, he certainly worked with others in the drafting and wording of the legislation.
One thing which is true is she did put the jet up for auction on e-bay. It did not sell there and she did sell it elsewhere.
McCain's Speech
Listening to John McCain speak yesterday, a few random thoughts occurred.
1. The man is not a terrible speaker. He certainly does not have the oratory gifts of Barack Obama and he may not have been as effective as Sarah Palin but he certainly kept his audience entertained. Of course, it is easy to keep a convention crowd entertained but he handled it well.
2. I would have like a little more substance. I really did not feel he gave us an idea of what he wanted to accomplish as President. Perhaps others disagree but for me, I thought there could have been more substance.
3. I find it interesting how McCain has positioned himself as a servant of the people and how it is they who want him to run. If memory serves correctly, this is not McCain’s first run at the presidency (although it is the first time he has received his party’s nomination). To suggest that McCain has not changed positions or try to appeal to various wings of the Republican party is absurd. Still, that is exactly what McCain tried to suggest in his speech and what others had to say about him at the convention.
4. It is going to be an interesting two months.
Coming up later today, one last look at Sarah Palin.
1. The man is not a terrible speaker. He certainly does not have the oratory gifts of Barack Obama and he may not have been as effective as Sarah Palin but he certainly kept his audience entertained. Of course, it is easy to keep a convention crowd entertained but he handled it well.
2. I would have like a little more substance. I really did not feel he gave us an idea of what he wanted to accomplish as President. Perhaps others disagree but for me, I thought there could have been more substance.
3. I find it interesting how McCain has positioned himself as a servant of the people and how it is they who want him to run. If memory serves correctly, this is not McCain’s first run at the presidency (although it is the first time he has received his party’s nomination). To suggest that McCain has not changed positions or try to appeal to various wings of the Republican party is absurd. Still, that is exactly what McCain tried to suggest in his speech and what others had to say about him at the convention.
4. It is going to be an interesting two months.
Coming up later today, one last look at Sarah Palin.
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