Off-Topic

Good look, will do. Also wanted to point out, you don't have to go to the store and get a card to register, you can just buy a 5 dollar e-cert and then register it and vote.

done. Note you can "change region" on the map to the right, but you have to do it before you place any votes. So if you vote for something in the MD/DC region you will be locked out of helping the 'fax. so don't do that.

Teachers (in "failing" school systems, at least) tend to blame those who come before or after. High school teachers get enraged that the kids didn't learn fractions in middle school, and elementary school teachers say "They were great when they left me!" and then everyone thinks pre-school is a joke.

But the more experienced I've become, the more I've read, and the more smart people I talk to the more I've come to think that pre-school is really vital to stopping the craziness I see every day. Just the idea of having to play ring around the rosie when you want to play with blocks, or having to share or whatever, really is incredibly important. If kids can't learn how to socialize in a positive way or follow the rules then we all see what happens later.

And so many kids don't learn those things at home.

I often tell people that if you gave high school students in "failing" schools perfect academics 2/3 would still flunk out of college by Christmas and get fired from any job because they can't follow society's rules.

Thanks everyone who is voting and spreading the word!!

One of the scariest stats I've seen since beginning work here is that a low income child is exposed to 32 million fewer words by the time he's 5 as compared to a higher income kid. Mind boggling.

The percents are on there. we were when I voted.

I like you but I find that stat hard to believe. That means a low income child is exposed to 17, 534 fewer words every single day. Divide that by 16 hours a day awake thats over 1000 words per hour and 18 words per minute extra. Thats just way to much to believe.

Low-income parents just don't talk to their kids. (Sometimes it's because they're working 2 jobs and never see them). I agree it seems like an exaggerated number, but google it. You'll see plenty of research where the stat came from.

But really, watch TV for an hour. You'll hear more than 1,000 words. Many of these kids don't even watch TV or at least English stations.

Regardless of the actual gap, I've seen the difference in these kids with my own eyes and it's remarkable how behind they are at such an early age. I won't even get into their knowledge about print (or lack thereof). Most of these kids don't even know which way to orient a book.

And thank you Coltsfan. I like you too.

A Harvard grad friend who taught in HoCo for years taught senior English (non sped) in the city this year and was amazed that when she asked how many pages were in The Autobiography of Malcolm X a number of kids started counting the pages. Then some realized they were only counting the pages on the right side. Then at the end a few said "Wait these numbers on the bottom are the page numbers?"

(Of course most of the kids just looked at the page number on the last page like normal people and took two seconds. But a lot were just that unfamiliar with books.)

I just figure their pre-school teacher was a stoner who spent all class googling Greivis Vasquez.

Already had registered a SBux account at some point, so done.

Bump for this week's voting.

Done.

Teaching at a community college puts me pretty far downstream from all this but I can still see the effects in people who clearly got off to a bad start in their education.

Whenever I think about the "How much difference can I really make?" question I think of a scene from A Man For All Seasons:

Sir Thomas More: Why not be a teacher? You'd be a fine teacher; perhaps a great one.
Richard Rich: If I was, who would know it?
Sir Thomas More: You; your pupils; your friends; God. Not a bad public, that.