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| The tiny bluish belly flower I found in the verges of a public-space type lawn turned out to be some sort of grass. The one with roots I am going to plant to see if it will grow for me. Those small black dots on DH's hand are the seeds from the pods, which are perfectly round and sweet. I so LOVE nature! This is a LINKIE to the Illinois Wildflowers - Prairie site where you can see a white one that is not as small. This one is teeny tiny! I can't find this particular one on the web but I'm still looking. |
The newest book, The Flickering Mind, is partly an exposé on how the computer industry sucked off major ducats from all levels of US Education - all the way to the DOE - during the time when the messiahs of technology use in schools were proclaiming that kids would all benefit from having classroom computers and would end up flipping burgers if they didn't have them.
Well, the biggest beneficiary turned out to be the industry itself, and guess who ended up holding the bags of instantly obsolescent software and CPUs over the years? That's right! You got it on the first try, too! It was the Starry eyed parents (read taxpaying public) who believed them and never raised a peep. It hasn't worked yet and it's had over 25 years to make our children immune from having to scrub toilets or flip burgers for McDonald's.
This is a scholarly book, and the author is not a muckraker though anyone who goes up against such firepower is always thrown into that poke bag, as we've learned.
I'm such a scourge, I know. I should get a hobby.
HA! I've thought this for years!...esp. during the yrs that computers were ever changing by the month! (I believe that technology has slowed just a bit)it completely does NOTHING compared to crackin' open a book and actually 'teaching'. Now, I will say there are two technologies that I think my son enjoyed last yr. (freshman year)in geometry scientific calculators and being able to show on a overhead projectors (also works in high math) and the touchscreen that are able to show writing/etc. from a teacher screen to again a projector. ...a step up from the projector we know with the plastic sheets and hot noisy fan....again, though- 'aid' to teaching. of course, the times of 'checking out reference material- never mind, what is that? ...but yes, this concept of 'computers make our kids smarter' is absolutely ridiculous! ANYWAY, love the little blue flower and the thought of 'getting a hobby' HAHAHAHA!!! so do I :)
ReplyDeleteThis is the second time blue-eyed grass has come up this summer, and I'd never heard of it before. Interesting! I've heard it's an iris, which might explain why it would be on the edges, where it might get a little extra water.
ReplyDeleteThe cute young math teacher at college takes her students out on a nice day with a bunch of chalk to do problems on the sidewalk. I think it's fun to watch, but I'm not sure how I'll feel about having to do it. I'm just gonna own up to a bad back and make whatever kid I'm with do it for me.
Hi Paula, this book is for you then. hehe. I'm enjoying reading it, but I got another one (there is no underlining here so I'll just use quotes) the title of which is, " The Dumbest Generation". I don't like it much so far. It just doesn't fit with what I know about students, other than those who are so poor or deprived at home that they don't have much of a chance anyway.
ReplyDeleteI think I do need a hobby. Maybe growing blue eyed grasses? hehe
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@k, There are a lot of them out there, and yes, they do belong in the iris family, the flat tiny leaves or maybe they are bracts, on this are only 1.5 or so inches in length but they are flat and iris like. I can't find one exactly like this one, but there is one in the prairie - Illinois - project that is all white.
I'll put a link in the original post, to that site. That one is a semi-dry soil lover. Actually there are two of them and they are hard to tell apart, as the article will explain.
I can't find the one we are seeing here anywhere at all on the web. But I'm going to grow them if I can, since they are naturalizing out there. They are so darn cute you wouldn't believe it!
Oh no, you do not need to be hurting your back leaning over a sidewalk to write on it, but very good idea the teacher has. It's great!