Commenting on the news

NPR: Study Delivers Failing Grades For Many Programs Training Teachers – Having gone through a teacher training program, having taught, and having worked in a teacher training program, I have several opinions on this topic. And I’d agree with the study – a lot of programs are not preparing the “highly qualified” teachers the laws require. And I believe a part of that is the professors at the university who are so far removed from what happens in real classrooms that they can’t prepare pre-service teachers for the reality of teaching. Many professors have never actually taught outside of the university themselves. And observing or doing research in schools is a far cry from actual experience.

APOD: How to Identify that Light in the Sky – Brett and I were talking once about how if it twinkles it’s a star. Here’s the rest of the chart.

Scientific American: 4 Ways to Plan a Mind-Restoring Vacation – If we have a schedule to keep or things that must be done, it’s a trip. If there are no commitments, it’s a vacation.

NPR: How Did The Meter Get Its Length? – This story sounds vaguely familiar. It’s still fun.

Deseret News: Ashley Isaacson Woolley: Ordain Women is not the answer on Mormon women’s equality – Amen. Just amen. I am not subservient. I am not silent. I am not silenced. I have never felt on unequal footing in the Gospel. Certain individuals within the Church might make others feel that way, but those are their individual actions, not the Gospel, that does that.