Math Wars: Once Again Into the Fray

Math Wars: Once Again Into the Fray

After you read Math Wars: Once Again Into the Fray, read:

BILL AYERS INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL JUSTICE, QUEER MATH, AND THE COLLABORATIVE FOR ACADEMIC SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (CASEL) 

August 15, 2022

Having a granddaughter in the fifth grade has brought the Math Wars home to roost. Our three children learned Math in an ABEKA curriculum using Saxon Math. All three scored off the charts on standardized tests in Math and have gone on to careers where that proficiency was important (Engineering, Marketing, and Business).

I earned my degree in education in 1972 at a time of revolution in education. A world shift in education came about at that time to manipulate children for social engineering purposes de-emphasizing individualism and competition toward team/group learning and peer tutoring. (Read the Whole Language Catalog by Ken and Yetta Goodman.) Individual excellence was headed for the chopping block.  

In the early 1990s, I ran for the Dothan City School Board twice with a Back to Basics agenda. I thought the fact that 60% of first time entering freshmen at the local community college being required to take remedial Math and English was a pretty telling indictment against OBE/Whole Language/Progressive Education agenda of the prevailing education establishment. Others thought that was important as well and we had lively discussions on the Ramsey/Moore Report, a talk show I co-hosted on a conservative radio station. The campaign against me was pretty much directed from the system's central office. They won. 

Before the Dothan City School Board paid someone to rewrite the Board bylaws, the bylaws stated that learning would be "sequential." That is important to note because the shift in the late 60s was to Progressive educators' preferred method of having learning be inferential and thematic. With the centralization of education in the Department of Education the words "drill and repetition" became dirty words not to be repeated in polite education society unless you wanted to be labeled an educational "flat earther." The Elementary and Secondary Education Act created the environment for Progressive educators to practice their experiments on America's school children under the guise of leveling the playing field for all children. Then in 1979 President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Education and local control of education became a thing of the past. Though we did not officially have a national curriculum, professional educators with a progressive agenda more focused on social engineering than academic excellence distributed funds for participation in special programs. Local boards got addicted to the funding and found themselves bound, gagged and disenfranchised by those dollars. With Goals 2000 Sequential learning became a thing of the past. 


Twenty years later the disturbing numbers of those needing remediation have not improved but those administrators of the early 90s did go on to bigger and better jobs, salaries and lucrative retirement. I must admit to being shocked that something so basic as teaching children to read and do math was now political!

I threw my hands in the air, retreated to my garden and genealogy and started writing books. 

Then my smart, sweet, precocious fifth grade granddaughter who lives in Panama City started dreading Math. Though she reads several grades above her grade level (we made sure she got a phonics based education early on) the new, new Math gave her problems. When our daughter (her mother) and I began asking for the reason for the shift from traditional Math to this new Math (InVision by Pearson) we were informed that the answer to a problem was not so important as the thinking process. Ergo, the need for a new direction in Math education. Several steps had been added to the process and that made no sense to my daughter, her husband, her grandfather or me. My daughter, an electrical engineer, could not help her. Thus far we have not been able to get anyone to answer how we got to the moon with traditional mathematics instruction and plummeted to 34th in Math when we gave over Math instruction to this new batch of professors in colleges of education and their colleagues in curriculum and technology sales. 

When I first called the Dothan City Schools in the early 90s for information on curriculum (the ABEKA Christian School our children had been attending did not at that time go past the 8th grade), the Director of Instruction asked me, "Who are you?Just a parent?" This time my answer would be 

"I am not 'just a parent,' I am also the grandmother of five VIPs including four still 3 and under who will be in Dothan City Schools and Bay District Schools eventually. That makes me a very important person... to them at least. Plus, I have two degrees in education and experience dealing with administrators using our children as guinea pigs for fads. 

So, once more I am jumping into the fray.

I spoke to the principal of the school she attends who told me no one else had spoken to him about having problems with the new Math program. Yet, my daughter had already emailed him with her concerns, an email to which he did respond. A congenial, affable man, he promised to look into it. In the meantime, our daughter has hired a tutor, but the method still seems laborious. Our granddaughter is still having problems and I have not heard again from the principal. 

We have been told that if she scores well on the FCAT and gets admitted to the Advanced Placement program, she will get out of Pearson EnVision Math and will then take Singapore Math. But, from what I read, placement tests tell parents/teachers on what level a student performs and not having been exposed to this program may present other problems. One parent wrote, "Singapore Math is  sequential and doesn’t re-teach concepts or skills, using the program may set these students up for failure, whether they’re moving into a district using it or out of district using it." 

Read this blog post and perhaps you can understand our confusion with EnVision: http://chronicle.com/blognetwork/castingoutnines/2010/08/31/in-the-trenches-with-envisionmath/

That child is beginning the program in the first grade. Imagine how confused our granddaughter is!

How much do you suppose all of these bells and whistles cost the school system? Watch this video and see the technology needed. Check out the "computer learning" assists at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7H8ExSknCNY

In the New York Times article, October 8, 2011, "GRADING THE DIGITAL SCHOOL

"Inflating the Software Report Card," Trip Gabriel and Matt Richtel write: "School officials, confronted with a morass of complicated and sometimes conflicting research, often buy products based on personal impressions, marketing hype or faith in technology for its own sake."

“They want the shiny new one,” said Peter Cohen, chief executive of Pearson School, a leading publisher of classroom texts and software (including InVision). “They always want the latest, when other things have been proven the longest and demonstrated to get results.”

Pearson is connected to the hydra headed cabal promoting Common Core. (My own children learned Math with Saxon mathematics. One became a computer engineer, another holds a Masters in Marketing and another holds a Masters in Operations Management. So Pearson Math makes no sense to any of us.)

The Cabal begins with Bill Gates because money talks. But, is he involved with education because of altruism? Bill Gates is a Master Marketer. His first super success story was gifting computers to schools across the country. (See the movie The Pirates of Silicon Valley). Parents who wanted their children to have an edge on other children then had to buy a PC (personal computer) and the race was on. And now, as if that didn’t make him rich enough, he sees the computer taking the place of the teacher and Pearson, partnered with Gates, is along in this cabal restructuring education with e-books to profit even further. We are talking Billions to Trillions of dollars. (By the way, the license for those computers your school board just bought will be out in 3 years and they will have to update. Smart marketing. But good education?)

Twenty years ago when I pointed out according to studies conducted by Dr. Robert Slavin, the Computer Assisted Instruction program Writing To Read was totally ineffective, I was told they couldn't stop now because they had too much invested.  And now, Dothan City Schools has bought into Carnegie Learning. The New York Times addressed this program directly: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/09/technology/a-classroom-software-boom-but-mixed-results-despite-the-hype.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0THIS IS A MUST READ FOR DOTHAN CITY SCHOOL PARENTS.

Billions of education dollars spent and the result ... “there are no longitudinal, randomized trials linking eLearning to positive learning outcomes.” (Intel in a Web Document) “Decisions are made on marketing, on politics, on personal preference,” said Robert A. Slavin, director of the Center for Research and Reform in Education at Johns Hopkins University. “An intelligent, caring principal who’d never buy a car without looking at Consumer Reports, when they plunk down serious money to buy a curriculum, they don’t even look at the evidence.”

Addendum
Since I wrote this I have found out much more about how Math education became politicized. I recommend you read my more recent articles on Paulo Freire, the Whole Language Catalog (excerpts that explain the philosophy behind Progressive Education that dominates public schools) and also visit the website on Radical Math http://www.radicalmath.org/docs/SJMathGuide.pdf

See also Connie Schrock (president of NCSM) on Tucker Carlson's show
Is math 'unjust and grounded in discrimination'?
http://www.foxnews.com/on-air/tucker-carlson-tonight/index.html#/v/5558567985001

I was not tuned in to COMMON CORE when I wrote the above. I am now!


SECTION II COMMON CORE MATH

First, understand that MANY teachers in the trenches reject Common Core --Math and everything else!

Dr. James Milligram speaks on what happened on the Validation Committee on Common Core on which he sat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM8... He was one of only two educators involved in validating the Common Core Standards. The other, Dr. Sandra Stotsky, also refused to sign on to the Standards. 

So, what did we get? A weak Algebra II-- at Dr. Milligram’s insistence. 

From the chart below you can see that compared to the chart below only 7% of students who have only Algebra 1 WILL EVEN CONTINUE TO COMPLETE AN EARNED BACHELOR’S DEGREE. That is how handicapped our children will be with Common Core. 

 Look here to see where ACHIEVE appears on this chart. Where is your state, your school board? Parents? Whatever happened to local control of education? 

 No Pilots! No Research! No Vetting! 

So who was the lead writer and what did he say about the Math standards? 

The major writers of Common Core included David Coleman, known as the architect of Common Core. His degree is in Sociology. He is the son of the former president of Bennington College, Liz Coleman, graduate of the University of Chicago, a big proponent of big government and Marxist ideology. Coleman’s prior association with Ayers, Obama and Arne Duncan probably helped his appointment. Or it could be his philosophy: “These standards are the most serious attempt this country has yet made to come to grips with those early sources of inequality.” He has no background as a teacher. He is a Sociologist! 

JAMES MILGRIM

DAVID COLEMAN is also president of the College Board (yearly salary $550,000 total compensation $750,000) and will make changes to the SAT to make it more socially just. (This should set up red alert warning flags for Home and Christian schooled children who will need to pass these tests to get into college.)

Coleman’s childhood friend, Jason Zimba, teaches mathematical physics at Bennington College and like Coleman attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He admitted that his creation, the Common Core math standards, would only prepare students for a minimum junior college level--not STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math). 

Coleman and Zimba, co-founders of the New York based GROW network, came to Chicago to produce data studies for the Chicago Annenberg Challenge (CAC) at the time Obama was on the CAC Board brought on board by Bill Ayers and Chicago’s Superintendent of Schools, Arne Duncan--later U.S. Secretary of Education. CAC paid $2.2 million for the services of Coleman and Zimba in data studies. It was this relationship that threw these people together. The Chicago connection here is quite interesting. 

Now, you know Bill Gates, with an agreement with the United Nations through UNESCO, put about 8 billion dollars into this. He will make a lot more on the data he collects and sells on our children. But, his children will not be affected. They attend a private school. But, your children and my grandchildren are guinea pigs. So he can play Russian roulette with our children, but not his own.

Coleman’s childhood friend, Jason Zimba, teaches mathematical physics at Bennington College and like Coleman attended Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar. He admitted that his creation, the Common Core math standards, would only prepare students for a minimum junior college level--not STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math).  

So, while Dr. Milligram blames Bill Gates, David Coleman, Jason Zimba, and all of those agencies participating above, he postulates this rhetorical question and lets someone else answer for him below. 

And so we return to the title at the top of this page. What is the real goal of Math Education that has led us to this point?  The radical agenda hidden within the Common Core curriculum has been a part of the colleges of education for quite awhile. It is just now, with the uproar over what has become so obvious with Common Core, that parents have become educated to how this movement has become so entrenched within our schools. 

You must remember that the purpose of education these days is producing Social Justice warriors and EQUITY. That means you must lower the standards so that everyone can RACE TO THE TOP (see the chart above on the Race to the Top (RTT). So where is the TOP? Much lower.

 

Now, if that makes sense to you, you will love Common Core. But to the rest of us, those of us who believe that children are individuals who are unique in their talents and abilities. Do they try to help all children play the violin at the same level, sing at the same level, run triathlons at the same time?

Integrating Sex Ed in Math Education.

You thought we were making this up, didn’t you? 

Do you think there is an agenda hidden within this paragraph?

Math fairness?

Part III The Tragedy of the Math Mess and Another Way

The Tragedy of the Math Mess and ANOTHER WAY

When one criticizes the modern mathematics program one often finds that the listener, wishing to be sympathetic and not knowing where to stand, remarks that undoubtedly the truth lies between the traditional and the modern mathematics versions. Such compromise may be correct in some controversies, but it is not applicable here. If someone argues that the earth turns from east to west and another that the earth turns from west to east, one cannot compromise, however well-meaning one may be, by saying that the truth lies between these alternatives." Morris Kline, Why Johnny Can't Add, p. 123.

Examples of Indoctrination rather than Truth in Mathematics Education

• "Does away with absolutes and promotes relativism"
• "Is man-centered (humanistic) -- seeks to create truth or denies that mathematics is true."
• Leads students to worship the human mind because of all the imaginary worlds it can construct.
• Emphasizes abstractions, which it calls "concepts." Does not give the child anything solid to learn and use."

GET THAT?

"... create their own mathematical knowledge."

Chao, Murray and Guitierrez

...  and you wonder why bridges fall and planes fall out of the sky?

Distribute the Wealth (A Leftist Agenda-- preparing children for Socialism)

Social Self-Organization?

Sex Education Integrated into Math

"Along the four dimensions of learning, reflect on your experience as a math learner." 

"What kinds of privilege and power did you have or not have as a math student?"

Reading and Writing 

AND DATA COLLECTION? MEET PEARSON AND BILL GATES

PEARSON BOUGHT UP ALL OF THESE TEXTBOOK COMPANIES.

Pearson has bought up all of these imprints (publishing houses)

And why do we want children at computers? Because that is the most effective way to change attitudes and beliefs and collect data on how each lesson has succeeded. (Let me just mention here that some wonder if Wi-Fi waves contribute to the growing epidemic of autism. Just a caveat.)

Every keystroke provides more information to the data collectors behind the process lifted up to the cloud. (Watch the movie Snowden to see what he reveals about government data collection.) 

I venture to say this has more to do with collecting information and changing attitudes and beliefs than it does to academics.

You think that cloud is secure and your personal information isn’t collected there-- to determine the job your child will get and every other aspect of their life. Every study conducted has proven that CAI (Computer Assisted Instruction) is inferior to direct instruction in teaching academics. Traditional Sage on the Stage (the Progressives’ derogatory name for traditional teachers) instruction has been replaced by computers with teachers becoming more and more simply mere technicians with Progressive Guide on the Side instruction as full blown Common Core makes it into our schools.

NOT MATH EDUCATION OR COMPUTATIONAL PROFICIENCY

NOW LOOK AT TRADITIONAL MATHEMATICS

Besides giving students a firm foundation for believing in absolutes, traditional mathematics gives them necessary tools for daily living (shopping, cooking, making and buying clothing, building homes, stewardship, etc. and the tools for subduing the physical universe for man's benefit (scientific technology). 

Teaches from concrete to abstract--line upon line, precept upon precept. Recognizes he nature of the child as created by God and fallen. Uses a great deal of drill and rote memory, because this is how God created little children to learn. Children's learning must go from the known to the unknown. 

1. Firm foundation in Absolutes
2. Concrete to Abstract
3. Line upon Line
4. Precept upon Precept
5. Drill and rote memory

EXACT OPPOSITE OF COMMON CORE/WHOLE LANGUAGE/PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION WITH THEMATIC EDUCATION/INTEGRATED CURRICULUM/MULTICULTURALISM

Modern Math on the other hand....

1. Does away with absolutes and promotes relativism
2. Denies that mathematics is true
3. Purports to have applications in linear programming, operations research, game theory, quality control etc.
4. Emphasizes abstractions (called concepts)
5. Does not give the child anything solid to learn and use

Look at what grade level these children scored in the 80s. I wonder how much higher ABEKA schools score now after the lunacy of the COMMON CORE MATH.

Students in first grade using A Beka Book materials are performing approximately 1 1/2 years ahead of the national average, third grade 1 1/2 years ahead, fifth grade 2 years ahead, and seventh grade 2 to 2 1/2 years ahead using A Beka Book materials. Now, this was in the 80s and 90s, I can only imagine how much better their scores are now.

In our present technological age, excellence in mathematical skills is imperative for our nation to keep its technological lead in our economic world. 

Now what about Math with no calculators or computers?

I have seen children educated in an ABEKA school compute long series in their heads. I had three children in this school. All scored extremely high on all standardized tests (Stanford Achievement Test (at least 90th percentile and often much, much higher) at that time. We should return to those tests and compare the scores. 

REMEMBER WHEN?

First they memorized these tables. 

Then they are able to make these computations in their heads!

 Wow! You can really teach children without computers or calculators. My oldest daughter went on with this education to actually BUILD computers as an electrical engineer with a computer specialty.

She could build computers AND with her degree in electrical engineering do other things.

Can children do that with today's Math?

THE NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR TEACHER OF MATH

                      

Can you see the potential for harm in this list, particularly when reading recommendations one, two, three, five and six, is lacking experience or discernment. 

1. that problem solving be the focus of school mathematics
2. that basic skills in mathematics be defined to encompass more than computational facility
3. that mathematics programs take full advantage of the power of calculators and computers at all grade levels (Funny, those Silicon Valley gurus don't send their children to schools that use computers and calculators!)
4. that success of mathematics programs and student learning be evaluated by a wider range of measures than conventional testing
5. that more mathematics study be required for all students and a flexible curriculum with greater range of options be designed to accommodate the diverse needs of student population

This is where we are. Those emphasizing Academics were overrun by those who wanted Social Justice programs. Using the excuse of the Civil Rights Movement and motivated by the bigotry of low expectations, Mathematics, like Reading fell victim to radicals like Paolo Freire, a hero of the Whole Language/Progressive Educational Movement now institutionalized in COMMON CORE.  And now we have Bill Gates involved gathering data on all of our children through his association with Pearson and UNESCO. School boards across the country were lured into adopting with the promise of RACE TO THE TOP funding. There went independent boards and instruction.

SECTION III. NEW ON AUGUST 15 AT 1:07

BILL AYERS INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL JUSTICE, QUEER MATH, AND THE COLLABORATIVE FOR ACADEMIC SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (CASEL)

(See also on this blog: 

TRADITIONAL OR PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION. DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? HAS POLITICS AFFECTED YOUR CHILD'S MATH EDUCATION? https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/look-at-this-headline-and-now-according.html

TEACHERS AS LIBERATORS PRODUCE STUDENTS AS REVOLUTIONARIES: Whole Language Live On!

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/02/teachers-as-liberators-produce-students.html 
REVOLUTIONARY PEDAGOGY

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2014/06/revolutionary-pedagogy-or-so-you.html

NEW DISCOURSES PODCASTS WITH JAMES LINDSAY. WELL WORTH LISTENING TO.

And now we have James Lindsay's series of New Discourses that reveal the underpinnings and intention of those promoting this ridiculous agenda. 

Paolo Freire 

Paolo Freire and the Politics of Education

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v2aGMCpgpjU

Paolo Freire and the birth of Groomer Schools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6urKjU9mE4

And so many more. They are long, but worth watching!

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2022/06/paolo-freire-schools-aka-your-childs.html?fbclid=IwAR2Mt_nd35XW3nC52vMvIq4_QZqfFkT0wOigPVWwAKXCOIQfOBJ7jgRVJ-8

15 HARMFUL ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (SEL) 

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2022/08/15-harmful-elements-of-sel.html

THE NEW WORLD ORDER BECKONS AND OUR SCHOOLS ARE ITS TRAINING GROUND

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-new-world-order-beckons-and-our.html

ESG, DEI, CRT and the Great Reset: The Theology of Marxism

https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/4388520810074756700/2059210745097513115

The Tragedy of the Math Mess and Another Way

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-tragedy-of-math-mess-and-another-way.html

MATH WARS. ONCE AGAIN INTO THE FRAY

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2014/06/math-wars-once-again-into-fray.html

COMMON CORE MATH

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/common-core-math.html

THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION/ALABAMA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION IS WOKE AND PERHAPS THE SOURCE OF WOKE

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-national-education.html

BILL AYERS INFLUENCE ON SOCIAL JUSTICE, QUEER MATH, AND THE COLLABORATIVE FOR ACADEMIC SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING (CASEL)

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2022/08/bill-ayers-influence-on-social-justice.html

DEMONIC ROOTS TO COMMON CORE? VISIT YOUR CHILD'S THERAPEUTIC CLASSROOM.

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/demonic-roots-to-common-core-visit-your.html

THE GENEALOGY OF COMMON CORE: BILL GATES/UNESCO/ROBERT MULLER//ALICE BAILEY/LUCIS TRUST 

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-genealogy-of-common-core-bill-gates_5.html

THE CHICAGO CONNECTION TO COMMON CORE

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/the-chicago-connection-to-common-core.html

does anybody really believe anymore? does anybody really care?https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/does-anybody-really-believe-anymore.html

Sounding the Alarm! Today's Therapeutic Classroom. What are you going to do about it?

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/does-anybody-really-believe-anymore.html

Spalding Writing Road to Reading and John Winston of Parks Elementary Natchitoches, Louisiana

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/spalding-writing-road-to-reading-and.html

RETARDING AMERICA THE IMPRISONMENT OF POTENTIAL

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2014/12/retarding-america-imprisonment-of.html

NOTE FROM ROBERT SWEET OF THE NATIONAL RIGHT TO READ FOUNDATION

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2014/10/note-from-robert-sweet-of-national.html

The DARE PROGRAM 20 years later.

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/the-dare-program-20-years-later-more.html

Merry Christmas! Meet Alliwishus, The Elf Mother Met at the Battle of the Bulge

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/merry-christmas-meet-alliwishus-elf.html

My Mother. My hero who won a Battle Ribbon at the Battle of the Bulge. December 16, 1944. A SCRAPBOOK LOOK FROM JEAN BRONSON GILLIS BURSON.

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/my-mother-my-hero-who-won-battle-ribbon.html

WHY SHOULD CONSERVATIVES, CHRISTIANS AND THE THE FAITH COMMUNITY BE CONCERNED ABOUT THIS? SUBSCRIBE TO THE PANAMA CITY NEWS HERALD AND GET WASHINGTON POST FREE

http://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/why-should-conservatives-christians-and.html

PEACE EDUCATION? CONFLICT RESOLUTION? TEACHING TOLERANCE? COMMON CORE 

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/12/peace-education-conflict-resolution.html

TRADITIONAL OR PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION. DO YOU KNOW THE DIFFERENCE? HAS POLITICS AFFECTED YOUR CHILD'S MATH EDUCATION?

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/look-at-this-headline-and-now-according.html

DELPHI TECHNIQUE, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND THE EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT CONVINCED A GULLIBLE PUBLIC TO BUY INTO COMMON CORE

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/so-what-is-thedelphi-technique-let.html

COMMON CORE: PORNOGRAPHY 101

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/common-core-pornography-101.html

MIDDLE SCHOOL AGENDA FOR SEXUAL ORIENTATION AS A PART OF MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/09/middle-school-agenda-for-sexual.html

BEHAVIOR MODELS ATTITUDES AND BELIEFS

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2014/09/the-protest-at-busy-intersection-near.html

CULTURE WAR AND COMMON CORE

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/culture-war-and-common-core.html

SOCIAL STUDIES AND COMMON CORE

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/social-studies-and-common-core.html

TEACHERS AS LIBERATORS PRODUCE STUDENTS AS REVOLUTIONARIES: Whole Language Live On!

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/02/teachers-as-liberators-produce-students.html

RADICAL POSSIBILITIES: YOUR CHILDREN 

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/radical-possibilities-your-children.html

Response to AL.Com article "Alabama Superintendent Proposal to Raise Academic Standards."

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/response-to-alcom-article-alabama.html

SECULAR HUMANISM IS NOW THE RELIGION OF OUR SCHOOLS

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/08/secular-humanism-is-now-accepted.html

COMMON CORE: THE EMPEROR IS WEARING NO CLOTHES

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/common-core-emperor-is-wearing-no.html

COMMON CORE=PETRI DISH FOR RADICALS

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/common-core-petri-dish-for-radicals.html

REVOLUTIONARY PEDAGOGY

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2014/06/revolutionary-pedagogy-or-so-you.html

Revolutionary Pedagogy: Or, so you thought reading, writing and calculating were why you sent your child to school?

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2014/06/revolutionary-pedagogy-or-so-you.html

EDUCATION TODAY:

Politics, Profits, Position, Power, and Prejudice published 1995

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/02/education-today-politics-profits.html

CAPSTONE EDUCATION (UNIVERSITY OF ALABAMA) AND MY CONCERNS

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2015/01/capstone-educator-and-concerns.html

CONFLICT RESOLUTION OR POLITICAL INDOCTRINATION?

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/02/conflict-resolution-or-political-and.html

DELPHI TECHNIQUE, CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, AND THE EDUCATION ESTABLISHMENT CONVINCED THE GULLIBLE NATION TO BUY INTO COMMON CORE

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/11/so-what-is-thedelphi-technique-let.html

WHO DO WE HOLD ACCOUNTABLE FOR THE FAILURE OF OUR SCHOOLS?

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/02/so-who-do-we-hold-accountable-parents.html

PUBLIC EDUCATION SHOULD EMPOWER PARENTS

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/02/public-education-should-empower-parents.html

CONSPIRACY THEORIES IN EDUCATION

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/02/conspiracy-theories-in-education-truth.html

THE CIVIL WAR IN EDUCATION 

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/01/the-civil-war-in-education-why-we.html

SOLVE THE PROBLEMS OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2017/01/solve-problems-of-public-schools-hope.html

TAKE A KNEE

https://sharmanbursonramsey.blogspot.com/2016/12/take-knee.html

Sixty-Four

This is what 64 looks like.

When I was young, I thought 64 was very old. I find that the body ages, but the spirit does not. Inside, I am the same person. Fortunately, I am still married to the man I married at 19 and to him (or so he says) I look the same. Even though, so he also says, I have "appreciated" more than any investment he ever made (meaning the weight I complain about all the time). He's a good husband. Retired, now and enjoying it.

We have three wonderful children and five grandchildren so I get lots of sugar from those precious babies. Lily is our oldest at 11. Megan will be 4 soon, George 3, Sam almost 2 and Molly just turned 1, the day before what would have been my mother's 93 birthday.

Megan, George, Lily, Molly, Sam

These are reminders of the beautiful circle of life that we are all a part of. I have decided to "own" each stage of life. I look back and realize how blessed I have been and how at each stage I neglected to really appreciate those blessings.

My sister, brother and I were blessed with loving parents. Jean Gillis, Army nurse, met Dr. Elkanah George Burson at Augusta General Hospital after they had both served in WWII, Daddy in the Phillippines while mother served on a hospital train going back and forth from Cherbourg to the Battle of the Bulge. Daddy, a Wilcox County, Alabama native, set up a medical practice (GP) in Dothan, Alabama.

Sharman (11) and Sylvia (5) at home on Easter

Jean and George Burson, Sylvia and Sharman


Some friends were almost family -- Patt and Kaaren.

Patt McLaughlin, Kaaren Taylor, Sylvia and Elkanah

After years of being a fat little girl and suffering the cruel taunts of nasty boys and rejection of mean girls (one must be careful or one's image might be tarnished if one stood or sat beside a FLG),  I lost weight in the 9th grade. During the FLG (fat little girl) years, I read every book in my mother's library, grounding myself, I suppose, for being a writer. The pain and memory of those years never leave you. Although those lonely years were a torment to live through, I can now appreciate the experience because it made me a more compassionate person. Blessed as I have been, those years gave me empathy. I must admit to having been spoiled (yellow convertible GTO at 16, for example).

When I entered 10th grade and high school, I tried out for everything. I got parts in plays (became a Thespian), including the lead female role in the senior play (Hoosier Schoolmaster), learned Latin, French and Spanish, got cheerleader (to the shock and, I suspect, dismay of those more experienced cheerleaders), graduated as a Senior Scholar, 13th in my class (out of 350 something, I think). That was a real surprise. And I dated several fine, handsome young men and developed lasting friendships with some truly wonderful guys and girls.

I then went off to the University of Alabama where I pledged Delta Delta Delta sorority and made friends who have remained friends for the rest of my life. 

Tri Delt House at the University of Alabama. I am center on balcony.

Joe and Sharman just pinned. He was a Pi Kappa Phi.

I married my college sweetheart, Joel Ramsey, who grew up about three blocks away.
He practiced law with his father and he and I raised three children in the home where my husband grew up.

Brooke, Drew, Sharman and Cecily making Christmas cookies.

Our home.

I got an MSE in History, taught school, did a brief stint as a radio talk show host, became an obsessive genealogist, served on community boards, joined a garden club and genealogical societies, wrote books and created a general interest website (generally anything I'm interested in) Southern-Style.com, a Downhome Perspective on All Things Southern.

Family genealogy (the discovery that my fourth great grandmother was Native American) inspired a family saga beginning with Swimming with Serpents (2012) and followed by In Pursuit (2013) that were published by Mercer University Press. Because of these books and my wonderful publicist, Kathie Bennett, I have spoken at Book Festivals across the South and met authors I sincerely admire.

Cassandra King, Janis Owens, Sharman Ramsey, Wanda Jewell, and Maggie Schein

So, what's next? I have written three sort of "coming of age" (meaning THIS age) novels, with two formerly estranged sisters who come together with the deaths of their husbands and finagle their way onto the Dishing It Network (DIN) using the family plantation as their gimmick. The award winning "Partying on the Plantation" brings lots of excitement including love interests and a serial killer. These are sort of a Southern Sisters type series that still need a publisher but I am excited about them. They are titled "Creme de Cassis and Murder," "Mint Juleps and Murder," and "Mayans, Muscadines and Murder." They comprise the Mint Julep Trilogy. 

At 64 I realize that life is both a mission and an adventure. Each experience adds up to make the beautiful tapestry of a single life. Each life touches another for a purpose. I have been blessed with many friends who add color and depth to this majestic gift of life with which God has so richly blessed me. Partly because of a lonely start, I guess, I treasure each one.

So this is 64. I earned the wrinkles that came with sunshine, laughter and the pain. I enjoyed each meal that brought these extra pounds and cherish each family member and friend who shared them with me. I loved every baby kiss, laugh and hug. I look forward to the adventures tomorrow may hold. Like my mother before me, I will open my arms to embrace each friend and loved one and share a laugh as often as I can. And above all, I promise to praise my Lord who has forgiven me for my grievous sins and shortcomings, who carries me through the hard times, and who opens my eyes to the blessings I so often take for granted.

Sixty-four.  What a glorious, spectacular, magnificent ride!

IDEAS FOR ORGANIZING A BOOK FESTIVAL

Decatur Book Festival Tops in the Nation but there's always room for more

IDEAS FOR ORGANIZING A BOOK FESTIVAL

Motto: Writers write.

Showing our authors the best of what our area offers encourages them to write of what we know – i.e. the Panama City area has the most beautiful beaches in the world, the finest accommodations, the best restaurants, and premier cultural events to entertain and educate every palate. 

Participants in Books Alive: 

Authors 

Screenwriters

Agents

Editors

Book Bloggers (example of a book blogger: http://www.anitabook.com  http://abookishaffair.blogspot.com)

Book Clubs

Writers

Readers

(Note: I am an author who has attended many stellar festivals during the past couple of years http://www.southern-style.com/About%20Us.htm. These are ideas I have observed in action or think might improve these events. Since these might work for other book festivals I post this on my blog.) I am particularly interested in Books Alive in Panama City because that is where I spend a lot of time these days and have seen what a wonderful book festival that is. Sharman)

Planning for the next event must begin immediately after the reports from the committees on what worked and what did not work are in on the last event.

Chairperson: Shall oversee the event checking with the chair of each committee to ensure that all is proceeding according to schedule. Issues invitation to event to authors/agents/editors/book bloggers. Arranges for and co-ordinates with treasurer for W6 forms to be included in author correspondence and presentation of honorariums. Officers (Chairperson, Vice Chair, Secretary and Treasurer) meet regularly to review progress of committees. Negotiates for venue.

Book Selection Committee: Festival Chairperson heads up this committee. Committee reads and considers books submitted by authors through the website application. Committee includes librarians in the different genre and others from the community and Foundation board. May request video of presenter to insure author interest to those who attend Festival. Selects agreed upon number of authors in varied categories and genre. Presents email Word document report to chairperson three months prior to the event. 

Agents/Editors Invites book publishers in surrounding states (i.e. Florida, Alabama and Georgia) to attend the festival. Should agents agree to come, co-ordinate meetings of attendees who wish to make a 3 minute presentation of their COMPLETED novel to a participating Agent and/or Editor. 

Vice-Chair: Will serve as contact person for all participants. Will email participants with form to fill out regarding all needs: projector, wifi, transportation, accommodations, and will therefore be the liaison communicating these needs to the chairpersons of the different committees. Include a W-9 form so author may be reimbursed to be mailed to the Treasurer. Vice chair will then keep a record of each communication with committee chairs and authors in order to double and triple check before the event. MAKES SURE EACH PARTICIPANT HAS A PACKET WITH INFORMATION, SCHEDULE AND TICKETS TO EVENTS. All has been clarified as to events free to presenters and which a spouse must pay to attend.

Treasurer of the event handles the Reservations marking the seats in the selected presentations on a chart much like the one used by the Civic Center to reserve seats for events for those who choose to register online for a $5 fee. Might consider using the Square (or some form of credit card capability) on the IPhone to charge and email receipt. Registration ends 1 week before event and all remaining seats will be free as available. Should the reserve seat attendee not be present 5 minutes before the event the seat is opened for others. Treasurer reimburses authors with honorarium and travel expenses. Works with Book Signing and Moderators Chairperson on ordering and reimbursement of books for Festival.

Secretary will decide on which size room the presenter will need keeping early sign-up response in mind. The facilities at local universities are usually most accessible to those who attend these events. One would think an event of this type would be partially sponsored by the university so that the cost of using the facility would be waived (to encourage reading and writing, a university goal. Chairperson will have negotiated this.). Many festivals of this sort are put on by the Education department of universities. For example: University of South Florida and University of Central Florida http://www.festivalofreading.com and http://education.ucf.edu/bookfest/  Involving the education department of the university brings an added cadre of volunteers and participants to the event.

Should an event prove popular enough, additional time will be set up so more who want to hear a certain presenter may have that opportunity. Will take notes of meetings. Formulates schedule of event for publication. 

Committees:

Website: People plan ahead to attend these events. Getting the website up and active is critical to success. Plus EVERY GOVERNMENT AND VISITORS WEBSITE SHOULD LINK TO THIS WEBSITE.1. Page for author to request invitation to participate in Books Alive. Include blank for name of novel, publicist’s name, address and email, publishers name, address and email, whether or not author would like to be an AUTHOR IN THE SCHOOLS

2. Selected Author pages should be set up providing ALL INFORMATION for presenters (housing, transportation, events, will tickets be provided to lunch, events, etc and will significant other be required to purchase ticket (provide link so that such purchase may be made), schedule of all events for authors 

3. SCHEDULE OF ALL EVENTS should be posted on website 6 weeks prior to event. 

4. Include biographies of all authors

5. Online signup for events and sessions with $5 registration fee to reserve seat for event. Remaining seats will be free to first come. Also offer opportunity to purchase ticket online for Keynote address and special events. 

6. Web page and Fee for Reservation to participate in Agent/Editor meeting

7. Hyperlink to area hotels with special event pricing for those who wish to attend the Book Festival. Make sure hotel is on Trolley (public transportation) path.

8. Contact information should be easily accessible

9. Trolley information should be made available because some attendees and presenters may choose that mode of transportation. 

10. Effective festival websites

http://www.decaturbookfestival.com/2013/index.php

http://www.scbookfestival.org/

http://ameliaislandbookfestival.com/

http://www.humanitiestennessee.org/programs/southern-festival-books-celebration-written-word

http://www.florida-chautauqua-center.org/

Publicity Committee: All who have previously attended events should get a schedule and order form in the mail and by email six weeks prior to event. Newspapers within 100 mile area should be provided PR materials and a telephone follow up. Schedule television and radio interviews. Incorporate Twitter, Books Alive Blog with guest hosts, and Facebook Page for 2015 Books Alive. Have ALL Books Alive participants invite their Facebook friends to the event 6 weeks ahead AND send a reminder 2 weeks ahead. Presents email Word document report including copy of PR materials to chairperson four months prior to the event. Billboard for Books Alive? Articles in Atlanta, Birmingham, and Tallahassee papers. List with Community Affairs on Cable networks. Insert info sheet into property tax or utilities bill. Alert Senior Citizens Center on Beach and Snow Birds. Sign up information included in Community Service Brochure through Gulf Coast? Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event. 

Fundraising: City, County, Beach, Visitors Bureau, Corporations and Individuals. Might find sponsors for individual events. Present email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event. 

Keynote Speaker Event: Acquire the Keynote speaker. Assign a host or hostess to squire our special guest around showing them the best of the area. If possible assign our keynote a private condo or beach house. Arrange the venue for the event (select the food, table arrangements, CHECK SOUND SYSTEM TO MAKE SURE SPEAKER CAN BE HEARD IN THE REAR OF THE AUDITORIUM) Present email Word document report to chairperson four months prior to the event. 

Other Possible events to co-ordinate with Festival. Restaurants in area may volunteer their facility as a venue. Emphasize benefit to restaurant for publicity and author exposure:

High Tea and a Toast: Romance Writers Share Readings of Romance  High tea provided by local tearoom with hot tea. Open bar for wine. Listen to Romance Writers speak on writing romances (4:00 Saturday afternoon?) Hats encouraged.

Murder Whodunnit: Supper event arranged by someone in an local theatre group in which participants will solve a crime and Mystery writers will discuss writing fiction (Thursday or Saturday evening)

Book Signing and Moderators: Chairperson co-ordinates with official bookseller at event to make sure author’s books are ordered and available. Check and double check with publishers that each author’s books have been sent and are on hand TWO WEEKS ahead of the event. Arrange area with tables for book signings. Moderator will see to the needs (bottles of water, audio visual needs of the author in the assigned presentation room and will introduce the author. He/she will accompany author to book signing. Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event. 

Hospitality Committee: Arrange formal event for which tickets will be sold for a limited number of guests to visit with authors to be held in a very nice home of one of the event’s supporters/Arrange informal Saturday night event for the authors to be held in the home of another of the event’s supporters. Presents email Word document report to chairperson two months prior to the event. Hospitality Room for authors

Authors Hospitality Baskets – Gift Certificates, Free pass for the Trolley service. Restaurants who wish to offer gift cards to each author or contribute as many as they can to include in a basket from which the authors may draw, Activity venues (Gulf World, Miracle Strip, Golf Courses) Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event. 

Housing: Arrange with the nicest accommodations (i.e. on the Beach) to offer our authors accommodations. Presents email Word document report to chairperson two months prior to the event. Co-ordinate with Vice Chair. 

Transportation: Trolley? Bus at central location? Individual volunteers? Pick the Author/Agent/Editor/Blogger up at the airport if need be. Arrange for transportation to and from events should need arise. Presents email Word document report to chairperson one month prior to the event. Co-ordinate with Vice Chair.

Exhibit Space—Limited spaces for exhibitors (publishers, authors, booksellers, etc.)  Set up gourmet coffee bar as an added fundraiser. i.e. to be set up inside at a table lining the walls of the Foyer at FSU.

Public Vote for Self Published Books Let the public have a say in the self-published books presented to the book selection committee. List those submitted on your Festival Facebook Page, through your website, on twitter and request a vote on those books whose authors you'd most like to hear. Cookbooks, nonfiction, local history, gardening, genealogy -- you might be surprised! While generating interest, you might also introduce a new, important voice into the literary mix.

Local authors- You hope that people will come from all around to the event. Travelers want to know about the area they are visiting. Find some way to showcase local writers at this event. You have spent lots of time, money, and effort to advertise this event and bring people in to enjoy it. The same time, money and effort will not be spent on a separate event. Do not discriminate against local authors by segregating them to a separate event. Weave the best (determined by the book selection committee) into the program and provide a special area to highlight local authors in the exhibit space. You want them to succeed!

In addition, local authors may make your best volunteers. They love books and want to meet published authors! Draw also from area Friends of the Library and the Junior Leagues.

Bookstores: Remaining Relevant in an Increasingly Electronic World

Bookstores:

Remaining Relevant in an Increasingly Electronic World

By
Sharman Burson Ramsey

Two years ago Mercer University Press published my first historical novel, Swimming with Serpents, and I began a journey into a whole new world. Holding the hard cover copy of my first novel was like holding one of my children for the first time. A dream come true. I, having deemed the time and people important enough to write about, thought others would be eager to read it as well. That was when the real world entered along with the realization that no one would ever learn of that time and those people if I did not become involved in the marketing and public relations of that novel.

Enter my friend and publicist, Kathie Bennett of Magic Time Literary Agency, who immediately put together a tour of festivals and book stores that opened the door to friendships and experiences I had never before dreamed. I traveled to book stores where not even a poster advertised my presence and no one showed up. I visited book stores that hosted luncheons for me to speak to a large, engaged group. I made presentations at Festivals where rooms were comped at very nice Bed and Breakfasts, hotels, and motels.

Before getting my books published I was involved with the Friends of the Library in raising money for a new library in my hometown of Dothan, Alabama. Our First Wednesday Author Event met at a local restaurant and we requested a $5 donation to the library to be added to the cost of the meal ordered by those attending. At my request, the owner of several motels in town comped a room for the author and we managed a $50 honorarium for the speaker who also sold books after the program. I also took the author to the local TV station to speak whenever possible, expanding the visibility of the author who honored our small town by giving us the gift of their time.

I recently presented at Books Alive in Panama City, a festival with which I hope to become more involved so that I can apply some of what I have learned both as a host of authors and an author myself to building an even more successful book event. Some of the points on organizing a festival might also apply to bookstore author events.

Two points I want to make are so obvious it seems almost ridiculous to have to mention them. WRITERS WRITE and BOOKSTORES AND WRITERS HAVE A SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP.

• WRITERS WRITE novels, blogs, travelogues, Facebook pages, Twitter feeds, websites, etc.
• Publishing houses have cut back on their advertising dollars and writers must now foot the bill for their own marketing.
• Bookstores need books that readers will read to keep their stores in business.
• Authors need bookstores to promote their books, build interest in an author’s work, and keep readers reading so they can keep writing.
  
  

How can this symbiotic relationship be enhanced to the benefit of both the author and the book store?

1. Bookstores could sell members of the Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Tourist Bureau on the benefit of hosting writers. A writer comes not just to the bookstore, but to community. It is to the benefit of the entire community for to offer authors complimentary housing, trolley, bus, and museum tickets, tours of the city, gift certificates to favorite local restaurants be used during the trip or to bring the writer back to the city. Writers love local color! What better publicity could a hotel, restaurant or town get than to be mentioned in a novel, on a blog, in a local, regional, or national magazine?
   
   
2. Plan an author’s visit to a bookstore enough in advance so that the event can be listed on government websites and appear on digital signs at schools, tourist centers, and government agencies that advertise cultural events as well as through store newsletters and email. Author events benefit students, readers and aspiring writers. You never know when that personal contact might actually be the spark that ignites a career for the next John Grisham. Industry is attracted to communities friendly to the arts.
   
   
3. Think beyond book clubs to organizations like civic organizations, ladies clubs, historical societies and genealogical societies to connect authors with readers. (I have found genealogical and historical societies to be most receptive for Swimming with Serpents and In Pursuit.)
   
   
4. Independent stores might join forces once again calling upon a popular 19^th century phenomenon to rekindle an interest in the arts and learning. Chautauqua might once again  provide social and intellectual events that bring together people who enjoy prose, poetry, and nonfiction of all types. Authors could travel a circuit visiting Independent Book Store events letting the publicity of one benefit all and in the process build a greater audience.

Ignoring this potential, cities and towns lose out on the opportunities for the publicity and good will hosting writers can bring. Cassandra King visited in the Highlands and found inspiration for Moonrise. My own novel, In Pursuit, was inspired by living in South Alabama and North Florida and developing interest in the history of the area.
 

Bookstores have the potential to build Community, something sadly lacking in the world today.

1. Bookstores can be a gathering spot. Book clubs sponsored by bookstores bring people into the store and provide opportunities for friendships and intellectual challenge. They need not be limited to best sellers. Topics such as the Civil War, Local History, Victorian or Georgian Romance, Jane Austen, Harry Potter, and Beatrix Potter would attract different groups. Target ages as well as interests. Wine and cheese, tea and scones, or Kool-Aid and cupcakes could be provided.
   
   
2. Develop a relationship with book bloggers and book clubs in your area. They will help publicize your events. Invite them to every author event. A personal relationship between author and blogger can help the bookseller sell books.

5. The Movable Feast at Pawley’s Island, a collaboration between Litchfield Books and Art Works providing literary luncheons for the large number of retirees and permanent residents, is a perfect example of successful partnering to bring people together and enhance book sales. By visiting different restaurants, they also managed to keep some of them afloat during the off season as well demonstrating the benefit to a whole community.
   
   
6. If the patron cannot come to the store, perhaps the store must visit the patron in the brave new world of books. Hosting book clubs at senior citizens homes and author events at retirement villages might have potential.
   
   
7. Introduce e readers to the older generation. E readers are light enough to be held by those afflicted by arthritis, enable the reader to increase the size of print to be more easily read, and provide sufficient light so as not to demand more light in a room that may be shared. If the bookstore has developed a relationship with the reader a sense of loyalty to the bookstore will have the reader buying e-books online through KOBO with the bookstore getting a percentage of the sale.

Networking is critical to success for a bookstore, an author, and a bookstore’s customer (both adult and student) who aspires to write. By partnering with the schools and universities, bookstores can assist in making authors accessible and encourage young writers.

Bookstores perform a public service by bringing the writer and the reader together.