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conspicuously unrefined

so the wrapper around the cheese was actually part of the cheese - who knew? I'm a populist of sorts, a "small d" democrat who believes that knowledge and wisdom and art and culture should be accessible to all. I don't believing in talking down to people Read More...
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2009 12 23

John Spencer

12 Comments

Home Depot Jesus

I'm sitting with Wayne the Pre-industrial Poet. He's smoking a cheap cigar. It's not that he's trendy, just that the trend happened to him. In the late seventies, he was a rebel. He and his wife formed a non-profit where they love the poor in creative Read More...
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2009 10 13

John Spencer

5 Comments

so folk singers are terrorists

I talked to a man the other day about the issue of profiling and terrorism. When I asked him for criteria, he insisted that it's cultural rather than religious. "You know, you don't go after all Muslims or even all Arabs. You find the right suspects. Read More...
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2009 10 5

John Spencer

2 Comments

Obama's Speech to Children

I find it interesting that Americans seem more concerned with Obama's speech to students than they are about the educational policies of the current and previous administration. People have sent me e-mails about the "indoctrination" and "brainwashing" Read More...
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2009 09 5

John Spencer

10 Comments

why George Soros shouldn't buy kids school supplies

I heard an interview with multibillionaire George Soros today. Apparently, he's passing out two-hundred dollar checks to families in the ghetto so that they can buy school supplies. It's a nice gesture, really. It's probably compassionate, too. Still, Read More...
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2009 08 11

John Spencer

2 Comments

naming rights

I find it disturbing how often the U.S. names weapons of mass destruction on conquered indigineous people groups. Photo Credit Flickr Creative Commons http://www.flickr.com/photos/destinysagent/2576915531/ Read More...
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2009 06 29

John Spencer

1 Comments

bread and circus and teamwork

Twenty years ago, I sat on the couch and watched tanks fire into a crowd of college students. Peter Jennings remained calm as he offered a play-by-play of the Tiananmen Square protests. As I grew older, I wondered whether that generation would rise up Read More...
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2009 06 5

John Spencer

7 Comments

defining the Digital Divide: and why Sufjan Stevens, indie films and academic journals don't have a monopoly on using pretentiously long sub-titles

I am nearly finished with my master's project, but a recurring theme kept emerging in the process. A Digital Divide exists that prevents low income students from thriving in the Digital Age. The definition of this Digital Divide tends to remain narrow, Read More...
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2008 10 25

John Spencer

2 Comments

Student Blogs

This year, I have had the students set their individual blogs to private (out of a heightened sense of security on behalf of parents). However, I have expanded some of the blogs my class is participating in this year. They helped with the design aspects Read More...
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2008 10 10

John Spencer

1 Comments

should we teach kids to be patriotic?

Sometime after 9-11, I lost all sense of patriotism. It might have been the way people used the American flag to sell beer (not unlike Jesus Breathmints and granola bars). Perhaps it was when I first heard a country singer telling me we should stick a Read More...
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2008 07 4

John Spencer

9 Comments

Welcome to the Wiki World

Changes in education often occur when there is a convergence of new technology and a shift in the social context. Thus, the Enlightenment ideology coincided with the rise of the nation-state and the Guttenberg Press. The current system of education coincided Read More...
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2008 05 5

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude

0 Comments

three lessons from students

It's a false cliche to say that we learn more from students than they do from us. The reality is that teachers typically teach more than they learn. By the end of the year, I will have taught a student about history, economics geography, how to construct Read More...
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2008 04 20

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude

0 Comments

I ride past a sign

While on my bike, I ride past a tagged-up sign. In the foreground is the latest freshest graffiti, supplanting the corporate letters advertising for an incumbent politician. (I can't think of the last time we had an election) It seems a poignant message Read More...
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2008 03 17

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude

0 Comments

cutting edge technology

Teachers say they want "cutting edge technology" in their classrooms. They view the latest technology tools as a great cure that will finally transform their mundane teaching experience into a twenty-first century, state-of-the-art facility. Words are Read More...
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2008 03 11

John Spencer's Blog - A Billion Blogs of Solitude

0 Comments