The Blog In 2006: We Want Your Thoughts
The folks administering our blog tell us comments may slow down a bit during the Christmas and New Year Holidays. Too many things for bloggers to do…shopping, traveling, parties, bowl games, etc. However, we would love to prove them wrong about our holiday blog activity.
This might be a good time to reflect on the first six months of Politically Homeless, and what we can do better in 2006. So let us know:
Anything we should do to improve the blog?
Also, during the Holiday time, give some thought to what you would like to see discussed on the blog as we begin the New Year. Obviously, being an election year, we will have much to cover about candidates and issues. However, give us your input and comments on:
What are some of the key issues/topics you would like us to cover in the coming year?
posted by Blog Master @ 8:54 AM
34 Comments:
i liked having some recommendations about who to vote for in the city elections. hope you will do that for the 2006 elections.
I would like to see a section about whether or not the county commissioners should reinstate a library advisory board. I like the section called “sound off’. It has quite a few interesting topics.
How about doing some local advertising to spread the word about the blog? I have told several people about it. I bet newspaper, radio, etc. would really increase the number of people who use the blog.
Do a section on the sherriffs department like the one on the county commissioners.
Enough about the library!!!!!!!
How about increasing the size of the type used for items on the main page of the blog? I’m getting older and my eyes aren’t what they used to be.
Discovered your blog a few weeks ago. The comments are very good and much more civil than another blog like yours that I know about. My only suggestion would be to cover more local issues.
I also agree that the part on city elections was valuable. I recently moved to Ocala and the blog gave me some information on the candidates and what people thought about them. I followed the blog suggestions on who to vote for. Although, there was a miss on one of the suggestions.
I like the blog fine the way it is. Don't fool with it.
Let's hide the real purpose of the blog and pretend to be interested in what people think for altruistic reasons then use the information we gather for political manipulation of issues to support our secret candidates.
Anonymous said . . . Let's hide the real purpose of the blog and pretend to be interested in what people think for altruistic reasons then use the information we gather for political manipulation of issues to support our secret candidates. . . .
Youn use it for what you want. The rest of us will use it as a form of exchanging ideas, hopefully, without malice and without threats.
--pwf
Sounds like Anon who commented at 5:59 AM needs some mental health counseling.
Or better yet, maybe they should not be getting up so early in the morning---seems to be making them very bitter and paranoid!
I would not change anything at this point. Might want to consider adding a couple of links.
There is a link on the blog that is very good, Florida Political News. I go to it each time I visit the PH blog. If there are others like this one, how about considering adding them.
I notice some blogs also have links to their local newspapers. However, adding the Star Banner might offend some bloggers!
Since when do we care if we offend anyone?
i agree, who cares if the star banner offends someone. add it to the list. idiots have never offended me. i just consider the source and go on about my blog reading. we already have to listen to enough liberal left wing crap from creekbaum and a few others. this way they can easily go from the blog to their mother ship the banner.
How about letting a blogger be a guest blogmaster and allow them to have a feature space on the main part of the blog? They can pick a topic that they think would be of interest and use the feature space to talk with other bloggers. Kind of a feature chat room.
Don
(OTOW)
Good idea, Don. Not sure how they would make it work. Maybe the blogmaster can figure it out.
let one of the people who has filed the book challenge at the library come on as guest blogmaster and explain what they are going to accomplish. i read the newspaper article and still don't understand it.
I would like to see more on education related local issues.
Darwin's theory is a pillar of modern biology. And a new state-by-state analysis by an influential education foundation concludes that Florida's standards are among the worst in the nation - with a big reason being its failure to adequately explain evolution.
The report by the Washington,D.C.-based Fordham Institute calls Florida's standards "thin," "naive," "disappointing" - and in some cases, flat wrong.
"The superficiality of the treatment of evolutionary biology alone justifies the grade "F,' " it says. "But there is in any case scant mitigation elsewhere in these documents."
Critics say the report exposes a glaring oversight in Bush's education revamp, which has focused mostly on reading and math in early grades. It also adds urgency to a pending review of Florida's science standards, which some observers say could devolve into a culture war showdown over evolution and intelligent design.
Bush's off-the-cuff remarks came in response to reporters' questions after a hurricane-related meeting in South Florida.
Evolution "is a scientific theory and he's not opposed to it being taught in classrooms," Bush spokesman Russell Schweiss later clarified. "But he doesn't think it should be necessarily dictated in the standards."
"Oh, boy," University of South Florida chemistry professor Gerry Meisels said Thursday, when told of Bush's position. Meisels directs the state's Coalition for Science Literacy. "Frankly, the state of Florida will be embarrassed, nationally and internationally, if it takes that position."
Science is a hot topic nationwide: The federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates that all states begin annual standardized testing in science by the 2007-08 school year, and a barrage of recent studies show American students falling behind their global peers in math and science.
Industry groups are sounding alarms over the fallout in economic competition, but science educators say average citizens need to be scientifically literate, too, to get a handle on everything from global warming and pollution to hurricanes and bird flu.
"It is important to have more scientists and engineers," said Matt Werhner, program manager for physical sciences at Hillsborough Community College. "But we're going to have many more citizens voting on what the scientists and engineers are doing."
The Fordham analysis concludes standards nationwide have not improved since the institute's last review in 2000. The same number of states earned A or B grades, while slightly more failed.
Among the shortcomings: Trying to teach too much; taking a hands-on approach to "absurd" levels; and watering down evolution "in response to religious and political pressures."
"A number of states have resisted this madness in their science standards but too many are fudging or obfuscating the entire basis on which biology rests," says the report, which was chiefly authored by biologist Paul Gross, former head of the Marine Biological Laboratory at Woods Hole, Mass., and a former provost at the University of Virginia.
Florida was among 15 states that earned F grades, along with Alabama and Mississippi in the South.
Georgia got a B.
South Carolina got an A.
The institute took Florida to task for a "prevalence of errors in fact and presentation" in some subject areas. Example: Florida's standards say a second-grader should know "a thermometer measures the amount of heat absorbed by an object."
"This is careless and false: a thermometer measures temperature, or better, changes in temperature, not the amount of heat absorbed," the report says. "We hope that any second-grade teacher who cannot distinguish between heat and temperature will not pass this disability on to the students."
Florida's standards were slated for review next year. But the Department of Education decided to hold off until 2007 or 2008, citing a longer-than-expected review of math and language arts standards and bad timing with an ongoing textbook review.
Critics suggest political considerations: Elections for governor and the state Legislature are next year, and the teaching of evolution and/or intelligent design could become a potent issue.
Florida's standards were last revised in 1996. They don't mention evolution by name but reference some of its core principles, including the fact that species change over time.
Fordham reviewers were not impressed: "Loose, if not incorrect, generalities offered as standards," they concluded.
In his brief remarks, Bush, a Catholic who believes God created humans, did not offer a detailed explanation for his position or what changes he would like to see. It's also unclear how much influence he may wield. The Department of Education's standards review process is lengthy and includes input from science teachers and the public. The ultimate decision rests with the state Board of Education.
Bush leaves office in January 2007, but the board is likely to still have a majority of his appointees when it's time to vote.
Pinellas County science supervisor Bob Orlopp said earlier this month that postponing the standards review isn't a problem. But many science supervisors want to see changes, he said, and many agree with the institute's conclusion that Florida's standards try "to cover everything."
Many students don't retain much science knowledge unless teachers drill deep on core issues, he said.
"The standards we have are good," he said. "I just think there's too much."
Evolution aside, Florida has other hurdles to clear to improve science literacy, including a critical shortage in its number of highly qualified science teachers. The state will need 4,500 next year alone, yet all of Florida's universities combined are expected to produce about 200. Many districts will be forced to turn to teachers trained in other fields.
Another problem: Students' basic skills in reading comprehension and math.
In Hillsborough Community College science classes, many recent high school graduates have "dismal" reading skills, said Mara Manis, HCC's program manager for biological sciences. So dismal, she said, that before a recent science test, she had to explain the difference between "preceding" and "proceeding."
HCC science instructors also say student math skills are so weak they can't apply the science they do learn. Manis said many students don't know 1 in 4 is 25 percent.
Don't know what the above article has to do with the blog in 2006.
A good article. I believe both ID and evolution should be taught. the question is: in what discipline and/or by whom?
An alternative, take them both out of science and teach them as comparative religions.
Nothing new in the article about student's lack of science skills. Frankly, I would take both of these topics totally out of the system, let religious institutions teach them, and spend more time on math and science.
We have many more critical education needs to concentrate on than ID and evolution!
PS:
I have noticed there is already discussion on the above topic in the blog section Sound Off.
Perhaps the blogger posting the article might want to look there to see what other people are thinking on the subject.
just produce some high school graduates who can read, write and do math. if you can't read, studying evolution and intelligent design are of little importance.
hope the democrats don't get baited into a debate on the evolution intelligent design issue. smart democrats will push the issue of performance of our schools in the basics. notice i said smart democrats.
Keep the section called Sound Off. The guest blog master seems like a good idea. How about letting Bobby D do a stint and then B. Creakbaum.
Deleted duplicate comment.
Leave the blog alone. It’s fine as it is. Wait a year before you think about any changes.
The blog should do more to appeal to gays and lesbians.
Give a prize for the most stupid comment of the week.
I hope you're not a retired English teacher; your comment could use editing.
“Give a prize for the most stupid comment of the week.”
I would give the prize to the comment about the Retired Teacher by the numbskull who criticized her English.
Ain’t my English real good? Now pick on stupid ol’ uneducated me.
At election time, dedicate an individual section of the blog to each of the races for office.
How about getting some of the influential elected officials like Randy Harris, Jim Payton, Dan Owen, Dennis Baxley, Ed Dean to write a section on the blog about something important they want to communicate with citizens about. They could then get some input from blogers about it.
harris write something. ha, ha....
Thanks for the comments on improving the blog. We also received several e-mail suggestions. Keep commenting and sending your ideas to us.
With the 2006 political season starting soon, we obtained many ideas for covering the various local and state level races. We expect some hot and heavy comments from our bloggers at that time.
There will be more to come on the political scene as candidates start to declare their intentions to run for office. Right now, we haven’t heard much on who might be interested in running. Have the incumbents already scared off any opposition?
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