Vaginas and Nazis and School

School

blackboard_w_letters_smallSchool: The place where students usually learn about mathematics, science, social studies, and bad cafeteria food,  Some students in the past few weeks had lessons that raised controversy and got the teachers in hot water.

First up is a science teacher in Idaho.  When the school’s health teacher wouldn’t cover sex education, he took up the responsibility.  Unfortunately, parents complained when, in his discussion of the facts of human reproduction, he mentioned a word they found horribly distasteful: Vagina.

This is where I say: Huh?!!!!  I know that there are many names for that area of a woman’s anatomy that would cause me, as a parent, to cry foul.  There are so many words and phrases referring to "there" that are insulting and have no place in a school classroom.

Vagina, however, is not one of them.  It is the proper anatomical term for that particular section of a woman’s reproductive system.  It can be found in scholarly papers and in patent applications.  If it’s good enough for scientists and businessmen to use, why can’t it be taught in our school system?

If you are thinking that the students were forced to hear these horrible medical words, then you’d be wrong.  Parents were allowed to opt their kids out if they wanted to.  This means that the teacher was attempting to inform the students whose parents didn’t opt out of proper medical terminology for a subject that is important for students to learn about.

Next is the honors English teacher who assigned a creative writing assignment.  The assignment?  View some Nazi propaganda and then write a paper detailing why Nazi Germany’s problems are all due to the Jews.  Obviously, this raised a few eyebrows.  In fact, a third of the students refused to do the essay outright.  (I’d like to take a moment to congratulate that third for their excellent judgment skills.  They should get an instant A on the assignment just for that.)  Since the assignment was given, the teacher was put on administrative leave.

I understand what the teacher was trying to do and, in theory, the idea is a good one.  (No, not the Nazi thing…. bear with me.)  He was trying to make the students take on a viewpoint that is not their own and write a persuasive argument for it.  This is a good idea as it forces students to review their preconceived notions.

However, not being anti-semitic and not approving of genocide aren’t "preconceived notions" that need to be reexamined.  A better topic would have been why a certain form of music isn’t good (when the student really thinks that it is) or why a particular phone manufacturer is better than an alternative one.  How did the teacher think that the "Nazi essay" wouldn’t generate controversy?

With this and all of the other things that teachers need to deal with, is it any wonder that so many teachers not only quit teaching, but recommend that new teachers not go into the profession?

5 Minutes For Mom Ultimate Blog Party

Blogging

Every year for the past 7 years, 5 Minutes For Mom has run The Ultimate Blog Party.  A group of bloggers get together and introduce themselves to each other.  It’s a great way to meet your fellow bloggers.  For one reason or another, however, I never joined in the party.  This year’s different, though.

Since this will be the first time some people are reading my blog, some introductions are in order.  My name is TechyDad.  Well, on this blog and in social media at least.  I don’t use my real name online mainly as a form of protection.  Not for me, mind you, but I do tend to post a lot of photos of my kids.

my-boys my-wife-and-me

I’m married to B, aka TheAngelForever, and have two boys: NHL, who is 9, and JSL, who is 5 (at least for another month).  I’m a self-confessed geek who loves Doctor Who, Disney, The IT Crowd, Disney, various cartoons, superheroes, Disney, photography, spending time with my family, and Disney.  Oh and did I mention Disney?

speeder-bike

Disney holds a special place in my heart.  Almost 12 years ago, when B and I were married, we went to Walt Disney World for our honeymoon.  While my new bride had grown up going to Disney World, it was my first time and it was magical.  Then, four years ago, we took our kids to Disney World for the first time.  It was amazing watching them experience the wonders of the Disney Park for the first time and each time after that.

phineas-ferb

I’ve also recently become an autism advocate.  After years of trying to figure out what was going on with NHL, we got a diagnosis of Anxiety Disorder and Asperger’s Syndrome.  As we read up on Asperger’s to better help our son, I began to realize that these books and online articles weren’t just talking about NHL.  They were talking about me as well.  Yes, I have Asperger’s too.  I’m remaining undiagnosed, however, mainly because getting diagnoses is expensive, I’ve learned my own coping skills, and a diagnosis for me wouldn’t help NHL.

I went through a bout of genetic guilt over "giving" my son Asperger’s.  After all, it was likely my genes that "caused" it.  Eventually, I came to realize that there was no blame to be assigned.  It wasn’t as if I personally selected which genes would go to him and which wouldn’t.  Instead of feeling guilty, I embraced my position as the person often most likely to have a clear insight into NHL’s motives and actions.  As an Aspie myself, his actions can make sense to me even when they are a mystery to most neuro-typical folks.

Of course, while I can use my insights into the Aspie mind to advance NHL’s cause, it can also have its own challenges.  For example, when I get fixated on things going one way, NHL gets fixated on them going the other way, and some Aspie-Aspie head butting erupts with B in the middle.

During the day, I work as a web developer which is very lucky as I love coding and debugging.  (Self-confessed geek, remember.)  I’m at my happiest when I’m behind a keyboard, typing away, making a website take shape.  I’ve coded FollowerHQ, which is a site designed to help you manage your Twitter followers.  Most recently, I put together a responsive redesign of TechyDad.com.  If you resize your browser smaller, the site should automatically adjust until it compresses into a "tablet" and then "smartphone" version.  A redesign of B’s site is next on my list.

My other love is cooking.  I love finding new recipes to cook even if JSL’s picky eating habits more often than not result in him rejecting the creations.  Every so often, though, I’ll make something that the boys will not only love, but will beg for more of.  Like my Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana Ice Cream (or the milkshake version of the same recipe).

Actually, since my wife offered cake on her Ultimate Blog Party post, I think it’s only fitting that I offer ice cream and milkshakes.

 

If you are a new reader, I hope you stick around.  If you’ve been here before, welcome back.  Finally, if you’re participating in the Ultimate Blog Party, please let me know below.  I’ll stop by and say hi.

The Joys of Debugging

Computers, Geeky Pursuits

debug_computerOver the past month, I’ve had a problem.  Every morning, at around 9am, my server would slow down to a crawl.  I didn’t know what was causing it, but I must admit I was a bit excited.  You see, I could tell that I was going to have a fun time debugging.

Maybe it’s the geek in me, but I LOVE a good debugging session.  It’s like computer detective work.  There’s a problem somewhere and you need to uncover it.  You round up some suspects, test them out, and narrow down the culprit.

Sometimes, your first round of suspects reveals the guilty party, but sometimes you need to dig deeper.  When this happens, you start searching the Internet.  Maybe someone else has had this problem.  Perhaps there is information on how to uncover more clues.  Either way, you are bound to learn something new.

Finally, the root cause is discovered and a fix is devised.  It is put into place and the problem goes away.  Another solution discovered and your skillset is expanded.

At the time of this writing, I’m not sure if I’ve found the problem.  I’ll need to wait at least one more day to find out if the daily slowdowns continue.  If they have, I’ll have found the answer to a very complicated riddle.  If not, I’ll keep at it.  A degree a stubbornness is essential to debugging, but it helps when you enjoy the process.

NOTE: The image above is a combination of Ant by Andy and Cartoon Computer and Desktop by DTRave.  Both images are available from OpenClipArt.org.

Feeling Like An Imposter

Life, Parenting

I’m a fraud… a total fraud.

Ok, not really.  However, there are times when I feel this way.

I’ll be at work planning out a web application and suddenly I’ll feel a wave of anxiety.  A voice inside my head will start telling me that I’m not really good at this stuff.  After all, the voice says, there are people much better at web development than I am.  Therefore, the voice concludes, I must be a total fraud who will be found out and fired soon.

The truth of the matter is that the voice is right in a small way.  There are people whose web development skill dwarfs my own.  However, that’s true of any pursuit.  No matter what you choose to do, there will be someone better at it than you are.  Very few people can point at an accomplishment and say "Nobody is better at this than I am."

The voice takes this grain of truth and skews it… spins it until it is proof positive that my web development skill is zero because others surpass me.  All of the websites I’ve coded, the applications I’ve written?  They’re dismissed by the voice as no proof whatsoever.  It must have been luck that enabled me to do all that but one day my luck will run out and I’ll crash and burn.

The voice isn’t just limited to my vocation, but to my parenting skills.  It will tell me that I’m not good enough to parent my boys.  I lose my temper too much.  I don’t know how to handle certain circumstances well enough.  I rely on my wife for things that I should know how to do myself.

Again, there’s a grain of truth in this.  I do lose my temper more than I’d like to.  This mainly takes the form of my Asperger’s butting heads with my NHL’s Asperger’s.  Working on controlling this is one of my biggest parenting challenges.  I also can be clueless when it comes to handling some circumstances such as navigating school politics.  Finally, I do rely on my wife for a lot, but this is true of any marriage.  Marriage should be a partnership.  Show me a marriage where one spouse does everything and the other does nothing and I’ll show you a marriage that is doomed.  Besides, my wife has some strengths in areas where I am weaker and vice versa.  Each of us supports the other so that together we are stronger than we would be individually.

Thanks to a pair of humorous tweets by @muskrat_john (of Apples To Apples and Munchkins fame), I now know that this feeling has a name: Imposter Syndrome.

imposter

Most days, I’ll push the voice out of my head easily, but other days it is tougher.  I’m pretty used to it by now.  I’ve battled this for decades and it likely won’t stop anytime soon.  I’ve just got to keep my accomplishments in mind and know that I didn’t stumble upon where I am today.  I worked hard, made mistakes, learned from them, and gained much knowledge along the way. 

Have you ever had to battle feeling like an impostor in your own life?

JSL The Story Writer

JSL, Writing

StoryLast Friday, B’s parents took JSL and NHL to dinner.  When they got back, JSL showed us a story he had written.  Yes, in addition to learning how to read, JSL’s been learning how to spell and write.  He put it together, along with some inspiration from Lulu And The Brontosaurus (which B had read to him recently), and wrote his own story.

Here is what he wrote (with creative spelling intact and only his name changed to "JSL"):

JSL and the Brontsarus

One day JSL went to a frorist for a brontsarus but the nit came and JSL go to slef and wen JSL wok up he fawd a brontsarus but the brontsarus riley fawd he and they trd into fres.

And here’s the grammar and spelling-corrected version for those who find Kindergarten creative spelling hard to read.  (I did leave the giant run-on sentence intact, however.)

JSL and the Brontosaurus

One day JSL went to a forest for a brontosaurus but the night came and JSL went to sleep and when JSL woke up he found a brontosaurus but the brontosaurus really found him and they turned into friends.

I’m so proud of JSL for writing his first story.  This is definitely one project of JSL’s that will be kept for years.  I can’t wait to see what other creative works he comes up with.

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