Update on My 8th grader's paper on An Inconvenient Truth

[ourbluenation]

This is a follow-up to this thread...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x502080

I met with the principal who said this has happened before. She seemed sympathetic and frustrated. She asked though that I follow protocol and discuss it with the teacher first, which I did, and she would be happy to meet with all of us if that is my wish.

So, the teacher DID in fact tell my kid that she couldn't do her paper on AIT, and if she did her grade would be lowered. But, she said that she thought to herself afterward (riiiiight) that she shouldn't have said that. She assured me that she will not get a reduced grade. So that issue has been resolved.

But then the woman tried to make a case for "natural cycles" TO ME. Without going into it too much ( I wish you all could have been there - it was something to see the bias right in front of you), she said she tries to teach the kids to have a healthy skepticism. The problem is, after talking to her I can see that she has lost her ability to have a healthy skepticism on this issue, and has crossed the line into biased land.

I relayed this information to a very attentive principal who was eager to hear about the meeting with the teacher. My husband and I will follow-up with a letter stating that she's lost her ability to be a healthy skeptic. We feel it would be very disruptive to our daughter's schedule to remove her from the class, even though we're sooooo compelled to do so.

anywho - that's where it's at.

[Fresh_Start]

1. Sounds like good progress, you should commend yourself

Don't expect school or government or any other institution to provide balance or healthy skepticism.
Enrich your childs life with outside reading etc.

[Quixote1818]

2. Did you give your arguments when the teacher lectured you?

nt

[ourbluenation]

4. you bet - we talked about the bubbles in the ice core samples and she

changed the subject to volcanos and sulfer...I said what about the bubbles? She changed the subject again.

[Quixote1818]

13. Does she understand Peer Reviewed Science?

Did you point out that the 600+ studies that suggest that humans are contributing to global warming are Peer Reviewed and those that say otherwise are not?

[jean]

16. Peer Reviewed Science is an important component for the daughter to cover

in her paper. Her classmates need someone to lead them out of that darkness.

edit: I'm assuming the other kids will be able to read her paper ...

[Quixote1818]

23. Absolutely! Even the cigarette companies can still find fringe scientists who

say cigarettes don't cause cancer. None of these nuts are Peer Reviewed though. Our whole country needs to be educated on what Peer Reviewed science is.



That would be a great thing for the daughter to cover!

[Quixote1818]

18. Print out this article and give it to her

http://www.energybulletin.net/18545.html

[ourbluenation]

38. that is excellent - I will do that. Thank you so much.

[ourbluenation]

3. oooh - I forgot this nugget....

she told the kids that "people made a lot of money on this movie so their motives are questionable". The principal's jaw almost hit the floor on that one.

[saltpoint]

8. The Beatles made a lot of money on "Ticket to Ride," but that doesn't mean

it's a bad song.

Or that their motives were "questionable."

[jean]

14. Is there documention of Big Oil funding anti-global warming rhetoric and 'theory?" It would

be a shame to waste the huge opening this teacher just gave your daughter.

[Quixote1818]

26. There is a LOT more money to be made by the other side by snuffing out the truth. nt

[ourbluenation]

37. I brought that up. She switched it to "why is america to blame - what about China?

I took this to be a reference to Kyoto. I said "but we live here, we make policies for our country and besides that, pressure can be brought to bear on countries who continue to pollute.

She was all over the place and very nervous.

[SemperEadem]

44. aside from the fact that that is a juvenile arguement for an educated adult to make

That's like one complaining that their sibling was getting a pass, but they weren't--- "What about (sibling's name)? How come they dont' have to turn off the tv and go do their homework? That's not fair!!!! (storms off in a thunderous tantrum)"

So, what about China? There has been way too much recent documentation that while China does have its issues with the environment, they are eager to embrace putting a check on their carbon footprint and looking for green alternative solutions for their people. But like you said, we can only make policy for this country because this is where we are.

She sounds too immature to be a teacher. Did she get her degree from a box of Cracker Jack?

[Quixote1818]

52. Sounds like she is using Republican talking points. nt

[Donnachaidh]

74. how the heck is this woman TEACHING science?

Good god almighty!

She sounds like a freaking to-the-bone FREEPER. :grr:

[DuaneBidoux]

82. She is a science teacher? God, I hope she isn't denying the scientific credibility

of those who understand that evolution is a scientific fact.

[DuaneBidoux]

81. Tell her: "you are right, China is responsible too, but it would be hypocritical

to try and get them to reduce emissions when we are doing nothing. We should be a leader by example and this would give us authority to bring the rest of the world along to try and solve the problem together."

[wtmusic]

28. and the NSTA receives millions from Conoco-Phillips

whose motives are questionable?

http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=06-P13-00049&segmentID=1

[Labors of Hercules]

43. It's so important

That the other children in this teacher's classes are given a real opportunity to explore this issue with a different authority. The best option would be for the principal to insist on inviting several climate change scientific authorities to the classroom, or even to show the students AIC in a school-wide setting and have a discussion about climate change introducing as many sides to the issue as possible, allowing them to draw their own conclusions.

As a High-school math teacher, One of the projects that my students worked on involved the algebraic concepts involved in developing computer models for predicting weather. Climate change was the hottest topic that evolved out of their research and discussions, and at the end of the year, they had moved past simply concluding that climate change is "man-made" to start developing their own unique solutions to the issue.

Climate change is an amazingly important discussion that needs to be brought to all the students at your daughter's school. It sounds like this teacher would prefer her views be the only ones the children in her class are exposed to this year. As a parent and a teacher, I would do everything in my power to see to it this issue does not end at her classroom door.

[Beaverhausen]

60. Gore donated all of his profits toward research

Did the teacher also say that Gore's pool is heated to 72 degrees all year long? :eyes:

I would not want my child being taught by such an uninformed twit.

[saltpoint]

5. I like the way you and your husband are handling this.

Have other parents in that class had similar reactions to this teacher?

[lumberjack_jeff]

6. You should be proud of your daughter.

Do you mind if we share some of that pride? :hi:

[ourbluenation]

10. awe thx.

:hug:

[FVZA_Colonel]

7. I'm damn glad to see that the grade won't be lowered,

though it doesn't surprise me that the teacher would try and lecture you on the "truth" behind the "Global Warming hoax."

[Toots]

50. I suspect that she will get an A as it stands now

She (the teacher) has to be afraid now that anything less than an A will be looked upon as her lowering of the grade. This "teacher" does not sound very thoughtful or for that matter intelligent..

[Lars39]

9. She has not kept herself updated/educated on the latest in the sciences.

Remedial education for her seems to be in order.

[Forkboy]

11. I wouldn't remove her from the class

She'll learn more from this teacher than what the teacher thinks. :)

[Poiuyt]

22. Maybe ourbluenation's A-student daughter can learn some "lessons" from this

teacher, but what about the typical C-student, who's going to be a lot more gullible and accepting of what is instructed by a teacher?

[Forkboy]

33. Well that's true

Good point.

[ourbluenation]

46. that is my fear too. As Mr. Ourblue said, "it puts her teaching abillites into question".

and remember - she briefly turned my daughter into a skeptic in the beginning of the semester and climate science wasn't even in the curriculum.

[sinkingfeeling]

12. I would ask that the teacher submit the studies that she is citing to her class for

review by parents and principal. Where does she get that global warming is dismissed by the 'majority' of the scientific community? What is her source?

[Quixote1818]

15. I agree

Sounds like she is sighting the same two fringe scientists Sean Hannity loves.

[wtmusic]

25. Absolutely, especially if they are studying climates nt

[wicket]

17. Thanks for the update!

:hi:

[wtmusic]

19. Your daughter is obviously smart enough

to recognize that just because her teacher is a teacher, doesn't mean she can't be mistaken. I'd bet my bottom dollar the teacher has never seen AIT.

Good thing it was you, and not me. These people bring the Irish out in me and it would have been to my kid's detriment.

[jean]

35. How magnificent would it be ... if her paper results in a school-wide viewing of AIT!!!

[wtmusic]

36. It sounds like the principal would be on board

this may just backfire in Little Miss Ignoramus' face.

[Lex]

20. Has the teacher said whether she (the teacher) has seen AIT yet?

Just curious.

[ourbluenation]

47. she told the kids she watched it for a little while and turned it off cuz of bad science

But she told me she watched the whole thing.

[DemBones DemBones]

63. Then she either lied to her students or lied to you.

That should be of interest to the principal. I'm very relieved that the principal is not like so many principals are. {Administratium:the densest of all elements}

[immoderate]

21. I used to warn my students...

I would say, teachers are people, and eventually you will encounter one that is not as smart as you. How do you handle it? Discussion would ensue.

--IMM

[garybeck]

24. Very nice, keep us updated! I would suggest...

if you have the occasion of having to prove her bias, just submit that recent inter-governmental reoprt (link below).

put it this way, if your teacher is saying that most scientists do not think humans cause global warming, it is not bias, it is a LIE.

the report clearly shows that the vast majority of scientists now believe global warming is caused by humans. I think it's something like 90% of the scientists have a 90% confidence level that humans cause it.

I think if you just focus on that - the agreement among scientists, you will show this "teacher" for what they are. bias at the least, liar in actuality.

here's the report:
http://www.ipcc.ch/SPM2feb07.pdf

gary

[NI4NI]

27. Congrats to you! Good Parenting!

[Stinky The Clown]

29. Copy the school board and the media on yur letter to the principal.

[H2O Man]

30. Good for you!

Now that was the best way to handle that issue! You not only set the proper example for your daughter -- and that alone is great! -- but you made both the teacher and the principal aware of your concern. Well done.

[truedelphi]

31. Wow My admiration is off the charts... n/t

[Poiuyt]

32. Your daughter shouldn't forget to mention the recent IPCC report, which came out after the movie

Of course, I don't want to do your daughter's homework for her. This is more for the teacher's education:

Global warming report released in Paris
mongabay.com
February 2, 2007

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) officially unveiled its long-waited report on global climate change. The report was produced by some 600 authors from 40 countries and representatives from 113 governments reviewed and signed off on the report the course of this week.

The scientists said global warming was “very likely” -- with a greater than 90 percent level of confidence -- caused by human activity, specifically man’s burning of fossil fuels. The report makes it clear that most of the currently observed global warming is not natural.

“Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global mean sea level,” the scientists said.

"The scientific debate is over," said Spencer Weart, director of American Institute of Physics's Center for History of Physics in College Park Maryland. "It now becomes an economic and political debate" over how to deal with the problem of global warming, he said.

http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0202-ipcc.html

[ourbluenation]

48. I printed it out and brought it with me. But I FORGOT to leave it there!

:shrug:

[DemBones DemBones]

64. Hey, you can now mail it to the principal and ask

that she be sure the teacher receives the information. :evilgrin:

[jean]

34. Does this teacher adequately prepare her students for high school level science classes

in this district?

Do her kids show any deficits in learning so that the high school science teachers have to backtrack and re-educate them (wasting valuable time)? Do kids from her class go on to take AP Science (or related excelerated) classes at the high school?

AND, while we're at it, does the high school employ teachers like this one? You might as well find out now and steer clear of them OR highlight them in tandem with the 8th grade teacher issue.

[IChing]

39. thanks for the update

Good first step also notify the national science teachers association.

http://www.nsta.org/

I taught science and physics.

[IChing]

58. ATTENTION MOM INFO here on contacting.

Better links here:

http://www.nsta.org/contact

http://www.nsta.org/feedback

They need to know about this also see if the teacher is a member.

[Scriptor Ignotus]

40. i'm actually skeptical about global warming

but at the same time I'm WAY more skeptical about the deniers of global warming. Virtually all of them can be tied to the gas and oil industries. These parties have far, far more to gain then the environmentalists or the Weather Channel (this was an actual argument put forth by Sen. Inhofe).

Besides, the pragmatic reasons for reduced energy usage are enormous anyway.

[Poiuyt]

51. In the world of science, being a sceptic is a good thing

That's how science works. Ignoring the factual evidence, however, is a bad thing.

[Patiod]

54. That's my attitude

I don't CARE if AIT is correct or not (although I think it is).

At very least, reduced energy usage will lead to reduced dependence on foreign oil, which EVERYONE can agree is a Good Thing.

That's my only argument to deniers: What's the downside of decreased dependence on the Saudis & Co? That's one for which their little talking points haven't prepared them.

[Lisa]

66. It's possible to want more evidence for some of the ideas suggested

... in the movie, such as the possibility that the deep ocean circulation may stall, or that sea level would rise 20 ft. in a relatively short time -- but believe that most of the things Gore covers are credible. (The scientists I work with have also said this -- one of them is an IPCC author, and while his slides are not as nice as Gore's, he stands by the report's findings.)

[Shine]

41. As the parent of a 7th grader, I applaud you.

:applause: Well done, Mom! :thumbsup:

[Irishonly]

42. Good Job

Keep monitoring the class.

[SemperEadem]

45. yeah, right

" So, the teacher DID in fact tell my kid that she couldn't do her paper on AIT, and if she did her grade would be lowered. But, she said that she thought to herself afterward (riiiiight) that she shouldn't have said that. "

Right--she probably thought "I should have just kept my mouth shut and flayed her GPA while I had the chance to..."

I'm glad to see that you got a decent immediate resolution to this.

[suffragette]

49. Well done

Your daughter just learned an invaluable lesson about standing up for her point of view.

You did a great job of standing up for her and handling the situation calmly and effectively.

And the teacher learned there is oversight by some parents and she can't just squelch her students' views.


:applause:

[WinkyDink]

53. The principal sounds incompetent to supervise. Did this teacher change her policy

before, after, or during her meeting with you?

[babylonsister]

55. Thanks for the update. You handled the situation well! nt

[Bronyraurus]

56. Get her fired!

Call the ACLU and sue! Sue! Sue!

Oh, you mean you resolved the issue by discussing it like adults? Never mind.

[roguevalley]

57. This principal needs to downgrade this idiot on their evaluation.

This is pushing biases and should be also a blow against her parental management skills. Fucking witch.

RV, venting, 27 years a teacher and GLAD to be retired.

[DemBones DemBones]

67. The teacher probably has tenure, since

the principal indicated this wasn't the first time this came up. But she should make a note in her file.

(Also glad to be a retired teacher! Too much emphasis on standardized tests and tests in general. We were required to count the semester exam as 1/3 of the grade, test average as another 1/3 and daily work as 1/3. With 2/3 of a student's grade dependent on test performance, kids who worked hard and understood the material in class but froze on tests, or had poor reading skills that affected their test grades, were almost certain to fail.)

[RestoreGore]

59. What school is this? n/t

[RestoreGore]

62. Can you give us information regarding what school it is?n/t

[aikoaiko]

61. About the natural cyclces.....

...does anyone have a link to the graph from AIT that showed the natural cycles of CO2 and temperature over the centuries where the last cycle has the CO2 skyrocketing higher than normal and the temp is near the zenith of the natural cycle?

By the way, kudos to you and your daughter.

[RestoreGore]

79. Here is one

This shows unequivocably that rises in CO2 cause warmer temperatures. If you have the book An Inconvenient Truth, the graph you referred to is on page 66.

[aikoaiko]

80. Thank you. That shows the effect I was speaking of. maybe you can asnwer this question

As CO2 increases the temperature starts to increase almost immediately, but in the last 700 years or so, the CO2 levels are rising to almost historic levels, but the temperature increase is not keeping pace...yet.

Does anyone speak about this apparent contemporary lag?

[RestoreGore]

83. I would guess in part El Nino...

Which is lifting with scientists predicting a busy Atlantic hurricane season this year. It was also reported by NASA that 20 of the 21 hottest years have occurred within the last 25 years, and the hottest was 2005. The overall trend shows rate of temperature rise with CO2 rise, and that is exactly what Al Gore is discussing in the movie... that temperature is now keeping up the pace with CO2 rise and that it is going to be catastrophic for this planet with humans putting up more and more of it. There is also a good graph showing predicted and observed upper ocean temperatures that compare natural variability with expected variation due to human causes, and there is no comparison. The human causes practically bring it off the chart. That graph can be found on pgs. 78/79. I hope I was a help.

[kevinbgoode]

65. I think what is most important to point out here. . .

is that the teacher is acting in a terribly unprofessional manner. This isn't so much about her labeling and presenting her own opinion on a subject in the classroom, but ONLY if students are not made to feel held by that opinion on their grade. Even then, the introduction of an opinion is something that should be handled in a very careful manner - it is obvious she does not have that ability.

Moreover, she based her instructions not on encouraging skepticism by presenting different ideas and encouraging thought and criticism, but by basing it on her OWN idea as the "true" one. Not professional at all.

Ideally, she shouldn't be showing any indication about any personal opinion on the subject. Her job is to help the students develop THEIR ideas - not HERS. And when students are programmed to cynically spit back to the teacher her own ideas in order to secure a good grade, the whole educational process changes into an indoctrinational process. Of course, conservatives view education as nothing more than political indoctrination anyway - their complaints about the "liberal" school system only underscore what THEY think it should be, and as we've seen from the press, what happens when they whine about the "liberal bias" and show us a more "balanced" example by producing Fox "News" and The Washington Times.

Their idea of a "culture war" is the complete destruction of America. They have done more in the last decade to encourage divisive hatred among our people, sabotage any trust in our media and educational system, bankrupted the country and entangled us in endless wars of no purpose.

[EC]

68. Is this for a book review?

Link is locked, so I do not know the story...but if a book review couldn't she do it on "Earth In the Balance" and still teach good environmental habits without the "global" word even being uttered?

[LiberalHeart]

75. Why would DU remove the original discussion?

[EC]

77. Don't know

unless they considered it a dupe? Don't know...

[Lisa]

69. gee, I wonder if that teacher will be taking the class to a real weather station

... to talk to actual scientists and look at genuine equipment. Or is she just going to grouse about Al's movie? If she's going to go on about "natural cycles", she ought to ante up and invite a dendrochronologist or oceanographer to class, to talk about things like El Nino. Maybe she doesn't know any -- or else, she's worried that they will tell the kids that it IS possible to have natural climate fluctuations and an ongoing warming trend superimposed over top of them, at the same time.

[Occulus]

70. You know,

I think we'd all like to help you further- and I think we all agree that teachers such as this one are very prone to repeating the bias over and over again, as you saw right in front of you when you talked to her. Given those things, have your daughter mention everything the teacher said which could possibly be put into realistic contention during each period, and bring it to us here. Your daughter will end up being both armed and armored, as it were.

What subject does this teacher instruct?

[RestoreGore]

71. Yes, I would like to know too

Wonder why no information of substance about this is being given here if this is true so people can help.

[blondie58]

72. very nicely handled!

You should all be proud of yourselves.

But now I feel sorry for the rest of the kids in the class. If they believe everything that this teacher says, they will become little non independent thinking robots.

Your daughter is an exceptional 8th grader.

[raccoon]

73. Good for you and your husband for standing up to this crap!

No doubt this teacher (and hopefully others at the same school) will think twice before perpetrated such biased BS again.

[Dorian Gray]

76. It sounds like a good resolution

let us know how your daughter does on her project. I'm sure that the principal will be looking out for any problems with the grade, as well. :)

And the teacher may be a little liberal now with the grading on your daughter's project because she fears looking too stern and getting in trouble! :)

[garybeck]

78. THE TEACHER NEEDS TO BE REPRIMANDED.

Something needs to go on the teacher's record. There are facts and there are opinions. This is not a matter of opinion. There isn't any room for grey area. If the teacher said all those things, it's not opinion, it's lies.

If he/she is not reprimanded in some way they'll continue to lie to other students about this important subject, and maybe others too.