>New posters or readers here should keep in mind that there is a small but dedicated cadre of reform math supporters from places far from Ridgewood who take pleasure in masquerading as ‘stakeholders’ in local debates.
True ‘gadflies’, motivated by politics above all else, they are more than willing to interrupt conversations between local debate participants with stink-bomb posts designed to elicit an emotional reaction from you, for which you are then criticized as having somehow demonstrated hypocrisy (read: “check mate”).
I for one find this behavior pathetic. But to each his own. Looking on the bright side, if this is the sum total of all the support the Reform Math movement can muster on a Ridgewood-centric website, it’s probably a good thing. It tends to show that truly local supporters of that curriculum have exhausted their store of potentially persuasive arguments in support of their position, and are now running on fumes, hoping and praying that the tincture of time will relieve them of their current troubles.
>Well said, 5:24. The circle is complete.
>You’re funny, 7:35. You make me laugh. Who wrote this little script for you, because it doesn’t really “fit” with the conversation and the point I was trying to make. My point was about how no “culture” is perfect. That previous ya-hoo was babbling about the “culture of freedom” and how all the other cultures out there were evil or godless or some such nonsense, and therefore there is no reason to expose our children to those other cultures. Just bar the doors and pretend they don’t exist. (Except in as much as we can use their oil and gas). why did you see the need to turn this into some kind of weird left-vs-right thing?
But actually thank you because you did sort of support my point. Our culture can look like just as much of a mess when you see our skimpy vacations for men and women, our “fascination” with drugs, our kooks who want everyone to carry a handgun, and our nationwide ambivalence toward immigrants (AKA people like our great grandparents, AKA the people who pick the lettuce you eat). THANKS!
>Cultural alladay is great! Have you attended it? I enjoy the displays and take my children to experience new cultures. My children have participated by educating others about their ancestors culture. This is not political correctness, this is necessary to foster tolerance.
Unfortunately many here were absent for that class…
>Oh, dear, I just noticed 4:51’s bizzarro misrepresentation, so I must comment again!
“You must think these non life enhancing cultures need you to give them some kind of acceptance.”
What? Cultural Alladay isn’t for THEM you moron, it’s for US! You’re right, they don’t need us to give “acceptance” to their culture! But we do need to be exposed to their culture. We do need to accept it. For US to be better citizens of the world.
And where do you get off calling any culture but ours “non-life-enhancing?” What the __? Looks like SOMEBODY really could use a Cultural Alladay!
>5:24pm- Do not, for one moment try to re write history. The people standing at the doors denying children entrance were INTOLERANT of other races, and other cultures for that matter. They, like you, would have strongly opposed a cultural alladay. Their reasoning?
Why do we need to know about those ____. You fill in the blank.
I am glad our schools foster a climate of diversity.
and to the original poster of this string: I posted checkmate. I live in Ridgewood, I am not a staunch supporter of reform math. I was trying to illustrate how fanatic you are. I didn’t have to. The rest of you did a beautiful job on your own with all this anti alladay sentiment.
>”What? Cultural Alladay isn’t for THEM you moron, it’s for US! You’re right, they don’t need us to give “acceptance” to their culture! But we do need to be exposed to their culture. We do need to accept it. For US to be better citizens of the world.”
like i said DOWN WITH AMERICA DAY
“But we do need to be exposed to their culture. We do need to accept it”…. you mean we need to except women as property as they are in most of the mid east or Turkish prisons ,or putting bombs on our kids, or slavery or no human rights or individual liberty or authoritatism or secret police or abject poverty ,you need a history lesson and you post show the total misunderstanding of US history …..no thanks I pass thats why my grand parents came here to get away from all that crap….
>7:18, original poster here.
Almost without exception, I have discovered that “staunch” supporters of reform math are the ONLY supporters of reform math. Such people are dead set against giving an inch to those who oppose using reform math materials as the main artery for delivering K-12 math instruction. As a result, they set their face like flint against their antagonists, refusing even to engage in anything other than a superficial, staged discussion of the merits of reform math versus modern (updated) versions of traditional math curricula. In fact, as soon as they are caught in a contradiction, or are presented with incontravertible proof that one or another assertion they’ve made in support of reform math, or as a criticism of traditional math instructional methods, has no foundation in reality, they inexplicably retreat into the beaurocratic ether. This is very frustrating to those of us wishing to engage in an adult dialogue.
You say you are not a staunch supporter of reform math. I say this means you are a prime candidate for recruitment into the battle against reform math. What do you say–are you up to the fight?
By the way, and strictly as an aside, I thought I’d ask: In what way have I delved into fanaticism?
>I realize this is way off the original topic, but this is just so annoying I can’t seem to drop it!
Are you paying attention? Cultural Alladay is about the ART and CULTURE of other peoples. LEAVE politics out of it. I need a HISTORY lesson? You need a friggin’ humanities lesson. Or, more accurately, a HUMANITY lesson. Can you not appreciate a work of art, created by an artist who was born in another country through no fault of his own, purely based on the qualities of the art?
Of course we don’t need to accept Turkish prisons (odd thing to focus on but whatever), bombs on kids or slavery, etc. Just like here in the U.S. I don’t accept the criminalization of the poor, the cronyism of our president and his pals, or our bombing of kids and other civilians in Iraq. But that doesn’t mean I should trash all American art and culture. Cultural Alladay does not address those things — we have other means to teach children about those things.
Cultural Alladay is not a contest about which countries are “better” or “worse.” Look up jingoism in the dictionary, you Ugly American.
>America is the only country where you can come from another country and become an AMERICAN. You can’t go to Germany and become a GERMAN, etc.
You cultural leftists apply too much weight to cultural purity. Culture is “a way of life,” end of story. In America, most people live within our cultural boundaries. Such as, if you’re allowed to beat your wife in your other culture, it WON’T be tolerated here. If you’re allowed to cut the clitoris of your daughter with a razor when she’s 13, it WON’T be tolerated here. American culture is based on freedom and respect for the individual under our laws (not anyone else’s laws!). Tolerance is a loaded PC word which is not required under our rule of law. I don’t have to be tolerant, I just have to be respectful and civil.
References to “diversity,” “multiculturalism,” and “tolerance” are meant to enforce political correctness, a sort of mindset that some on the Left have deemed necessary to their anti American goals.
For instance, we are multi-ethnic, not multi-cultural.
Words matter.
And yes, to have a chance at a well-lived life, culture matters too.
>7:18 said, “I was trying to illustrate how fanatic you are. I didn’t have to. The rest of you did a beautiful job on your own with all this anti alladay sentiment.”
YOUR fanatism is showing.
>…oops…bureaucratic ether! Too many vowels in them there woods.
>Why do YOU get to say “end of story” and that’s that? Nice ego. You can try and define culture for your purposes, but THIS discussion was about Cultural Alladay in the Ridgewood Schools.
“References to “diversity,” “multiculturalism,” and “tolerance” are meant to enforce political correctness, a sort of mindset that some on the Left have deemed necessary to their anti American goals.” Sorry, I think YOU are wrong (dare I say ‘end of story?’). But — you’ll notice that I TOLERATE your right to have your disturbing opinions. I’ll even tolerate the diversity that allows you to insult me by accusing me of anti-Americanism. See how that works?
>Mr. goldgerb please go away. Your leftishims are nauseating on this blog.
>9:43am – You get a standing ovation from me.
2:45pm- who is Mr. Goldgerb?
Surprise, surprise- underneath the happy town facade there are pretty intolerant people around here…
>11:59 did you type that while looking through your Burka? I say we celebrate the culture of the Taliban because they let you have a computer for the day.
>To 2:30pm:
See, I knew the extremes would come out pretty fast. No, we do not celebrate the culture of the Taliban- because that is not a culture, that’s an ideology. however we would benefit from celebrating the Afghan culture.
Just like we would celebrate the German culture and not Nazism. I think the distinction is pretty obvious.