Whirlwind of stuff to do...
Nov. 7th, 2009 07:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
songspinnerThis is officially the day-to-get-things-done. After I've had my coffee and breakfast and checked my email and stuff, though. We'll need to get our family portrait taken (or at least our daughter's, so that grandparents and aunts will not fuss) - she had one taken at school, which just looked goofy, and not in a good way, so off to the mall photographer it is and cross your fingers! Haircuts before that and lots and lots of housework. Baking bread. Baking cookies. Sorting through stuff and donating it to our favorite charity thrift store. And grading of papers. And tonight is the celidh (that's Irish Gaelic for music/dancing party), and since I'm in the band, off we'll go for the evening.
I ended up using the incident at Fort Hood as a teaching moment yesterday, as we're studying the history of ancient Islam and the basics of that religion in my history class. I pointed out that CNN and other news agencies got yelled at by (?!) a senator from Texas (a Republican, no less) for spreading rumours and cultural misinformation. We all sat there in class and analyzed it all for bias in news reporting, and noted that the other incident that happened in Florida was "a former employee" and did not say "he is of Christian descent". The kids were sort of appalled that news reporters were suggesting by their methods that the religion of Islam had something to do with what happened, or that the man's reading a Qu'ran was a bad thing or wearing traditional Muslim dress was a bad thing. One raised her hand and asked if the reporters understood that Allah is just a translation in Arabic of "God", the same one Christians believe in and that the clothes the guy wore off duty were for modesty, and I answered, well, I wasn't sure based on the way the reports had gone. Glad CNN changed their reports by midday. And glad to know my students are starting to be able to recognize bias in the media. I really, really wish that the military would get better at recognizing PTSD and other related disorders. I've enough kids with that particular problem who are in my classes, never mind having dealt with it myself, to know how devastatingly out of control it can get in a person's life. I'm glad the president made a respectful and sensitive speech this morning...
I ended up using the incident at Fort Hood as a teaching moment yesterday, as we're studying the history of ancient Islam and the basics of that religion in my history class. I pointed out that CNN and other news agencies got yelled at by (?!) a senator from Texas (a Republican, no less) for spreading rumours and cultural misinformation. We all sat there in class and analyzed it all for bias in news reporting, and noted that the other incident that happened in Florida was "a former employee" and did not say "he is of Christian descent". The kids were sort of appalled that news reporters were suggesting by their methods that the religion of Islam had something to do with what happened, or that the man's reading a Qu'ran was a bad thing or wearing traditional Muslim dress was a bad thing. One raised her hand and asked if the reporters understood that Allah is just a translation in Arabic of "God", the same one Christians believe in and that the clothes the guy wore off duty were for modesty, and I answered, well, I wasn't sure based on the way the reports had gone. Glad CNN changed their reports by midday. And glad to know my students are starting to be able to recognize bias in the media. I really, really wish that the military would get better at recognizing PTSD and other related disorders. I've enough kids with that particular problem who are in my classes, never mind having dealt with it myself, to know how devastatingly out of control it can get in a person's life. I'm glad the president made a respectful and sensitive speech this morning...
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Date: 2009-11-07 10:48 pm (UTC)On the other hand, a hint of progress in the reporting I have seen of the officer who resonded first. The emphasis was on her actions, and *not* on her being *OMG! FEMALE!* It did mention that she was a "mother of two", but men are often mentioned as being "fathers of however many", and her gender was reported, but no big deal made of it.