Here is the actual bill and amendments for anyone who is interested!

http://www.legis.state.wv.us/Bill_Status/bills_text.cfm?billdoc=hb2107+intr.htm&yr=2015&sesstype=RS&i=2107

This past week I was sitting and listening to two friends talk about a third party.  The third party had a trational Asian sounding name, which also sounded like another mutual friend of our's name.  One of the friends present at the conversation looked up and said, in reference to the friend with the traditional Asian name, "why is her name like that...

As we came to the end of the tour and walked toward the main office, the assistant principal shook his head and pointed out a boy, no more than eight or nine years old, who was standing outside the door to his office. Gesturing to the child, the assistant principal said to me, "Do you see that boy? There's a prison cell in San Quentin waiting for him." Surprised by his observation, I asked him how he was able to predict the future of such a young child. He replied, "Well, his father is in prison; he's got a brother and an uncle there too. In fact, the whole family is nothing but trouble.

A happy coincidence.... due to being slow on typing up my thoughts, I have a bit more to add that will make this outside post sort of two parts.

Dewey

What makes progressive methods align better with democratic principles and ideals?

Ch 4 Social Control

p, 55: In the traditional classroom, the teacher kept order "because order was in the teacher's keeping, instead of residing in the shared work being done."

Have you experience school this way? As a context where authority is shared via participation in activity (as in a game) rather than imposed by an authority figure?  What kind of organization and plannig is needed to achieve this shared social control?

Depends on an understanding that education is a social process.

Ch 5 Freedom

passivity and silence as hallmarks of schooling are problematic from the standpoint of progressive ed.  

I came across the following poem while flipping through Gary Snyder's Turtle Island, and I thought about our discussion about Chris Jordan's "Midway" project (and his other work).

—

"ONE SHOULD NOT TALK TO A SKILLED HUNTER ABOUT WHAT IS FORBIDDEN BY THE BUDDHA"

—Hsiang-yen

I decided to visit my site yesterday at sunset, which was lovely, and it's interesting looking back on it now and reflecting the next day. I can't say whether it is harder or easier, better or worse, having had a night to absorb and reflect on my short visit. I climbed down the hill behind Batten to my site, over clumped and frigid leaves that crucnhed satisfyingly beneath my feet as I walked, and then over frozen snow trodden over only by animals (and me). I was watching the ground carefully as I stepped, attempting not to fall and observing all the animal tracks in the snow. There were prints from deer and raccoons and other unidentifyable animals.

I'm going to put up my blog post on Saturday instead of Tuesday night, because I'm being productive on this warm Saturday afternoon, yo. 

Okay. I'm going to write about my first time in a women's prison. Our group  all squeezed ourselves into a BMC van and went to a prison in the area (can't say which one it is on the internet). I had heard about this opportunity a year ago and was very interested to go and see what it's like in there. We spent a total of about three hours in there. I was very apprhensive about going in. I have never been in a working prison before; I had only seen the insides of them on documentaries. Needless to say, the place was quite dismal and stark.