Even if my recent “Politics Around the Web” posts have turned you off, I hope you noticed that they are a model of a very simple activity for any number of classes – current events, politics, science and math news, more – that want students to read and exhibit critical thinking about what they read. [...]

This is just hilarious, and a brilliant idea at the same time: taking the Wasilla Town Meeting minutes (Sarah Palin presiding), and turning them into a one-man drama performance. Do yourself a favor and laugh as you learn about the extent of this woman’s experience, and worse yet, her leadership style.

Oh yes. Thomas Friedman, author and saint of the edublogosphere for his book, The World is Flat, now flattens shameless dimwit and aspiring 2012 Cheerleader-in-Chief Sarah Palin with this steamroller of an op-ed piece in today’s New York Times. A taste: Criticizing Sarah Palin is truly shooting fish in a barrel. But given the huge [...]

Nothing sadder than a sick joke that’s true. Adennack‘s brilliant flowchart below is not an exaggeration of Palin’s approach when non-answering Gwen Ifill’s debate questions: If you’re as disgusted as I am that the media is calling this insult to democracy and intelligence a “passed test” on Palin’s part (and Ifill miserably failed my test [...]

Call me crazy. I care that science not be confused with superstition in schools. That’s why I like this riposte to Sarah Palin’s “teach them both theories” nonsense about creationism/intelligent design in science classrooms: [N]ext time you hear this innocent sounding, ever so reasonable, “teach both sides” proposition . . . from . . . [...]

Test-Making 101: A Teacher’s Take Most teachers know that multiple choice tests focusing on facts only are easier for their students to ace than essay tests requiring students to use those facts to analyze a problem and reason their way to a solution. A concrete example would be a map test requiring students to merely [...]

A little ice-breaker after my fear-frozen last post: CollegeHumor.com also found noteworthy Matt Damon’s comments about Palin leading the US government and military. But they had fun with it, bless ‘em. Enjoy (and h/t to Crooks and Liars). See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor. (And on an educational note, if any of [...]

[Update: To learn more about Palin's ties to a disturbingly extreme, theocratic wing of Christianity, see these articles from the Christian website, "Talk to Action: Reclaiming Citizenship, History, and Faith." They substantiate all claims with sources, and are very fair. This article is a good, comprehensive start.] From CNN: A Feature on Palin’s Church: From [...]