The Name Game

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." -William Shakespeare

One of the quandaries facing a beginning blogger is how much personal information to reveal. Striking a balance between safeguarding privacy and establishing an online presence requires making a series of choices: avatar or photo; screen name or real life name; vague or specific locations for home and career.

In my own case, I've moved from an avatar








to a photo








My name has expanded from "diane" to "dmcordell" and "Diane Cordell." Although I usually list my location as "upstate New York," I occasionally mention my home town or the school district where I teach. I'm most protective of family members, and use their images sparingly.

Many of my online friends are experiencing a similar evolution, especially on Twitter. With familiarity and trust comes the desire to reveal a true image, mimicking the revelation of personality, philosophy, and character.

And as bloggers establish a presence, they increasingly desire to claim their Voice. Online, as in Real Life, reputations are important.

Because of the content of their postings, some bloggers choose anonymity. A school employee like Taylor the Teacher could well lose her job over a posting like "No Blogs Allowed!" Comments like "District installed new Internet filter today because the other one was too much like we lived in a democracy" and "Apparently kids aren’t allowed to see advertisements, either. This is okay since nobody sees ads in real life America. Unless, of course, they are military ads plastered all over the school. Heil!" are not encouraged in the public school arena.

In her own words

"The Annoyed Librarian is possibly the most successful, respected, and desirable librarian of her generation. She has no other interest than to bring her wit and wisdom to the huddled librarian masses yearning to breathe free. The Annoyed Librarian is a free spirit and you are lucky to have her."

By being No One, she (or could it be he?) is Everyone.


Today, a student blogger stepped out of the shadows. Welcome, Kaelie! It's fitting that you drop the "Curbxstomp" persona as you thank Taylor the Teacher for being your real life mentor. Perhaps some day soon she will be able to join you in the sunlight.


"A name is the blueprint of the thing we call character. You ask, What's in a name? I answer, Just about everything you do." -Morris Mandel








"HELLO, my name is..." by thost

The Sum and Total

"Character is the sum and total of a person's choices." -P. B. Fitzwater

In early April, U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings announced the release of a new publication, Partnerships in Character Education State Pilot Projects, 1995-2001- Lessons Learned.

This government report summarizes programs conducted in 45 states and the District of Columbia to implement specific goals by integrating character education into the entire curriculum, creating a positive school climate and involving families and communities in building student character.

One important conclusion drawn from the study is that

"While character development remains primarily a family responsibility, results of the Pilot Project indicate that schools and individual classrooms have direct and significant influence; that the entire community must be involved; and that it is truly a shared responsibility among students, parents, teachers and the community at large."

The report's State Roll Call lists participants and describes what each of the 46 grantees was able to accomplish.

• Alaska "developed a course curriculum at the University of Alaska, which delivered credited courses for teachers and other training for parents and members of the community."
• Colorado "focused on 10 elementary schools and results taught the grantees six important lessons that were shared with school districts statewide."
• Connecticut made the decision "to dissolve the statewide initiative and support local site development. Successful strategies under the grant were those that were aligned with curricula and did not focus solely on monetary rewards or posters and banners with character education themes."
• Montana decided to test a character education model in five school districts with high populations of American Indian students. "A significant initial challenge—the need to create new materials that fit local values—resulted in a great benefit because it garnered broad local support for the effort."
  

"Partnerships in Character Education" presents valuable data and offers recommendations for effective programs that will foster "caring, civic virtue and citizenship, justice, fairness, respect, responsibility and trustworthiness."

We expect our students to mature into citizens who "will live and work together as families, friends, neighbors, communities and nations." By embedding character education into the curriculum, we can model and reinforce these positive personal attributes.


"A man's character is his guardian divinity." –Heraclitus


"no title yet" by Uqbar

What Was Expected

"From those to whom much is given, much is expected. I have been given much — the love of my family, the faith and trust of the people of New York, and the chance to lead this state. I am deeply sorry I did not live up to what was expected of me." -Eliot Spitzer, on resigning as Governor of New York State, March 12, 2008


My husband came home from work on Monday and remarked, "Well, another Democrat bit the dust!" When I told him I had no idea what he was talking about, he turned on his computer and showed me a video clip of our New York State Governor, Eliot Spitzer, tersely admitting,

I have disappointed and failed to live up to the standard I expected of myself. I must now dedicate some time to regain the trust of my family. I will report back to you in short order.

News networks were quick to fill in the details: the former state Attorney General, applauded for his "passionate pursuit of justice," the man Time magazine Time Magazine named “Crusader of the Year” in 2002, was involved in a prostitution scandal and under investigation by federal officials.

Obviously, this is a huge issue in the news. My morning paper detailed how local teachers were handling this "teachable moment." Since my high school Current Events class hadn't met since last Friday, I decided to see if the students brought up the subject themselves. The first boy in the room (it's an all male group) informed me that the Governor was scheduled to make a statement at 11:30 a.m. EDT, which is 20 minutes into our class. Out went the lesson plans; we talked about what had happened, put CNN live coverage up on the screen, and watched history unfold.

I asked the boys to write a reaction to either the entire situation or to the resignation statement itself. These are some of their responses:

• I think he should be prosecuted severely, especially if he used our taxes.
• Everyone makes mistakes, but he's the governor, he shouldn't act like that. He would be the first person to say it's wrong if just a citizen does it.
• I think it's very good that Spitzer is resigning. Being part of a prostitution ring is despicable. Being the governor of New York should hold him to higher standards. I do not think that you have to be perfect to be a politician, but you should be held to a general set of standards.
• I think that he should resign because you shouldn't be doing things like that when you are in office. I know that he is only human, but when you're representing something like a state, then I don't really think that it [this behavior] is really appropriate.
• I think that he was dumb to do what he did. He is a hypocrite; he was arresting people for prostitution rings and then goes and does it himself.
• I believe he shouldn't resign. He's human; we all make mistakes.

Spitzer acknowledged

I cannot allow my private failings to disrupt the people's work. Over the course of my public life I have insisted, I believe correctly, that people, regardless of their position or power, take responsibility for their conduct.

When he took office a little over a year ago, Eliot Spitzer proclaimed

In a Spitzer administration, the road to responsive and responsible government will begin on Day One. It is a promise based not on false hopes or foolish pride, but on a simple notion of government that has been lost amid the bickering and partisanship of the last few years: the idea that if we work to give everyone the same opportunity — that if we ensure everyone plays by the rules — there is no limit to what we can achieve as a people.

Eliot Spitzer was elected Governor of the State of New York in November of 2006: what was expected of him was integrity and justice.

The end came, on March 12, 2008: what was expected of him was his resignation.


"New York State Governor Eliot Spitzer" by Red Carlisle

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

"I grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy, and lovin' the cowboy ways." -Willie Nelson, My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

They were my childhood heroes, the gallant knights of the plains. Soft-spoken and well-mannered, they were slow to anger but always ready to defend the weak and the powerless. The code they followed was based on moral rectitude rather than the rule of law.

There was a nobility in their largely nomadic life. Wandering from place to place on horseback, the cowboy/heroes fought villains, rescued ladies in distress, and righted injustice.

In the early days of TV Westerns, the protagonists were invariably clean in thought, word, and deed, careful to avoid vices like smoking, drinking, and swearing. They rarely indulged in even a chaste kiss with a grateful lady. Their clothes were neat, their teeth gleamed, spurs shone silver in the sun.
Hopalong Cassidy was the original Man in Black, but we knew he was a "good guy" from the moment he began speaking. Singing cowboys like Gene Autry (an Army Air Corps colleague of my father's) introduced us to some of the traditional ballads of the open range.

There was a King of the Cowboys and Queen of the West. Sky King took to the air to track the bad guys. The Lone Ranger donned his mask; the Cisco Kid wore a sombrero. Straight shooting rancher Annie Oakley reminded girls that women could also be strong and independent.

The "cowboy virtues" were recreated in other times and places. Captain Gallant of the Foreign Legion, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, Davy Crockett: all were cowboys in spirit if not in fact.

Their aim was true, their hearts were gold. They were loners with a mission. They were my earliest role models, those Western cowboys - and cowgirls - of the 1950s.


"I'm a roaming cowboy riding all day long,
Tumbleweeds around me sing their lonely song.
Nights underneath the prairie moon,
I ride along and sing this tune.

See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I'll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

Cares of the past are behind
Nowhere to go but I'll find
Just where the trail will wind
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.

I know when night has gone
That a new world's born at dawn.

I'll keep rolling along
Deep in my heart is a song
Here on the range I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds." -Sons of the Pioneers, Tumbling Tumbleweeds





"William Boyd as Hopalong Cassidy" Wikipedia