“Some of the best basketball players on Earth will stand at that foul line and shoot foul shots for hours and be bored out of their minds,” says Williams. Math students, too, need to practice foul shots: adding fractions, factoring polynomials. And whether or not the students are bright, “once they buy into the idea that hard work leads to cool results,” Williams says, you can work with them.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Where did the last 20 years go?
This past weekend, I met a group of complete strangers at a bar in Wheatfield to celebrate our 20-year high school reunion.
OK, so not all of them were complete strangers. A few I’ve kept up with over the years — or more specifically, a few I’ve stalked on Facebook — but the majority of them are people that I’ve said very little to since we all walked across the stage at Artpark some 20 years ago.
Some I don’t remember at all. I really wanted to ask them, “are you sure you went to Niagara-Wheatfield?” I’m sure that’s more a testament to my poor memory than anything else. Oddly, they remembered me. It’s not so much that I was shocked that they remembered me, as much as I was shocked that they knew who I was in the first place. You see, I wasn’t really in the cool-kids crowd in high school.
Hard to believe, huh?
I learned a lot about myself during the reunion. For one thing, I’ve apparently always been the pain in the posterior that I am today. I don’t always remember being so obstinate. I thought that was something I picked up while working in radio. Or maybe in college. I thought I was quiet and mousy in high school.
“You were the guy that sat in the front seat in law class and gave the teacher a hard time,” one of my fellow class members said Friday night. In other words, not only did I not remember some of my classmates, I didn’t remember myself.
There was a 10-year reunion. I skipped it. I think a lot of people skipped it. I have a feeling 10 years isn’t a long enough absence from high school to miss it.
We had a 17-year reunion. It was at a bar in Niagara Falls. I remember it being a little more superficial than the 20-year one. And I didn’t enjoy it nearly as much, but it did reconnect me with a couple classmates in particular who I’ve since stayed in touch with a little more closely than I had before.
This time around, I reconnected with a couple more classmates whom I hope to stay in touch with in a similar manner as to how I’ve stayed in touch with those I talked with at the last go-round.
We talked about life, liberty and the pursuit. Nothing seemed as though it was out of bounds. From jobs to exes to politics to (for at least one classmate) time spent in jail.
Everyone had such a great time, there’s already talk of doing a 21-year reunion. This, of course, won’t happen, but it’s cool to think that people had such a good time.
Scott Leffler is a decent guy … no matter what his schoolmates may tell you. Follow him on Twitter @scottleffler.
Sunday, July 22, 2012
Wanted: Ross Perot or someone like him
Twenty years ago I made the most life-altering change a boy of 17 can make; I left my parents’ home, put Western New York in my rearview mirror and moved to Ohio to attend school.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that was 20 years ago. It seems like the fear and excitement of being dependent upon myself was just yesterday. And sometimes it’s hard to imagine it was only 20 years ago. I’ve done at least 100 years worth of stuff between then and now.
I spent the summer of 1992 watching political ads and reading every story I could find about the candidates. I knew I would be voting in November and I wanted to know as much as I could about the candidates.
I knew I didn’t like George H. W. Bush. He ruined my trip to Italy. Well, not really, but the planned Latin Club trip to Rome in 1991 got nixed on account of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait when we ran to the defense of the poor brutal dictators there.
Bill Clinton wasn’t really on my radar too much. He was governor of Arkansas, played the saxaphone and had smoked pot. None of those feats sounded all that impressive, honestly. I was looking for someone capable of more.
Then there was this guy with big ears, a funny voice and an incredible affinity to charts.
I fell in love with H. Ross Perot early on. Then he dropped out of the race and lost me. Then he came back. I was a little leary after that, as I think many people were.
I arrived at college in late August, 1992. Like every other teenage boy moving away from his parents’ house, I had one thing on my mind — registering to vote.
Okay, so maybe I wasn’t like every other teenage boy. While many of my schoolmates were focused on parties and social activities, I kept a keen watch on the presidential election. To be fair here, I’m not saying I didn’t drink my share of really cheap and tasteless beer my freshman year of college. But I interspersed it with discussions about the two-party system and the ballooning deficit.
In the end, Perot’s dropping out had lost him my vote. I voted for Clinton in 1992 … and again in 1996. I liked Clinton, but I’ve always kind of regretted not sticking with Perot. I haven’t voted for a major-party candidate since 1996 and I don’t plan to this year. I just wish I had a candidate that inspired me — and had a chance to sway the election — this year.
In truth, I wish Ross Perot would come out of retirement and run again. I don’t think that either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney have a clue how to (or a real desire to) fix what’s ailing us. And it would appear that the things that are wrong with America today are things that Perot discussed some 20 years ago.
I’m not saying that Perot is our only hope. But he’s a better candidate than the two we have now.
Sometimes it’s hard to imagine that was 20 years ago. It seems like the fear and excitement of being dependent upon myself was just yesterday. And sometimes it’s hard to imagine it was only 20 years ago. I’ve done at least 100 years worth of stuff between then and now.
I spent the summer of 1992 watching political ads and reading every story I could find about the candidates. I knew I would be voting in November and I wanted to know as much as I could about the candidates.
I knew I didn’t like George H. W. Bush. He ruined my trip to Italy. Well, not really, but the planned Latin Club trip to Rome in 1991 got nixed on account of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait when we ran to the defense of the poor brutal dictators there.
Bill Clinton wasn’t really on my radar too much. He was governor of Arkansas, played the saxaphone and had smoked pot. None of those feats sounded all that impressive, honestly. I was looking for someone capable of more.
Then there was this guy with big ears, a funny voice and an incredible affinity to charts.
I fell in love with H. Ross Perot early on. Then he dropped out of the race and lost me. Then he came back. I was a little leary after that, as I think many people were.
I arrived at college in late August, 1992. Like every other teenage boy moving away from his parents’ house, I had one thing on my mind — registering to vote.
Okay, so maybe I wasn’t like every other teenage boy. While many of my schoolmates were focused on parties and social activities, I kept a keen watch on the presidential election. To be fair here, I’m not saying I didn’t drink my share of really cheap and tasteless beer my freshman year of college. But I interspersed it with discussions about the two-party system and the ballooning deficit.
In the end, Perot’s dropping out had lost him my vote. I voted for Clinton in 1992 … and again in 1996. I liked Clinton, but I’ve always kind of regretted not sticking with Perot. I haven’t voted for a major-party candidate since 1996 and I don’t plan to this year. I just wish I had a candidate that inspired me — and had a chance to sway the election — this year.
In truth, I wish Ross Perot would come out of retirement and run again. I don’t think that either Barack Obama or Mitt Romney have a clue how to (or a real desire to) fix what’s ailing us. And it would appear that the things that are wrong with America today are things that Perot discussed some 20 years ago.
I’m not saying that Perot is our only hope. But he’s a better candidate than the two we have now.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Obama’s subtle class warfare may work
Seldom do I put my hand up to my gaping mouth and say, “Oh my God” following a television commercial. Almost never following a political ad. But President Barack Obama’s recent anti-Romney salvo, “Firms” made me do just that.
The television commercial features former Governor Mitt Romney singing America the Beautiful in a horrible off-key voice. A series of screen posts say that Romney had jobs shipped to Mexico and China, presumably while with Bain. It says that as governor, Romney outsourced jobs to India. And it points out that he keeps his money in Swiss bank accounts and offshore in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. It ends with the tagline, “Mitt Romney’s not the solution. He’s the problem.”
Couple this with the Obama camp’s hammering Romney over his tax returns and it seems clear to me that the president wants to make sure everyone knows that Mitt Romney is not one of us. It is class warfare at its finest — or worst, depending on how you see it.
The genius in the ad, though, is that it’s designed not so much to make us fear what he would do as president, but angry over what he’s done to this point.
Romney’s people have said repeatedly that the economy is the issue and that no one cares about Mitt’s tax returns. I’d agree with them. Except …
If Obama can make people believe that one of the reason we’re in the dire straits we’re in is because of Mitt Romney (and people like him) then he can ensure that those people won’t vote for Romney. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll vote for Obama either, but in real logistical terms, any vote not for Romney is a vote for Obama and the administration’s guns know this.
Don’t be fooled — Barack Obama is not one of us, either. But he doesn’t need to convince you that he is. He doesn’t need to convince you to vote for him. Just not to vote for Romney.
When it comes down to it, the president is running against himself. This might not be the case if the GOP had found a stronger candidate, but they didn’t. The found Romney. And all the nose holding in the world won’t make him palatable with those on the far right. And it won’t make him any more likable with the left, either.
As much as I despise class warfare — I hope to be one of those 1 percenters myself some day — it can be effective. The GOP has used it effectively for years, essentially telling the middle class that any desire it has to get a bigger piece of the pie is an attempted theft from the wealthy.
For years, Democratic efforts to combat this attack has been feeble. For the first time in recent memory, they’ve found an effort that seems to work in the Obama ad.
Of course, for me the most interesting thing here is that Obama is playing offense. I’m not used to seeing Democrats play offense. Neither is the GOP.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the Romney camp responds.
The television commercial features former Governor Mitt Romney singing America the Beautiful in a horrible off-key voice. A series of screen posts say that Romney had jobs shipped to Mexico and China, presumably while with Bain. It says that as governor, Romney outsourced jobs to India. And it points out that he keeps his money in Swiss bank accounts and offshore in the Cayman Islands and Bermuda. It ends with the tagline, “Mitt Romney’s not the solution. He’s the problem.”
Couple this with the Obama camp’s hammering Romney over his tax returns and it seems clear to me that the president wants to make sure everyone knows that Mitt Romney is not one of us. It is class warfare at its finest — or worst, depending on how you see it.
The genius in the ad, though, is that it’s designed not so much to make us fear what he would do as president, but angry over what he’s done to this point.
Romney’s people have said repeatedly that the economy is the issue and that no one cares about Mitt’s tax returns. I’d agree with them. Except …
If Obama can make people believe that one of the reason we’re in the dire straits we’re in is because of Mitt Romney (and people like him) then he can ensure that those people won’t vote for Romney. Of course, that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’ll vote for Obama either, but in real logistical terms, any vote not for Romney is a vote for Obama and the administration’s guns know this.
Don’t be fooled — Barack Obama is not one of us, either. But he doesn’t need to convince you that he is. He doesn’t need to convince you to vote for him. Just not to vote for Romney.
When it comes down to it, the president is running against himself. This might not be the case if the GOP had found a stronger candidate, but they didn’t. The found Romney. And all the nose holding in the world won’t make him palatable with those on the far right. And it won’t make him any more likable with the left, either.
As much as I despise class warfare — I hope to be one of those 1 percenters myself some day — it can be effective. The GOP has used it effectively for years, essentially telling the middle class that any desire it has to get a bigger piece of the pie is an attempted theft from the wealthy.
For years, Democratic efforts to combat this attack has been feeble. For the first time in recent memory, they’ve found an effort that seems to work in the Obama ad.
Of course, for me the most interesting thing here is that Obama is playing offense. I’m not used to seeing Democrats play offense. Neither is the GOP.
I’m looking forward to seeing how the Romney camp responds.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Who might you be if you were someone else?
There aren’t many Scott Lefflers in the world. And there’s only one me. (No doubt there are scores of people who would tell you that’s a good thing — I’m inclined to agree.)
The previous paragraph is a purely unintentional poem, I assure you. But I digress … already.
Occasionally, I get emails or phone calls for people who aren’t me. Surely, you have the same issue from time to time. My standard operating procedure is to respond to the email or phone call and tell them that they person they intended their message for didn’t receive it. I’d hate to think that some day someone was calling me and got someone else and they just deleted it. I may have already won the Publishers Clearinghouse or something and I wouldn’t even know it.
I work with a man named Bill Wolcott. I’ve known Bill all of my adult life. I admire him greatly. He has the best stories and an incredible work ethic. Occasionally, I have to call him to ask him a question about a story he’s written so I can make sure I understand it. It’s part of my job here at the paper.
I used to work with another man named Bill Wolcott. I have his phone number as well. Occasionally, apparently, I called and left him voicemail intended for the other Bill Wolcott. One day he called me back to let me know that he’d received numerous messages for the other Bill. Hilarity ensued.
I digressed again. Sorry.
A couple weeks ago, I got an email intended for another Scott Leffler. See, there are a few of us. There’s me, there’s a professional baseball player and there’s a mixed martial arts fighter. I’m sure there are others as well, but when I google myself, those are the other two I often find.
The email I got was a contract for a professional fight in Las Vegas. It offered me more money for a single fight than I’ll make this year. I considered accepting the offer. I mean, I’d be willing to get beaten up for a few minutes in exchange for the ability to pay off my car loan. Heck, I got beat up in high school for free!
Instead, I emailed back telling the guy he had the wrong Scott Leffler. I was a little miffed that I never got a thank you. It’s not that I did it to get any sort of recognition, but a thank you would have been nice, don’t you think?
Oddly, the baseball player and I have mutual acquaintances. A couple of years ago a friend of mine told me she ran into him at a Buffalo Bisons baseball game. She mentioned to him that she had a friend named Scott Leffler. He said, “The radio guy?!” Apparently, he’d googled himself, too. Either that or he had gotten a contract offer for me, too … and it never got forwarded on to me.
The previous paragraph is a purely unintentional poem, I assure you. But I digress … already.
Occasionally, I get emails or phone calls for people who aren’t me. Surely, you have the same issue from time to time. My standard operating procedure is to respond to the email or phone call and tell them that they person they intended their message for didn’t receive it. I’d hate to think that some day someone was calling me and got someone else and they just deleted it. I may have already won the Publishers Clearinghouse or something and I wouldn’t even know it.
I work with a man named Bill Wolcott. I’ve known Bill all of my adult life. I admire him greatly. He has the best stories and an incredible work ethic. Occasionally, I have to call him to ask him a question about a story he’s written so I can make sure I understand it. It’s part of my job here at the paper.
I used to work with another man named Bill Wolcott. I have his phone number as well. Occasionally, apparently, I called and left him voicemail intended for the other Bill Wolcott. One day he called me back to let me know that he’d received numerous messages for the other Bill. Hilarity ensued.
I digressed again. Sorry.
A couple weeks ago, I got an email intended for another Scott Leffler. See, there are a few of us. There’s me, there’s a professional baseball player and there’s a mixed martial arts fighter. I’m sure there are others as well, but when I google myself, those are the other two I often find.
The email I got was a contract for a professional fight in Las Vegas. It offered me more money for a single fight than I’ll make this year. I considered accepting the offer. I mean, I’d be willing to get beaten up for a few minutes in exchange for the ability to pay off my car loan. Heck, I got beat up in high school for free!
Instead, I emailed back telling the guy he had the wrong Scott Leffler. I was a little miffed that I never got a thank you. It’s not that I did it to get any sort of recognition, but a thank you would have been nice, don’t you think?
Oddly, the baseball player and I have mutual acquaintances. A couple of years ago a friend of mine told me she ran into him at a Buffalo Bisons baseball game. She mentioned to him that she had a friend named Scott Leffler. He said, “The radio guy?!” Apparently, he’d googled himself, too. Either that or he had gotten a contract offer for me, too … and it never got forwarded on to me.
Tuesday, July 3, 2012
Hey board of education members! Read This!
I found a great story on Slate.com (link below) detailing the nation's problems with math and science education thanks to a friend and former co-worker of mine, Tasha Kates.
The story explains that technology is destroying the standard teaching method for math and science by making it easy (and fun) for students and teachers alike, while dumbing it down and using incorrect examples and analogies.
It says that many things worth learning in life aren't exactly fun and even uses a sports example:
The same analogy could have been made with musical instruments. I was bored as hell learning and practicing scales over and over again. But it drilled the fundamentals of music into my head. And because of that, 20 years after leaving high school, I can still pick up a trumpet and play it, as well as read music.
On the education level, the same analogy could be made with foreign language. Sure, teachers make it fun. I thoroughly enjoyed Bruce Stassburg's Latin class in high school. But there was no cheating. He drilled conjugations into our heads starting on day one ... and continuing for four years. If today's math teachers taught Latin, we would have used an electronic Speak & Spell, no doubt.
One of the things the story mentions is that the graphing calculators used in most schools today are completely unnecessary, something I've said for a long time. Amazing considering the nearly $100 every parent has to shell out for these unnecessary calculators.
Personally, I've always though the calculators were unneeded because after students leave the classes which use them, they almost never go on to talk about sine, cosines, etc. In fact, to be quite frank, I have no idea what those terms mean. I just remember that they go along with those calculators.
One telling point in the story is the fact that 89 percent of high school math teachers believe their students are ready for college math at graduation and only 26 percent of college math teachers believe their students are ready when they get there. That's a huge disparity. (63 percent for those of you without calculators)
I'm not saying that American math teachers are bad. And I'm not saying they're lazy. One teacher oft-quoted in the story had to rebel against his school board to be allowed to keep a chalk board in his class instead of going with one of the new "interactive whiteboards" that seem so popular today.
I think we get seduced by technology. I know I do. If it has electricity running through it, I like it. If it also has an Amoled screen, I like it even more. I'm hardly a technophobe. I read books and play games on my Android phone. I have a work laptop (Mac) as well as a personal one (Windows). I have the internet on my TV (GoogleTV) and I've been coveting a Kindle. But I still know how to use a typewriter, a pad of paper, and read a real honest-to-goodness book. Just because something is shiny and noisy and makes us go "ooh and ahh," doesn't mean it's a useful tool for education.
And it's not just math and science where technology is taking over. The Niagara Falls School District several years ago started giving laptops to all students. Tool or distraction? I don't honestly know. In the Lockport City School District, many students are using iPads on a regular basis. Are they learning with them? Again, I don't know, but my daughter told me she loves playing MineCraft.
The story even takes potshots at standardized tests, showing statistics that they don't actually help kids to learn anything and actually hurt in terms of teaching kids how to learn.
I can't really speak to "how things are" in high school now. It's been 20 years since I exited those hallowed halls. But I remember that when I was in high school, I didn't really feel like I learned much (aside from Latin conjugation). What it felt like to me was that I was in a holding pattern until I got to college and my maturity caught up with my brain. I felt like I was learning how to learn. So if we aren't teaching kids how to learn, but instead are making it "fun" and "easy," then what the hell is the point of education system?
Seriously, check out this story on Slate.com ...
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