Common Core Groupthink

It's dangerous to get your news from your Facebook news feed. It's often more one-sided than Fox News or MSNBC.

I keep seeing images like this one being shared.  They criticize the "common core" standard that's being implemented in New York State.  This post is less about that standard (because I haven't researched it enough) but more about thinking critically.

I first saw the above and thought:  "Wow.  What is this?  It's really stupid.  What was wrong with the old way?"  It's easy to fall into the trap.

But after I kept seeing this being reposted, I figured I might as well try to understand it.  Surely it had to be a joke!  Why would the state's top educators insist this must be taught?!

It took a few minutes (which is about a hundred times longer than it takes to click "like" and "share") before I came to this scary realization:  This insane way of thinking about math is actually the way I think about math!  (Even scarier:  It's probably the way you think about it, too!)

Sure, when you do it on paper, it's easier to line up the digits and solve it the way on top.  But you're only learning how to solve it.  On a piece of paper.  You're not actually learning about what the numbers mean.

When you're adding up your grocery bill at the supermarket or trying to figure out how much everyone should put in when you get the check at a restaurant, you're probably not going to sit there with a pen and paper, line everything up, and solve.  (OK, fine.  You'll probably pull out your smartphone's calculator app to solve it.  Or, even more likely, have someone else do it and hope it works out.  But that's NOT what our kids should be taught in school!)

Math is more than just digits falling into alignment.  It's a concept involving real-world quantities.  The second method works with this.

Why should kids be taught there's only one way to solve problems?  Why can't a second way be taught, especially if it's more intuitive and practical?

Parents are reacting to methods like this by pulling their kids out of class.  Not only does this keep our children from learning, it teaches them that they can just sit at home when they don't like something.  Maybe this is why U.S. students rank so poorly against the rest of the world.

Critical thinking is about more than just solving subtraction.  It's also a way to think about those social media memes.

I Can't Take It Anymore

Inspired by an actual Facebook comment that was intended to be nice.

Irwin Simner, 1936-2014

So very sad to hear the news that Irvin Simner passed away today.

I spent years working with him engineering his "Out Behind The Barn" on WRHU "88.7 FM Radio Hofstra University" (back when we thought launching an AIM screen name for the show was a huge deal). I learned so much from him about broadcasting and music. He loved his country music and was eager to share videos and songs with me and many others.

Alex Dollin, Irv (Irwin/Irvin) Simner, Kara Koch and Geoffrey Sorensen (Photo: March 2006)

I'm not sure that most people ever knew just how much preparation he put into his shows every week, carefully planning out the songs for the couple of hours he was on the air, often with a theme. (I particularly enjoyed his Valentine's Day shows when he'd play songs about cheating and breaking up. He had quite a sense of humor.) He knew I didn't feel comfortable using the turntable so I was thankful that he always had his shows ready on just a few CDs... but he'd also keep me on my toes and have me play some records every once in a while.

We enjoyed talking about politics with each other. We rarely debated, but only because we usually had the same views.

He had a loyal fan base and developed very close relationships with his listeners over the decades -- many of them calling in from places like North Carolina and Florida.

He was very involved with the station and always showed up to help out at fundraising marathons and of course the parties and banquets. He thought of his WRHU colleagues as family. And those of us who spent those Sunday mornings with him definitely felt the same of him.

I'll miss you, Irv. Thank you for everything you taught me... and also for the doughnuts every week.

(Photo: March 2006)

Judy Martin, 1965-2014

I woke up to news this morning that Judy Martin, an anchor at News 12 Long Island, had passed away.  She was just 49 years old.  Here are the News 12 and Newsday stories.

Judy was awesome to me when I worked at the station in late 2008 and early 2009.  Part of the duties of a production assistant was to sit in the studio to run the teleprompter for the anchors at the desk and to tell them how much time was left before the commercial break ended.  It was often just Judy and me in the studio and she made it fun.  We had sometimes deep chats and good laughs during breaks and reporter packages . This was also when Twitter was still relatively new and I had fun trying to figure it out with her and how best to use it as journalists.

Thanks to social media, we kept in touch over the years after I left.  It was nice following her spirituality and positivity.  Many of her posts were inspirational and informative.

She celebrated her birthday one week before leaving us.  It was the last time we communicated, brief as it was:

@GSorensen nice to see u in my stream",
— Judy Martin (@judymartin8) January 25, 2014

As cheesy as it may sound, this is yet another reminder to live life to its fullest.  Just as Judy did.

Snow Forecasts

It's that time of the year again... Here's a roundup of what the New York stations were forecasting as of the noon hour:

WCBS:


WNBC:


WNYW:


WABC:


News 12 Long Island:

Anyone out there need a copy editor? Part 10

From a promo that aired on WCBS-TV a few minutes ago:

Winter Storm Nemo Forecasts

Here's a look at some of the snow total forecasts on Saturday morning as of 6:00 Thursday evening (of course wind gusts will also be a major part of this story, possibly creating blizzard conditions).

WCBS


WNBC


WNYW


WABC


News 12 Long Island


The Weather Channel


CBS News


Fox News Channel:


CNN:

One Channel, Two Wildly Different Snow Forecasts

If you were watching WCBS-TV/Channel 2 in New York within about a 20-minute period tonight, you were treated to two very different forecasts for the snow storm expected to hit the area Friday.

Lonnie Quinn's forecast on CBS 2 News at 6:00:


David Bernard's forecast on the CBS Evening News at 6:30:


Depending on which forecast the south shore of Long Island listens to, they'll either get four to eight inches of snow or one to two feet.

Same channel.

UPDATE:  CNN's Chad Myers pointed out that the computer models are very different.  If you look at these forecasts, New York City will get either 5.7 inches or 23.3 inches of snow.

The decimal point conveys precision!

Ginger Gets A Bath

From dirty dog to wet dog to clean and fluffy dog in about 22 minutes.

Music: “Basic Hygiene” fromwww.musicrevolution.com

Anyone out there need a copy editor? Part 9

In the span of just a few minutes, CNN proved that they don't know the difference between "freshman" and "freshmen".


"Freshman" is singular. When there are 13 or 84 of them, it should be "freshmen".


CNN again uses the wrong word here. Would you say "High-profile sophomores senators"? No. Should be "freshman" here.

Snowy Saturday

Here's a look at how the New York stations are forecasting this storm that's affecting the tri-state area tomorrow as of the 5:00 p.m. newscasts. (I'm not a fan of CBS 2's and NBC 4's maps that pinpoint a few locations and forecast the snow accumulations to the tenth of an inch... Let's accurately forecast the ranges first, OK?)

(Or check out my Imgur album.)

Elise Finch, WCBS/CBS 2


Steve Villanueva, WNBC/NBC 4


Nick Gregory, WNYW/Fox 5


Lee Goldberg, WABC/ABC 7


Mr. G, WPIX/PIX 11


Bill Korbel, News 12 Long Island

Newtown shootings: A hometown is shattered, but pulling itself together (Westport News)

Doug, one of my best friends who usually reports on Connecticut sports, reflects on his hometown of Newtown for his newspaper:

My hometown has always held a special place in my heart.

I've always taken great pride in my hometown, knowing that the comfort and warm memories it's given me for 26 years are luxuries.

But on Friday, my Newtown -- the only place I've ever lived, save for four years of college -- was rattled to its core by a senseless act of violence. As I sat in my house Friday -- only about two miles from Sandy Hook Elementary School -- I felt helpless; hoping, praying that the horrific details that were unfolding were all just a nightmare. I -- like my friends and neighbors who call this quintessential New England town home -- was in disbelief.

The seemingly idyllic community -- so peacefully symbolized by a 100-foot-high flagpole that rests right in the heart of Main Street -- suddenly had become known for unthinkable carnage.

Read more at westport-news.com here.

LIRR Redefines Time

Commuters using the Long Island Rail Road know what it means to be on time: Five minutes, 59 seconds or less. Anything over that is considered a delay.  That's why you can be waiting for your 7:12 a.m. train and hear announcements at 7:17 that the train is on time despite not being there.  It also keeps the "On Time Performance" (they capitalize it -- wasn't my idea) nice and high for them.

When Hurricane Sandy knocked out service and it took weeks for it to get back to normal, the Long Island Rail Road told riders to expect delays up to 15 minutes (on top of the dozens of trains canceled every day, which don't count as delayed, of course).  The November OTP was said to be 91.9%.  Turns out, according to Newsday, that was using the new definition of "on time," which was up to 15 minutes.  (OTP was 88.1% using the old definition.)

Yes, the LIRR redefined what it meant to be on time because they warned of delays.

They might as well warn of delays of up to an hour due to future "track conditions" an get that OTP closer to perfect.

USPS Fails at P.C. Attempt to Avoid Saying "Christmas"

I just saw a commercial for USPS. Something about mailing a package from home. They say you can "have it picked up for free before December 20th for delivery in time for the holidays."

Which holidays are they talking about? It's way too late for Hanukkah.

In trying to be inclusive and ultra-P.C., they left people out.

They could have just said "Christmas"... unless they mean New Year's.

Watch Out For Spam!

Be careful about tricky spam/phishing e-mails!

This is an e-mail my mom got tonight pretending to be about a FedEx delivery. Or is it from "U.P.S." (which is using an @albuquerque.com e-mail address)?

The link they want you to click takes you to a site that's neither FedEx nor UPS.

Not every spam e-mail makes as many mistakes as this one (December 2nd was not Monday... a handful of grammar errors... the FedEx logo is actually just text) but make sure you're smart about what you click. Lots of people are expecting packages this time of year so it's easy to think messages like this are meant for you.

Don't fall for it. Check out the from address. Mouse-over the link and see where it wants to take you before clicking on it.

While this might seem obvious to us, make sure your parents know, too. I've trained my mom to be suspicious of things like this and she checks with me before opening them.

Nana's Story

My Nana discusses her difficult life, including growing up in Austria during Nazi rule, losing her mother to cancer, losing the rest of her family to concentration camps, lucking out and escaping the Holocaust to live with an English family, and eventually coming to New York.

It's a story I had heard in bits and pieces growing up but not really in detail like this.

Feel free to leave comments on the YouTube page and I'll share them with her.

My iPod Thinks It's 1969

I don't really understand how this can be an option.

My iPod's battery apparently died a few weeks ago so I had to bring it back. It starts up and think it's about to turn 1970. (I wish it could have gone two and a half months sooner if it wanted to go to 1969.)

While this is an older generation iPod Touch, I feel like it should have known it's more advanced than the iPods (or whatever app/Internet device they used back then) of 1969.

Virtual Christmas Card

(Click video for HD.)

Are you seriously serious, Facebook?

134 friends wished me a happy birthday on Facebook yesterday. And because I’m old school, I don’t like to respond via comment but I like to go “wall-to-wall.” That means 134 thank-yous is on the agenda for today.

I think it was my 22nd post on a friend’s wall that caused Facebook to think I was a robot. And I apparently confirmed it for them because this captcha got me.

Upgraded to Courtside

I went to my third Hofstra Men's Basketball game in three days as part of the 2K Classic yesterday. If you tweet your seat location using the hashtag #WeAreHofstra, you have a chance at being upgraded to courtside seats.

You can probably guess what happened next because I'm not writing a post about not winning (also, you might've read this post's title)... That's right, I won, and got to bring my friends Mat and Joe down with me.

As soon as the cheerleaders (it's possible they were part of the dance team instead) who escorted us to our cushioned seats on the shiny floor walked away, a woman who works there came over to me and asked if we had the tickets for those seats. Really Hofstra??

Anyway, it was pretty awesome even if it did take some time adjusting to the new view and increased possibility of bodily harm.  At one point, one of the Marshall players went flying into seat maybe two or three down from Joe...  If a person had been there, there would have been an injury.

Here are some highlights, most of which was shot without any zoom.