Teacher Suspended For Hanging Foreign Flags In Classroom [Colorado]

ABC 7 ^ | August 23, 2006

[Surtur]

Dandelion, am I to assume that the following portion of your post is directed to me?

Surture: yes, it was a mental hiccup. After I posted I was aware that I had left out the "ing" on the word "teaching". But I didn't correct; I have a lot on my mind right now. You see, I am waiting for a call from Iraq... my daughter had a very dangerous call-out yesterday, and I have been hoping to hear from her. Her military mentor was killed by an IED, after she herself came under mortar fire and ambush while out on EOD support.

http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3ba8614f5f4b.htm

My daughter was supposed to go to college on her opera scholarship. But instead, with my blessing she chose to enlist in the military after September the Eleventh. Yes indeed, the person you patriots have been publicly castigating as a stupid, "public school", preschool teacher - an idiot who thinks flags could be used for a geography lesson - raised a soldier who at this very moment is risking her life in a very dangerous mission.

So while I sit here and wait for word from her, some supreme patriots on this board have taken it upon themselves to tell me - a homeschooling mom who has a daughter in the military - that I am not as holy, as patriotic, as good or as smart as they are - because I believe that flags could be used in a lesson for geography.

While you self-anointed American Heroes attack me for thinking differently than you do about education, my real American Hero is being attacked in Iraq, and I pray to God I hear from her again.

Thank you all for making it so clear what you think of me. I'll try to remember how worthless I am to all you holy ones while I make out my care package to my daughter and her team members in Iraq. God forbid that this stupid preschool teacher should ever think that she is as good as you...

Dandelion, I made two posts to you in this thread, post #145 and post #146. They follow below.

My comments to you from post number 145: I disagree. None of the items you mention above have the socio-political component of flags of other countries, except perhaps the Golden Rule, and even that is debatable in its context. The fact that he chose to display just those two flags suggests he has an agenda that is not germane to his field of instruction at this point in the school year. The fact that you teach preschool is also a factor in your statements. Preschoolers need constant reinforcement of new ideas for them to become ingrained. By the time children reach middle school, they (should) have developed learning techniques that allow them to absorb knowledge without that constant reinforcement exposure to the idea to be learned.

My comments to you in post 146 )my two parts of this post are bolded, your part in this post is italicized):If there is a law prohibiting the above, then if you did those things, you would be in violation of the law. We are discussing the breaking of law here, not classroom teaching techniques. If there is a law regarding certain aspects of classroom teaching techniques and you do decide to violate that law, then you will suffer the consequences. The good thing about a democratic republic like the USA is that we can address laws we disagree with by approaching legislatures and having said law changed or repealed.

I know more about the subject I'm teach than the Principal, yes - I'm the one he/she hired to teach it. If they simply want someone to spout their liberal mind-control political drivel, then they can teach it themselves. Because yes, they DO know way more about that than the average teacher.

I pray to God that the above in red was just a typo, or a mental hiccup, on your part.

My question to you dear dandelion is how you made the intellectual jump from my posts that I am some "supreme patriot" or "self-anointed American Hero" or that I am attacking you. In my post 145, I disagreed with your position and spoke of the differences of learning skills between preschoolers and middle schoolers. Preschoolers learn best by the "rote" method, middle schoolers (should) use deductive reasoning as their primary learning skill. In post 146, you made reference to a hypothetical situation re. new laws. I responded to your hypothetical situation. Then, you made a statement that was grammatically incorrect. My response to that might be a little snarky, but I did give you the benefit of the doubt by asking if it was a typo or mental hiccup. In neither of my posts do I attack you personally, nor do I pretend to be "holier than, more patriotic, better or smarter than you", nor do I see you as stupid. From my posts, there is no way you can know how I feel about you. We simply disagree with the implementation of a law in the classrooms in the state of Colorado. I am a very "law and order" type and believe that laws, even ones we disagree with, should be obeyed. From your posts, I can only surmise that you prefer to disobey laws you disagree with. The major difference between us is that I still believe that a disagreeable law may be challenged and changed or eliminated within the bounds of the system. You apparently believe that civil disobedience is the faster, surer route to removal of that law.

Your daughter's service in Iraq has no bearing on this debate. Now, having said that, let me also say that I understand that you might be more sensitive right now because your daughter is in a very volatile situation and her life is in jeopardy daily. I would also say that your daughters courage and heart are the strongest testimony to the kind of person you are, and she truly is a great American hero. Her sacrifice in the name of us all says volumes, not only about her, but about you as well. I will pray for her safe return to you, and rest assured that I appreciate her valiant efforts as I do those of all our military. Please forgive me if you feel that my posts were a personal attack on you. They were not intended to be, nor do I believe they were, but you may see things differently. Peace!