Teacher Suspended For Hanging Foreign Flags In Classroom [Colorado]

ABC 7 ^ | August 23, 2006

[Dane]

This is tom tancredo country, so I'm not surprised at the paranoia of foreign flags in a geography class.

Overkill IMO, unless you are tom tancredo and think looking at this flag
automatically makes you a ferrigner lover.

[photodawg]

Lawmakers need to specify that the American flag must be displayed prominently in the position of honor - and that foreign flags may be displayed in school rooms when they are part of the lesson.
'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

This "teacher" is an ACLU set up. He's probably a communist, Bush hater and is pushing the amnesty thing as well. These two flags have absolutely no business being displayed in a geography classroom this early in the year, even if the American flag was in a prominent position. There is no geographical connection between China and Mexico that would call for the display of their flags. This guy is on his own, and trying to make a point and get the law repealed.

[dandelion]

The curriculum doesn't have to be coming up in the next few weeks for a teacher to decorate a classroom with relevant objects.

In my preschool classroom, I hung up the Alphabet WEEKS before we ever went over any letters - because I wanted the children to be familiar with the letters.

Likewise, I hung up the color words, shapes, and the Seasons of the Year before we learned them - because the children learned them better if they had been exposed to them from the beginning.

And I left the Golden Rule posted on the wall ALL YEAR LONG, even though we went over it the first day of school - because the children remembered the material better if it was left in front of them to remind them.

As a homeschool teacher, I put up the Periodic Table, the Presidents of the United States, and Timelines all year long, long before the lessons are taught - because by the time my son gets to the lesson, he's already memorized part or all of the principal elements.

The idea that the only displays that can be allowed in a classroom are those that are BEING TAUGHT RIGHT NOW is just another example of how public education is failing the public's children -

adminstrators spend their time on garbage like this - micromanaging Geography Displays to make a political statement - instead of figuring out how to TEACH OUR CHILDREN.

[SoldierDad]

Michael Moore made a movie? I thought it more of a propaganda film.

[LasVegasMac]

but it seems odd that they would remove a geography teacher for having foriegn flags in the classroom.

State law says otherwise, apparently.

Besides, who needs a foreign flag to learn where that country is, what they do, etc.?

I'd like to know if this teacher had a flag for every other country in the world.....

[frankiep]

I agree. On the surface this just sounds ridiculous. If you are teaching a geography I don't see any problem with having flags of different countries displayed. Like it or not, there are over 190 other countries in the world, and at least knowing what other flags look like is probably a good thing. Hell, alot of school kids, and adults, can't even tell you where other countries are on the map.

I'm with the teacher on this one. This is just idiocy by the school board (or whoever suspended him). He should take a stand against this nonsense.

[SoldierDad]

I'd really like to learn how to include graphics.

[Abd al-Rahiim]

Which China was he displaying? There is only one China.

[Dane]

There was a post on an immigration thread about how the Mexican flag had the same colors as the Iraqi flag, when it was pointed out that the Mexican flag has the same colors as the Italian flag, that psoter didn't post again on that thread.

JMO again, this is overkill. Heck most Americans can't find Texas on a map.

[cripplecreek]

Last spring I went to the school open house with my niece. Imagine my disgust when I found flags from all 50 states hanging in a Michigan classroom. I wanted to drag the teacher out for a public stoning in the parking lot but they wouldn't let me. They "claimed"the flags were for educational purposes but I think it was blatant anti-Michiganianism.

[frankiep]

So what if it wasn't coming up in the curriculm. Big deal. The students can still LEARN simply by seeing them in class.

[wildwood]

too stupid to be a teacher.

hmmmm.....

[SoftballMominVA]

WOW! My daughter's school has about 30 flags hanging in the cafeteria. They represent the different countries of the kids that attend there and those that have participated in exchange programs.

Guess they would be in violation of all kinds of laws huh?

[mware]

Same with me. I decorated my classroom the other day. I have a patriots corner, posters of the various biome's of the world, lab safety posters, natural cycles diagrams, and all sorts of motivational items.

[GoLightly]

It's not about the flag, so much as it is about the teacher violating a law he didn't like. He should do his protesting on his own time.

Personally, I think it's a silly law. It was prolly a response to to recent protests against toughening US immigration policy, same as some schools creating rules against students or teachers wearing or carrying *any* nation's flags.

[Dane]

I'd really like to learn how to include graphics.

FR provides the basics of HTML at the link below.

HTML Sanbox.

[leda]

that many flags in a classroom would definately
be sensory overload for alot of people.

did they have the michigan flag up though?

[KellyAdmirer]

There's nothing wrong with the law, and it should be enforced. There is too much potential for abuse. Any Marxist so-and-so teacher could put the flags of Cuba and China behind his desk for the entire school year, and nothing could be done about it. And perhaps he could throw in the Communist Workers Song before class every day, too, just to hammer the point home. This is the land of Ward Churchill we are talking about, folks.

You don't need to "display" flags to learn about them. That is only one method that is possible. There are things known as textbooks, and they have pictures, and the pictures can be of flags.

[dandelion]

mmmmmmm

teaching by cookery! I love it!

I used to make soup in my classroom as a lesson to go with reading "Stone Soup" (a children's book) until my principal decided it was "not appropriate". Never mind that it taught fractions, measurement, and introduced children to healthful foods - it wasn't in the "curriculum" so suddenly we couldn't do it.

It was in *my* curriculum for years. But it wasn't in the new "curriculum" the school district bought for a million dollars from the superintendent's friend, so I couldn't teach it any more...

It was some darn good soup.

[durasell]

GLOBAL HOMOSEXUAL AGENDA PING!


Oh wait, never mind.