Archive for May 28th, 2008
Wednesday, May 28th, 2008
The Beauty of Photos
So I’ve been (back) at this blogging thing for nearly a week and I’ve started exploring some new plug-ins for WordPress. I like to take a lot of photos, but always struggle with where to post them.
Some end up on Flickr. Others go on Facebook. Still more end up living in iPhoto, never to be seen again.
When I ran across the NextGEN Gallery plug-in, I was impressed. It allowed me to easily upload multiple photos and display them nicely in a blog post. Take a look at these disgustingly cute pics from my recent engagement:
There’s lots of options about how to display the shots–full size, thumbnails or in a simple slideshow. And the plug-in integrates just enough Flash to add to its functionality and not distract from its usability.
The only hiccup was when I tried to upload some full-resolution images. The software didn’t automatically downsize them, resulting in huge page load times and when I manually clicked on the button to resample them, I only got through two of ten photos before running across a server memory error. Luckily, iPhoto will happily export them in 800×600 @ 72 dpi.
In any case, hopefully I can start to post select galleries to TresVacas thanks to NextGEN. Cheers!
• Email This PostWednesday, May 28th, 2008
Recognizing Schools’ Place in Inequality
San Francisco Unified’s school board unanimously approved a new strategic plan for the district at a meeting Tuesday night.
That alone would normally not be news, except this time the planning was headed up by Tony Smith, deputy superintendent of instruction, innovation and social justice for the district.
Smith, who came to SFUSD from the superintendent post in Emeryville, came to his role with a strong appreciation for schools’ place in preserving much of the inequality that exists in society today. That belief is clearly evident in the new plan.
“For far too long, demographics, specifically the socio-economic, linguistic and racial backgrounds our our children, have often closely correlated to their success in school. We refer to this historical trend as the ‘predictive power of demographics,’” the plan states.
This admission alone is historic for a school district, as much of this predictive power comes from districts’ and states’ policies, which often disadvantage students of color or students from low-income neighborhoods.
Staffing policies that encourage the newest, least experienced teachers to teach students who most need the help are a prime example. The New Teacher Project’s report, “Unintended Consequences,” explained this phenomenon in much detail in 2005 and little progress has been made since in most major school districts.
The plan commits the district to rethinking all of its policies and practices from the viewpoint of having acknowledged its historical contributions, something that is undoubtedly going to be difficult and painful at times, but in the end should be a positive experience for the district and its students.
But Smith has been around long enough to realize that change will not come with words alone. Thus, he proposes assessing schools’ progress not on test scores alone, which is way too common nowadays, but on each school’s “ability to disrupt the historically predictive power of racial, ethnic, linguistic and socio-economic student attributes.”
That’s a much higher calling, but one the district (and the rest of the country) desperately needs.
(Photos from Flickr user dlemieux)
• Email This PostWednesday, May 28th, 2008
Tolerance in California at Last
Finally! A recent Field poll shows that a majority of Californians–51 percent–support legalizing gay marriage, a substantial reversal from the first time the poll asked about the topic in 1977, when only 28 percent of people spoke out in support.
Researchers said that the California Supreme Court’s recent decision opposing discrimination in marriage laws swayed a number of Californian fence-sitters. Even Macy’s has gotten into the act, with a full-page advertisement in the San Francisco Chronicle today congratulating gay couples (and encouraging them to register for gifts).
That ruling, however, may not stick, as anti-gay marriage forces in the state look to have collected enough signatures to qualify an amendment for the state constitution that would once again outlaw gay marriages.
Groups like Equality California are ramping up to fight the measure, and hopefully this new poll is another arrow in their quiver.
In the meantime, Equality California is calling for supporters of gay marriage to reach out and call the Governor and other state officials to express their support.
Calling the Governor’s office is automated and very easy (if you can get through, it’s often busy). Just follow these easy steps:
- Just dial 916-445-2841.
- Then press 1 (English), 5 (Express an opinion), 1 (Court/Gay Marriage), 1 (Support).