Dr Flavius Akerele III's The E Team Education blog

See you in 2016

Disclaimer: this is not justification for, excusing, or condoning crime in anyway. I am just pointing out that perhaps our focus is on the wrong things. Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Memphis, Tucson, Baltimore, Fresno, El Paso, Indianapolis, Boston, San Bernardino. What do these cities have in common? They struggle with extreme poverty. There is also extreme wealth in these cities, but the gap between the two is huge! “Poverty and crime have a very "intimate" relationship that has been described by experts from all fields, from sociologists to economists. The UN and the World Bank both rank crime high on the list of obstacles to a country’s development. This means that governments trying to deal with poverty often also have to face the issue of crime as they try to develop their country's economy and society”. “Crime prevents businesses from thriving by generating instability and uncertainty (at micro and macroeconomic levels). This is true in markets of ...

Here is a little history lesson for those who have forgotten, this lesson is also for those “want to be” politicians who have apparently lost their minds: “When Franklin D. Roosevelt became president in 1933, Americans were struggling to survive the greatest economic depression the country had ever seen. Many Americans feared that needy immigrants would take precious jobs or place an added strain on an already burdened economy”. “America's immigration laws placed quotas on the number of people allowed to enter the United States from other countries. In 1939, the quota allowed for 27,370 German citizens to immigrate to the United States. In 1938, more than 300,000 Germans-mostly Jewish refugees-had applied for U.S. visas (entry permits). A little over 20,000 applications were approved. Beyond the strict national quotas, the United States openly denied visas to any immigrant "likely to become a public charge." This ruling proved to be a serious problem for many J...

Just before, during, and after world war two, the Jewish people were having a hard time everywhere. Europe did not protect them, United States did not want them, and both Germany and Russia (yes Russia our allies at the time) were actively jailing them, confiscating property, and killing them. We all know the numbers, or you can look it up yourself, but the death toll was genocide. Let me also add that Romani, also known as Gypsies were almost wiped out because they were confused with Jews and because Europe did not like them for the perceived way they lived. Fast Forward 60 years later, it seems like religious intolerance is making a comeback when we have elected officials, some of them vying for the highest office in the nation, advocating discrimination, deportation, and registration of Muslims. Sound familiar? Islam is a religion not a people fools! Religion does not kill, people kill. The world swore “never again”, but how quickly we forget. Innocents are dying in w...

I find myself talking about “back in my day” sometimes; this is scary because I am only middle aged, but things seem to have changed in education so quickly. The tools students have at their disposal can do so much, but they also seem to take away a lot as well. Social media has also allowed students to  publicly  vent about a perceived injustices, and what is worse (in my opinion) is that they can do anonymously. I am not a fan of anonymous feedback, especially in the professional world. Rate my professor , I am sure started off as a good idea because after all, it helps to know what you are getting in to; or so we thought… End of course evaluations are never the best way to evaluate professors because not only are they usually highly subjective, but you usually only here from the angry students, and their feedback is rarely constructive in nature. Rate my professor, is 100 times worse. I was recently told a story by a colleague about how he was appr...

I am going to pick on Chris Christie today, and for the simple reason that I needed some fodder and he gave it to me on a platter.  I will also say I have no party affiliations, I am simply interested in logical and sane politics, and this is in very short supply in this very early political campaign. Here is some basic information and terms of presentations: ·          Ethos: An appeal based on character and credibility ·          Logos: An appeal based on logic and reasoning ·          Pathos: An appeal based on emotion Emotional fallacies unfairly appeal to the audience’s emotions. Ethical fallacies unreasonably advance the writer’s own authority or character. Logical fallacies depend upon faulty logic Ad Hominem arguments attack a person’s character rather than that person’s reasoning These are typical campaign parlor tricks, ...

I am fiercely protective of my children; I am that dad that you do not want on campus when my kids do not feel safe, when they feel threatened, belittled or demeaned as a student. This not to say I am violent because I am not, this is not to say that I start shouting at teachers because I do not, especially since I am an educator myself. What it does mean is I believe the school and the profession of teaching owes my kids (all our kids) the right to succeed. They owe my kids the right to feel safe, appreciated, and encouraged. As educators, we have to watch our words, are methods, and the message we are sending to kids. If you send them home because you do not like their haircut what does that tell them except how they look is more important than their education (not to mention it is 100% subjective). It can be worse for young ladies because they are being judged it seems on so many things. If you tell a child that they will never be good at math, guess what is going t...

A common interview failure companies have is to not treat candidates correctly, to be arrogant in their process, or maybe the company does not have a consistent process. A high level position is going attract high level talent, people who are used to commanding respect, leading, basically it is going to attract true professionals. Why then do so many institutions and organizations treat these folks as simple job applicants? How do you expect to get the quality candidate you want when your hiring practices are perceived as disrespectful and condescending? That kind of reputation follows you and then you have the audacity to complain that you are not receiving quality resumes! There are certain organizations that always seem to have the same job vacant: why is this? Why is it you cannot fill the position, or worse why is it people keep leaving that position. It does not take much to fix this and here some easy steps: 1.       Treat all can...

The Problem With Perfection: There's a thin line between wanting to look pretty and becoming obsessed with perfection http://www.cosmopolitan.com/health-fitness/advice/a6519/beauty-dysmorphia/ “ South Korean Photographer Shows Costs Of Plastic Surgery ”, “ South Korea's obsession with plastic surgery” “Redshirting in the Age of Academic Kindergarten: Should You Hold Your Child Back? ” http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lori-day/redshirting-in-the-age-of-academic-kindergarten_b_3710561.html “‘Redshirting’ Kindergarten-Age Kids Can Lead to Regrets” http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/07/redshirting-kindergarten-age-kids-can-lead-to-regrets/?_r=0   “Veteran Star Helps Shine Light On Elder Abuse” http://www.npr.org/2011/03/08/134363396/Veteran-Star-Helps-Shine-Light-On-Elder-Abuse https://hereandnow.wbur.org/2015/10/20/south-korea-plastic-surgery-photos http://www.scpr.org/programs/take-two/2013/05/30/32026/south-korea-s-obsession-with-plastic-surgery/ “St...

  “The Nile perch ( Lates niloticus ) is an important food fish in Africa and a prized catch for sport fishermen, but the species is also a massive environmental nightmare. In fact, the Nile perch is massive in more ways than one. It's a giant among fishes, reaching a length of up to 6 feet and a weight of more than 500 pounds. Anything that big eats a lot, and when misguided humans have introduced the Nile perch into new aquatic ecosystems (most notably, Lake Victoria in East Africa), it has caused catastrophic declines among native fish populations. The Nile perch is now common in the Nile, Chad, Senegal, Volta and Congo river basins, and has been ranked by conservationists as one of the world's 100 worst invasive species” http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/river-monsters/fish-guide/nile-perch/ Nile Perch is not an important food fish in Africa, it is important to the foreign investors who set up the system and sell the fish, the locals do not and in most cases ...

There is enough documented evidence out there that shows students who take hand-written notes retain more than those who use a computer. http://www.psychologicalscience.org/index.php/news/releases/take-notes-by-hand-for-better-long-term-comprehension.html http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/next/body/taking-notes-by-hand-could-improve-memory-wt/ There are also enough studies out there that suggest student’s ability to spell is getting worse because of reliance on spellcheck versus simply learning to spell. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/9280203/Over-reliance-on-technology-is-undermining-spelling-skills.html http://public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/spellcheck.html Imagine you see your favorite movie star or sports hero, and you want an autograph: can your tablet or smartphone be used as a pen? What happens if you need to write something down quickly and your electronic device is powered down or out of power? Now back to the problem of education; my p...