Is is "Colombia" or "Columbia"? A Prostitution and Spelling Crisis

Supermarkets and journalists make the same common mistake. 

From Legal Insurrection "When the Ivy League is all you know, Columbia is a Country":

The best and the brightest, writing about the Secret Service scandal in the country of Colombia consistently spell it “Columbia” like the University (h/t @BuzzFeedBen via @AlexPappasDC):

The link shows the numerous incorrect spellings of Colombia in the print media and in a CBS Good Morning segment.

As one reader comments:

It’s a common error, but it’s kind of inexcusable for news media reporting on a presidential trip to a country. I think it shows that they are just parroting each other without anyone doing fact checking. If they don’t catch spelling errors, what else don’t they bother verifying any more… 

Here's part of an article about Columbian bananas advertised in a supermarket, "Columbia and Colombia: easily confused?":

Those “grown in Columbia” bananas are back in local family owned markets according to the above ad; the same ones that we saw in April.

Are there similarities with Columbia (the borough) with Colombia (the country)? Are people often confused by Columbia and Colombia?

To clear the issue, we have not been able to find the banana farms in Columbia; though bananas represent a significant portion of Colombia’s agricultural production for export.
Here more information about Colombia, the country:

• Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. – www.wikipedia.org
• Colombia was one of the three countries that emerged from the collapse of Gran Colombia in 1830 (the others are Ecuador and Venezuela). – www.cia.gov
• Colombia is the only South American country with coastlines on both the Pacific Ocean and Caribbean Sea. – http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/colombia-guide/

Maybe some other interesting information that should be noted about Colombia in the future should be this is the country where:

• Secret Service agents found themselves "with their pants down" and
• Hillary Clinton found her dancing shoes. 

Referring back to the supermarket ad with those "Columbian" bananas beg the question:  "Where's the taxpayer funded party for government employees next time in Columbia?"

Science/Mathematics Lesson and Spelling Word of the Day : Murmuration

From Open Culture:

Murmuration from Sophie Windsor Clive on Vimeo.

Sophie Windsor Clive and Liberty Smith were canoeing somewhere in Ireland when they had a chance encounter with one of nature’s greatest and most fleeting phenomena — a murmuration of starlings. The spectacle is a magical case of mathematical chaos in action. And, it’s all driven by the quest for survival. The Telegraph has more….

Is This Document An Example of Quality Teaching in the Rockwood School District?

Many NEA organizations have been stating quality teachers are being squeezed out because of debate over teacher tenure. Below find a copy of the Rockwood NEA link. If this page with its numerous grammatical errors (including misspellings and run on sentences) is indicative of quality education in the Rockwood District, I am wondering if that bar is set a bit low.

This is the page as it appeared on April 6, 2010 at 8:30 AM. Please let us know the problems you spot in this document. I had an interesting thought: perhaps the Rockwood District doesn't test spelling any longer because the teachers don't know how to spell themselves. Is this informational page an example of quality teaching in the Rockwood School District? (Do you spot the irony on the magazine cover as it relates to this particular blog entry?)

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The Rockwood National Education is a progressive group of teachers representing approximately 1,350 teachers in the Rockwood School District. The teachers of Rockwood daily provide educational opportunities for about 22,000 students. The heart and soul of any school district is the classroom teachers. While school districts may have the monitary resources to provide technology, operate school facilities, and transport students, it is a quality teacher in every classroom that directly relates to the success of students and to the success of the Rockwood School District. A computer, smartboard, textbook, do nothing without a quality educator developing lesson plans to teach the student.

Contrary to popular myth the RNEA does not support and defend poor teachers. The organization does however provide and encourage continual teacher development while securing do process for its members. The organization also provides moral support to Rockwood teachers in these often educationally politically turbulent times. The RNEA above all else is an organization that promotes quality world class education for all students of Rockwood, the goals of the organization never run contrary to this core belief.

At the center of what the RNEA has accomplished besides the great education its members afford Rockwood students is the Current Agreement. This document represents over 30 years of volunteer time and dedication from Rockwood teachers for Rockwood teachers to work for the continual improvement of the working conditions of teachers in the Rockwood School District and attemp to provide teachers with benefits and salary they deserve. Rockwood is a school district that proudly acknowledges its awards from it continually being Accredited with Distinction form the State of Missouri, having many school continually recognized as Missouri Top Ten in Missouri Assessment Program testing, having many schools ranked as Missouri Gold Star schools, and many schools ranked as schools of excellence nationally.

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No More Spelling Tests!!!

Here is another fine example of our public schools "dumbing" down our children. This is what one local area watchdog encountered on "curriculum night" in the Rockwood School District. Missouri Education Watchdog can't agree more with this parent. Although this post was written last year, the district is fully phasing in this new procedure for the 2010-2011 school year.

Check out this article from STL Today. As you can see, some school districts feel the need to do away with weekly spelling tests since they “waste” instructional time. I can think of quite a few of things that "waste" instructional time, but that is another post.

As an educator, this is simply yet another "researched" strategy that schools will try for a few years only to find out down the road that maybe a little practice and memorization are not a bad thing, in fact many students do retain the words and are able to build their vocabulary. Homework and practice is an effective instructional strategy. We must remember all students do not learn the same way. There is simply not a "magic bullet" approach to learning. Simply abandoning time tested strategies for the next latest and greatest fad is irresponsible. Students need to be able to apply what they've learned as well as master high frequency words and be exposed to new words on a regular basis. They also need to be held accountable for learning specific words.

My guess is that the district is looking for ways to increase reading instruction and math time due to high stakes MAP testing. Social Studies and Science have already been cut to the bare bones. There is nothing else left to cut except spelling time. This is just another end result of the federal mandate known as No Child Left Behind. How many kids are going to be left behind with this new approach? Remember the whole language approach? Generations of children were not taught phonics only sight words. I know many parents who had to pay for private tutoring to help their children learn how to read while school districts again looked for the "magic bullet" for success. If this is happening in your school district, let them know your thoughts. YOU are paying for this nonsense. YOU still have a powerful voice in the education of your child. Let that voice be heard!