I was reading an email from a friend in Gmail when I looked over at the ads and noticed one for a hosted blogging solution, Blogharbor. I hadn’t heard of it before so out of curiousity I clicked on the link and went to the site.
It, like so many other hosted solutions, had a list of recently updated Blogs, and I thought I’d check them out. The first was a weblog called Blog for Iowa, quite a pretty site, and from the photo of Howard Dean on the side, most likely a Democratic leaning site.
The second one I clicked was a weblog for a 6th grade math class – Mr. George’s 6th Grade Math Blog. This should be fun, I thought, and clicked through.
Among the entries was one with a Problem of the Week, for extra credit for the students, as well as discussions about rocket club meetings, including photos.
But then I found an entry that referenced a Time article, Struggle for the Soul of Islam. This article is about the radical Islamics growing influence on what were more moderate Muslim communities.
From the email address given for the responses, ‘Mr. George’ teaches at Houston Independent School District, which says about itself:
The Houston Independent School District is the largest public school system in Texas and the seventh-largest in the United States. Our schools are dedicated to giving every student the best possible education through an intensive core curriculum and specialized, challenging instructional and career programs. HISD is working hard to become Houstonians’ K-12 school system of choice, constantly improving and refining instruction and management to make them as effective, productive, and economical as possible.
Seventh largest school district in the country, and one of its teachers writes the following, in a weblog for his 6th grade math students:
I thought you would like this article from Time Magazine, or, if you are like me, that it would scare the begeebers out of you, and that you would appreciate at least knowing about it. Little did we know when President Bush let slip the biblical proportions of it as a “crusade” that the entire world is and has been engaged in this huge confligration.
What does it have to do with teaching math and lifelong learning? It threatens our livelihood. Those who disregard or forget about history are condemned to relive it. So, go back to your Bible for clues about how to fight it. Then, drop to your knees in thankful prayer that it has not touched you and your family more than it could.