The Serial Thinker Blog

This is why I love baseball. This information was posted on a coaching website recently and it talks about dealing with failure - which is a HUGE part of baseball. Even for the best players.
This was posted on Proactive Coaching yesterday and I found it really helpful: Excellent comment by Cal State University Northridge Baseball Coach Greg Moore… “It would surprise parents if they understood how much we evaluate the response to failure. We want to see how a young man and his parents fail on the field and over a long period of time. This ranges from sitting the bench, to a rough slump. Most of the best players succeed day to day and week to week. Parents of course enjoy that. I want to see if a mom or dad sees the value in 0 for 12 or 2 weeks without playing. Most players, almost all, struggle for extended periods as they move from high school to college, or college to the pros. Seeing struggle on the field is the beginning. The evaluation that matters comes from the questions and answers after the game. Does he blame the shortstop, the umpire or even mechanics that were “off” that day? Or does the performance or contribution to the team begin and end with the person answering the questions. Is there an instinct to create an action plan to improve, or a reflex to sulk or point fingers. We also evaluate the parents ability to encourage that productive response to struggles. The most surprising thing we evaluate is what should be no surprise to a baseball player, response to failure.”

“Lived experience” is truly an ignorant phrase, though it is used to sound persuasive. It represents a sample size of 1 and is statistically insignificant. So if you are tempted to use “my lived experience” to defend a point, know that you sound like a moron.

If Hamas and Israel’s military capacity were reversed, would there be any Jews in Israel at all? That is the measure of Hamas’ hatred and Israel’s restraint.

The current administration is made up of both types of people.

“As long as you tell yourself that other people are responsible for your situation, there’s no room for improvement.” - Jordan Peterson

Accountability means taking the hits when you are wrong, not finger pointing and blaming others. SVB went down because of their own mismanagement, leftist virtue signaling, and abandonment of building shareholder value. Blaming Trump for their demise is cowards’ play.

By supporting abortion leftists are endorsing the murder of the next generation of women this month is supposed to recognize. It’s absolute insanity.

March 10th is National Abortion Providers Appreciation Day. What a ghastly thing to recognize. What do you give someone on this day? An extinguished candle? A set of Ginsu knives? A shop vac?

Let’s be clear: One can oppose Israel’s political policies without being anti-Semitic, just like one can oppose American political policies without being anti-American. On the other hand, denying Israel’s right to exist is purely anti-Semitic as it is the world’s ONLY Jewish state. You don’t see any of the people who question Israel’s legitimacy making the same arguments against any country whose official name is “The Islamic Republic ____________” so it isn’t about opposing a country with a religious foundation, it’s only about opposing a country with a Jewish foundation.

March 10, 2021

Part I

Last evening I signed a separation agreement between myself and the school district where I've worked for 21 years. It was the culmination of a relentless cancel culture mob's activism and my concurrent unwillingness to acquiesce to their demands that I forfeit my First Amendment right to free speech.

 

They made baseless accusations about my being an anti-Semitic, racist, misogynist, transphobe and that I was a threat to do physical harm to students or others in the school community because of my vocal support for the Second Amendment.

They lodged complaints not only with the district administration, but went so far as to call the police and file a report with the FBI.

 

I was never contacted directly by law enforcement, but friends I have in these agencies validate that contact was made and upon their investigation dismissed.

At the district level, I was placed on administrative leave while HR did their own investigation of the many claims made against me. This investigation concluded last week and was reviewed by outside legal counsel this week. The investigation concluded that there was ZERO evidence that I had violated any law, professional or ethical standard, or provision of my teaching contract with the district.

ZERO evidence.

Therefore - no basis could be found for severing my employment with the district.

However, the issue has become so politically volatile that my return to the classroom would have been unmanageably disruptive to teaching and learning (not by my doing, but by the noise caused by the mob -- which now includes members of my own faculty). So to avoid further conflict I was offered a settlement in return for my resignation.

I accepted their proposal and finished cleaning out my classroom early this morning.

 

I am not done teaching. I am just done teaching there.

 

Part II

 

I believe in God. I don't believe that God is random. I believe that God has purpose for our lives and that if we seek him he will reveal it to us.

 

I say that, because in all of this I have come to understand that I am in this situation for a reason. I don't know exactly what it is yet, but I believe this to be true.

 

Why?

 

Because God has protected my family.

 

We are in a position in our careers and in our lives where this turn in the road is just a turn in the road and not a head-on collision or a spin-out accident. If this had happened a year ago, or five years ago, it would have a significant impact on my family's trajectory, but it didn't. For a reason.

 

My fear is for the family of the next teacher who speaks out. The teacher who is younger in our profession with high aspirations and huge potential. The one who can ill afford to uproot their family, leave the district/community, and replant themselves somewhere else. If that teacher's freedom is curtailed, the cost to their family, to our profession, and to our future is incalculable.