Book Review: What Teachers Make

What Teachers Make: In Praise of the World's Greatest Job. By Taylor Mali. Penguin-Putnam Publishing. Hardback. 2012. $12

At 197 pages What Teachers Make is short, sweet and to-the-point. Mali has a wide following, having taught in numerous places, with experiences across curriculums and disciplines. He draws from his wide experiences in this brief collection of anecdotes, many humorous, a few serious, and all poignant.

Taylor includes some poetry samples which should be read aloud. I'm a big fan of "spoken word" poetry and Mali has been part of the HBO Def Poetry Jam, a brilliant show.

Taylor Mali on HBO Def Poetry Jam

What Teachers Make is not a salary survey of compensation or benefits. What Teachers Make recounts episodes in Taylor's teaching career in which he has affected or been affected by students (smart and dying), parents (allies and enemies), and bureaucrats (who should act smarter than they do).

Mali's book should be read by anyone thinking about a career in Education. Unfortunately, most teacher wannabees have no idea what they are getting into until he or she begins student teaching. When the real scope of teaching is discovered many teachers, almost 50%, resign from teaching after the first 5 yrs. A person must want to not only be a teacher but also understand the incredible demands teaching makes on a person's life. You will sacrifice time, energy, money, emotions, and a bit of your soul to be a teacher. Teachers spend over $1 billion of their own money to support their classes. And, as Taylor points out, and is well documented, the cost of educating one student per year is 1/2 the cost of incarcerating an adult. In Arizona, for example, the wonderful bastion of tolerance {sarcasm}, studies indicate a child who has failed to read by the 3rd grade will most likely end up in prison.

One idea Taylor presents is putting first year education majors into a real life classroom. Throw them in the pool and see if they can swim, he says. Make them teach something. Take the ones who really want to learn how to educate and help them become better educators. Keep tossing them back in. Why wait until the very end, after 4+ years have been expended, and 5 years thereafter the teacher quits. Better to show them the environment and then spend valuable time on the ones willing and able to learn. I have to admit, I like the idea.

The book will validate many of you who do teach. Having experience as a middle school teacher, Taylor may speak with a familiar voice. Those of you needing some new ideas, or are feelings de-energized by educational politics may also find familiar sentiments.

What Teachers Make are future adults who question, who doubt, who can think on their own, and who can cast a critical eye upon their world.

What Teachers Make would make a nice gift for a teacher as he or she prepares for the 2012-2013 school year.

Geographic Variability of Childhood Food Allergy in the United States

As a past, current, and future allergy sufferer, I found this review interesting. Allergies can be regional, based on local weather, regional climate, and distribution of vegetation. I had not thought to map the incidencen of childhood allergies, thinking those were coincident with population size. I might be wrong in thinking that, perhaps, based on maps and geographic analysis.

Elevation and Cholera: An Epidemiological Spatial Analysis of the Cholera Epidemic in Harare, Zimbabwe, 2008-2009

Health care is an important beneficiary of geographic information and geographic analysis.

POM Wonderful and Hearts vs Brains

Dr. MacDonald runs the Business Ethics blog and writes about ethics associated with economic thought and business practices. Thought-provoking and insightful, Dr MacDonald's blog and Twitter feed are worthy additions to your learning ecosystem.

Create and Share Custom Maps with ArcGIS Explorer

Geography is so much a part of our everyday lives we take our experiences for granted. Being a geographer is not enough; we are still susceptible to bias and not immune to being oblivious. However, I would submit the holistic nature of Geography allows trained geographers to see, interpret, and question patterns many others would miss.

How can we develop better spatial skills ourselves? How can we help others develop better spatial skills? Everyone needs better spatial thinking skills as much as we all could use more critical thinking skills. In fact, I would argue each goes in hand with the other.

If you are in the position of helping others see patterns, analyze and interpret information, you might find ESRI's ArcGIS Explorer Online a nice tool for enhancing your web site or your presentations. Explorer Online is a wonderful app allowing anyone to create, develop, and share maps, using prepared data.

Initially, you will want to perform two tasks. First, install Silverlight for your web browser. Second, in order to share any map you create you will need to save the map. Saving a map requires an ESRI Global Account. Creating an account is free and allows you to save, store, and share your maps. On your first visit to ArcGIS Explorer Online [link] go ahead and setup an account.

The app is so easy to use a child could create a meaningful map in about 5 minutes and share her map with friends or classmates around the world. Wordpress.com blogs do not allow "iFrames" so I am providing a link to a public map [link] so you can see a working map which I created in less than 5 minutes. An argument to host my own web site I suppose :)

I'm not going to do anything about explaining data, as my intention here is merely to detail two cool functions of ArcGIS Explorer Online a person can use immediately, and we have to have a working map before those option are available to us.

Once you login, an interface will load showing three button at the upper-left, "Home," "Details," an "Share," plus four icons, Save, Print, Basemap, and Add Content. Mouse-over the buttons and a popup box will identify each button.

Click "Add Content" and a scrolling menu will appear. A good habit in working through any exercise, one I practice, is to examine any dialog box which should appear. Software changes so rapidly written directions are often out of date within weeks or months of apps being launched.

After you have examined the Add Content scrolling list, replace the "Search or URL" with 'median household income,' then search. You don't have to follow my example verbatim; I am going to "add" the first result in the list, "USA Median Household Income." Click outside the dialog box, the box will disappear, and click on the "Zoom To Rectangle" tool found under the "Presentation" tab. Draw a rectangle around the coterminous United States (the lower 48.) The view will zoom, capturing the area you defined with your box. Save your map; you'll have to name the map - I called mine, Mike's Map.

Awesome Map Option #1

At the top left, see the "Share" button? Click the button. Right there on the dialog box are a number of really great choices. You can share your map to Facebook, or Twitter immediately. If you have created an ESRI Group, you can share with group members, or you can simply allow everyone in the world to see your map. At the bottom, you can generate HTML code to embed you map in your own web site. How cool is that? Except, like I said earlier, the HTML uses iFrames which might be an issue for some web sites.

Awesome Map Option #2

At the top-center of our window are two tabs, one says Mapping, the other Presentation. Choose Presentation and watch how the app changes.

We are prompted to "Click to add first slide." I am not going to walk you through all of the finer details though by mouseover, you should be able to discern the functions of all buttons. However, anyone with elementary Powerpoint skills should be able to figure out how to add, delete, insert, and run a slide presentation.

An awesome trait of the Presentation mode is the maps upon which the slides are built is "living" data. In other words, you are not creating screenshots of your maps, your slides are your maps. You can update, alter, modify your maps as you develop your presentation. You can even introduce more data during your Presentation. Change them on-the-fly. And, as we saw on the Share button, you can share your Presentation with whoever you want, or embed within a web site.

Thanks to Joseph Kerski, ESRI's Education Manager for helping pass along the niceties of ArcGIS Explorer Online. Faculty and staff were very excited by the sharing and ease-of-use potential of Explorer.

I suggest getting your kids involved. A child 8+ might find making maps interesting. The exposure to the technology might inspire them in new and different ways to bring geography into their classroom. I can see Explorer being a great tool for homeschooling, as well. Free technology, using real data, and easy to use and share.

Brilliant!

Book Review: Pakistan On The Brink, by Ahmed Rashid

I have grave concerns over the future health of Ahmed Rashid. Pakistan is not friendly towards journalists, aid workers, politicians, business people, or anyone critical of Pakistani leadership.

Since 1992, 42 journalists have been killed in Pakistan (CPJ.com.) April 20th, 2012, Mutaza Rizvi was found murdered in Karachi, the southern port city of Pakistan. Rizvi was a senior editor for "the Dawn" newspaper, a leading newsource in Pakistan. He had been bound and strangled (ABCNews.com.) According to the web site, "Violence Against Journalists in Afghanistan," eight journalists were bullied, threatened, beaten, or killed in 2011.

Mr. Rashid is a highly esteemed Pakistani author, journalist, former revolutionary, and Central Asian expert. Pakistan On The Brink is the third book in a series which began with Taliban and continued with Descent into Chaos.



In Pakistan on the Brink, Ahmed Rashid presents in a series of essays the importance of Pakistan in the regional affairs of South Asia. The key to a successful Afghanistan is a stable Pakistan. In fact, the cornerstone of a stable South Asia, from Afghanistan to Bangladesh, is a stable democracy and the Rule of Law in Pakistan. The last 12 years in Pakistan, and South Asia, has been anything but stable.

Weaving together a continuous narrative of events transpiring since September 11th, 2001, Mr. Rashid pulls all regional players, the United States, and NATO supporters to describe the political calculus of the Afghanistan-Pakistan relationship, referred to as AFPAK. One cannot adequately analyze, interpret, or seek to explain the nature of geopolitical affairs in Afghanistan nor Pakistan without considering them as AFPAK. Any analysis must also include the influence of respective neighbors, including Iran, India, China, and Russia.

The sub-title of his book, "The Future of America, Pakistan, and Afghanistan," is not accurate, in my opinion. Mr. Rashid's essays describe recent conditions and the state of affairs as of 2011 between people, political parties, and countries named, not so much future-looking commentary. If Taliban was a treatise on the modern history of the Taliban, and Descent Into Chaos an examination of the U.S. role in Pakistan during the Bush Presidency (2001-2008), then Pakistan On The Brink provides an interesting framing of the delicate economic, social, and political climate currently existing in Pakistan.

His essays are captivating for those with little a priori knowledge of the geopolitical mires of South Asia. Even with some knowledge, Mr. Rashid clearly demystifies the web of intrigue in AFPAK relations. Mr. Rashid names specific people and organization he views as responsible for tactical and strategic failures across the region. Politicians across the board are implicated, President George Bush, President Obama, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, and the current Pakistani President Asif Zardari and the Pakistani Prime Minister Raza Gilani. Bush was described as "congenial," establishing a rapport with Afghan President Karzai but Afghanistan never was a priority for him. Obama is characterized as aloof, cool and distant, especially in regards to Afghan leadership, yet has done more for Afghanistan in his tenure as U.S. President than in all eight years of Bush's presidency. Economic and military aid for Afghanistan increased substantially under Obama but his reticence to develop a relationship with Karzai has undermined peace negotiations.

The Pakistani leaderships comes across as nothing more than stooges for the Pakistani military and the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence Agency (ISI). Zardari and Gilani are completely ineffectual for a number of reasons. First and foremost, each is fearful of being removed from office (in the best case), or killed (in the worst case.) The military is the most powerful leadership authority in Pakistan currently, with the ISI close behind. Zardari and Gilani have done nothing to restrain the military and have gone as far as to support myths, lies, and anti-American propaganda aimed at the United States. The 2011 assassination of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad, Pakistan under the noses of the military, ISI, and Pakistan's government gave evidence to Pakistani anti-American sentiments. Silent for two months after the killing, the first Pakistani government comments protested the violation of their airspace. Later, neither Zardari nor Gilani would quell rumors among the general Pakistani population the assassination was an utter fabrication.

Military officials on all sides are named and their ineffectual leadership decisions detailed. The Pakistani military is no doubt complicit in aiding and abetting the Haqqani Network, and by proxy, al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba. The Haqqani Network is a family-run terrorist organization, operated by Jalaluddin Haqqani. With considerable wealth earned in business and construction, Haqqani is able to purchase equipment and run terrorist cells against anyone or any organization in the region. The Haqqani Network is known to support and train al-Qaeda, plus Lashkar-e-Taiba, a terrorist organization managed in Pakistan against organizations in India.

The Taliban cannot be described as a unitary organization. While affiliations may overlap, the Taliban consists of at least two groups, one based on Afghanistan, and one based in Pakistan. Membership may overlap, some philosophies may parallel, both favor the withdrawal of U.S./NATO forces from Afghanistan. The Afghan Taliban are "nationalists," they support an independent Afghan state, free of U.S., Pakistani, or Iranian influence. The Taliban in Afghanistan today are not the same Taliban faced by the U.S. military in the early 2000s. The U.S. military dealt with those Taliban already; the previous leaders are dead. Today's Taliban are the sons and cousins of those earlier Taliban leaders. Under the current Taliban authority, some restrictions have eased. About 100 schools have been built throughout Afghanistan, thought most in the north and northwest. Girls are allowed schooling, and more girls are in school in Afghanistan than ever before, over 8 million. The Taliban have banned attacks against schools and have allowed UN organizations to inoculate children.

The Pakistani Taliban, on the other hand, aid and support al-Qaeda, the Haqqanis, and train suicide bombers. The Pakistani Taliban actively fight against the Pakistani government. Members are far more extreme in their ideals. Pakistani Taliban favor overthrowing the Pakistani government, the creation of a regional state based completely on Sharia. Al-Qaeda and Lashkar-e-Taiba are their allies.

Mr. Rashid's writing is compelling. As a Pakistani, his frustration with his country is evident. He often says so, citing Pakistan's important geography, wedged between Iran and Iran, a potential conduit for a world's worth of goods and services, with a population of once highly educated people and noted not long ago as a viable destination of foreign direct investment. How could Pakistan not be successful? he argues.

Pakistan will not be successful for the foreseeable future. The government is weak and unwilling to restrain the military or the ISI. The Pakistani military and the ISI leverage all sides against the other, incite fear and violence, work with adversaries of the U.S. and NATO. The government is fearful of an Afghanistan influenced by Shia Iran. The Pakistani government is fearful of an Afghanistan influenced by rising economic powerhouse of India. External players like the United States, vacillating between support and withdrawal, cutting economic aid and repairing damaging relations simply add to the chaos.

Mr. Rashid's writing feels fast and loose. Months and days are frequently mentioned but no year. Getting lost in all of the details is easy, I discovered. I found myself searching the web for events so I could better establish timelines as his telling might move back and forth over days, months, and years upon a single page.

The level of detail and his familiarity with many of the important people made for fascinating reading. Mr Rashid had lunch, dinner, and breakfast with most of the top-level personalities, Asif Zardari, President Bush, President Obama, and Hamid Karzai. His love of Pakistan and his concern for his country, people, and culture is beyond reproach.

To truly understand the geopolitical complexity of peace and stability in South Asia, in Afghanistan, and Pakistan, and become quickly educated on the regional nuances, Mr. Rashid's "Pakistan On The Brink," should not be passed over.

Pakistan On The Brink. Ahmed Rashid. Penguin/Viking Hardback. 212pgs. 2012. $26.95