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Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Town of Kinderhook, your web page stinks!!!

I heard at one time in my life that town web sites were geared towards "open" government and keeping people informed.

Someone should convey that message to the town of Kinderhook, NY.
As of this morning, August 27, 2014, the page entitled "Town Board Meeting Minutes" looks like this:

Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:56 PM
15K
Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:56 PM
23K
Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:55 PM
27K
Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:55 PM
34K
Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:54 PM
15K
Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:54 PM
24K
Wed, Apr 2, 2014 2:54 PM
15K
Thu, Dec 12, 2013 12:02 PM
15K
Thu, Dec 12, 2013 12:01 PM
23K
Thu, Dec 12, 2013 12:00 PM
24K
Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:53 AM
24K
Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:53 AM
24K
Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:52 AM
28K
Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:51 AM
26K
Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:50 AM
16K
Thu, Oct 10, 2013 11:50 AM
24K
Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04 PM
15K
Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04 PM
15K
Tue, May 21, 2013 1:04 PM
22K
Tue, May 21, 2013 1:03 PM
16K
The date on the left is the date the minutes were posted on the web,

That is the good stuff!!! The page titled "Agendas and Minutes" looks like this:
Agendas and Minutes
Minutes
Agendas

That's it!! Blank!!

That is how we are kept informed!!!  This is a town with no radio or TV or paper. (Oh, they do say our legal paper is the Hudson Register Star)

The town has a planning board. As of today, its page looks like this;
Planning Board Agendas
Thu, Feb 9, 2012 10:02 PM
27K
Tue, Feb 7, 2012 7:12 PM
27K
Thu, Jan 12, 2012 7:52 PM
25K
There is more!
The Zoning Board of Appeals has a page. It looks like this:
ZBA Meeting Minutes
Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:59 PM
107K
Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:59 PM
88K
Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:58 PM
98K
Sun, Jan 12, 2014 12:56 PM
1701K
Sat, Dec 28, 2013 4:31 PM
166K
Sat, Dec 28, 2013 4:30 PM
165K
Wed, Sep 11, 2013 7:37 PM
201K
Tue, Jul 2, 2013 9:57 PM
157K
Tue, Jul 2, 2013 9:56 PM
169K
Thu, Jul 5, 2012 6:19 PM
44K
Thu, Jul 5, 2012 6:10 PM
37K
Sun, Mar 25, 2012 12:12 PM
42K
Thu, May 5, 2011 5:56 PM
27K
Mon, Mar 7, 2011 5:20 PM
28K
Mon, Mar 7, 2011 4:20 PM
28K
Thu, Mar 18, 2010 8:07 PM
26K
Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:05 PM
35K
Tue, Dec 8, 2009 12:05 PM
31K
Wed, Sep 9, 2009 4:05 PM
27K
I could go on, but I think the message is clear. 
Kinderhook, get your act together!

Monday, August 18, 2014

Can you drive while adding 2 digits numbers?

Today's Albany Times Union contains an Associated Press article written by Lauran Neergaard. Actually, the paper does not name the writer, just credits the story to the AP. A little searching discovered the article's author, and also some interesting headlines for the article. Here are three of them:

In math, memorizing counts out of Albany Times Union
Kids’ brains reorganize when learning math skills from Fallreporter.com out of Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

I find it interesting that each title creates a slightly different spin. The Fallreporter.com version promotes the stance that learning mathematics (which in this article is described as basic arithmetic) changes the way the brain operates. The KOB4 version might be taken to describe a more static brain which can reveal what is happening when kids learn math. The Times Union headline seems to stress the most basic form of remembering, known as memorization, as the big key.

I note that the Fond du Lac title matches the title used at ABC News (see it here)

Somehow, somewhere, somebody has to realize that memorization is only a short-term solution, and can only lead to a long-term skill if that which is memorized is then used repeatedly. In the case of arithmetic, this would require a delay in the use of calculators until arithmetic skills have been strongly embedded in the brain.

Take a moment to read Susan R. Barry's column from Psychology Today titled "Math and Memory", and  the Josef Parvizi (Stanford Medicine News Center) article "Mathematics or Memory?"

Start with the AP column and the two articles just named, and consider them in light of our big push to stop texting while driving. In what way is driving a car similar to doing arithmetic? Or is it the texting that is more like doing arithmetic? Can you text and do arithmetic simultaneously? Or is it easier to drive and do arithmetic easier? I would suspect that using a calculator while driving is very dangerous. Can you say that about doing basic arithmetic mentally and driving at the same time?

Unless and until you have carefully considered situations such as these, I would shy away from making claims that giving kids calculators is helping them.

Let's give the kids arithmetic, and keep the calculators away, until they are truly needed, not just wanted.