As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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Unfortunately, I've been confronted with this more than once, and I still don't know how to handle it.
Most recently, I was volunteering in DD's classroom (on a project that had nothing to do with the lesson at hand -- I was in the back of the room trying to be unobtrusive). The class was discussing a book about Amelia Earhardt and Eleanor Roosevelt, and the concept of a "first lady." One of the kids thought it meant Mrs. Roosevelt was "the first lady to live in the White House." In the process of correcting that, the teacher said that "the first president's wife to live in the White House was Martha Washington."
Umm... no. The White House wasn't done when Washington was President. John and Abigail Adams would have been the first couple to live there. (We won't go into the issues of when it got the name "White House" or when the term "First Lady" was first used -- even I'll admit that's a bit much!) DD is in 4th grade, and we're history buffs. DD knew that Washington never lived there.
I didn't know what to do! What would youi do? Correct the teacher on the side? Let it go -- but tell your own kid the truth at home? In this case it was side information, but what if the info is likely to show up on a test? Does it matter?
Last year, DD was reading a book about Washington DC that was full of misinformation. It said the Washington Monument was finished in the 1830's (construction actually stopped during the Civil War), referred to President "James McKinley" (DD looked puzzled and said "I thought his name was William") and had a third error I can't remember now. I suggested to the teacher that they might want to find a new book, but I was told since it was used for reading not Social Studies it didn't matter!
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Carolyn
Last edited by Carousel96; 10-22-2009 at 08:15 PM..
I'd say to tell the teacher in private. Say something like, "what you said got me thinking and I looked it up. Is it true that ..?" That way it doesn't seem like you're being critical, just curious.
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Keep Moving Forward
Wilderness Lodge
All Star Movies
Carribean Beach
Port Orleans French Quarter
Dixie Landings (Port Orleans Riverside)
I was "that kid" who was always quick to correct the teacher and all it did was cause the teacher to take pleasure when I was wrong. It is a tough call but I would try to take heart that the inaccuracies are probably far and few between and that as they go deeper into a subject the real information will be clear to your kids. Especially with your influence as a parent!
I can see how telling a child in 1st or second grade depending on the child could cause them to connect the fact that Abigail Adams was the first to live in the White House to her being the first First Lady, Maybe the teacher made that call.
I do know how you feel because I really had a hard time with that growing up. "how can they be teaching if they don't know what I know!!" As I got older and actually taught I get it now. Someone can be a pillar of knowledge and not be able to teach. If you are happy with the rest of your childs education I wouldn't stress to much.
My middle son has been a scientist since he was in diapers. He loved all things natural and when they did the "B" word week in kindergarten, his word was barbarusa. His kindergarten teacher, who was great, looked up the word and encourage Ben to keep her thinking.
When he was in 4th grade, they had to do a report on an animal. Ben chose some obscure tree frog. The teacher told him it wasn't an animal, but a creature. My son who could recite phyllums and classes from second grade and was quite aware that he knew more than she did. This has actually become a family joke and often recited by my brother-in-law, who is also a scientist.
This teacher made lots of errors in her information and my boys were the ones who brought the errors to our attention. We would just make sure our kids had it right and ignore the rest.
If it's elementaryschool, I'd give the teacher some slack. They are not subject specialist and often don't have a great deal of depth to their knowlege, especially if it was an area that wasn't of interest to them
If it's high school, I'd write a note and kindly correct them. It may have just been a mistake and the teacher will know to correct it next time.
We also encouraged all out kids to let the teacher know if they thought the teacher presented mis-information. They had to do it politely and in a way that would not embarrass the teacher. All three got quite good at it. And remember some "facts" are truly correct, lots of others are subject to interpretation.
I've got to say, however, that all three of my children have found numerous factual information errors at EPCOT. My DD's pleasure from the Spaceship Earth has been diminished by her need for correct information/
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Charlie
Last edited by Huntermom; 10-22-2009 at 01:41 PM..
I'd let her know that you were concerned about it. Honestly, I've always felt that if a teacher gives incorrect information and is not corrected - this produces children who are ignorant.
Doesn't mean I'd be mean about it. I'd just take her aside and let her know you were concerned about it, and since you're a history buff you wanted to let her know. Might be a fun thing to find out where the presidents lived before the White House was constructed!! Might be too much to mention that DC wasn't always the capital, though!
I've got to say, however, that all three of my children have found numerous factual information errors at EPCOT. My DD's pleasure from the Spaceship Earth has been diminished by her need for correct information/
OOO - really? What are they? Inquiring minds want to know.
I am not quite sure what I would do, but I have a feeling I may have to figure it out before the end of this school year . . . DD's Language Arts and Reading teacher (3rd grade) can't even spell DD's name and has said some pretty off the wall things so far this year.
Luckily, DD is becoming one who will call her teacher out in a way by raising her hand and saying "But I thought . . . "
I would say something to her on the side If it was something that affected his grade I would have said something right then to her.
Last year in first grade Luke was marked-off for an error in an essay he wrote. In the essay he had written the word 'vacuum.' She red-penned it, wrote 'vacume' and even went as far to tell him that there are no words in the English language with two 'u's together
I'll have to ask my DD about what's wrong in Spcaeship Earth but I know one thing is that they attribute the first writing to the wrong civilization. She pointed out a few other things, but I long ago learned my children are much smarter than I am and can retain much more.
They and my scientist brother in law also felt that lots of the information in Body Wars and other exhibits in that pavillion was out of date.
I know all three kids feel that Ellen Energy Adventure slants information in favor of fossill fuels (sponsored by an oil company) and again reflects the age of the exhibit.
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Charlie
Last edited by Huntermom; 10-22-2009 at 01:45 PM..
I was always the "Hermione Granger" of my group in school. Most of me teachers had no problem if we pointed out information that was misrepresented, as long as we did it in a polite manner.
As a teachers kid, and having taught myself as well, I can tell you there are a lot of less than astute teachers entering the field. My mother claimed the 3 teachers in the grade below her were the bane of her exitstence becuase they constantly misrepresented facts and were simply uninformed on many things. She said they would "wing it" way to much instead of prepare to teach a lesson.
However, I must say, that teachers have it rough these days. No Child Left Behind takes excessive amounts of time to chart and IEP all of the students. Preparing for state achievement tests has become way to important, and the teachers have way too much paperwork. So preparing 'extra' information for a lesson is a big task.
If its in the lower grades, let it go for now. But by the 5th grade, these things are gonna stick, and I would be making sure of accurate info for 5th grade and over.
Unfortunately, I've been confronted with this more than once, and I still don't know how to handle it.
Most recently, I was volunteering in DD's classroom (on a project that had nothing to do with the lesson at hand -- I was in the back of the room trying to be unobtrusive). The class was discussing a book about Amelia Earhardt and Eleanor Roosevelt, and the concept of a "first lady." One of the kids thought it meant Mrs. Roosevelt was "the first lady to live in the White House." In the process of correcting that, the teacher said that "the first president's wife to live in the White House was Martha Washington."
Umm... no. The White House wasn't done when Washington was President. John and Abigail Adams would have been the first couple to live there. (We won't go into the issues of when it got the name "White House" or when the term "First Lady" was first used -- even I'll admit that's a bit much!)
I didn't know what to do! What would youi do? Correct the teacher on the side? Let it go -- but tell your own kid the truth at home? In this case it was side information, but what if the info is likely to show up on a test? Does it matter?
Last year, DD was reading a book about Washington DC that was full of misinformation. It said the Washington Monument was finished in the 1830's (construction actually stopped during the Civil War), referred to President "James McKinley" (DD looked puzzled and said "I thought his name was William") and had a third error I can't remember now. I suggested to the teacher that they might want to find a new book, but I was told since it was used for reading not Social Studies it didn't matter!
I would let the first lady comment go. She made a mistake. She's an elementary school teacher, not specifically social studies--- she's probably teaching 5 subjects, you can't expect her to know everything. In that age, I hope my kids are learning basic correct info, and reading, writing, math--- knowing which first lady lived in the white house--- I'll let the mistake go LOL.
The book would really have bothered me (especially being a former social studies teacher), and I would have gotten in touch with the teacher about that, and I wouldn't have liked the answer they gave you, and probably would have pursued it further.
__________________
Dina
Last edited by Happymommy; 10-22-2009 at 02:31 PM..
Last year in first grade Luke was marked-off for an error in an essay he wrote. In the essay he had written the word 'vacuum.' She red-penned it, wrote 'vacume' and even went as far to tell him that there are no words in the English language with two 'u's together
Oh--- that would have bothered me more than the first lady mistake LOL.