Oh, That Socrates

One day in ancient Greece, an acquaintance met the great philosopher Socrates (did they know he was great then?  Just wondering...) and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about your friend?" 
"Hold on a minute," Socrates replied.  "Before telling me anything, I'd like you to pass a little test.  It's called the Triple Filter Test."
"Triple Filter?"
"That's right," Socrates continued.  "Before you talk to me about my friend, it might be a good idea to take a moment and filter what you're going to say.  The first filter is Truth.  Have you made ABSOLUTELY sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"
"No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it and..."
"All right," said Socrates.  "So, you don't REALLY know it's true or not.  Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness.  Is what you are about to tell me something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued," you want to tell me something bad about him, but you're not certain it's true.  You may still pass the test, though, because there's one filter left:  the filter of Usefulness (okay, let's stop here for a second- one can pass a test with a 33%?  hmmm.).  Is what you want to tell me about my friend going to be useful to me?"
"No, not really."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither true nor good nor even useful, why tell it to me at all?"
Great story.  Good moral.  Cool guy.
But why include it in my blog?  Because we have a midyear survey that was just created, for all families at Harriet Bishop - both attendance area families and magnet families (which I put under one big umbrella of "family").  This survey is to help us continue to create the best program that we can, given the fact that this program has been operational for four and a half months.  One of the questions included in the survey is about communication our families have had regarding many things, like academic programs, instructional strategies, etc., and it's an important question.  Not everything we see or hear or read is true (case in point...news...internet...reality shows...photographs of Twiggy), and we need to think of this Triple Filter test when talking about or discussing something as important as education.  We want our families' feedback.  It's SO important to us!  But more importantly, we want Harriet Bishop's programming to speak for itself in the success that students experience.  We want our students to grow, to learn from and with each other, to become informed, successful, vital citizens.
I heard on the news this morning something dreadful:  the famous sign over the gate at Auschwitz - the one that said "Arbeit Macht Frei" ("work will set you free") has been stolen.  STOLEN!  Although the sign itself was a lie, the fact that is is now missing, possibly never to return, could stir up doubt in future years as to the existence of it in the first place!  Once someone says something, doubt can creep in - and eventually one can create an entirely new history.  I'd rather have - and I fully encourage - people experience Harriet Bishop first hand, and speak of it through that experience.  If you have a chance, visit your child(ren)'s classroom.  Listen to a band rehearsal.  Walk through the halls - I'll walk them with you!  Watch the TV crew create "The Buzz".  And fill out our survey.  Pass the third filter of the Triple Filter Test - make the information you have useful!