The problem with education

[Katzndogz]

It seems that the guidelines for teaching LGBT history is causing some to wonder just what the hell we think we are doing.

California schools will need help on teaching about gays - latimes.com

 

[Zander]

Mary has two mommies. One of them was a daddy before. He was sad because he really felt like a mommy inside. Then he went to the doctor and became a mommy. Now he is a she...and a mommy too! The other mommy has very short hair and wears pants.

Jack has two daddies. One of them likes show tunes, Barbra Streisand, and cooking shows. The other daddy wears lots of leather clothing with spikes and lifts weights. He is really strong.

 

[bodecea]

Mary has two mommies. One of them was a daddy before. He was sad because he really felt like a mommy inside. Then he went to the doctor and became a mommy. Now he is a she...and a mommy too! The other mommy has very short hair and wears pants.

Jack has two daddies. One of them likes show tunes, Barbra Streisand, and cooking shows. The other daddy wears lots of leather clothing with spikes and lifts weights. He is really strong.

That has SO MUCH to do with parents not caring about their children doing well in school these days.

 

[Ravi]

The problem with public education - summed up perfectly in a cartoon......

These grades are terrible!! these grades are terrrible!!

Yep. So many parents think their little angel can do no wrong. Teachers cannot direct their own classes without running afoul of some PC bullshit. A prime example is the thread yesterday about a spanish class learning the Mexican pledge as part of their lesson plan.

Just flat out stupidity.

 

[Ravi]

Anyone read Samson's epic meltdown thread where he blamed the teachers, the principal, and probably the entire school board because his 10th grader didn't do his work?

 

[flacaltenn]

The problem with public education - summed up perfectly in a cartoon......

These grades are terrible!! these grades are terrrible!!

Yep. So many parents think their little angel can do no wrong. Teachers cannot direct their own classes without running afoul of some PC bullshit. A prime example is the thread yesterday about a spanish class learning the Mexican pledge as part of their lesson plan.

Just flat out stupidity.

I agree with you on that one.. But we've been conditioned to expect the worst.

 

[caela]

I had straight A's in math with my straight D's in religion. LOL

It is not my fault that religion is really stupid.

psik

Now with grades like that I'd have to find out what the problem was causing the disparity. Were you not doing the work, or were your own views so opposite of the teacher's that you were being graded poorly based on your opinions more than the quality of your work?

Brother Edwards idea of teaching religion was copying pages and drawing pictures out of the catechisms we HAD TO BUY. We probably had to do 20 assignments every grading period. I did 3 in September and decided it was WAY TOO STOOPDI! I thought I was going to get and F. I concluded the school must have a policy of not flunking people at religion. So I did no more assignments for the rest of the year. Straight D's.

I am still pretty much an agnostic. Even the New Atheists are pretty boring. Have they said anything that wasn't said as well 50 years ago?

The idea that all subjects are equally important is ridiculous. And then they require 4 years of English literature and no accounting. Double-entry accounting would have been more useful than most of the more complex math I did get and usually got A's in. Why aren't parents demanding accounting for all kids instead of just insisting that kids get good grades in whatever junk they have to take?

Why aren't parents exchanging info and creating a reading list and ignoring a lot of what the schools say? I just don't get this TRUST IN AUTHORITY mentality.

psik

O.k., that's an idiotic assignment. You learn very little just copying out of a book. Hell I can copy out of a book and have no clue what I just wrote. My daughter won't be in a religious school but, if she were, I'd still make her do the assignment because it IS the assignment. It would be more of a lesson in the fact that we can't just skip the parts of school/work/life that we don't like, than a lesson for the class however and I wouldn't complain about her doing the bare minimum to maintain at least a B in the class.

And I'd find something else for her to do/read/watch/write etc. on the subject for ME so that I knew she was learning something.

You're right that not all classes are created equal. I don't know about accounting, but a class in basic money management and the way credit works would be useful. So many kids come out of school with no real idea how to balance a checkbook or how to build/maintain credit and a lot of their parents don't know either! My own folks mangled their own and never taught me a thing about it so now I am digging myself out of a hole I was never told I could fall into! Actually, we won't need a class on this, I'll teach it to my daughter myself.

I don't know why so many parents just "go with the flow" when it comes to their childrens educations. I don't. My 3 year old is already learning basic addition skills (really basic, she uses her fingers to get the answers but she's 3! lol) and word recognition as well as realizing that it's letters that form words and starting phonics to sound words out. Learning is all a game when they're little and it's damned fun to watch them learn.

Mine WILL have a reading list and a lot of them will be read together before she's ever out of elementary school. Lots of classics (Alice in Wonderland, Oliver Twist etc) can be read to kids and be a bonding time for them and parents. I'll be as selective, as she gets older about what she reads as I am about what I allow her to watch...so many books out there for kids/young adults are just trash.

Though I suppose trash is better than video games all day.

 

[Sunshine]

That's certainly part of the problem.

That is also, incidently, a damned good argument for ending education run by LOCAL school boards.

What exactly does bad parenting have to do with local school boards?

Where I'm from, there was a time when bad parenting didn't have anything to do with bad grades. Kids with bad parents saw getting through school as their ticket to a better life. And many educators encouraged them to achieve in spite of it.

 

[Unkotare]

My daughter will have a serious problem if she brings home grades like that. She'll have the '69 version to deal with, not the '09 version!

I had straight A's in math with my straight D's in religion. LOL

It is not my fault that religion is really stupid.

psik

Sounds like it WAS your fault that you are really stupid.

 

[psikeyhackr]

My daughter will have a serious problem if she brings home grades like that. She'll have the '69 version to deal with, not the '09 version!

I had straight A's in math with my straight D's in religion. LOL

It is not my fault that religion is really stupid.

psik

Sounds like it WAS your fault that you are really stupid.

And getting better grades in religion would have accomplished what?

psik

 

[Samson]

That's certainly part of the problem.

That is also, incidently, a damned good argument for ending education run by LOCAL school boards.

How did you arrive at that absurd conclusion?

Local school boards are the common denominator in both frames.

 

[Samson]

I love it! But there needs to be a third frame, with the principal berating the teacher.

I teach seniors. There is an unwritten rule that: ALL WILL GRADUATE ON TIME! (Esp. the criminals)

We oughta fail them and let you teach them ALL in Summer School.

 

[Samson]

The problem with public education - summed up perfectly in a cartoon......

I would argue that another big problem with public education is that it's compulsory.

Indeed.



This is the single biggest problem.

 

[psikeyhackr]

You're right that not all classes are created equal. I don't know about accounting, but a class in basic money management and the way credit works would be useful. So many kids come out of school with no real idea how to balance a checkbook or how to build/maintain credit and a lot of their parents don't know either! My own folks mangled their own and never taught me a thing about it so now I am digging myself out of a hole I was never told I could fall into! Actually, we won't need a class on this, I'll teach it to my daughter myself.

The Accounting Game: Basic Accounting Fresh From the Lemonade Stand
Foolish Book Review: "The Accounting Game"

The whole idea that accounting is difficult is ridiculous.

Most accounting books are crap. I have another book that is 800+ pages, costs $90 and has lots of color glossy pictures. It does not have the basic accounting equation until page 48.

Assets - Liabilities = Net Worth

That is a 3rd grade level equation. It should have been on page 5. Our schools make us buy over priced books with watered down knowledge.

These debates are really about SCHOOLING not EDUCATION. Our professional educators don't want most people educating themselves without the schools. But these computers are game changers. If people can store books on computers and share information world wide then good information can't disappear into dusty libraries with thousands of crappy books and go out of print.

When do we revolt against the TRADITION of Education? I mean Schooling.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR5ApYxkU-U]Pink Floyd - Another Brick In The Wall (HQ) - YouTube[/ame]

psik

 

[Unkotare]

I had straight A's in math with my straight D's in religion. LOL

It is not my fault that religion is really stupid.

psik

Sounds like it WAS your fault that you are really stupid.

And getting better grades in religion would have accomplished what?

psik

A better overall grade point average for one. A demonstration that you were capable of getting better grades in that subject for another. Perhaps most importantly, an indication that you were more interested in being a good student and a generally capable person than being a pissy little self-important shitstain.

 

[Unkotare]

When do we revolt against the TRADITION of Education? I mean Schooling.

Feel free to homeschool your own kids.

 

[psikeyhackr]

A better overall grade point average for one. A demonstration that you were capable of getting better grades in that subject for another. Perhaps most importantly, an indication that you were more interested in being a good student and a generally capable person than being a pissy little self-important shitstain.

So you don't think my straight A's in physics, chemistry and biology helped my GPA.

You expect kids to be morons who follow orders even when the orders are STUPID.

Here is an example of the kind of science fiction I liked in grade school and high school.

All Day September - Roger Kuykendall | Feedbooks <- Link

That story is from 1959 and is about finding water on the Moon. We didn't actually find water there until 2009. So that story was 50 years ahead of its time and 10 years before the actual Moon landing. It also talks about turbines and electrolyzing water. I was reading about the evolution of stars and nuclear fusion in grade school. Your concept of education is about making children DUMB.

SF made science more interesting than my science teachers and probably helped me get those A's.

Here is a different type of sci-fi.

Subversive by Reynolds Mack
"Subversive" by Reynolds Mack Free Download. The book is added by K. Havard (Texas) Read online books at OnRead.com.

This is not science fiction by A. E. Van Vogt had the same ideas.

The Tyranny of Words (1938) by Stuart Chase
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9H1StY1nU8]"The Tyranny of Words" - YouTube[/ame]

I could have read that in high school but none of my teachers told me about it. They probably didn't know. That is why a good reading list could be so useful. But it might be why teachers never mention the concept.

People like you are largely the reason the educational system is so screwed up.

psik

 

[Unkotare]

So you don't think my straight A's in physics, chemistry and biology helped my GPA.

I didn't say that, did I? Did you decide reading comprehension wasn't an important enough subject as well?

It's clear you were a pissy little punk and haven't changed much. It's just a shame you didn't have anyone who cared enough to cuff you in the back of the head and teach you to stop being a little prick. You'd have been much better off.

 

[Unkotare]

Here is an example of the kind of science fiction I liked in grade school and high school.

Who the fuck asked you or cares? It's clear you were failed miserably by the educational system and any adults in your life. A shame.

 

[Unkotare]

People like you are largely the reason the educational system is so screwed up.

People like you are proof that kids need to learn discipline and focus and the fact that their own little egos are NOT the center of the universe.