the joke that is public school education today

[jeffspock]

Originally Posted by john_vella

jeff, i like you which is why i'm going to give you this life-saving tip. don't ever...ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever mention that program in front of beth. i can't be responsible for her reaction.

srsly. that program is the biggest joke to any teacher.
all mandate...no funding/tools.

john

HAHAHAH - thanks for the heads up John.

I definetely don't agree with the program. I was just thinking that maybe this program was the reason for the implementation of the after hours make up work classes for the kids in your wife's class.

I do think kids should have an opportunity to make up work if they have a reasonable explanation as to why it wasn't turned in to begin with. These kids should be getting prepared for college where you must turn in work at the designated date.

Do you think the administration is more worried about the overall graduation rates then the actual education and life experiences that these students are recieving?

[emphatic_apparatek]

Public education is the biggest joke ever. They're not even teaching kids what they NEED to know they're teaching them what they WANT them to know. Seriously, how many people are going to get a job using calculus and trig. At my highschool they had a Math and Money course that taught you how to balance a check book, or buy a house or car etc.. It actually taught you REAL LIFE math skills. I don't use geometry, never have, never will. Highschool was a joke and still is a joke PERIOD. I havnt used one thing that I learned in highschool except the math and money courses. It was a complete waste of time to me, even though I wasnt one to ditch alot of classes. They need to make classes available that kids are actually interested in. Things they WANT to learn, and not just have stuff shoved in their faces and be told that they HAVE to learn this or they'll be failures.

[The Real Rick Springfield]

Originally Posted by jeffspock

I was just thinking that maybe this program was the reason for the implementation of the after hours make up work classes for the kids in your wife's class.

you're getting warmer...

Do you think the administration is more worried about the overall graduation rates then the actual education and life experiences that these students are recieving?

DING! DING! DING! DING!
jeff spock, you're a winner!!! don pardo, tell jeff what he's just won!

srsly, if you want to laugh to no end, come join me for graduation at nokia. they always have a suite reserved for the teachers. the fun is when they call out a kid's name and 2 or 3 of the teachers in the room say, "what? on no WAY he/she's graduating. he/she missed my class at least __ times." or " he/she didn't turn in a single assignment all year."

yeah, the administration's only concerns are graduation rate and failure rate. in fact, it was the failure rate that was specifically mentioned in friday's meeting about the slacker pizza party.

john

[Funkenstein]

Originally Posted by john_vella

srsly, if you want to laugh to no end, come join me for graduation at nokia. they always have a suite reserved for the teachers. the fun is when they call out a kid's name and 2 or 3 of the teachers in the room say, "what? on no WAY he/she's graduating. he/she missed my class at least __ times." or " he/she didn't turn in a single assignment all year."

I always get a mental picture of Mr. Hand from "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" ruining Spicoli's night at the end of the movie when I hear stuff like this.

[The Real Rick Springfield]

Originally Posted by emphatic_apparatek

Seriously, how many people are going to get a job using calculus and trig.

there are quite a few fields that require that knowledge. stats and analysis for business is one.

but your point brings up a discussion my dad and i had over the weekend regarding the state's decision to make math and science a 4-year requirement along with english. you have to make choices available that match the student's apptitude. if someone has an art-minded, creative brain, they aren't going to be able to take alg II/trig/calc. they need the functional type math courses that you described. for those with aspirations to careers that do need the higher level mathematics, those courses serve a purpose.

john

[emphatic_apparatek]

exactly! Here in oregon that have tons of magnet schools where they offer art , or music, or math, or science etc.. A school strictly dedicated to what the students WANT to learn. Elizabeths kids are going to their first ever public school here in oregon and they get to choose what they learn for the day. They don't have a set cirriculum that they HAVE to follow. They also get recess 5 times a day because the schools know how important it is for kids to be kids and have fun and get lots of exercise. They also get out at 2pm every wed. But its also VERY liberal up here in oregon. I love it.

[TheAmazon]

Originally Posted by Nyteshade

We should be placing more emphasis on trade schools. There's a ton of blue collar jobs that will pay pretty decent money if people will roll up their sleeves.

When i spent a semester of my Junior year in Highschool in Arizona, theyhad plenty of straight out of highschool trade programs in blue collar careers, it hought that was cool.

[Croix]

a good portion of school funding is directly related to TAKS scores.

so schools focus on nothing but teaching TAKS.

if the schools taught more real life classes, they would wind up with lower TAKS scores, and thus less money, and then the school is not only teaching the wrong things, but teaching the wrong things with inadequate materials.

Had we brought in Kinky, this might not be an issue any more.





not to sound like I give a shit. I finished HS just fine, and scored great on the TAAS and the SAT, so if Texas wants to make sure that I have little to no competition in the job market, thats fine with me.

[zcwilly]

Originally Posted by emphatic_apparatek

Public education is the biggest joke ever. They're not even teaching kids what they NEED to know they're teaching them what they WANT them to know. Seriously, how many people are going to get a job using calculus and trig. At my highschool they had a Math and Money course that taught you how to balance a check book, or buy a house or car etc.. It actually taught you REAL LIFE math skills. I don't use geometry, never have, never will. Highschool was a joke and still is a joke PERIOD. I havnt used one thing that I learned in highschool except the math and money courses. It was a complete waste of time to me, even though I wasnt one to ditch alot of classes. They need to make classes available that kids are actually interested in. Things they WANT to learn, and not just have stuff shoved in their faces and be told that they HAVE to learn this or they'll be failures.

These concepts are still important to understand, even if you personally don't use the actual formulas or calculations in real life. Almost all of our advances in medicine and science were drawn from some type of math, and this country needs a solid understanding of mathmatics to continue to be competitive in these fields. Math is also used in statistics, architecture, logistics, I could go on and on. Kids need to be educated in math so they can have more choices later in life as to what career they would like to pursue, otherwise they are one step behind.

That being said, I do agree that the public school system sucks, that is why I'm making the necessary sacrifices to put my daughter in private school. I think "teaching the test" is a bad idea and one of the major flaws in the No Child Left Behind Act.

[molecule]

wow, bringing in Substitute teachers and buying pizza for that. That must cost alot, I thought the school systems were underfunded and broke

I can't stand how they took out all competition between students and accountability. They focus on teaching kids how to be unique and self confident, without developing true skills to back up their confidence. Succeeding in the world is a competition, kids need to realize that, and not be pandored to. The children of other countries will be walking all over our kids when they hit the work force. I see it already in the young people coming into my workplace. Its like they feel somebody owes them a job, and should baby them and train them every step of the way. Very few have the skills and abilities to learn on their own, adopt responsibility, be accountable, etc...