To my fellow teachers

[Cookedj]

Way to go, you're either finished, or can see the end. We have 3 more days before graduation, with a higher number of failing seniors than before. They bought into the myth that the district was going to pass everyone.

I hope y'all have a great summer, get some relaxation in you deserve it.

[Dreck]

Private schools don't buy in to "No Child Left Behind," fortunately.

This is Finals week, but only a few of the students have to take my exam. I exempt students with an A from my Final, and have made the tests sufficiently unpleasant (and comprehensive) that they have nearly mythical status among our students. It's an incentive for students to grit down and put in the hard, daily work to gain and keep an A.
Students with an A also get their own fountain pen, graciously donated by fellow FP Geeks. I gave away a record number this year, and the "Thank You" notes should be hitting the donators' mailboxes soon.

Enjoy your break and relax if you can. We start again in 13 Mondays...

[guyy]

Exactly a month to go here in NYC. And yes, a lot of students are failing because they’ve tuned out online lessons. It’s a big headache.

I’ve worked in public and private institutions. I felt more pressure to move students along & put a smiley face on everything in private schools.

[Brilliant Bill]

Interesting -- since I have no contact with children or the educational establishment. Many years ago I was about to marry into a family of teachers. They always told me the three best things about teaching were June, July and August.

I always say, teachers are the best people! Good on you.

[Brilliant Bill]

Unfortunately, most students cannot cope with distance learning, so they have to hire a tutor.

What is your source for this allegation?

[Empty_of_Clouds]

As a current tertiary undergraduate, I found online learning had some big advantages - mainly with regard to getting your voice heard (via Zoom or whatever), and not having the background noise you normally get in a tutorial that has subgroup discussions. In many ways online learning (it was always live and interactive, as opposed to the material simply being posted online) improved the quality of my engagement both with the subject and with the lecturers. Having said that though, I am usually one of the more active students in any class, possibly because I am a mature student with clear goals and motivation. Dunno.

Anyhoo, came across this old TED talk by Sir Ken Robinson that I thought the teachers here may enjoy.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wX78iKhInsc

[Yazeh]

I personally prefer online learning to going to school. I learn much more easily reading than listening to most teachers, especially those who have the gift of putting you to sleep or worse [emoji3]
Good teachers are rare.

[An old bloke]

I personally prefer online learning to going to school. I learn much more easily reading than listening to most teachers, especially those who have the gift of putting you to sleep or worse [emoji3]
Good teachers are rare.

The Maths teacher I had at one school was fantastic. She actually made mathematics interesting and fun to learn. Then we moved. The Maths teacher at my new school was an arrogant swine who considered student's questions to be a sign of stupidity, and below him to provide an answer beyond, 'It's in the book, Read it!'

[Yazeh]

I personally prefer online learning to going to school. I learn much more easily reading than listening to most teachers, especially those who have the gift of putting you to sleep or worse [emoji3]
Good teachers are rare.

The Maths teacher I had at one school was fantastic. She actually made mathematics interesting and fun to learn. Then we moved. The Maths teacher at my new school was an arrogant swine who considered student's questions to be a sign of stupidity, and below him to provide an answer beyond, 'It's in the book, Read it!'

Funny enough, we had a math teacher like yours. He had a full class participation method with Algebra. That was my best year at school. After that we had a teacher who ruled with an iron fist who sucked all joy out of math.....

[John Macmillan]

Interesting -- since I have no contact with children or the educational establishment. Many years ago I was about to marry into a family of teachers. They always told me the three best things about teaching were June, July and August, and exams carried out via Proctoredu (https://proctoredu.com/blog/tpost/8dagtym3n1-how-do-online-proctored-exams-work).

I always say, teachers are the best people! Good on you.

The saying about June, July, and August is so true to life! :thumb:

[Chip]

What I disliked most about school was the enforced confinement: sit here, be quiet, follow directions, wait for the bell.

After several terms as a grad student, teaching Elements of Composition in a windowless room with bare walls on the fourth floor, I decided I'd rather not pursue an academic career.

But, having found work as a field scientist, I did quite a lot of teaching in the field: summer science programs that combined practical skills such as camping and boating, with geomorphology, hydrology, aquatic biology, and techniques for gathering data and processing samples.

The best way to teach about streamflow is to be next to (or in) a stream. Sedimentary geology is clearer when the students can see the layers on the side of a cliff, and pick up rocks. Being able to see birds and wildlife adds a lot to studying them. Real things do most of the teaching.

I loved it and quite a few of the high school students who took our courses changed their prospective majors to the natural sciences. I had similar luck with field assistants, most of whom went on to careers in field science.

[Cyril]

I personally prefer online learning to going to school. I learn much more easily reading than listening to most teachers, especially those who have the gift of putting you to sleep or worse [emoji3]
Good teachers are rare.

I can't agree More!!!
There's a big cultural war going on. The education has deep rooted problems and they seems to have been created purposely.
Most of our our education seem to come from two important stages and is first done by the family and then the school.
Accordingly Education... or our manipulating goes well that man/ woman will have perception that suits to live resistively in our consumer life.

But lot of things happens in schools and you will have to deal with the TEACHERS FAVOURITISM OR ELSE YOU'LL BE MANIPULATED IN MANY WAYS. Even I have seen this every where even in Adult schools.
"Home education" is the best for children and now we have lot of means to do that as the internet is well developed.
I never liked ACADEMIA.. I DROPPED OUT MANY TIMES IN many things. But went into self learning and I got every knowledge and Skills I want.
In sports I failed as I never had any favours. So what I did I went into Judo/ Karate and Martial Arts. I did not mean gaining medals or honour but my confidence belts.. and of course my skills.
Self learning is the best way and Just as "you don't have to associate with a doctor to learn your about your heath" You can learn it your self.
There are many many books and as a self knowledgable person I think anyone can do this. And of course you can bring up your children TO REAL EDUCATE HOW TO GET ONTO CONSUMER CULTURE OF OUR TIME.

[TFarnon]

I prefer in-person classes. I do better with the physical effort of getting to and from class, sitting in a chair, squirming in the chair, squirming some more, asking questions if I need to, talking very softly to myself and my notes, scribbling in the margins of handouts, doodling in my notebook, taking notes, squirming some more...I know I'm not the easiest student to deal with, but I do like being in class. I am invariably interested in the material, although I wasn't always. It was only as an adult that I developed the mindset that since I had to take any given course, I might as well make the best of it and try and learn something. It's amazing how much better my grades got after that...

My favorite school experiences were 5th grade in Germany, and the Defense Language Institute Russian courses. There were 52 students in my 5th grade class, all in one classroom. We were all absolutely insane. Amokery was the order of the day. My teacher's chief talents were the ability to bellow louder than all of us screaming in unison, and near-lethal aim with a wooden pointer. You really had to have your wits about you to duck that pointer. Oh--and my native language is English, and classes in Germany were taught...in German. Between all the mayhem and the mental gymnastics of learning everything in a second language, I thought it was great.

As for the Defense Language Institute, my first teacher, Mrs. R., was a Russian Jewish Grandmother who had taught English to Junior High school students in Odessa. She could deploy weapons-grade guilt, and we all lived in fear. She could make combat-hardened Marines weep. She was great. Or maybe it's just Stockholm Syndrome. In any case, nobody in her class got less than a 2+ (maximum score of 3) on the final Defense Language Proficiency Test. We didn't have any choice in the matter. We were going to learn Russian, we were going to get high grades (earned grades) and that was that. When she was promoted out of our class, we were all in tears. Other students thought we were crazy. I suppose we were, but we loved the redoubtable Mrs. R. She may have been a terror, but she was our terror. The pace and difficulty of the coursework was such that it kept me happy, too.