[ale] Am I the only one that is laughing out load atthis question?

[Jeff Lightner]

I used to have History and English teachers annoyed at me because I'd
read ahead of assignments.  You'd think they'd be happy to have a
student that displayed interest.

Talking about scary education - The only person I ever met who actually
used "aks" instead of "ask" in daily conversation was a schoolteacher.  

-----Original Message-----
From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of JK
Sent: Wednesday, March 12, 2008 11:38 AM
To: ale at ale.org
Subject: Re: [ale] Am I the only one that is laughing out load atthis
question?

Thompson Freeman wrote:
> On 03/12/2008 10:04:50 AM, Jim Lynch wrote:
>> Mike Harrison wrote:
>>> On Wed, 12 Mar 2008, Greg Freemyer wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>> They are, but I was dealing with a science teacher that
>> barely kept one
>>> chapter ahead in the book.. almost 30 years ago. I also
>> was ranting then
>>> about Neutrinos and other stuff. It's really only so
>> memorable to me
>>> because it's when I really grok'd that most teachers
>> merely occupied
>>> space and time. I had some good teachers, but they were
>> few.
>> I was taught in 4th grade that the phases of the moon were
>> caused by the
>> shadow of the earth falling on the moon's face.  When I
>> suggested she
>> look up the definition of an eclipse, she promptly sent me
>> to the office
>> and I spent the day on a ladder in the hallway outside of
>> the classroom
>> wearing a dunce cap.  Needless to say from that point on,
>> my view of
>> education was a bit jaundiced.  Everyone wondered why I
>> hated school so
>> much but when I'd try to tell them, they didn't seem to
>> care or didn't
>> believe me.

In forth grade I had a math teacher tell me that "10 base 4 is the
same as 10 to the fourth power".  I guess she had a vague idea
that base had something to do with exponents, but was obviously
totally confused about that relationship.

I think it sometimes only takes one instance of a teacher stating
a "fact" that the student *knows* is untrue, for that student to
effectively shut down as a good student-in-the-system. An
honest "I don't know, let me get back to you" would be a lot
more useful.

> Ouch. And remember that the people who didn't care/believe  
> now run the system (both as teachers and administrators).
> 
> I've got a sister-in-law, recently retired from elementary  
> education who might conceivably enjoy analyzing this group  
> to scaring the parents in this group with war stories.
> 
> I've got an acquaintance who taught in a rough school years  
> ago. The students didn't much bother her - the staff did  
> (this in a school which had their homicides make the  
> national news about 1991).
> 
> FWIW, and knowing that little has changed in the past 150  
> years (perhaps longer) in the general school environment,  
> it is amazing to realize how pathetic schooling is, until  
> compared to the situation of no schooling.

IMO as long as a kid can read proficiently and balance a
checkbook, they can (and usually will) educate themselves
about whatever really turns them on.  This is almost never
what the system wants them to learn.

-- JK

-- 
"What can be asserted without evidence can also be
dismissed without evidence." -- Christopher Hitchens
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