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  #41  
Old 07-16-2011, 02:45 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by piece-itpete View Post
Vouchers.

And talk about lowest denominator, pick up a school history book and give it a once over occasionally.

Pete
Yeah, the teacher I mentioned hated those books. He made history fun. He would assign groups of us say, a Revolutionary War battle. One group would do Bunker Hill another Yorktown and so on. Then within each group he would name each one of us as a key person in that battle; "You're Washington, you're Cornwallis, you're Rochambeau, you're Nelson......Okay, how do you win this battle? American and French can collaborate, but you Brits are on your own."

This is who you are, this is your battle, your objective, these are the troops you have, the weaponry you have at your disposal, the terrain and weather conditions....Now, what do you do?

We would present our strategies when we were done. Then he would go over what really took place and grade us on how close we each came to the actual history. It was awesome. It grabbed your attention, stirred your imagination and made you use your brain. You learned strategic thinking, planning, teamwork, and along the way you learned the history.

I take it teachers like this are few and far between these days? Or are they out there....with their hands tied? If so, that is profoundly sad.

Dave
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  #42  
Old 07-16-2011, 10:51 AM
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It's not that our hands are tied. It's just aggravating, time consuming, and insulting that people outside the profession have the gumption tell the teaching professionals what they should be doing, how we are not professional enough to be trusted to make professional decisions, what duplicate processes we MUST do, how the parent is always right (I hear; my Dept. Chair and Principal support me very well, but I have been in the converse situation at other schools), and other similar things. I pretty much just work with the smallest footprint that I can, stay out of people's way, and stay positive; at least to my peers. I am in my element with Juniors and Seniors, for the most part. Not so much with adults.

As I said, my school is the best PS in our County on many different measures but I came to it from one of the bottom 10% schools in the County. So I guess that I will count my blessings. Rob (Merrylander) and Finnbow are right- those PG schools are well funded and very good!

Tyler

Last edited by tybrad; 07-16-2011 at 11:20 AM.
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  #43  
Old 07-16-2011, 01:19 PM
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Not even hearings huh??

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/07/15/geo...ools.cheating/

Quote:
The superintendent of Atlanta Public Schools has ordered that 178 educators allegedly involved in a teaching scandal resign or face termination proceedings.

In a letter, Superintendent Erroll B. Davis Jr. gave them the opportunity to resign by Wednesday, said Keith Bromery, director of media relations for the schools.

The letter was sent Thursday to educators listed on a report about the state Criterion-Reference Competency Tests as having confessed to or having been implicated in testing improprieties.

On Monday, at a school board meeting, Davis replaced four area superintendents and a school principal.
Rarely have I witnessed such a Herculean hosing... I think they seriously want to recover their dignity..
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  #44  
Old 07-16-2011, 03:13 PM
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Agreed. But there is something to see in this...

"On Monday, at a school board meeting, Davis replaced four area superintendents and a school principal."

"We will identify those children, and we will make the requisite investments to remediate the wrongs that were done against them"

"He told CNN then that children had been failed, and "we can't allow that to happen, and we can't allow anyone who was involved with that remain in our system."

"Prosecutors will decide whether to bring criminal charges, Deal said."
This must be done. And the former Super must have her award(s) retracted, be criminally charged for her complicity (or worse), and have a repudiation of her tenure.


It will probably end up in the middle somewhere- few criminal proceedings, but with heads that roll to appease the public (as it should be). I do not know what purpose hearings would have. A time and resource waster in a political system that has the problem of overanalysis already. Just do the right things and get on with it.

Tyler

Last edited by tybrad; 07-16-2011 at 04:26 PM.
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  #45  
Old 07-17-2011, 12:41 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueStreak View Post
Yeah, the teacher I mentioned hated those books. He made history fun. He would assign groups of us say, a Revolutionary War battle. One group would do Bunker Hill another Yorktown and so on. Then within each group he would name each one of us as a key person in that battle; "You're Washington, you're Cornwallis, you're Rochambeau, you're Nelson......Okay, how do you win this battle? American and French can collaborate, but you Brits are on your own."

This is who you are, this is your battle, your objective, these are the troops you have, the weaponry you have at your disposal, the terrain and weather conditions....Now, what do you do?

<SNIP>

Dave
My high school Physics teacher "took the initiative to create" (like Al Gore but for REAL) the 1st High School Aeronautics course in Florida. Got it approved in just a few months. We trained to pass the regular FAA ground school test. Includes Meteorology, Navigation, flight science, and plenty of juicy interesting stuff. In addition, he kicked in flight time on his plane, opportunities to help him rebuild a Belanca Viking and a log book with your first hours signed off.

This guy also challenged me to develop a study guide and teach 2 days of physics class on Transistor/Semiconductor theory. Most important assignment of High School.

I went on to use BOTH of these experiences heavily in life..

He was a true southern boy. You could recite the pledge of allegiance between the words that he uttered. While Yankees think that slow speech thing is symbolic of a slow mind -- it's really not...

Best example -- He kills the throttle and starts to say ..

"Your.............. engine............... just ....................quit"

I had the runway in sight before the end of engine.... But he had already moved his hands to all the gauges and the controls that you are supposed to scan when the fan stops turning...
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  #46  
Old 07-17-2011, 12:48 PM
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Belanca Viking?...............Being your high school Physics teacher must have been rather lucrative. Those were not cheap to own or operate by any measure.

Dave
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  #47  
Old 07-17-2011, 12:50 PM
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But, yeah, that's what a great teacher looks like.

Dave
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  #48  
Old 07-17-2011, 01:01 PM
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He was rebuilding it.. Not in great condition when he bought it. In fact, I was there when it came in on a trailer. Mostly wear and tear.. Looked like a pack of dogs traveled in it. Probably an Alaskan mail carrier and his dog buddies.

After learning what flight lessons cost after college, I realized that this guy was probably getting very little or nothing from the school district to take 20 kids up flying that often..
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  #49  
Old 07-17-2011, 01:14 PM
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Originally Posted by flacaltenn View Post
He was rebuilding it.. Not in great condition when he bought it. In fact, I was there when it came in on a trailer. Mostly wear and tear.. Looked like a pack of dogs traveled in it. Probably an Alaskan mail carrier and his dog buddies.

After learning what flight lessons cost after college, I realized that this guy was probably getting very little or nothing from the school district to take 20 kids up flying that often..
Rebuilding it is very expensive. I used to work for a small outfit that restored old aircraft, (And did charter flights and parachute lessons. But, I worked strictly in the maintenance/restoration department.). I still hold a current A&P license.

Airplanes are like boats. Buy a spark plug for your car, it costs $3. Buy the "marine grade" spark plug for your boat....What happens to the price? Buy a spark plug that's approved for aviation use........................

And it gets worse from there.

Dave
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  #50  
Old 07-17-2011, 01:17 PM
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Sounds amazing! Can you imagine all the resistance a teacher would get from everybody in trying to do this sort of thing nowadays, if it could even be done?

Ahhhhh, the good 'ole pre litigation, uptight days! I pine for that time again.

Tyler
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