You are, sadly, right. Too many incompotent teachers enforce their petty dictatorships and demand blind obedience. Too many administrators, worried about keeping "order", blindly back these teachers and even crack down on teachers who actually encourage their students to think.
But true democracy is a balancing act. The old adage "Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose," applies. When does one student's right to speech start to degrade another student's right to learn? Intelligent criticism of a bad teacher, yes, even in the form of satire, should be allowed within reason, but much of the time, student "speech" is not intelligent at all. For example:
Student: Why do we have to learn grammar! This is gay! Teacher: Well, there are plenty of times when you will need to write well in order express your opinion, argue for your rights, or convince people to agree with you. Student:That's gay!::throws paper across the room while imitating the teacher in a falsetto voice::
That's criticism. That's speech. But if I was one of the 29 other students in the class who actually want to learn how to put some words together into a coherent sentence, I would rather the teacher throw him out and get on with it.
With free speech comes the responsibility to use that speech wisely. Right now it sometimes feels as though students can say or do anything and teachers can say or do nothing. Add to that a pile of mind-numbing standardized tests and you might understand the vehemence of my earlier post.
I don't teach "put up and shut up". I welcome criticism. But I also try to teach them that when they speak their mind, they need to do it intelligently and in a way that, when possible, is respectful to their fellow learners. Criticizing with resepct is difficult, and sometimes, as with satire, you have to cross the line. That's why I also teach them to be ready for the consequences of their speech.
Yes, in many ways, our education system is stuck in a 19th century model designed to create good, quiet workers, but letting individuals say or do anything in the classroom at any time is a recipe for chaos, not reform.
First, the supreme court has ruled several times now that schools CAN restrict or repress freedom of speech in public schools if said speech disrupts the learning environment. I should know, I've taught journalism in public high schools and I constantly worried about keeping overzealous administrators from censoring my kids.
Second, this most certainly WAS a direct disruption of school. I can gaurantee you that pretty much no learning was taking place the entire time this little jerk was recording his little show. Posting it probably led to even more disruption the next day in class.
This whole thing really burns me. There are lots of teachers like me who try our best to NOT be the stereotypical drill and kill, monotone, mindless worksheet teacher. Yet no matter how much we try to respect them, challenge them and give them interesting, student-driven assignments, there will ALWAY be one manipulative, amoral, waste of matter who dedicates his entire existence to making class a living Hell for his teachers and classmates. We aren't supposed to be sarcastic towards them. We can't beat them with a blunt object, and if we suspend them too much, mommy and daddy (who are usually the problem) jump in to defend their little baby.
I can only imagine what would happen if I secretly took video of one of these kids, edited it together to make him look like an idiot and then posted it on youtube. I doubt anyone would be complaining about my first amendment rights as I was escorted from the building.
The only thing this little punk has learned is that you can safely mock anyone if you have a good enough lawyer.
I agree with you on several points. I am actually a high school English teacher and even I use those "boring" spreadsheets and charts. I also teach those "average" teenagers how to use them as well. I also teach them that it is often easy to get caught up in the presentation (charts, fancy powerpoints, etc.) and miss the actual content being communicated.
I like the iphone because, while way too expensive, it seems to do what current cell phones don't: make communicating with others and getting information on the go intuitive and simple.
No, it won't let me install 3rd party apps, but then again, I don't think I'll need them. Anything it doesn't already have that I need when I'm out and about, I can probably find a web version of.
Go take a look at the ads for the iphone on Apple's site. Here's what you WON'T hear:
MIKE: I need to call Chet ask him about that spreadsheet::touches picture of guy wearing a blue tie::
CHET: My phone is ringing!::clicks picture of guy wearing red tie:: Hi Mike, I've got that spreadsheet you were waiting on.
MIKE:Great, let's call Sue and look at the powerpoint!
CHET: As long as it has plenty of bar graphs!
See for yourself. Apple doesn't give a flying flip about the suit, at least not while they are at work. Their ads are filled with attractive youngsters talking about meeting up for bike riding and whitewater rafting! They don't CARE about the business market.
Clearly you did not have the ideal setup. Everyone cool knew that you had to cut the bottom two inches off of four #2 pencils and insert them into the bottom screw holes of the drive. The erasers absorbed shock and the pencils raised the drive up, creating a disk-on-stilts that allowed enough air to enter in the bottom to prevent overheating.
You brave soldier died in vain! Support our troops!
"'Anti-terrorism' cameras will not stop suicide bombers, nor will they even deter them,"
No, but they will allow us to catch the suicide bomber afterwards and make him face American justice for his . . . . oh, never mind. Well, we can still use it to spy on loitering teenagers and animal rights protests.
I second the suggestion. I'm a high school English teacher, but I help coordinate our tech purchases. We just bought a system called Navigator from TI that allows the teacher to wirelessly connect everybody's calculator and push quizes, problems and questions to everyone connected. It also allows the teacher to show anybody's calculator up on the overhead. It only works with TI calculators. I'm not sure if your school uses this yet, but there's a chance they may buy it before you graduate.
You don't. Most people think Jackson was pretty much spot on in his adaptation. If anything, a new director, handpicked by the studio clowns, will be much, much worse.
Who wants to bet we'll see "younger, edgier" hobbits and a "rockin'" soundtrack. Justin Timberlake is getting some good buzz for his new movie. I wonder what his version of "The Road Goes Ever On and On" would sound like . . .
Bull.
Teachers are not "free" to use the movie. TFA points out that teachers must give other theories equal time, must notifiy (read beg) the principal, and then notify (beg harder) the superintendent. I'm a teacher, and teachers know the code words. When you are told to get permission from the superintendent, that's code for "leave it the hell alone."
The problem is that teachers have to present opposing viewpoints, but they have to keep the weight of the evidence in mind when they do so. This means that a "fair" hearing of opposing viewpoints might not mean "equal" time to all sides. A vast majority of scientists are convinced that the evidence shows both the existance and causes of global warming. A small majority of scientists disagree. In terms of class time, that means global warming gets about 95% of the time and global warming opponents get 5%. To give EQUAL time to both sides would inaccurately reflect the debate.
And yeah, liberals have to shout pretty loud. We're usually outnumbered and the critics don't like to listen to the facts.
As a one-time journalism teacher I have to respect the free-speech implications. But it is a bit annoying that bong-boy is being mentioned in the same paragraph as other major supreme court student expression cases.
Tinker - right to wear armbands to protest the Vietnam war
Hazelwood - student reporters being censored for hard-hitting journalism
stop bitching, and start fixing. Amen. I teach high school English, and I always give my senior students this lesson whenever one of them mentions his or her 18th birthday. "Did you register to vote," I ask? When they (inevitably) say "no", I tell them essentially what you just said.
School boards generally answer to the squeakiest wheel. This is, despite what an earlier poster thinks, usually a small subset of vocal parents. In everything from discipline to grades, if the parent squawks loud enough the board members will usually cave in and fall on well-meaining teachers and administrators like a brick wall. Meanwhile we do our best with the rest of the kids who have no respect for themselves, no vision for their own future and parents who barely know they are alive. Somehow we still manage to teach most of them how to read and to interact with others without being arrested.
The system is far from perfect, but a society where only the students with affluent, well-movtivated parents get educated is a horror that none of us would enjoy living in.
Hmm, I think this might have been what I read.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-47
If you google modified M4 and Afghanistan, you will find a few references.
If I remember correctly, the last bit about U.S. special ops troops picking up AKs in Afghanistan had more to do with the lack of NATO 5.56 rounds for their weapons. They were airlifting everything in and the bullets weren't getting there fast enough. There were, however, scads of AK47s and ammo for them lying around everywhere. I also read that some units were reengineering their own weapons to fire AK rounds. Sorry, I don't remember the source on all this.
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You are, sadly, right. Too many incompotent teachers enforce their petty dictatorships and demand blind obedience. Too many administrators, worried about keeping "order", blindly back these teachers and even crack down on teachers who actually encourage their students to think.
::throws paper across the room while imitating the teacher in a falsetto voice::
But true democracy is a balancing act. The old adage "Your right to swing your fist ends at my nose," applies. When does one student's right to speech start to degrade another student's right to learn? Intelligent criticism of a bad teacher, yes, even in the form of satire, should be allowed within reason, but much of the time, student "speech" is not intelligent at all. For example:
Student: Why do we have to learn grammar! This is gay!
Teacher: Well, there are plenty of times when you will need to write well in order express your opinion, argue for your rights, or convince people to agree with you.
Student:That's gay!
That's criticism. That's speech. But if I was one of the 29 other students in the class who actually want to learn how to put some words together into a coherent sentence, I would rather the teacher throw him out and get on with it.
With free speech comes the responsibility to use that speech wisely. Right now it sometimes feels as though students can say or do anything and teachers can say or do nothing. Add to that a pile of mind-numbing standardized tests and you might understand the vehemence of my earlier post.
I don't teach "put up and shut up". I welcome criticism. But I also try to teach them that when they speak their mind, they need to do it intelligently and in a way that, when possible, is respectful to their fellow learners. Criticizing with resepct is difficult, and sometimes, as with satire, you have to cross the line. That's why I also teach them to be ready for the consequences of their speech.
Yes, in many ways, our education system is stuck in a 19th century model designed to create good, quiet workers, but letting individuals say or do anything in the classroom at any time is a recipe for chaos, not reform.
Where to start?
First, the supreme court has ruled several times now that schools CAN restrict or repress freedom of speech in public schools if said speech disrupts the learning environment. I should know, I've taught journalism in public high schools and I constantly worried about keeping overzealous administrators from censoring my kids.
Second, this most certainly WAS a direct disruption of school. I can gaurantee you that pretty much no learning was taking place the entire time this little jerk was recording his little show. Posting it probably led to even more disruption the next day in class.
This whole thing really burns me. There are lots of teachers like me who try our best to NOT be the stereotypical drill and kill, monotone, mindless worksheet teacher. Yet no matter how much we try to respect them, challenge them and give them interesting, student-driven assignments, there will ALWAY be one manipulative, amoral, waste of matter who dedicates his entire existence to making class a living Hell for his teachers and classmates. We aren't supposed to be sarcastic towards them. We can't beat them with a blunt object, and if we suspend them too much, mommy and daddy (who are usually the problem) jump in to defend their little baby.
I can only imagine what would happen if I secretly took video of one of these kids, edited it together to make him look like an idiot and then posted it on youtube. I doubt anyone would be complaining about my first amendment rights as I was escorted from the building.
The only thing this little punk has learned is that you can safely mock anyone if you have a good enough lawyer.
I agree with you on several points. I am actually a high school English teacher and even I use those "boring" spreadsheets and charts. I also teach those "average" teenagers how to use them as well. I also teach them that it is often easy to get caught up in the presentation (charts, fancy powerpoints, etc.) and miss the actual content being communicated.
I like the iphone because, while way too expensive, it seems to do what current cell phones don't: make communicating with others and getting information on the go intuitive and simple.
No, it won't let me install 3rd party apps, but then again, I don't think I'll need them. Anything it doesn't already have that I need when I'm out and about, I can probably find a web version of.
Go take a look at the ads for the iphone on Apple's site. Here's what you WON'T hear:
::touches picture of guy wearing a blue tie:: ::clicks picture of guy wearing red tie:: Hi Mike, I've got that spreadsheet you were waiting on.
MIKE: I need to call Chet ask him about that spreadsheet
CHET: My phone is ringing!
MIKE:Great, let's call Sue and look at the powerpoint!
CHET: As long as it has plenty of bar graphs!
See for yourself. Apple doesn't give a flying flip about the suit, at least not while they are at work. Their ads are filled with attractive youngsters talking about meeting up for bike riding and whitewater rafting! They don't CARE about the business market.
Wow, what a quote. I'm going to print that one out and post it above the whiteboard in my English classroom!
Clearly you did not have the ideal setup. Everyone cool knew that you had to cut the bottom two inches off of four #2 pencils and insert them into the bottom screw holes of the drive. The erasers absorbed shock and the pencils raised the drive up, creating a disk-on-stilts that allowed enough air to enter in the bottom to prevent overheating.
You brave soldier died in vain! Support our troops!
"'Anti-terrorism' cameras will not stop suicide bombers, nor will they even deter them,"
No, but they will allow us to catch the suicide bomber afterwards and make him face American justice for his . . . . oh, never mind. Well, we can still use it to spy on loitering teenagers and animal rights protests.
I second the suggestion. I'm a high school English teacher, but I help coordinate our tech purchases. We just bought a system called Navigator from TI that allows the teacher to wirelessly connect everybody's calculator and push quizes, problems and questions to everyone connected. It also allows the teacher to show anybody's calculator up on the overhead. It only works with TI calculators. I'm not sure if your school uses this yet, but there's a chance they may buy it before you graduate.
Who wants to bet we'll see "younger, edgier" hobbits and a "rockin'" soundtrack. Justin Timberlake is getting some good buzz for his new movie. I wonder what his version of "The Road Goes Ever On and On" would sound like . . .
The problem is that teachers have to present opposing viewpoints, but they have to keep the weight of the evidence in mind when they do so. This means that a "fair" hearing of opposing viewpoints might not mean "equal" time to all sides. A vast majority of scientists are convinced that the evidence shows both the existance and causes of global warming. A small majority of scientists disagree. In terms of class time, that means global warming gets about 95% of the time and global warming opponents get 5%. To give EQUAL time to both sides would inaccurately reflect the debate.
And yeah, liberals have to shout pretty loud. We're usually outnumbered and the critics don't like to listen to the facts.
Yes, yes, I agree, I'm just not happy about it.
Tinker - right to wear armbands to protest the Vietnam war
Hazelwood - student reporters being censored for hard-hitting journalism
Frederick - Bong hits for Jesus dude!
Hmm, doesn't have quite the same ring to it.
School boards generally answer to the squeakiest wheel. This is, despite what an earlier poster thinks, usually a small subset of vocal parents. In everything from discipline to grades, if the parent squawks loud enough the board members will usually cave in and fall on well-meaining teachers and administrators like a brick wall. Meanwhile we do our best with the rest of the kids who have no respect for themselves, no vision for their own future and parents who barely know they are alive. Somehow we still manage to teach most of them how to read and to interact with others without being arrested.
The system is far from perfect, but a society where only the students with affluent, well-movtivated parents get educated is a horror that none of us would enjoy living in.
Hmm, I think this might have been what I read. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SR-47 If you google modified M4 and Afghanistan, you will find a few references.
If I remember correctly, the last bit about U.S. special ops troops picking up AKs in Afghanistan had more to do with the lack of NATO 5.56 rounds for their weapons. They were airlifting everything in and the bullets weren't getting there fast enough. There were, however, scads of AK47s and ammo for them lying around everywhere. I also read that some units were reengineering their own weapons to fire AK rounds. Sorry, I don't remember the source on all this.