As a mathematics teacher and robotics club adviser to 7th and 8th grade students (12-14 years old), I very much second the VEX Robotics angle. They now have three different levels of complexity that scale nicely from one to the next with a C++-based programming environment.
Find me a teacher that is good at his/her job, truly cares about the students, and doesn't have any of the grading assistants that used to exist that works less than 40 hours a week. I go start looking for a live unicorn that's butt fucking a dinosaur. Let's see who finds their target first.
+3 internets to anyone who makes a photo-realistic Rule 34 of my target.;-)
As for the summers off, if you didn't hate children, I'd say try teaching for a week and see how much of your energy goes into presenting lessons and managing a classroom where 37 students can learn effectively, and see how tired you get. Don't forget to plan your lesson for the next day, either. Oh yeah, you'll also have to deal with parent emails about why their child is failing, even though he/she does no homework, but they "worked real hard last year to get an A" in a much easier class. Make sure you can handle having 5 of those 37 students with diagnosed learning disabilities, another 2 or 3 with undiagnosed issues, another 4 or 5 who are so advanced that they are bored no matter what you do (you can't switch them to a different class and have no enrichment materials for them unless you by the materials yourself), 20 or so on free or reduced lunch (if you're lucky and in a middle-class school), and an unknown number of students with drug, alcohol, and/or abuse issues. After ten months of that, just see how much you need your summer off in order to recharge and do it all again with 38 the next year (170 if you're teaching 7-12).
Quit bitching about teachers having summers off and go take your own vacation time and don't let your boss intrude upon it. Also, go thank a teacher or two (even if it was your own parents) for being able to read this and type your response. Don't forget about all of the other basics you've learned that have allowed you to have a job good enough that you can post to/. in the mornings.
Sorry for the reply to my own reply, but Pacman Vs. also wasn't so much a flop, as it was given in conjunction with another Pacman game (which was a flop, I believe). I bought the other game just to get my hands on Pacman Vs.
Actually, Pacman Vs. only needed one GBA. I bring this out and introduce my Jr. High students to it once or twice a year. It almost always is requested again later in the year. Pacman Vs. as an eShop download could be a very near killer app for the WiiU.
Many to most teachers are very stuck in their ways and do not like trying new things or admitting that they do not know something. My personal turn on the phrase is, "One of the hardest things to do is to teach a teacher." I could go into many reasons for this, but suffice it to say, you are not far from the mark at all. Are all teachers this way? No, of course not. It's not even always a young vs. old divide. I do, however, find that some, if not all, of the "best" teachers are those that are willing to admit they are wrong, learn from their mistakes, and admit that there will always be more that they do not know.
Or the terms "stealing" and "theft," when copyright infringement in no way removes the original items from the copyright holders. Yes, it is infringement, and yes, it probably does impact their bottom line in some way (I tend to believe in more positive ways than negative than they realize), but copying an item is far different than taking it.
Let's not forget how Mario gets the Tanooki suit in the new game... By way of a floating, red, magical leaf. No animals were harmed... Unless Mario jumps on a Goomba or Koopa Troopa to get the the ?-block.;-)
In the original, it's already a pre-made suit. Who say's it's real fur? It could be synthetic-fleece.
Gah! I'm debating the logic of Super Mario Bros. vs. PETA. Time to add a stamp to my Nerd Card.
While I won't argue your point about 8-bit mircocomputers vs. video game consoles, I fail to see how CD's, DVD's, and tablets have in any way created barriers. In fact, I would argue that while the creation tools for each of the earlier level technologies in your comparisons were less expensive by the time of the new technology's introduction than the new creation tools, CD's and DVD's both offered considerable improvements in the quality that a hobbyist producer could create. The creation tools also had a continual drop in price over time, usually while keeping the same higher quality compared to the previous generation. With regards to the walled garden tablets, if I recall correctly, the Andriod tools are free and the iOS tools are $100 a year (I could very well be wrong on that one). I hardly see that as paying dearly, especially given that to create for any system, one must have a version of that system to test on or an emulator running on more comprehensive hardware.
Nice attempt at deflection of my comment, but let me state my question more clearly...
Why did you feel the need to put quotes around the word teacher?
You are absolutely, 100% correct that teaching is something that involves it's own specialized skill set, as not everyone who is good at something is good at teaching something. The best case scenario is to have someone who is knowledgeable about a subject, very good at the same subject, and able to express that knowledge and ability in a way in which it can be understood by each willing student. Most K-12 teachers have one or two of those. Very few seem to have all three.
You do seem to be a bit ignorant on the requirements of becoming a K-12 teacher. The requirements in California (off the top of my head - please pardon any that I forgot to include) are as follows: - A Bachelor's degree. This can be in Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, Social Studies, Social Science, Mathematics, any form of Engineering, Philosophy, Biology, Physics, heck... Just about any degree that is a Bachelor of _____________. - Knowledge/Study of subjects related to the subjects one will be teaching. This can be accomplished through college-level coursework ("general education" for multiple subject credentials or a specific number of credits for a single subject credential), or through a very in-depth subject matter competency test called CSET. - A year of post-graduate courses covering various teaching methodologies, legal requirements and responsibilities of teachers (e.g. teachers must report indications of child abuse or face fines and/or jail time), unpaid onsite observation hours, and a semester of unpaid student teaching. If you're really lucky, you can get an internship and get paid for the student teaching, but that very rarely happens. - A Preliminary Teaching Credential (multiple subject generally covers K-6 and a single subject for 8-12) that expires after 3 or 4 years (I can't remember the duration right now and do not want to go look it up). - In order for the Preliminary Teaching Credential to be advanced to a full Teaching Credential, one must successfully complete a 2-year Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program which serves as a mentoring system for new teachers.
And that's just to become a full-time teacher. We then have to take 150 hours of professional development courses on our own time and paid for out of our own pockets over every five year period that we need to renew our teaching credentials. EVERY teacher that has entered the profession in the last decade or more has had to meet those requirements. Yes, there are older teachers that got in under previous systems, some of which have "lifetime" credentials that do not need to be renewed every five years, but they are fading from the workforce. So yes, it IS the norm to have at least an academic experience in what you are teaching. There is no Bachelor of Arts in Education program that I am aware of. Even if there was, there would still be the subject matter requirements. There are Masters Degrees in Education, but those have other uses than purely classroom teaching.
No. The ass is anyone that tries to conflate a teacher and an engineer.
I would like to see the average "teacher" manage to get through ANY single course in the engineering curriculum.
Isn't that exactly what you did there?
Again, go volunteer for a day or two and see the reality of today's education system from the other side of the desk.
While it is good that you are at least trying something, why not do more? You could put yourself out there as a candidate to make those changes. Better yet, go volunteer, find out what the problems really are, and then place your vote accordingly. Don't just look from the outside, but get involved and look within. Local school boards are often a good place to effect some real changes in the K-12 education system.
I don't quite understand your meaning of, "public schools' effective monopoly on K-12 education for all but the few." Would you please elaborate on that for me? I'm honestly curious as to what it is that you mean.
Hell, having only 30 students in a class is a joy compared to a full load of 36 or an overload upper limit of 38. You'd be surprised at how much of a difference 2-3 students can make.
25 and lower is the "magic" number where class size is most effective.
Not only that we have all sorts of laws in most states that say only people with teaching degrees can go anywhere near a class room, and all of them have to do continuing education in the subject of education.
You know, most, if not all, schools will gladly welcome volunteers. They can be guest speakers or classroom helpers. There may be need for a background check depending on locality, but I don't know of any school that would turn away a volunteer.
Slashdot Mirror
Bill Paxton was amazing in Independence Day!
Will Smith was in Independence Day, not Bill Paxton...
Aflek was the BOMB in Phantoms!
Thanks for that info, Bean!
As a mathematics teacher and robotics club adviser to 7th and 8th grade students (12-14 years old), I very much second the VEX Robotics angle. They now have three different levels of complexity that scale nicely from one to the next with a C++-based programming environment.
^ This is probably one of the first AC comments I would mod up.
From his royal Weirdness...
All About the Pentiums
Find me a teacher that is good at his/her job, truly cares about the students, and doesn't have any of the grading assistants that used to exist that works less than 40 hours a week. I go start looking for a live unicorn that's butt fucking a dinosaur. Let's see who finds their target first.
+3 internets to anyone who makes a photo-realistic Rule 34 of my target. ;-)
As for the summers off, if you didn't hate children, I'd say try teaching for a week and see how much of your energy goes into presenting lessons and managing a classroom where 37 students can learn effectively, and see how tired you get. Don't forget to plan your lesson for the next day, either. Oh yeah, you'll also have to deal with parent emails about why their child is failing, even though he/she does no homework, but they "worked real hard last year to get an A" in a much easier class. Make sure you can handle having 5 of those 37 students with diagnosed learning disabilities, another 2 or 3 with undiagnosed issues, another 4 or 5 who are so advanced that they are bored no matter what you do (you can't switch them to a different class and have no enrichment materials for them unless you by the materials yourself), 20 or so on free or reduced lunch (if you're lucky and in a middle-class school), and an unknown number of students with drug, alcohol, and/or abuse issues. After ten months of that, just see how much you need your summer off in order to recharge and do it all again with 38 the next year (170 if you're teaching 7-12).
Quit bitching about teachers having summers off and go take your own vacation time and don't let your boss intrude upon it. Also, go thank a teacher or two (even if it was your own parents) for being able to read this and type your response. Don't forget about all of the other basics you've learned that have allowed you to have a job good enough that you can post to /. in the mornings.
Sorry for the reply to my own reply, but Pacman Vs. also wasn't so much a flop, as it was given in conjunction with another Pacman game (which was a flop, I believe). I bought the other game just to get my hands on Pacman Vs.
Actually, Pacman Vs. only needed one GBA. I bring this out and introduce my Jr. High students to it once or twice a year. It almost always is requested again later in the year. Pacman Vs. as an eShop download could be a very near killer app for the WiiU.
Tasty, tasty murder...
Mmmmmmmm... Bacon...
Very true.
Many to most teachers are very stuck in their ways and do not like trying new things or admitting that they do not know something. My personal turn on the phrase is, "One of the hardest things to do is to teach a teacher." I could go into many reasons for this, but suffice it to say, you are not far from the mark at all. Are all teachers this way? No, of course not. It's not even always a young vs. old divide. I do, however, find that some, if not all, of the "best" teachers are those that are willing to admit they are wrong, learn from their mistakes, and admit that there will always be more that they do not know.
Or the terms "stealing" and "theft," when copyright infringement in no way removes the original items from the copyright holders. Yes, it is infringement, and yes, it probably does impact their bottom line in some way (I tend to believe in more positive ways than negative than they realize), but copying an item is far different than taking it.
Miyamoto-san just 1-up'd Nintendo. I'm looking forward to his new venture.
Minor nitpick... a lynx is very different from a mountain lion/cougar/puma. Mayhaps you conflated the two four-letter feline names?
Let's not forget how Mario gets the Tanooki suit in the new game... By way of a floating, red, magical leaf. No animals were harmed... Unless Mario jumps on a Goomba or Koopa Troopa to get the the ?-block. ;-)
In the original, it's already a pre-made suit. Who say's it's real fur? It could be synthetic-fleece.
Gah! I'm debating the logic of Super Mario Bros. vs. PETA. Time to add a stamp to my Nerd Card.
"Any ol' port in a storm!"
While I won't argue your point about 8-bit mircocomputers vs. video game consoles, I fail to see how CD's, DVD's, and tablets have in any way created barriers. In fact, I would argue that while the creation tools for each of the earlier level technologies in your comparisons were less expensive by the time of the new technology's introduction than the new creation tools, CD's and DVD's both offered considerable improvements in the quality that a hobbyist producer could create. The creation tools also had a continual drop in price over time, usually while keeping the same higher quality compared to the previous generation. With regards to the walled garden tablets, if I recall correctly, the Andriod tools are free and the iOS tools are $100 a year (I could very well be wrong on that one). I hardly see that as paying dearly, especially given that to create for any system, one must have a version of that system to test on or an emulator running on more comprehensive hardware.
I don't know... Go ask the Mormons.
;-)
Do you mean the National Association of Marlon Brando Look-Alikes?
I don't think Nintendo has ever sold their consoles at a loss. I'm 98% sure of that for the Wii, GameCube, and all versions of the DS.
Source: Slashot, 2006
My kingdom for a sock puppet account with mod points or the ability to post and mod the same discussion.
+1 Knows What is Up (i.e. Insightful)
Nice attempt at deflection of my comment, but let me state my question more clearly...
Why did you feel the need to put quotes around the word teacher?
You are absolutely, 100% correct that teaching is something that involves it's own specialized skill set, as not everyone who is good at something is good at teaching something. The best case scenario is to have someone who is knowledgeable about a subject, very good at the same subject, and able to express that knowledge and ability in a way in which it can be understood by each willing student. Most K-12 teachers have one or two of those. Very few seem to have all three.
You do seem to be a bit ignorant on the requirements of becoming a K-12 teacher. The requirements in California (off the top of my head - please pardon any that I forgot to include) are as follows:
- A Bachelor's degree. This can be in Liberal Arts, Fine Arts, Social Studies, Social Science, Mathematics, any form of Engineering, Philosophy, Biology, Physics, heck... Just about any degree that is a Bachelor of _____________.
- Knowledge/Study of subjects related to the subjects one will be teaching. This can be accomplished through college-level coursework ("general education" for multiple subject credentials or a specific number of credits for a single subject credential), or through a very in-depth subject matter competency test called CSET.
- A year of post-graduate courses covering various teaching methodologies, legal requirements and responsibilities of teachers (e.g. teachers must report indications of child abuse or face fines and/or jail time), unpaid onsite observation hours, and a semester of unpaid student teaching. If you're really lucky, you can get an internship and get paid for the student teaching, but that very rarely happens.
- A Preliminary Teaching Credential (multiple subject generally covers K-6 and a single subject for 8-12) that expires after 3 or 4 years (I can't remember the duration right now and do not want to go look it up).
- In order for the Preliminary Teaching Credential to be advanced to a full Teaching Credential, one must successfully complete a 2-year Beginning Teacher Support and Assessment (BTSA) program which serves as a mentoring system for new teachers.
And that's just to become a full-time teacher. We then have to take 150 hours of professional development courses on our own time and paid for out of our own pockets over every five year period that we need to renew our teaching credentials. EVERY teacher that has entered the profession in the last decade or more has had to meet those requirements. Yes, there are older teachers that got in under previous systems, some of which have "lifetime" credentials that do not need to be renewed every five years, but they are fading from the workforce. So yes, it IS the norm to have at least an academic experience in what you are teaching. There is no Bachelor of Arts in Education program that I am aware of. Even if there was, there would still be the subject matter requirements. There are Masters Degrees in Education, but those have other uses than purely classroom teaching.
No. The ass is anyone that tries to conflate a teacher and an engineer.
I would like to see the average "teacher" manage to get through ANY single course in the engineering curriculum.
Isn't that exactly what you did there?
Again, go volunteer for a day or two and see the reality of today's education system from the other side of the desk.
While it is good that you are at least trying something, why not do more? You could put yourself out there as a candidate to make those changes. Better yet, go volunteer, find out what the problems really are, and then place your vote accordingly. Don't just look from the outside, but get involved and look within. Local school boards are often a good place to effect some real changes in the K-12 education system.
I don't quite understand your meaning of, "public schools' effective monopoly on K-12 education for all but the few." Would you please elaborate on that for me? I'm honestly curious as to what it is that you mean.
Excellent post. I couldn't have said it better.
Hell, having only 30 students in a class is a joy compared to a full load of 36 or an overload upper limit of 38. You'd be surprised at how much of a difference 2-3 students can make.
25 and lower is the "magic" number where class size is most effective.
So true. So very, very true.
Not only that we have all sorts of laws in most states that say only people with teaching degrees can go anywhere near a class room, and all of them have to do continuing education in the subject of education.
You know, most, if not all, schools will gladly welcome volunteers. They can be guest speakers or classroom helpers. There may be need for a background check depending on locality, but I don't know of any school that would turn away a volunteer.