All of the Nokia devices that I've ever owned, along with and including the Sony Xperia z5 compact that I'm writing this reply on has a built in fm radio and tuner that uses the headphone wires as an antenna?! This seems so weird to be reading about this.. And no, none of them have ever used data to get information, because that's already embedded in the fm stream!! I just wish that hd-radio was available some how!!!
The vast bulk of elementary school teachers in the United States don't like Science, just as much as they don't like math.
I am *NOT* saying that they are not good teachers. But rather - you're taking someone who probably never really liked those subjects in the first place, and are trying to get them to instill a joy in something that they, themselves, don't have in it to people. It just is not going to work!
Let's look at the elementary school teachers here in the US.. most of them are coming from a liberal arts teaching background. Which is great, because they're expected to teach a plethora of subjects, and also spend the bulk of the day with the students. So they also have the crowd control skills and so on. But ask them in a non-school setting about any basic science - most of them would roll their eyes at the questions, and even tell you that they never even liked it. A lot of them look at science as almost a voo-doo thing, and they just do what's in the textbooks/curriculum.
What really should be done, is to bring in science (and math!) specialists for just those subjects at that level. Let people who have a ready understanding on the material, and who can relate it to every day things interact with the kids for those bits. Let them explain every day things to these kids, to keep the joy of learning there!
Note here: I am an engineer (still consulting) turned Chem/Physics/Math HS teacher in the public sector here in the US. I have also worked these alleged crazy new fangled math stuff that are trying to conceptualize things, when they really need to just go back to basics, and instill basic skills so that the advanced things can be 'fun' , or at the very least be seen by the students as something that they can do, because they already have the tools to do so. Instead of just flat out giving up.
And yeah, we should involve more parental involvement and so on. And oh yes, say it's ok to drop out. Go get a job, and see how awful it truly is without an education - and when their heads are screwed on right - to go get their GED/whatever degree from that point on.. as they'll be self motivated - as opposed to having us to motivate them!
Or just check your local higher end asian (preferably Japanese) convenience store that sells school supplies. They definitely have what you're looking for!
Let's just be honest here.. one class or a badge, at a time. Do we even really know who is actually doing the work?
Granted, the same could be said about large universities - but the chances of that happening are significantly lower!!
But the reality is that part of the educational process is learning how to work with other people in real time under different conditions. I don't care how many certificates, or whatever you have saying that you know something. But if you can't actually communicate with other people, and work under actual multiple time pressure constraints - you will *NOT* succeed. That's the bottom line.
I say this as a public high school math/science teacher in the US.
In older and more traditional texts - the x or "empty square box" or the fill-in-the-blank-underline is readily found as the missing variable. It is only textbooks/materials from the last 5-10 years where that "( )" *@&#^&@%#^!!!#! has started to appear in the lower level, and now, the more advanced high school text books.
When i first encountered it - I was totally confused by the question (like many here on slashdot). However, having gone to mathematics conferences, talking to people in the textbook publishing field, and the actual authors of some of these math texts - I can only conclude the following:
1) A lot of the editors of these books are flatout clueless. Authors come up with the text materials, and insert blanks, question marks or underline in place of variables for the lower level/basic texts. However, from text translation from one form to another (example material formatted on a Mac and then opened on a PC) you get the occasional random character because of whatever reason (Yeah, I'm that old where I can recall this being a typical problem!) between formats. The editors see the strange characters, or heck, even a question mark, assume it's a boo-boo and have changed it into the whole parenthesis insanity. Since these same editor types usually don't just edit for one text - practices like this get transferred over from one text to another. 2) from my experience talking to elementary / middle school teachers who teach math... the vast majority of them hated math as a topic with a passion. And when asked why - it comes down to the fundamentals of not really understanding the material. I have pointed this out again and again - when you have people teaching something that they've hated and/or don't truly understand - you are not going to get students who will grasp the material and understand it! These math teachers do not understand that the formatting/question method is not in the best interest of the students - and don't question it! They do enough to get by to get the kids to pass whats on required on the state exams - and they're done. So between a bad model and bad modeling - yes, you will get students who don't get it!
it's just aggravating to me that when I teach chem/physics - a lot of times, I also have to teach what i call "Algebra-Zero" to show the kids what some of the things that they do is totally wrong, and how to it's really not that bad...
even if it looks like a converted old school Howard Johnson motel of sorts! They actually have a lot of interesting stuff on display, besides an actual enigma machine that you can play with!
Interesting details that I noticed when I went this past summer: 1) My car (and phone!) GPS suddenly drops dead and gets nothing in terms of signal.. it's like we drove off the planet or something! The onboard GPS had to resort to using car instrumentation data to give us a rough guesstimate of where we are - which we thought was really funny! 2) There's a sign by the main entrance to the NSA there that basically says don't even think about taking any pictures, even of the sign itself that says don't take any pictures!! Note: You make a left right at the main entrance to the parking lots to follow the side road to the museum while passing a permanently parked fighter jet and a gas station right before you get to it. It's really non-descript! 3) At the gift shop - we decided to buy a few things and charged it on the credit card.. when we got home and looked at the receipt - it doesn't even say NSA museum - it had some totally different name to it! 4) Also, they had a totally cheap and reasonable soda and snack machines tucked to the side of the entrance once you walk in! Totally surprising - but nice;)
and Incidentally, if you're thinking about going to the spy museum in downtown washington DC - *DON'T DO IT!* - it's an absolute travesty and waste of i think it was like $15? The NSA museum blows it away in terms of information and goodies to be seen - and WAYYYYYYYYYyyyyy cheaper too! The spy museum in DC is for kids. The NSA museum is for true Geeks!
I totally understand this, and apply similar tactics against my students to prevent cheating in high school science/math...
I have built limited area cell phone signal jammers - it does not damage the phones - just says no service on their phones. I have put up empty usb camera shell casings, along with fiberoptic terminal ends in random places for appearances.
This is in addition to using different coloured paper, different fonts, mixing up the questions - whether different order or multiples for values, limiting calculator usage and other things!
Why? The kids these days apparently cannot live without their mobile devices. Heck, they can't even make it through lab without looking at their cellphones to send a text to someone in the room next door! A lot (but not all) of my kids just want to know what will get them the grade.. there's not a lot of interest for the sake of learning as much at this level anymore. And their idea of what is cheating, and what isn't is vastly skewed from mine.. almost like the whole pirating/plagiarism stuff too! So I have to beat them at their own game, sadly.
Yes, I spend quite a bit of energy prepping homeworks, labs, projects and exams to make sure I have enough different versions to keep things interesting.. most of my colleagues think I am insane for doing so.. but I feel like I'm doing a disservice to the students if I don't do it to keep them focused.. and more importantly, trying as much as they can on their own for as much as they can!
For those of you that will probably comment as to - you're a *&^@#%! teacher who is probably boring.. you know what? There probably are days that I am like that, either because of content of what I have to teach because of requirements, or I am just flat out tired. But I would like to think that I try to keep it interesting by bringing things that I feel kids should see before they finish HS - like liquid nitrogen, napalm, gummi bear rocket fuel, growing silver and so on. But it's uniquely challenging to keep that level up for every class of every day! And when you have a lot of student indifference because they are there only because they are required to do so.. it's just not a great combination.
himself, and just pushing along stuff that rectifies his ideas...
Let's take this another way then - if he is SOOOoooooo right - that there ought to be less math - explain how the kids from practically every other country on the planet knows more about it than ours at the equivalent age frame!?
As a current high school teacher - I can tell you one thing - if our expectations of kids weren't sooo low at that same age frame - we'd turn out higher quality students with greater understanding, than just bodies that can regurgitate material!/rant off
My other beef with education? In general (And yes, I *AM* stereotyping now!) most teachers that teach elementary students are also the same folks that have never liked math in the first place - or never really LEARNED it!!! How can you instill a drive to like something in someone else when you don't in the first place?!!!
Damn.. had I known that i could get published this way, I woulda kept accurate data back then!
Back when DDR first appeared stateside (We had a DDR 3rd mix - Korean at the local arcade) - we used to play it vigorously until more locals/kids figured out that it was entertaining to play as well, and lines started to build.
To give ourselves breathers/kill time waiting - we would go over to the touch screen machine and play some form of the Merit Megatouch machines, and specifically play Wordster or Word Dojo to see how good our brains were in our exhausted physical states after say, 10 straight games of DDR...
Conclusions: Due to the lower amount of oxygen going to our brains (relatively speaking), as more of it was going to the muscles to assist in recovery - our scores on average sucked by at least 10% while being tired. However, even though our scores were worse, we did come up with some of the most esoteric words that we would never use in daily speech while totally tired, that we would never pull out while playing fresh.
Is it just me - or does this thing look like a cross between an ED-2909 from robocop, and the automated sentry device that they had in Aliens - with the Pirates of the Carribean soundtrack overlaid?
The cellphones came from the communicators of Star Trek. Future interfaces from Minority Report. What next? Food hydrogenators from Back to the Future?!
Is that while a lot of these jobs are lost - and people are complaining about not having a job - there are a lot of idiots who went into IT in the first place, who should NEVER have gone into IT to begin with.
I don't know how many idiots I've met in the IT industry that have ZERO business being in there. They don't have a clue as to how logic works. Can't be bothered to read a frickin' manual or just use references to figure things out.
It's sad that a lot of these people are whining and complaining, instead of realizing that they didn't belong there in the first place!!
I'm a bit biased in this response as I am currently a High School AP Chem teacher, who has taught in the US and UK - but in a former life was a ceramic engineer (Yeah, we make superconducting, bullet proof toliets - but hey - every one needs a toliet!).
I will summarize here in bits and pieces of whats been posted before, and also add in what I have experienced. These suggestions of change are more evolutionary than revolutionary - as change that is required on that the revolutionary level will require a generation or 1.5 generations to complete - and there simply is not the monetary or political will currently present in the USA to make that happen.
1) Parents - get them involved, period. Let them see the good, bad and ugly. Call them when their kids do well. Call them when their kids do badly. Call them when their kids do nothing. Get them excited about what their kids are learning, and show them how what they are doing relates to school!
2) Discipline - these kids that don't behave and are just being plain disruptive - get them *OUT* of the schools. Have *MANDATORY* road clean up, public service, SOMETHING - that they have to do. Too many of these 'kids' know that they can get around all this 'learning' if they can be disruptive, and then eventually drop out anyway. Stop wasting the time of the students that want to learn, the teachers that WANT to teach and have them do something positive for society. These are also the same folks that slow down the pace of classes so that we (as teachers) are forced to dumb down things!
[As a side bar here - why did the military finally have a nice recruitment numbers in June? Well, let's see - some of these kids are now graduated and have nothing to do! Guess what? Uncle Sam provides a place for you to get paid and get trained. Of course they're going to make their numbers!]
3) Pound the fundamental skills into these kids early and often. Stop doing circular teaching tracks from the elementary (primary) level on. By circular teaching track - most of you reading this that went through public schools in the US will understand what I mean better. You learn the general concept in elementary school. Then you re-learn it again in middle school, but with more detail. And then rinse and repeat at the high school level. Start pounding the math and basic skills of reading in early. If they don't make it? Tough - they need to repeat until they get it. There are simply too many kids who pass through the system who have not learned the fundamental skills. It is these folks who then make the system looks bad.
4) Finally, stop the expectation that EVERYONE is going to college. You are cheapening the value of it. Not everyone is going to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer or accountant. We need people who have competent skills to fix things like cars, roads and people (nurses, anyone?)! We need people to do things that other people are not willing to do. This is why that, they too, get the big bucks. I mean, how many people WANT to go collect trash?
There's more, but I'll stop here. It is the summer, after all:)
'Honda officials said it is easier for the automaker to start leasing in the U.S. because there are more hydrogen gas installations there than in Japan.'
What? A whole 3 of them (Albany, DC, somewhere in CA) - come on!
If anything, we should start cleaning up our fuel stores (aka Gasoline or Petrol). Our sulfur content within fuel is the highest on the planet. There are much more fuel efficent/powerful car vehicle engines available else where that the manufactures won't bring in to North America.
Why?
The sulfur lowers the efficency of the combustion system. More importantly, it kills the capability of the catalytic converters by acting as a inhibitor to the catalysts - and pulls down any possible chance that the vehicles can have a LEV/HLEV status stateside - as the vehicles will actually seem to pollute more here than over there.
Oh, and did I also mention that it would cost the fuel companies quite a bit to refine the fuel to that sulfur level as well?
As a teacher - I can a buy a bunch of these and use them in class for projects!!! I can give them to my students and don't feel absolutely mortified that they'll kill something. As the article says, the quality is not awesome, but for some of the kids who don't even have access to this stuff - it'll be a great hands on learning tool..
I got the T-Mobile unlimited data plan, and I have a Sony Ericcson T68i phone (I'm in the NYC area, so coverage is quite good in the area).
What I do is connect my t68i via the serial cable or bluetooth to my laptop. and use it as a modem that way, havent had a problem in the major areas...
My only wish is this: I can actually use my cell phone as a actual modem, and not have to depend on the network's gprs service (My regular mobile is off ATT/Cingular, and they charge by sheer data used). While I realize that this is in a way odd and also not feasible simply because of how the signals are transferred - i long for an old school acoustic coupler kind of thing, since i get free night/weekends on my regular mobile, and it would be nice to able to use that for that particular service when i'm traveling about.
As a current public high school teacher here in the US, I can agree to a certain extent as to why the job sucks.
however, allow me to point out that before I became a teacher - I was an engineer with a PE certification, director of R&D, with patents and what not - who got bored with what I was doing to become a teacher. And while I'm 'broke' compared to my old salary (think 75% paycut) - im a lot happier. I must also admit that I still do consulting work for my former company to keep myself financially viable, so I am still in touch with things..
Anyway, back to the science teaching part.
I currently teach Chemistry AP, and have consistently gotten all passing grades with my kids (scoring above a 3), and with a decent number getting 5's (around 15-17%). I have also taught in the past Physics AP (both B and C), general chem/physics and everything in between. No Biology, so I can't vouch for that area.
Unfortunately, the general trend these days are kids that don't want to learn. Instead, with the continued cultural growth and use of IM, text messaging, video games - and in general, short attention span/immediate response 'things - the learning attention span of childern has been steadily dropping year by year.
Now, I am not saying that all kids are like this! You still have a group that tries - just that their numbers are steadily falling.
The bulk of the kids want to be spoon fed the information. Thinking is truely optional. I have actually had complaints that resemble this conversation:
Student: "I don't like the way you teach." Me: "Alright. Let's talk about it. What can I do to make your life easier?" Student: "I've always been able to memorize and pass other classes - but I can't in here. Why can't your class be the same?" Me: "While memorizing can be a good skill to have - being able to think and process that information is more important. Ultimately, you need to be able to solve problems ON YOUR OWN - *THAT* is what is going to allow you to succeed, no matter what major or job you want to do." Student: "Well, I think it sucks. I want to be able to just memorize..." Me: "Well then, Good luck on attempting to try to pass my class - and also good luck on trying to pass your first semster at college. I am more than willing to bet that you will fail out by the end of your first semester."
I will say that as a teacher, I am always looking for ways to teach the material in a different manner so that they'll be interested in it. However, the general trend is not looking so good.
With the psychotic administrative types ( board of education folk who just want sheer number based success stories, and not caring about the human element of things - inane paperwork - etc ), I'll probably be forced to leave this fun profession where I feel wanted, needed and useful to my old one(I sincerely believe that you cannot pay enough to feel that way!!!!). One where i get paid 4x my current salary, do 1/4 of the work I do now- and wake up wondering WTF i am doing.
Teaching is not an easy job. It never was, and it never can be. With the influx of people who think it *IS* an easy job - and adminstrators trying to save money - the level of science education in the US is going to sink, and fast.
relatively speaking, 6 figures is just a drop in the bucket of social security.
i'd gladly cough up an extra dollar to the government (and im sure others would too!) if we can stop these idiots from continuing to flood our mailboxen.
or this is just like the old school handhelds that nintendo used to sell with the dual LCD screens (remember king kong and the one with the 'walking' jaws and vines you had to climb in a green case?)?
Are video games starting to become like fashion - every 20 years, we start back where we started??
I ditched my 6 digit pay figure, and took a 80% paycut to become a teacher. Granted, while it was at an all girls private catholic high school (yes, it was as alarming as it sounded) - I had a lot more fun, and felt more productive than I did as a ceramic engineer.
[Note here that my friends used to call me at school and leave me voice mails/emails of the Police song "Don't Stand So Close to Me" as a daily basis to remind me of the minefield that I had gotten myself into - especially since I was 1 of 2 members of staff that was male!]
Here were my problems: Having been spoiled as a director/high level management - it took quite some doing to unspoil me. Consequently, I went broke that first year (between having bought a house, and trying to make payments with a significantly decreased income scale, and also getting sick in the process), and ended up going back to engineering as a consultant to make enough money so that I can go back into teaching. Also, working in a education environment is almost like working for a large financial house: Changes come slow and amidst copious amounts of red tape.
Strange, huh?
But whats even more rewarding for me, is that I also coach high school level Track and Field. And while my pay there technically consitutes as negative dollars - I feel needed, wanted and useful - which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about my engineering gig.
So yes, I feel happy teaching Chem and Fyzix (TM), and yes, I'm making oodles less money. BUT, I'm not waking up and questioning myself about why I'm doing what I'm doing - *AND* I look forward to each day's interaction with students, and seeing how else I can explain/demonstrate something to get them to understand it , and watch the proverbial 'lightbulb go ding!':)
What's interesting here is the comparison. It's a car, as opposed to computer. The car requires the user to be fully in control of a lot of things, where as the computer hardware does not, in order to work properly.
In this particular case, as a former rally driver and tuner - Driver skills plays a large part in getting that 0-60 time. As the Subaru WRX has AWD-it's a lot more difficult to launch correctly and get a good time between shifts (This is where having a factory upgraded short shifter would be helpful in reducing the time). A good experienced driver, will know where to drop the clutch for a launch - in this particular case, for the WRX is around 4400-4600 RPM. Someone who's not as familar with the car would most likely rev it up higher (5k+ RPMS) and try for a launch, only to spin the wheels - and lose precious moments towards that 0-60 time.
However, I must admit that spinning all 4 wheels at the same time is quite an experience, and also quite a sight to be seen;)
Now, taken to the computer example - you pretty much just plug it in and go (exception being the overclocking and tuning part) - there's not much to do when the software does it's calculation of speed and improvement over the last model, except to wait.
and what you have to carry - i can recommend these:
1) get some wrist and ankle weights. Nothing insane mind you.. just like 1-2 lb (or your favourite mass measurement) ones. Wear them while walking to work, and around the office all day.
2) If you're also consuming beer, I also assume that you eat at non-normal times. What you want to do is to have smaller portions but more of them over the course of the day (i.e. 5 smaller meals, as opposed to 3 larger ones) - as this will kick in your metabolism into a 'consumption' mode for most of the day, as opposed to 'store and hold'.
3) the water suggestion in place of beer is an excellent suggestion. If water doesn't do it for you - bring in mixes like Tang or KoolAid or what have you. Remember, we're essentially big water processing plants. Doesn't quite matter how the water goes in, just as long as it gets there.
4) If possible, take the stairs instead of the elevators.
5) Also cut down on the salt content in general of your food. While this has a larger effect on women (they are more susectible(sp?) to retaining water via salt ions than men) - it will be good for your body regardless.
obviously, all this can be doable or not, depending on how much other stuff you may need to carry and the environment that you're in.
> haha, that's funny. rally racing requires very loud horns (trust me, i know this stuff). i > was in france. they make rally cars there. it's cool stuff. i definitely support better > funded teams.
Yes, they employ relay connected Rally horns (For those of you that want these things - check out Hella Supertones - directional and guarenteed to wake up those drivers sleeping behind the wheel or on the cel phone!)
And yes, the better funded teams provide the development that the poorer teams eventually are able to purchase and use - but occasionally, we come up with some unorthodox but doable things that give us something to at least come close mechanically.
The rest is up to the driver;)
As to tuning and so on - depending on the vehicle base - and assuming that you know what you're doing - you can actually get quite a bit of performance out of stock components by just changing the air/fuel curves. Example: 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX stock is 227hp/217 ft lb TQ
adjusting the fuel curves, injector duty cycles and boost control- one can push the car *SAFELY* to approximately 245hp/235TQ - with intake and exhaust path fixes, 260/250 is easily achievable. Note that this is Engine ratings, and not at the wheel. With an All Wheel Drive(AWD) system - you suffer a bit more drive train loss than compared to a RWD or FWD vehicle.
They do sell other standalone setups which we use for Rallying (Yes, like you see on SpeedVision, or what you have played on GranTurismo or other Rally racing game) - examples: Link ECU, MoTec, AEM-EMS
All of the above allow control and modification of all elements of the car via a serial link to a laptop. You can even data log and so forth.
Depending on where you buy it and so on, it's not going to be as cheap as the product listed here - but, you gain boat loads more functionality. For Rally racing like we do - we need the control/fine tuning ability to change fuel maps, ignition timing, Anti-lag for the turbo (amongst other things) to squeeze out every bit of performance that we can to go against much better funded teams.
Slashdot Mirror
All of the Nokia devices that I've ever owned, along with and including the Sony Xperia z5 compact that I'm writing this reply on has a built in fm radio and tuner that uses the headphone wires as an antenna?! This seems so weird to be reading about this.. And no, none of them have ever used data to get information, because that's already embedded in the fm stream!! I just wish that hd-radio was available some how!!!
The vast bulk of elementary school teachers in the United States don't like Science, just as much as they don't like math.
I am *NOT* saying that they are not good teachers. But rather - you're taking someone who probably never really liked those subjects in the first place, and are trying to get them to instill a joy in something that they, themselves, don't have in it to people. It just is not going to work!
Let's look at the elementary school teachers here in the US.. most of them are coming from a liberal arts teaching background. Which is great, because they're expected to teach a plethora of subjects, and also spend the bulk of the day with the students. So they also have the crowd control skills and so on. But ask them in a non-school setting about any basic science - most of them would roll their eyes at the questions, and even tell you that they never even liked it. A lot of them look at science as almost a voo-doo thing, and they just do what's in the textbooks/curriculum.
What really should be done, is to bring in science (and math!) specialists for just those subjects at that level. Let people who have a ready understanding on the material, and who can relate it to every day things interact with the kids for those bits. Let them explain every day things to these kids, to keep the joy of learning there!
Note here: I am an engineer (still consulting) turned Chem/Physics/Math HS teacher in the public sector here in the US. I have also worked these alleged crazy new fangled math stuff that are trying to conceptualize things, when they really need to just go back to basics, and instill basic skills so that the advanced things can be 'fun' , or at the very least be seen by the students as something that they can do, because they already have the tools to do so. Instead of just flat out giving up.
And yeah, we should involve more parental involvement and so on. And oh yes, say it's ok to drop out. Go get a job, and see how awful it truly is without an education - and when their heads are screwed on right - to go get their GED/whatever degree from that point on.. as they'll be self motivated - as opposed to having us to motivate them!
Would be like the 'End' sequence in Ender's game where they use the drones to protect the gunship (or in our case the actual laser signal)
if you have one near by you...
www.muji.com
multiple colours, multiple pen sizes.
Or just check your local higher end asian (preferably Japanese) convenience store that sells school supplies. They definitely have what you're looking for!
productivity shot wayyyy up!
Let's just be honest here.. one class or a badge, at a time. Do we even really know who is actually doing the work?
Granted, the same could be said about large universities - but the chances of that happening are significantly lower!!
But the reality is that part of the educational process is learning how to work with other people in real time under different conditions. I don't care how many certificates, or whatever you have saying that you know something. But if you can't actually communicate with other people, and work under actual multiple time pressure constraints - you will *NOT* succeed. That's the bottom line.
possibly even the people doing the study...
I say this as a public high school math/science teacher in the US.
In older and more traditional texts - the x or "empty square box" or the fill-in-the-blank-underline is readily found as the missing variable. It is only textbooks/materials from the last 5-10 years where that "( )" *@&#^&@%#^!!!#! has started to appear in the lower level, and now, the more advanced high school text books.
When i first encountered it - I was totally confused by the question (like many here on slashdot). However, having gone to mathematics conferences, talking to people in the textbook publishing field, and the actual authors of some of these math texts - I can only conclude the following:
1) A lot of the editors of these books are flatout clueless. Authors come up with the text materials, and insert blanks, question marks or underline in place of variables for the lower level/basic texts. However, from text translation from one form to another (example material formatted on a Mac and then opened on a PC) you get the occasional random character because of whatever reason (Yeah, I'm that old where I can recall this being a typical problem!) between formats. The editors see the strange characters, or heck, even a question mark, assume it's a boo-boo and have changed it into the whole parenthesis insanity. Since these same editor types usually don't just edit for one text - practices like this get transferred over from one text to another.
2) from my experience talking to elementary / middle school teachers who teach math... the vast majority of them hated math as a topic with a passion. And when asked why - it comes down to the fundamentals of not really understanding the material. I have pointed this out again and again - when you have people teaching something that they've hated and/or don't truly understand - you are not going to get students who will grasp the material and understand it! These math teachers do not understand that the formatting/question method is not in the best interest of the students - and don't question it! They do enough to get by to get the kids to pass whats on required on the state exams - and they're done. So between a bad model and bad modeling - yes, you will get students who don't get it!
it's just aggravating to me that when I teach chem/physics - a lot of times, I also have to teach what i call "Algebra-Zero" to show the kids what some of the things that they do is totally wrong, and how to it's really not that bad...
even if it looks like a converted old school Howard Johnson motel of sorts! They actually have a lot of interesting stuff on display, besides an actual enigma machine that you can play with!
Interesting details that I noticed when I went this past summer: ;)
1) My car (and phone!) GPS suddenly drops dead and gets nothing in terms of signal.. it's like we drove off the planet or something! The onboard GPS had to resort to using car instrumentation data to give us a rough guesstimate of where we are - which we thought was really funny!
2) There's a sign by the main entrance to the NSA there that basically says don't even think about taking any pictures, even of the sign itself that says don't take any pictures!! Note: You make a left right at the main entrance to the parking lots to follow the side road to the museum while passing a permanently parked fighter jet and a gas station right before you get to it. It's really non-descript!
3) At the gift shop - we decided to buy a few things and charged it on the credit card.. when we got home and looked at the receipt - it doesn't even say NSA museum - it had some totally different name to it!
4) Also, they had a totally cheap and reasonable soda and snack machines tucked to the side of the entrance once you walk in! Totally surprising - but nice
and Incidentally, if you're thinking about going to the spy museum in downtown washington DC - *DON'T DO IT!* - it's an absolute travesty and waste of i think it was like $15? The NSA museum blows it away in terms of information and goodies to be seen - and WAYYYYYYYYYyyyyy cheaper too! The spy museum in DC is for kids. The NSA museum is for true Geeks!
I totally understand this, and apply similar tactics against my students to prevent cheating in high school science/math...
I have built limited area cell phone signal jammers - it does not damage the phones - just says no service on their phones. I have put up empty usb camera shell casings, along with fiberoptic terminal ends in random places for appearances.
This is in addition to using different coloured paper, different fonts, mixing up the questions - whether different order or multiples for values, limiting calculator usage and other things!
Why? The kids these days apparently cannot live without their mobile devices. Heck, they can't even make it through lab without looking at their cellphones to send a text to someone in the room next door! A lot (but not all) of my kids just want to know what will get them the grade.. there's not a lot of interest for the sake of learning as much at this level anymore. And their idea of what is cheating, and what isn't is vastly skewed from mine.. almost like the whole pirating/plagiarism stuff too! So I have to beat them at their own game, sadly.
Yes, I spend quite a bit of energy prepping homeworks, labs, projects and exams to make sure I have enough different versions to keep things interesting.. most of my colleagues think I am insane for doing so.. but I feel like I'm doing a disservice to the students if I don't do it to keep them focused .. and more importantly, trying as much as they can on their own for as much as they can!
For those of you that will probably comment as to - you're a *&^@#%! teacher who is probably boring.. you know what? There probably are days that I am like that, either because of content of what I have to teach because of requirements, or I am just flat out tired. But I would like to think that I try to keep it interesting by bringing things that I feel kids should see before they finish HS - like liquid nitrogen, napalm, gummi bear rocket fuel, growing silver and so on. But it's uniquely challenging to keep that level up for every class of every day! And when you have a lot of student indifference because they are there only because they are required to do so.. it's just not a great combination.
himself, and just pushing along stuff that rectifies his ideas...
Let's take this another way then - if he is SOOOoooooo right - that there ought to be less math - explain how the kids from practically every other country on the planet knows more about it than ours at the equivalent age frame!?
As a current high school teacher - I can tell you one thing - if our expectations of kids weren't sooo low at that same age frame - we'd turn out higher quality students with greater understanding, than just bodies that can regurgitate material! /rant off
My other beef with education? In general (And yes, I *AM* stereotyping now!) most teachers that teach elementary students are also the same folks that have never liked math in the first place - or never really LEARNED it!!! How can you instill a drive to like something in someone else when you don't in the first place?!!!
Damn.. had I known that i could get published this way, I woulda kept accurate data back then!
Back when DDR first appeared stateside (We had a DDR 3rd mix - Korean at the local arcade) - we used to play it vigorously until more locals/kids figured out that it was entertaining to play as well, and lines started to build.
To give ourselves breathers/kill time waiting - we would go over to the touch screen machine and play some form of the Merit Megatouch machines, and specifically play Wordster or Word Dojo to see how good our brains were in our exhausted physical states after say, 10 straight games of DDR...
Conclusions: Due to the lower amount of oxygen going to our brains (relatively speaking), as more of it was going to the muscles to assist in recovery - our scores on average sucked by at least 10% while being tired. However, even though our scores were worse, we did come up with some of the most esoteric words that we would never use in daily speech while totally tired, that we would never pull out while playing fresh.
Is it just me - or does this thing look like a cross between an ED-2909 from robocop, and the automated sentry device that they had in Aliens - with the Pirates of the Carribean soundtrack overlaid?
The cellphones came from the communicators of Star Trek. Future interfaces from Minority Report. What next? Food hydrogenators from Back to the Future?!
Is that while a lot of these jobs are lost - and people are complaining about not having a job -
there are a lot of idiots who went into IT in the first place, who should NEVER have gone into
IT to begin with.
I don't know how many idiots I've met in the IT industry that have ZERO business being in
there. They don't have a clue as to how logic works. Can't be bothered to read a frickin'
manual or just use references to figure things out.
It's sad that a lot of these people are whining and complaining, instead of realizing that
they didn't belong there in the first place!!
I'm a bit biased in this response as I am currently a High School AP Chem teacher, who has taught in the US and UK - but in a former life was a ceramic engineer (Yeah, we make superconducting, bullet proof toliets - but hey - every one needs a toliet!).
:)
I will summarize here in bits and pieces of whats been posted before, and also add in what I have experienced. These suggestions of change are more evolutionary than revolutionary - as change that is required on that the revolutionary level will require a generation or 1.5 generations to complete - and there simply is not the monetary or political will currently present in the USA to make that happen.
1) Parents - get them involved, period. Let them see the good, bad and ugly. Call them when their kids do well. Call them when their kids do badly. Call them when their kids do nothing. Get them excited about what their kids are learning, and show them how what they are doing relates to school!
2) Discipline - these kids that don't behave and are just being plain disruptive - get them *OUT* of the schools. Have *MANDATORY* road clean up, public service, SOMETHING - that they have to do. Too many of these 'kids' know that they can get around all this 'learning' if they can be disruptive, and then eventually drop out anyway. Stop wasting the time of the students that want to learn, the teachers that WANT to teach and have them do something positive for society. These are also the same folks that slow down the pace of classes so that we (as teachers) are forced to dumb down things!
[As a side bar here - why did the military finally have a nice recruitment numbers in June? Well, let's see - some of these kids are now graduated and have nothing to do! Guess what? Uncle Sam provides a place for you to get paid and get trained. Of course they're going to make their numbers!]
3) Pound the fundamental skills into these kids early and often. Stop doing circular teaching tracks from the elementary (primary) level on. By circular teaching track - most of you reading this that went through public schools in the US will understand what I mean better. You learn the general concept in elementary school. Then you re-learn it again in middle school, but with more detail. And then rinse and repeat at the high school level. Start pounding the math and basic skills of reading in early. If they don't make it? Tough - they need to repeat until they get it. There are simply too many kids who pass through the system who have not learned the fundamental skills. It is these folks who then make the system looks bad.
4) Finally, stop the expectation that EVERYONE is going to college. You are cheapening the value of it. Not everyone is going to become a doctor, lawyer, engineer or accountant. We need people who have competent skills to fix things like cars, roads and people (nurses, anyone?)! We need people to do things that other people are not willing to do. This is why that, they too, get the big bucks. I mean, how many people WANT to go collect trash?
There's more, but I'll stop here. It is the summer, after all
'Honda officials said it is easier for the automaker to start leasing in the U.S. because there are more hydrogen gas installations there than in Japan.'
What? A whole 3 of them (Albany, DC, somewhere in CA) - come on!
If anything, we should start cleaning up our fuel stores (aka Gasoline or Petrol). Our sulfur content within fuel is the highest on the planet. There are much more fuel efficent/powerful car vehicle engines available else where that the manufactures won't bring in to North America.
Why?
The sulfur lowers the efficency of the combustion system. More importantly, it kills the capability of the catalytic converters by acting as a inhibitor to the catalysts - and pulls down any possible chance that the vehicles can have a LEV/HLEV status stateside - as the vehicles will actually seem to pollute more here than over there.
Oh, and did I also mention that it would cost the fuel companies quite a bit to refine the fuel to that sulfur level as well?
Finally!
As a teacher - I can a buy a bunch of these and use them in class for projects!!! I can give them to my students and don't feel absolutely mortified that they'll kill something. As the article says, the quality is not awesome, but for some of the kids who don't even have access to this stuff - it'll be a great hands on learning tool..
Can't wait to buy these the week of july 4th!
I got the T-Mobile unlimited data plan, and I have a Sony Ericcson T68i phone (I'm in the NYC area, so coverage is quite good in the area).
What I do is connect my t68i via the serial cable or bluetooth to my laptop. and use it as a modem that way, havent had a problem in the major areas...
My only wish is this: I can actually use my cell phone as a actual modem, and not have to depend on the network's gprs service (My regular mobile is off ATT/Cingular, and they charge by sheer data used). While I realize that this is in a way odd and also not feasible simply because of how the signals are transferred - i long for an old school acoustic coupler kind of thing, since i get free night/weekends on my regular mobile, and it would be nice to able to use that for that particular service when i'm traveling about.
As a current public high school teacher here in the US, I can agree to a certain extent as to why the job sucks.
however, allow me to point out that before I became a teacher - I was an engineer with a PE certification, director of R&D, with patents and what not - who got bored with what I was doing to become a teacher. And while I'm 'broke' compared to my old salary (think 75% paycut) - im a lot happier. I must also admit that I still do consulting work for my former company to keep myself financially viable, so I am still in touch with things..
Anyway, back to the science teaching part.
I currently teach Chemistry AP, and have consistently gotten all passing grades with my kids (scoring above a 3), and with a decent number getting 5's (around 15-17%). I have also taught in the past Physics AP (both B and C), general chem/physics and everything in between. No Biology, so I can't vouch for that area.
Unfortunately, the general trend these days are kids that don't want to learn. Instead, with the continued cultural growth and use of IM, text messaging, video games - and in general, short attention span/immediate response 'things - the learning attention span of childern has been steadily dropping year by year.
Now, I am not saying that all kids are like this! You still have a group that tries - just that their numbers are steadily falling.
The bulk of the kids want to be spoon fed the information. Thinking is truely optional. I have actually had complaints that resemble this conversation:
Student: "I don't like the way you teach."
Me: "Alright. Let's talk about it. What can I do to make your life easier?"
Student: "I've always been able to memorize and pass other classes - but I can't in here. Why can't your class be the same?"
Me: "While memorizing can be a good skill to have - being able to think and process that information is more important. Ultimately, you need to be able to solve problems ON YOUR OWN - *THAT* is what is going to allow you to succeed, no matter what major or job you want to do."
Student: "Well, I think it sucks. I want to be able to just memorize..."
Me: "Well then, Good luck on attempting to try to pass my class - and also good luck on trying to pass your first semster at college. I am more than willing to bet that you will fail out by the end of your first semester."
I will say that as a teacher, I am always looking for ways to teach the material in a different manner so that they'll be interested in it. However, the general trend is not looking so good.
With the psychotic administrative types ( board of education folk who just want sheer number based success stories, and not caring about the human element of things - inane paperwork - etc ), I'll probably be forced to leave this fun profession where I feel wanted, needed and useful to my old one(I sincerely believe that you cannot pay enough to feel that way!!!!). One where i get paid 4x my current salary, do 1/4 of the work I do now- and wake up wondering WTF i am doing.
Teaching is not an easy job. It never was, and it never can be. With the influx of people who think it *IS* an easy job - and adminstrators trying to save money - the level of science education in the US is going to sink, and fast.
relatively speaking, 6 figures is just a drop in the bucket of social security.
i'd gladly cough up an extra dollar to the government (and im sure others would too!) if we can stop these idiots from continuing to flood our mailboxen.
or this is just like the old school handhelds that nintendo used to sell with the dual LCD screens (remember king kong and the one with the 'walking' jaws and vines you had to climb in a green case?)?
Are video games starting to become like fashion - every 20 years, we start back where we started??
I did this.
:)
I ditched my 6 digit pay figure, and took a 80% paycut to become a teacher. Granted, while it was at an all girls private catholic high school (yes, it was as alarming as it sounded) - I had a lot more fun, and felt more productive than I did as a ceramic engineer.
[Note here that my friends used to call me at school and leave me voice mails/emails of the Police song "Don't Stand So Close to Me" as a daily basis to remind me of the minefield that I had gotten myself into - especially since I was 1 of 2 members of staff that was male!]
Here were my problems: Having been spoiled as a director/high level management - it took quite some doing to unspoil me. Consequently, I went broke that first year (between having bought a house, and trying to make payments with a significantly decreased income scale, and also getting sick in the process), and ended up going back to engineering as a consultant to make enough money so that I can go back into teaching. Also, working in a education environment is almost like working for a large financial house: Changes come slow and amidst copious amounts of red tape.
Strange, huh?
But whats even more rewarding for me, is that I also coach high school level Track and Field. And while my pay there technically consitutes as negative dollars - I feel needed, wanted and useful - which is a hell of a lot more than I can say about my engineering gig.
So yes, I feel happy teaching Chem and Fyzix (TM), and yes, I'm making oodles less money. BUT, I'm not waking up and questioning myself about why I'm doing what I'm doing - *AND* I look forward to each day's interaction with students, and seeing how else I can explain/demonstrate something to get them to understand it , and watch the proverbial 'lightbulb go ding!'
What's interesting here is the comparison. It's a car, as opposed to computer. The car requires the user to be fully in control of a lot of things, where as the computer hardware does not, in order to work properly.
;)
In this particular case, as a former rally driver and tuner - Driver skills plays a large part in getting that 0-60 time. As the Subaru WRX has AWD-it's a lot more difficult to launch correctly and get a good time between shifts (This is where having a factory upgraded short shifter would be helpful in reducing the time). A good experienced driver, will know where to drop the clutch for a launch - in this particular case, for the WRX is around 4400-4600 RPM. Someone who's not as familar with the car would most likely rev it up higher (5k+ RPMS) and try for a launch, only to spin the wheels - and lose precious moments towards that 0-60 time.
However, I must admit that spinning all 4 wheels at the same time is quite an experience, and also quite a sight to be seen
Now, taken to the computer example - you pretty much just plug it in and go (exception being the overclocking and tuning part) - there's not much to do when the software does it's calculation of speed and improvement over the last model, except to wait.
and what you have to carry - i can recommend these:
1) get some wrist and ankle weights. Nothing insane mind you.. just like 1-2 lb (or your favourite mass measurement) ones. Wear them while walking to work, and around the office all day.
2) If you're also consuming beer, I also assume that you eat at non-normal times. What you want to do is to have smaller portions but more of them over the course of the day (i.e. 5 smaller meals, as opposed to 3 larger ones) - as this will kick in your metabolism into a 'consumption' mode for most of the day, as opposed to 'store and hold'.
3) the water suggestion in place of beer is an excellent suggestion. If water doesn't do it for you - bring in mixes like Tang or KoolAid or what have you. Remember, we're essentially big water processing plants. Doesn't quite matter how the water goes in, just as long as it gets there.
4) If possible, take the stairs instead of the elevators.
5) Also cut down on the salt content in general of your food. While this has a larger effect on women (they are more susectible(sp?) to retaining water via salt ions than men) - it will be good for your body regardless.
obviously, all this can be doable or not, depending on how much other stuff you may need to carry and the environment that you're in.
> haha, that's funny. rally racing requires very loud horns (trust me, i know this stuff). i
;)
> was in france. they make rally cars there. it's cool stuff. i definitely support better
> funded teams.
Yes, they employ relay connected Rally horns (For those of you that want these things - check out Hella Supertones - directional and guarenteed to wake up those drivers sleeping behind the wheel or on the cel phone!)
And yes, the better funded teams provide the development that the poorer teams eventually are able to purchase and use - but occasionally, we come up with some unorthodox but doable things that give us something to at least come close mechanically.
The rest is up to the driver
As to tuning and so on - depending on the vehicle base - and assuming that you know what you're doing - you can actually get quite a bit of performance out of stock components by just changing the air/fuel curves. Example: 2002 Subaru Impreza WRX stock is 227hp/217 ft lb TQ
adjusting the fuel curves, injector duty cycles and boost control- one can push the car *SAFELY* to approximately 245hp/235TQ - with intake and exhaust path fixes, 260/250 is easily achievable. Note that this is Engine ratings, and not at the wheel. With an All Wheel Drive(AWD) system - you suffer a bit more drive train loss than compared to a RWD or FWD vehicle.
They do sell other standalone setups which we use for Rallying (Yes, like you see on SpeedVision, or what you have played on GranTurismo or other Rally racing game) - examples: Link ECU, MoTec, AEM-EMS
All of the above allow control and modification of all elements of the car via a serial link to a laptop. You can even data log and so forth.
Depending on where you buy it and so on, it's not going to be as cheap as the product listed here - but, you gain boat loads more functionality. For Rally racing like we do - we need the control/fine tuning ability to change fuel maps, ignition timing, Anti-lag for the turbo (amongst other things) to squeeze out every bit of performance that we can to go against much better funded teams.
-victor