1)Thank GOD some one has finally pointed the finger(s) in the right direction! I have no idea how many times I've seen fellow classmates act the same disrepectful way towards the teachers as they do towards their parents; who just sit back and take it from their kids. It's almost disgusting how both parents and teachers are AFRAID of these awkward little teenagers who have nothing more than a big mouth (courtesy of what's on TV).
2)No, no, no! Don't make it easier! That's part of the problem! Not only do we have teachers who hate their job and only do it for the "money" (heh, yeah, teachers with money, that's a funny one), but they are completely and utterly stupid. My Algebra I teacher is such an example. She would spend half of class explaining something and completely confuse every single one of us. When we asked her to make it more clear, she would start all over and explain it exactly the same way as before, word for word. She was merely regurgitating the information that had been pounded into her head in college; just like most teachers ask us to do today in class. Make it harder and she would have given up, just like she gave up trying to handle the upstarts after the first week.
3)While I'm tempted to agree, I'll have to sit on the fence. The test, how ever much you might not want to admit it, is a universal standard. Not all teachers teach the same way, but they are required to teach the same material. While some teaching styles may emphasize certain facts (and I use that term loosely), and gloss over others, everything is still suppose to be there. Whether they are or not is another matter, and one to take up with the teacher themselves.
Still I think that multiple choice questions are a big load of bull. It gives the ignorant student a bigger chance than they ought to have at guessing the correct answer. This encourages "listen enough to get the gist so you can pass the test" rather than "listen so you can learn, be stimulated, and think". This thought leads me up to an earlier comment: MBCook's Magic Formula. The tests should be kept, as long as you make them at least challenging. Such as a grammar test where you give me a sentence and tell me to either write it the way it should be or say it's fine, rather than giving me four almost identical answers (with two that are obviously wrong) to guess from.
4)After reading some other comments, I feel the need to defend falcon on this one. Yes, other countries may have compulsory education, but it's merely on paper. Despite the lack luster nature of our court system, and the seeming lack of proper law enforcement (which seems to be another "crappy Americanism" discussion for another time), we have the ability to actually make the children go to school - they don't. Now, tell me, if you knew the police were pussies, the judges weren't going to bother with you, and you had a chance at getting out of poverty by putting your kid to work rather than sending them off for unprofitable hours to learn, what would you do?
5)Interesting idea. Having recently started searching for a job myself, I've found it very difficult to offer proof that I would be a competant employee. Should I have had some sort of certification from a specific class that showed I was trained in customer service or the like, maybe I would have had better success. Obviously, there's more potential in such an idea than teaching someone how to say "Welcome to McDonald's, how may I help you?". Although, you can't cram everyhing from college into highschool, there still needs to be a barrier.
As for the bad seeds, it's sad that they usually get thrown into juvenile dentention or just plain prison. Now, since they need education in order be viable citizens (should they choose to turn themselve around) but they also need to be isolated: make a state mandatited boarding school/boot camp. There they can be handled, kept away from bad parenting, and have their "educational needs" tended to.
And more funding? Absolutely not, they waste
Slashdot Mirror
1)Thank GOD some one has finally pointed the finger(s) in the right direction! I have no idea how many times I've seen fellow classmates act the same disrepectful way towards the teachers as they do towards their parents; who just sit back and take it from their kids. It's almost disgusting how both parents and teachers are AFRAID of these awkward little teenagers who have nothing more than a big mouth (courtesy of what's on TV). 2)No, no, no! Don't make it easier! That's part of the problem! Not only do we have teachers who hate their job and only do it for the "money" (heh, yeah, teachers with money, that's a funny one), but they are completely and utterly stupid. My Algebra I teacher is such an example. She would spend half of class explaining something and completely confuse every single one of us. When we asked her to make it more clear, she would start all over and explain it exactly the same way as before, word for word. She was merely regurgitating the information that had been pounded into her head in college; just like most teachers ask us to do today in class. Make it harder and she would have given up, just like she gave up trying to handle the upstarts after the first week. 3)While I'm tempted to agree, I'll have to sit on the fence. The test, how ever much you might not want to admit it, is a universal standard. Not all teachers teach the same way, but they are required to teach the same material. While some teaching styles may emphasize certain facts (and I use that term loosely), and gloss over others, everything is still suppose to be there. Whether they are or not is another matter, and one to take up with the teacher themselves. Still I think that multiple choice questions are a big load of bull. It gives the ignorant student a bigger chance than they ought to have at guessing the correct answer. This encourages "listen enough to get the gist so you can pass the test" rather than "listen so you can learn, be stimulated, and think". This thought leads me up to an earlier comment: MBCook's Magic Formula. The tests should be kept, as long as you make them at least challenging. Such as a grammar test where you give me a sentence and tell me to either write it the way it should be or say it's fine, rather than giving me four almost identical answers (with two that are obviously wrong) to guess from. 4)After reading some other comments, I feel the need to defend falcon on this one. Yes, other countries may have compulsory education, but it's merely on paper. Despite the lack luster nature of our court system, and the seeming lack of proper law enforcement (which seems to be another "crappy Americanism" discussion for another time), we have the ability to actually make the children go to school - they don't. Now, tell me, if you knew the police were pussies, the judges weren't going to bother with you, and you had a chance at getting out of poverty by putting your kid to work rather than sending them off for unprofitable hours to learn, what would you do? 5)Interesting idea. Having recently started searching for a job myself, I've found it very difficult to offer proof that I would be a competant employee. Should I have had some sort of certification from a specific class that showed I was trained in customer service or the like, maybe I would have had better success. Obviously, there's more potential in such an idea than teaching someone how to say "Welcome to McDonald's, how may I help you?". Although, you can't cram everyhing from college into highschool, there still needs to be a barrier. As for the bad seeds, it's sad that they usually get thrown into juvenile dentention or just plain prison. Now, since they need education in order be viable citizens (should they choose to turn themselve around) but they also need to be isolated: make a state mandatited boarding school/boot camp. There they can be handled, kept away from bad parenting, and have their "educational needs" tended to. And more funding? Absolutely not, they waste