Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

adamcadre.ac

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

81–90 of 764 posts

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#81

Post by mindvirus »

rrss wrote: post #76
mindvirus wrote: post #64

One of the most radical beliefs I have is we should get rid of private schools, because it lets the people most capable of forcing change to opt out of an increasingly broken system, and so it doesn't get fixed. Of course I say this as I seriously consider sending my kids to a private school because of articles like this.

FYI private schools are not immune to these problems. The administration of some private schools choose to have similar policies (accept late work indefinitely, minimum grade of 50%, etc) at their school.

Of course, but it is very much up to the parents which product they want to buy (another problem of private schools to be sure). There are several that focus on rigorous academics, language immersion and even world travel.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#83

Post by refurb »

yaitsyaboi wrote: post #77
fallingknife wrote: post #25

> Another initiative headed for mandate status is a school policy that no assignment can receive a grade of less than 50% > And my direct supervisor repeatedly demanded that I pace my classes for the benefit of the single student in each section who was struggling the most I don't understand school. Why do they do things like this? Who actually thinks this is a good idea? I've never met anyone who does. How have we g…

I think the 50% rule is okay. I get that it's annoying for the students who tried and got a 55%. But I suspect that the kids who would get score much less than a 50 are probably the least engaged and most disruptive. If a 50 can keep them statistically in the game, with a chance of turning it around and passing, that might be worth it. It's similar logic to not giving life sentences. People with no hope of a good out…

You’re cheating that kid. They’re going to get pushed into the next grade and fall further behind until they graduate and can’t do basic math.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#84

Post by ivansavz »

kowlo wrote: post #40

It's sad but it's only going to get worse. UK universities are already worse.

Yeah I remember being very surprised at the undergraduate level of math/phys at Bristol (I was there for one year on a student exchange). My classmates (2nd year and 3rd year) had trouble with basic calculus, because they didn't learn it in high school, and then their first year courses had to go easy (superficial) so that not everybody fails. The fact that you choose which questions to answer on the finals is also weird (answer any 3 out of 4 questions).

It doesn't make sense to me that a whole nation skips math (unless you take math A-levels).

I talked to a professor and he explained UGRADs are below level, but then when starting grad school they force everyone up to international level. He showed me a huge room with grad student desks and was like "look, we don't let them get out of here until they learn math properly."

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#85

Post by nixpulvis »

> “you’re legally required to assign this much homework, so make sure you do that, only don’t, because the kids are overwhelmed”. That too was in keeping with a theme.

I think the underlying theme is that the parents themselves are overwhelmed and the schools that were ill-equipped to handle education before COVID-19 are crumbling.

If I take this report at face value (which, frankly, I'm tempted to), it paints an even more broken image of the American school system than the dumpster fire I had on my wall already.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#86

Post by thrower123 »

antihero wrote: post #74
brianwawok wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No child left behind. It’s been ruled that it’s better that all students get to 20-80% knowledge then some get 100% and some get 0%. Which is why many people choose to go to private schools if you want to not be limited by this.

Surely this can be solved by streaming? Here in the UK we had bottom sets for the kids that were struggling, and top sets for kids who excelled. This meant that the learning pace could be tailored for each group. Still probably didn't stretch the top set kids as much as private schools could, which is why I am in favour of abolishing all private and grammar schools and making the resources available to those schools…

In former times, European countries could do this, because you've had a homogenous pool to sort out by ability.

Attempts to do this in the US produce results that appear racist.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#87

Post by rajansaini »

lordnacho wrote: post #68

This school sounds like some sort of weird Kafkaesque punishment for kids. Everyone is trying to game it: kids who don't want to write essays, administrators who don't want kids to fail. Teachers who want kids to both learn stuff and pass. Motivate the kids. Show them stuff about the world, and show them how to find out things for themselves. If you're going to test them, do it in a way that doesn't destroy all enjoy…

In my experience anyone can be conditioned to love anything, and inspiring a love for learning something is the only stable long-term solution.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#88

Post by siliconc0w »

analog31 wrote: post #69
fallingknife wrote: post #25

> Another initiative headed for mandate status is a school policy that no assignment can receive a grade of less than 50% > And my direct supervisor repeatedly demanded that I pace my classes for the benefit of the single student in each section who was struggling the most I don't understand school. Why do they do things like this? Who actually thinks this is a good idea? I've never met anyone who does. How have we g…

Playing devils advocate for a moment, as grading works right now, a kid can quickly dig themselves into a hole that they have no realistic way to get out of, e.g., by utterly bombing on an exam or missing a few assignments early in the semester. The motivation for that kid to progress any further is zero, yet they are imprisoned in the classroom for the duration of the semester. This hits very close to home for me, a…

+1 I saw this a lot with friends who were less interested in school and would quickly bail on a class once they missed a test or assignment and I couldn't really blame them.

For me the point of a Math class is to learn and demonstrate you understand certain concepts - it isn't to demonstrate some proxy of 'work ethic' because you sat in a desk somewhere on a regular schedule. So there should always be an avenue left open for for the student to learn and demonstrate the knowledge.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#89

Post by unishark »

mustafa_pasi wrote: post #67
nerdponx wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't get it either. People have learning and thinking differences, we know that and have known it for years. Accommodating those differences is important. Living out a real-life version of Harrison Bergeron is not the only way to do it.

Well, people are funding schools through taxes. Then they send their kid to school. Then the school decides their kid is too stupid* to do much, so they get relegated to dumb class and their future career prospects get nullified. This is how it works in many countries where schools are segregated by learning ability. I make no judgement on how good or bad it is, but I get why people would be upset by this system. *or…

So rather than putting students that learn slowly into classes that move slowly, you keep them in normal classes where they drag along lost behind everyone else, and possibly drag the rest of the class down with them. I don't see how that is better for anyone involved, unless you think the credential is all that matters.

Re: Life as a public school teacher in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2021

#90

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

analog31 wrote: post #69
fallingknife wrote: post #25

> Another initiative headed for mandate status is a school policy that no assignment can receive a grade of less than 50% > And my direct supervisor repeatedly demanded that I pace my classes for the benefit of the single student in each section who was struggling the most I don't understand school. Why do they do things like this? Who actually thinks this is a good idea? I've never met anyone who does. How have we g…

Playing devils advocate for a moment, as grading works right now, a kid can quickly dig themselves into a hole that they have no realistic way to get out of, e.g., by utterly bombing on an exam or missing a few assignments early in the semester. The motivation for that kid to progress any further is zero, yet they are imprisoned in the classroom for the duration of the semester. This hits very close to home for me, a…

Nothing is going to work while everything is paced by year. In 7th grade, in the fall you are taught X, so if you miss it the only solution is to take it next time: next fall with the next year’s 7th graders.

In an ideal infinitely funded world, if you took 20% longer to learn X, you’d just go slower, not be left behind.

Post reply on HN