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Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#101

Post by thirdsun »

earino wrote: post #78
folz wrote: post #4

Saved you a click (from the top comment the last time this was posted): The three points from the article: > [1] Students sit all day, and sitting is exhausting. > [2] High School students are sitting passively and listening during approximately 90% of their classes. > [3] You feel a little bit like a nuisance all day long. People wonder why high school aged students are unruly, unpleasant, and filled with deep negat…

And this, in a nutshell, is why my wife and I let our son "online homeschool" when he asked. He's a freshman in highschool and to quote him: "I'm happy to not have to deal with the arbitrary 'lord of the flies' social structure in High School and just be a normal person."

To be honest, I'd say there's actually some value in socializing and the concept of engaging with friends and students on a daily basis - especially outside of class. Aren't you worried that your kid might be missing out on those social interactions? There's a lot more to school life than attending several 90 minute classes in a row and calling it a day.

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#102

Post by chipsa »

hnriot wrote: post #67
bytecoin wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What is a csp?

I think, although cannot speak for the person, they really meant CPA, they mention taxes and only a CPA would be legally able to do that.

I think the "Corporate Services Provider" is a better fit. They would have a CPA on staff to sign off on the taxes.

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#104

Post by skunkworks »

pm wrote: post #25
Sambdala wrote: post #13

I remember high school. During class I hid whatever book I actually wanted to read at the time inside the class book and drowned out the teacher. If homework was worth >10% of the total grade for the class (so that you couldn't get an A from tests/quizzes alone), I would copy the homework from someone else the period before. Tests & quizzes are so gameable it's a complete joke. Standardized tests even more so. Withou…

I had this problem at high school, and it's taken me years to undo the expectation that everything should be easy. It happened to my brother too, except if something's too challenging for him, he just quits. If you're gung-ho enough, expose yourself to the fire so you build up resistance. It's going to be rough once you start hitting walls.

Grit and determination is important for long-term success when your brilliance and creativity is less than world-class, and it requires honing and practice to build. Skating through school and gaming the system ends up short-circuiting that process. Hence, lazy smart guys.

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#105

Post by Evolved »

visarga wrote: post #94
treehau5 wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can relate to this so much it's not even funny. Don't let your fear of failure get in the way. I currently struggle with the same -- applying myself to a difficult task. Staying focused longer than 10 minutes at a time was difficult -- so difficult I was even suspicious I may of had adult ADHD. Turns out that I don't. What I have is the fear of failing and rejection. The fear of exposing my weaknesses to others, an…

> Staying focused longer than 10 minutes at a time was difficult I found an unexpected solution in working with someone else - that is - not working alone on the project. The more social interaction is involved, the less I am affected by procrastination. You have to make yourself visible and accountable to other people, to feel shame if you slack off, to feel energized when you make progress and then discuss it with…

I've found that this can be applied to exercise as well. Not necessarily hiring a personal trainer but having someone who counts on you to meet them to go on a jog or meet at the gym and not wanting to let them down helps keep you accountable.

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#106

Post by wavegeek »

Sambdala wrote: post #13

I remember high school. During class I hid whatever book I actually wanted to read at the time inside the class book and drowned out the teacher. If homework was worth >10% of the total grade for the class (so that you couldn't get an A from tests/quizzes alone), I would copy the homework from someone else the period before. Tests & quizzes are so gameable it's a complete joke. Standardized tests even more so. Withou…

I am sure you're aware of Paul Graham's essays but this one is very pertinent to your situation.

http://www.paulgraham.com/schlep.html

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#107

Post by wavegeek »

vacri wrote: post #93
nilkn wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's pretty representative of tons of professional workers I know from many industries and extremely typical in technology companies. Most high quality office chairs are pretty expensive; the Aeron chair that is used at so many tech companies is easily in that price range, depending on where you buy it (and in what quantity). Maybe the only thing that's slightly unusual is the window. If your company is not providing…

So your rejoinder to my point is "professionals have nice working conditions"? If so, perhaps go visit a call centre. I've worked in one where the floor staff had less than a meter of desk space each. Or clerks in a crappy government department. Or try being a taxi driver. Professionals also have a nice salary that keeps their interest; rarely is it below median wage. These shitty places don't have a lot of acting ou…

Call centers are the archetype of a bad work situation. If you are aiming for classes to meet that standard, you are aiming very low.

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#108

Post by NhanH »

thirdsun wrote: post #101
earino wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And this, in a nutshell, is why my wife and I let our son "online homeschool" when he asked. He's a freshman in highschool and to quote him: "I'm happy to not have to deal with the arbitrary 'lord of the flies' social structure in High School and just be a normal person."

To be honest, I'd say there's actually some value in socializing and the concept of engaging with friends and students on a daily basis - especially outside of class. Aren't you worried that your kid might be missing out on those social interactions? There's a lot more to school life than attending several 90 minute classes in a row and calling it a day.

Everytime someone mentions "homeschool", there are always people asking: but what if the kid is missing out on (insert things). How about another point of view: high school students are (potentially) missing out on the opportunity to not wasting their time, to not being unhappy during the 3 years, to truly reach the potential they can be.

I did not study high school in the US, but had I have the chance to be homeschooled, skip high school and graduate university at 20 without a social life, I'd take it in a heartbeat.

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#109

Post by wavegeek »

vacri wrote: post #91
hnriot wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

this is a bit condescending to teens to write them off as that. Biologically we are not programmed to sit in a classroom, teenage girls are programmed by evolution to do something not too dissimilar to HS (show off their new found sexuality and attract a mate), boys on the other hand are better suited to hitting stuff with sticks. That's exactly the kind of mate you want if you're a teenage girl, someone who can go o…

Evolution is not sentient, and doesn't 'design' or 'plan' or 'program'. It's merely the name for a process, like 'the water cycle' or 'the bessemer process'. Evolution can result in things, like any process, but it doesn't design, and it's wrong to characterise it this way. This being said, if you're looking to the behaviour of primitives, the male-heavy roles were not 'war', but 'hunt'. And no, we're not all driven…

> Evolution is not sentient, and doesn't 'design' or 'plan' or 'program'.

Literally true but the effect is "as though" it designs or plans. See eg "Why evolution is true" or any evolution text book eg "Evolution" by Douglas Futuyma.

As for war versus hunting, the levels of violence in hunter-gatherer societies were astronomical with death rates from violence typically in the 30-50% range. So yes 'war' though not usually on a very large scale.

There were some exceptions. For example San people (formerly known as the Bushmen of the South African desert) had as weapons bows and arrows with slow-acting poisons. A full-on war would result in everyone getting killed (mutually assured destruction). So they tended to avoid doing that.

Re: Teacher spends two days as a student and is shocked at what she learns

#110

Post by wavegeek »

nilkn wrote: post #55
Sambdala wrote: post #13

I remember high school. During class I hid whatever book I actually wanted to read at the time inside the class book and drowned out the teacher. If homework was worth >10% of the total grade for the class (so that you couldn't get an A from tests/quizzes alone), I would copy the homework from someone else the period before. Tests & quizzes are so gameable it's a complete joke. Standardized tests even more so. Withou…

I know tons of high school students who attempt the strategies you just described. The great majority of them barely scrape by with Bs and Cs and they do indeed crash and burn in college. You are not even remotely a representative case.

Agree.

The guy who cruised though high school and even the early years of college only to crash and burn later on is so common it is a cliche. This is part of the price we pay for not challenging our brightest students.

With dumbed down courses these days it may be possible to get a degree without actually learning much. I know I have met a lot of people with IT degrees who could not program the foobar 'challenge' to save their lives.

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