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Monday, August 22nd, 2005
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3:27 pm
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| Wednesday, June 22nd, 2005
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12:44 pm
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redaxe
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Spelling word of the day. Seen in innumerable journals, spelled incorrectly:
"Definitely"
That is all.
current mood:  tired
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, May 25th, 2004
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6:32 pm
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copperpoint
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One of my students said about the funniest thing I've ever heard a kid - or anyone else - say. Well, I take that back, kids say funny things all the time, but this was a five year old kid making a deliberate joke, as opposed to just saying something cute. I suppose a lot of it probably hinges on the delivery, and in knowing the kid pretty well, but I'll share it anyway.
In my experience, when a young kid lies, it's usually either reactionary ("did you spill that juice?" "NO!") or a complete fantasy (My dad is superman!). It takes a special five year old to completely deny reality for no other purpose than to get a laugh.
Anyway, this kid is from China, and is very proud of his heritage. He loves talking about what life was like in China before he moved, and how great China is.
So today, as I began to read "The Grouchy Ladybug" by Eric Carle, he said "I wrote that. It's my book!"
I said, "No, Eric Carle wrote it, he did the pictures too, it's got his name on the cover."
Without missing a beat the kid said "My Chinese name is Eric Carle!"
And I lost it, I burst into laughter in front of the whole class.
Not much of a rant, but I figure it's somehow appropriate.
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, April 16th, 2004
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9:04 pm - edurave
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faeriethistle
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here are pics of my library.
we just had a RIF book give-a-way and we turned the library into a castle.
we used paper that looked like stone, blue paper to be the sky and other handmade items.
the pics are supposed to be in pairs. the first is the decorated pic and the second is how that area normally looks.
sorry about the size difference. i had one camera for the castle pics and a better one for the normal pics.
http://www.livejournal.com/users/faeriethistle/33425.html?nc=2
i have forgotten how to link... hope this works
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(2 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, April 3rd, 2004
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6:19 pm - Seeking input from teens
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miss_w
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My current journal entry is desperately seeking teenage advice. I work on the fringes of education, as a librarian, and I'd like to know how teenagers feel about various issues in serving them.
Teens... please respond
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(comment on this)
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| Sunday, March 28th, 2004
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12:29 pm
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cygna_hime
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No, seriously, I want out of my generation. Please, let me join another one. I'll even take my parents' generation! Just get me out of here!
( Generation Idiot )
So, anyone got any spots open in a generation with some self-respect?
[x-posted all over the place]
current mood:  aggravated
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Tuesday, March 16th, 2004
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4:11 pm - Bravo, Bloomberg
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miss_w
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NYC Mayor Bloomberg stomps on social promotion
Social promotion is the scourge of the school system, passing people through before they master the material they need for the next grade. Kudos to Mayor Bloomberg (although his methods were, to my mind, mildly questionable) for taking a firm, no-compromise stance against it. We're not going to improve education until students are in fact required to be educated before they graduate.
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(8 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, March 8th, 2004
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4:35 pm
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copperpoint
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My kindergarten classroom is working on a project with a local university called the (name of university) Vocabulary Project. It seemed like a really good project at first, but the more I learn about it the more I dislike it. Basically, it exists to "test out" a series of childrens books on a small audience. The books are awful. Clearly they were designed to be fun and educational, but they miss the mark on both. The rhyme is a bad imitation of Dr. Seuss, with no rhythm whatsoever. The art is alright, though fairly uninspired, and the educational part of it is inaccurate. For example, the lesson plan that goes along with one book makes a big deal out of teaching the kids that a family of Elephants is called a pack (not true - it's a herd). And they do it purely for the sake of making something rhyme with railroad track. The woman doing the project never listens to my suggestions, I mean, what do I know? I'm just an assistant kindergarten teacher.
The books come with very specific lesson plans that, in all the cases I've seen, require the regular classroom teacher to completely alter their teaching style. It sounds like a good idea on paperwork, but the execution just fails. And the woman running it wont take any criticism. I don't know why they're bothering to "test it out" if they wont make any changes to it anyway. But what do I know? I'm just an assistant kindergarten teacher.
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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| Thursday, February 26th, 2004
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2:29 pm - Chapter X: In Which the Author Essays to Enter Higher Education
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redaxe
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I am amused and in dread of the idea of essay questions on a revamped SAT. I understand the intent -- to get students to write well as well as to comprehend what is written. The problem is that while essay tests, like ice skating and gymnastics, test a real skill, there is no truly objective method by which scoring can be performed.
On the other hand, I am highly amused by this article in which material written by writers spanning the gap from Shakespeare to the Unabomber are graded under the new guidelines (given in the article) for the SAT essay section. It is (or perhaps should be) obvious even before reading what the conclusions will be, but some of the comments are grinworthy:
This essay is poorly organized, with only one paragraph (though, to Mr. S--'s credit, the topic sentence does speak to what the rest of the sentences in his one paragraph are about). It is riddled with errors in syntax, incomplete sentences being the most noticeable problem... Grade: 2 out of 6
Although Ms. S--'s essay is expressive, it's a bit flaky, lacking any semblance of structure, focus, or examples, and using non-standard syntax to boot. Grade: 1 out of 6
This is what the teachers will now be teaching toward as a goal. Tell me again, Mr. soi-disant President, why our educational system is failing?
We'll leave the "NEA is a terrorist organization" rant/giggle for later, huh?
current mood: aggravated
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(13 comments | comment on this)
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| Sunday, February 22nd, 2004
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11:43 pm - Degree deflation?
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fernwithy
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(Giving up the ghost on trying to be two people; it's tiring. I'm also ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) miss_w.)
I'm a big fan of education, and I loved college, and I believe people should be as educated as they can be because being educated is a good thing, but...
Is it really necessary to have a law degree and a library degree to be a law librarian?
( The PhD world )
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, February 9th, 2004
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4:40 pm - Tolerance and Politics in the Classroom.
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| Thursday, February 5th, 2004
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11:52 pm - MARS!!!!
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miss_w
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We are doing new and interesting explorations on Mars. There are many nations working together scientifically. This is huge.
So why have I not gotten questions on a single Mars assignment? Why, when I talk to students, is no one getting any rundown on the Mars stuff in school? I talked to a parent in another state who reported that her kids are getting no information on this, either.
Good Lord! This Mars exploration is huge. We should be glued to the TVs and studying madly from grade school to grad school. Why in on G-d's red not-Earth are the schools ignoring this?
(Sorry, that was an actual rant more than an essay with thought involved. I'm just excessively annoyed.)
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(13 comments | comment on this)
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| Wednesday, February 4th, 2004
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2:46 pm - Relating back to testing
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faeriethistle
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yesterday, my son who is a junior in high school, spent 5 hours field testing the newest state test for texas, the taks.
mind you he field tested last year in his sophmore year.
he spent the entire day in one room on only one portion - the language/reading portion.
yes, he was mad. when your kid tells you they test too damn much, they might have a point. they were not allowed to speak at all when they finished. this i can understand. but he was not allowed to work on any other school work. he had to read only. this isnt a problem for him. he loves to read and has taken my advice and carries around a paperback in his book bag. but what of those who dont like to read? their choice was to sleep.
this is educating? either test or sleep? why couldnt they be allowed to go someplace else and do schoolwork or to the library or some other place. no. it was test, read, or sleep.
this comes after he spent the first two weeks of january taking some sort of district wide test.
why field test when he will be taking ir for real in march? when is he to learn the stuff he is to be tested over? he cant if he is testing all the time.
texas tests too damn much.
just a rant.
thanks for listening.
current mood: aggravated
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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| Thursday, January 29th, 2004
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8:36 am - Nxt urp..nuu Angleish shtundurds fer Jawja Chillin.....
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| Wednesday, January 28th, 2004
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8:50 am
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cygna_hime
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In re: the grammar thing, I spoke to my English teacher and she said that grammar was, first, believed to be best taught in context(while reading a novel). Then, someone apparently decided that kids should just absorb it from what they read.
Please. 'What they read' is full of mistakes, either intentional or not, made by people who did have grammar in school. Everything is contradictory. And they expect us to learn from *that*?
Just felt you deserved to know.
current mood: aggravated
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(3 comments | comment on this)
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| Monday, January 26th, 2004
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5:30 pm
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copperpoint
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Hi. This looks like a really neet community and thought I'd join. I don't have any rants just now, so I figure I'll just introduce myself. I'm a 24 year old male working as a teachers aide in a language-learner kindergarten. Last year the state of Massachusetts passed laws which stipulated, among other things, that children not proficient to a certain degree in English be placed in a separate classroom where they are exposed only to English. My classroom was created by these laws, so, while I disagree with the philosophy behind them, I have the laws to thank for my employment. We can debate the merits of this system in some other post, but I'll say in my classroom of just twelve kids you can find a few who absolutely prove that the new system works, and a few who prove that it's a miserable failure, and others who fall somewhere in-between.
I mentioned that I'm male because that seems to be an anomaly in gradeschool, especially the lower grades. The only other guy who works with the lower grades in my school is the math specialist. I think there's an expectation that kindergarten teachers be motherly, which the lead teacher in our clasroom certainly is, but instead of the fatherly approach, I kind of go with the kooky-older brother.
Anyway, I'm seriously considering seeking a higher degree in language aquisition. Watching these kids learn (or, in some cases, fail to learn) has really got me into looking at the ways people approach language and learning. Anything else I'll save for a later post.
Nice to meet you.
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(1 comment | comment on this)
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4:35 pm
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cheshyre
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As I'm catching up on reading I didn't do over the weekend, I've seen this article on two different friends lists:
Nashville schools have stopped posting honor rolls, and some are considering a ban on hanging good work in the hallways because parents complained their children might be ridiculed for not making the list. And lawyers thought that displaying good work might violate privacy laws against releasing academic information without permission. The article mentions some school districts are considering going so far as to cancel spelling bees.
I was an honor roll student in high school, and among the top students, I think the competition was a good thing and gave us something measurable to strive for. [I no longer remember my exact class rank, but I was within the top 5% of a graduating class of over 500 students. I didn't care so much about the exact number or who was above or below me, but staying within that percentile seemed a reasonable and challenging goal.]
I was also part of the academic team (quiz bowl) my senior year. It was a small team, but I don't remember anybody being turned away (not many people were interested to begin with), and it pit school against school like other sports, leading to more intermural competition than problems amongst my fellow students. [I actually have an athletic letter for my participation.] And if spelling bees and quiz bowls are bad for the self esteem of those who don't make the teams, then what about school sports, which seem to be sacred in this culture?
I agree that things should be done in a way not to embarrass poorer students or put further obstacles in their paths, but these steps sound like they'll do more harm in bringing down the best than good in elevating the rest.
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(11 comments | comment on this)
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| Saturday, January 24th, 2004
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10:34 am - Standardized testing
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miss_w
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Okay. Grammar was relatively uncontroversial outside of actual schools, but I'm going to open a can of worms (if this community is like any other to which I've been exposed).
I am a huge fan of standardized tests.
( Here's why )
current mood: cranky
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(47 comments | comment on this)
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| Friday, January 23rd, 2004
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6:40 pm - Oooh! Nerds!
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cygna_hime
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Hello to all you people and people-oid products. I hope you don't mind insanity.
I'm a freshman in a public high school-no, wait! Don't kill me! I have a tendency to the following behaviors:
-Double-checking every word I write for spelling/grammar.
-Correcting my teachers' word usage.
-Correcting my friends' speech.
-Wanting to go over half the things I read with a red pen.
-Mentally correcting other people's posts.
I am the world's prize nerd, and it's genetic. This is why I know how one uses the words 'affect' and 'effect'(Carefully). One of my friends has declared that if she ever becomes a writer, I will be her editor. I am very into foreign languages, which is where I discovered that English has the most difficult grammar in the world. Syntax is not your friend. I have an unfortunate tendency to begin writing in whatever style I've just read. Currently it's Tolkien, so be prepared for scattered mayhaps and perchances.
Currently I am undergoing pre-midterm stress. Rants and/or merciless mocking may ensue.
Thank you.
current mood:  stressed
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(5 comments | comment on this)
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1:04 am
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kalijean
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Hello,
I am an aspiring teacher and when I was still in high school I would help teachers by grading papers. It was a chore to them, but I loved it.
The thing that made me think twice about my chosen career was the state of the language the students used. Some thought it acceptable to turn in papers constructed entirely of chat speak. Others just left out letters. One kid answered "pinter" to a question about printers, doing the same to several of his answers. This isn't a typo; he was writing with a pencil with an eraser.
When typing they seem to have forgotten the wonderful invention called "spell check." They don't even see anything wrong with it; as long as it's quicker, they don't care about the quality of their message. It makes me want to break out a clue-by-four. Sometimes people tell me that I channel Professor Snape (hence the icon), an accusation in which I take a great deal of pride.
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(18 comments | comment on this)
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edurants