TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

News pertaining directly to Trona, Death Valley, the northern Mojave Desert, Inyo County, and adjacent areas.

Re: Over Testing Kids

Postby panamint_patty » Fri Feb 19, 2016 7:32 am

wildrose: When they say 112 tests, I assume they're talking about standardized tests and not routine tests. It seems like 112 standardized tests is an awful lot. The video I think was from the San Diego area and so maybe people down there just believe in testing the heck out of kids for some reason. There's a point when things get to be out of hand and I'd say that at least down in San Diego they're beyond that point.
User avatar
panamint_patty
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1203
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 1:23 pm
Location: T-Town

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby dingleberry » Sat Feb 20, 2016 10:15 am

Public "Education" has become indoctrination and distraction
Any student who fails to reach this conclusion has been successfully brainwashed:
I wish I never went to school and wasted all those years of my life jumping through one hoop after another like a trained animal at the circus.

User avatar
dingleberry
Greenhorn
 
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 7:15 pm
Location: Just hangin'

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby wildrose » Sun Feb 21, 2016 8:20 am

dingleberry: I vehemently disagree. Although there is a fair amount of hoop jumping that goes on in the public education process, the vast majority of the time that students spend at school is productive. One way or another all students need to learn how to read, write, and do arithmetic. There are fast and efficient ways of accomplishing this goal and their are fun and slow ways of getting the job done. Most teachers try to make the process as painless as possible without wasting a lot of time. There is no way to be both fast and fun and so those students who are adverse to working hard often complain. Above all keep in mind that every student is going to have a different idea of what is fun and so there is no way to make learning fun for everyone without individualizing the curriculum to a degree that would be ridiculously expensive (and isolating). Sometimes high performing students (like the valedictorian in your video) sympathize with those who complain and express sentiments such as those expressed in the video. In any case, I've heard all sorts of enticing, but naive, ideas about how to improve public education. Almost all have been tried with only limited success and most so-called solutions actually make the whole system less efficient, although they provide advantages for a minority of students and hence have supporters who myopically fail to take into account the needs of others.
User avatar
wildrose
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1397
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:41 pm
Location: middle of nowhere

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby MojaveMike » Sun Feb 21, 2016 9:00 am

dingleberry: wildrose makes a number of excellent points, but I want to concentrate on the second part of the video you posted. The guy who does the whiteboard presentation shares what can best be characterized as a series of strawman arguments. Basically they're false arguments or pseudo-arguments which focus on the wrong aspect of the situation, excluding other elements of the situation which are more pertinent. (Don't get me wrong, I agree that kids are overly medicated, but many of the claims he makes even during that part of the presentation are clearly erroneous. Pause the video several times along the way and think about what he says and you're likely to catch on.) Probably the weakest part of the whiteboard presentation was the part about divergent thinking. He cites some poorly constructed study which supposedly proves that five-year-olds think more divergently than older children and claims that this is due to the effects of the education system. The problem here is that the study does not use a valid definition of divergent thinking. How do I know this? Because I CAN think divergently! In the study, random, stupid ideas generated by Kindergarteners are uncritically all counted as evidence of divergent thinking. Older kids sensor out the stupid ideas and understand the question better and do not offer random, stupid ideas. For instance, if asked "What objects would make good paper weights?" Kindergarteners might list whales, elephants, and bridges, whereas older kids wouldn't list such objects because although they might be heavy enough to hold paper down, they aren't light enough to be moved in a useful way by a human. The researchers in their excitement to prove that divergent thinking diminishes with age, fail to use a proper definition for divergent thinking and reach a completely invalid conclusion. This same type of error is made repeatedly. If you watch the video straight through without pausing it from time to time, you're likely to miss many of these errors unless you're good at spotting this sort of thing.
User avatar
MojaveMike
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1142
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 3:51 pm
Location: Middle of Nowhere

Re: Public Education Video

Postby panamint_patty » Mon Feb 22, 2016 7:39 am

dingleberry, wildrose, and MojaveMike: The video suggests that the rise in standardized tests and increased use of medication to treat what is called ADHD are directly linked. That is just plain wrong, but they are indirectly linked. Both make a ton of money for large corporations. The influence of corporations on politicians is the biggest problem with public education today and so the video is really barking up the wrong tree.
User avatar
panamint_patty
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1203
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 1:23 pm
Location: T-Town

Re: Public Education Video

Postby dingleberry » Tue Feb 23, 2016 9:12 am

wildrose, MojaveMike, and panamint_patty: Jeez you people just about wrote a book! All I did was make a simple comment, but okay maybe I overstated the case just a little. I expecially agree with what was said about corporations and politicians.
User avatar
dingleberry
Greenhorn
 
Posts: 37
Joined: Sun Nov 02, 2014 7:15 pm
Location: Just hangin'

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby blackturtle.us » Tue Feb 23, 2016 1:54 pm

Music Technology with Brent Daniels | 5 minute promo video
This guy gave two presentations at the elementary school today. His presentation was even better than what you see in this video.
User avatar
blackturtle.us
Cantankerous Mule
 
Posts: 280
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:20 pm
Location: Turtle Town

Re: Music Technology

Postby tronagirl » Wed Feb 24, 2016 9:24 am

blackturtle.us: That must have been a fun presentation and something that would really hold the interest of kids! It's good to know that the school is offering high quality events like this.
tronagirl
Ancient Bristlecone
 
Posts: 853
Joined: Thu Oct 04, 2012 8:55 am

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby wildrose » Thu Feb 25, 2016 7:38 pm

‘Super Lice’ Resistant to Common Treatments Hits 25 States
The tenacious little bugs are getting even more difficult to get rid of!
User avatar
wildrose
Prehistoric Fossil
 
Posts: 1397
Joined: Mon Oct 01, 2012 10:41 pm
Location: middle of nowhere

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - February 11, 2015

Postby blackturtle.us » Fri Feb 26, 2016 7:34 am

Why a "Phony Crisis" Exists
This guy actually hits the nail pretty squarely on the head.
User avatar
blackturtle.us
Cantankerous Mule
 
Posts: 280
Joined: Fri Sep 28, 2012 12:20 pm
Location: Turtle Town

PreviousNext

Return to Local News

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 81 guests

cron