Current Article

There Is No Such Thing As Failing

By Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy on August 28, 2009 at 11:01 AM in Current Affairs, Education, Ted Kennedy

(photo by Sean Davis)

In Memphis Elementary Schools these days after a recent policy change affecting Kindergarten through Third Grade. Check out this change in policy (click HERE if you prefer to read the transcript):

I wonder if this is what Senator Kennedy was thinking when he stood behind the “No Child Left Behind” policy? I kinda doubt it. I don’t think he thought THAT would be his legacy…

I am curious as to the research Superintendent Cash quoted. Especially given this research:

Educators have discovered that if a child can’t read fluently by the end of third grade, he may not become a strong reader. And the road ahead will be much more difficult.

“In fourth grade, students start using their reading skills as a tool for learning other things,” said Dr. Sandra Baxter, director of the National Institute for Literacy. “They have to read well because the subjects get harder. Teachers have less time to help kids catch up on reading skills they don’t have.”

That’s why parents need to stay in constant touch with their children’s day care providers and teachers from kindergarten through grade three. It’s important to make sure that children’s reading skills are developing “on schedule.”

In fact, research has shown that children who aren’t strong readers by the end of third grade are more likely to drop out of school later on. “We should all pay attention to that,” said Dr. Baxter. “Fortunately, the research has also shown us the best ways to teach reading, and how parents can make a big difference in helping their children learn to read.”

That seems to fly in the face of the new Memphis policy. If children have not learned reading fundamentals by Third Grade, they are more likely to drop out of school. That seems to completely contradict the logic behind the new Memphis policy.

I find this whole idea to be staggering – no grades, no holding back (though parents are allowed to hold their children back), and extra work for the teachers. And what are the potential effects on the children who are able to do the work? What does it means for them to have other kids in their classes who can’t keep up in terms of their OWN education?

Naturally, I am particularly curious what educators and parents around the country think of this new policy in Memphis. So, what do you think?

Obamastolemycounty

I’m not an educator, but my personal opinion is that if you don’t know what failure is like, you can never truly appreciate or understand what success is!
tzada

OT But this is really bad

Bill would give president emergency control of Internet

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10320096-38.html

Docelder

Last call for freedom… last call. If freedom is anything we care about then the time is now. In the interim look into the open source and free software “TOR” project and the onion router. Also, people might think of moving their web hosting somewhere safe and out of reach of the White House… like maybe communist China. These are strange days.
Doc99

Imagine the response had Dick Cheney suggested this …
elizabethrc

If he gets this legislation passed, can the Supreme Court overturn it? I would hope that it would immediately be brought before the court. Otherwise, Obama is going to have a true Revolution to deal with. People are seething nationwide and are not going to be put off by the pathetic name calling of the Democrats and their thugs. Congresspeople had better get out into their constituencies to see what’s going on because they sure don’t get it staying in DC and they’d better start asking questions of us and not making pronouncements. He’s opened a can of worms without understanding what he’s doing. In his mind, everything he does, because he is the Golden Child, will be received with scattered rose petals and bowing down. How little he and his black panther, communist czars know about Americans, to think that we will accept his attempts to change this democracy into something akin to South American dictatorships.

Obamastolemycounty

Is that what we’ve done to our Government? By being party at all costs, haven’t we let them know that they can’t fail, we will still vote for the big D or R next to the name? Look at the results of that! Disasterous!

Docelder

Exactly so, GM was too big to fail and “The Tingler” thinks his job is to keep Obama from failing. He can’t fail either. We are the only ones failing here. Failing to act. This is our country.

tzada

Banks ‘Too Big to Fail’ Have Grown Even Bigger

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/27/AR2009082704193.html

Nothing here people, move along ….

tzada

Not every child that has difficulty reading is not smart. My husband is one of the smartest men I know, he has difficulty reading. A friend of mine, had to do a grade 3 times. He is a millionaire several times over. Another multi millionaire client of mine, never went past the 6th grade.

Myself I had no education between the age of 5-12. None, nada, zip. But I had learned to read in 1st grade at the age of 4. So I became a reader. Books, magazines, newspapers, became my lifeline to education. When I was 12 I took a test and was put in the 3rd grade.

All that to say this. I don’t know the right answer, but lifes a funny thing, it is what we make of it. I could have huddled in a corner, casting about for the cause of my woes. I choose to not be a victim. I can feel for someones difficulty, but I not their wallowing in victimization.

http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Oh, no doubt, tzada. There are all kinds of factors that can come into play. And that is why some children actually benefit from being held back, then excel later.

So, it is not necessarily an indicator of intelligence, but maturity, learning disabilities, all KINDS of things can impact how a child dowes from K – 3.

Very interesting abt your own journey! I’d love to hear abt it some time.

tzada

Well I can bore you with it any ole time.
Just let me know.

que_sera_sera_222@yahoo.com

tzada

I didn’t mean 3rd grade I meant 7th . heh blushing

http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Now THAT makes more sense to me, tzada – 7th instead of 3rd. Thanks for the correction and the address).

Peggy Sue

In my mind this is treating the symptom, not the disease, which is the growing academic underperformance in many of our schools. You’re not going to correct anything by merely taking letter grades away. I’m sure the administrator has good intentions but even the best intentions will not turn a chronic problem around. Children are not clones; they mature and develop at different rates. Learning can be fun but it doesn’t come without effort, and at times pain when we fall short of the goal. What I’m hearing in this segment is that the goalposts will be removed and–viola! Everyone succeeds.

This repeated idea that one size fits all rings very hollow, even ominous to me.

Thanks for the piece, Amy. I hadn’t read this before. I’m glad my own kids have completed their schooling.

tzada

“This repeated idea that one size fits all rings very hollow, even ominous to me.”

Agreed
Docelder

We are thinking of home schooling the kids. I know I was the one who always thought that doing this harmed kids by decreasing their socialization. If the swine flu vaccine were to be mandated here by the school district, that is enough for us to say stop. We are somewhat on the fence as it is. I have checked it out and for $75 online and getting some official transcripts mailed I can get a FL teaching certificate in either biology or chemistry and can then make up our own home curriculum plans. Believe me, it’s not what we want to do by any means. But, it may be what we eventually wind up doing.

Peggy Sue

I think you’re concern is reasonable, Dolceder. I was just talking to a PA at my local clinic and we were talking about the H1N1 vaccine and the panic mode the whole discussion has taken.

A friend of hers had told her about the article I read in the UK press about the problems with the vaccine and that they were alerting their neurologists to be on the outlook for a particular syndrome [can't remember the name] which manifests itself particularly in children. I told her [and she agreed] that I would be very leary if I had small children. You add a mandate to that and I’d probably be in worry wart to panic mode myself.

I think this all goes back to the question of trust. Pat had a fine article on what happens to a society when the public trust has been shattered. Alot of people are beginning to question whether these decisions are being made with the public’s general welfare at the forefront.

And that’s when things get very, very iffy.

So, if my kids were still at home? I’d probably be thinking along the same lines.

Docelder

Guillian Barre syndrome… but take it straight from the CDC.

http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/about/qa/gbs.htm

More troubling is the proposed use of untested adjuvants. Squalene may be used as a sort of filler to stretch the effect of the vaccine. In other words to do make do with less vaccine by increasing the reaction of the body to what is given. This borders on experimental medicine in that this adjuvant is untested in children. Again there is much out there about squalene. But take it from the US Military.

http://www.anthrax.osd.mil/resource/qna/qaAll.asp?cID=319#1107

Regarding this article and adjuvant MF59

There is no squalene adjuvant in any US-licensed vaccine.

That was correct as of that writing and it is for a reason. This has not been tested in children. Children and young people are going to be getting this vaccine predominately. We are not in our household going to let our kids be guinea pigs. Under no circumstances would we risk this vaccine to prevent an illness that under most circumstances will pass on it’s own in a matter of days to a week at most.

http://www.sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

I have also heard this vaccine has mercury in it (from a momfriend who is very well read about toxins).

tzada

I read a blurp accross a video yesterday that said 50% of the doctors in the UK were refusing to take it. No link it was on that video about the Mass bill to enforce vaccinations.

Peggy Sue

Amy, I had another spam gobble. I’ve sent an email. Thanx.

http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Got it – sorry abt that!
oowawa

Peggy Sue, I don’t know how you did it, but you’ve become the Almighty Spam Filter’s fave poster! When you’re around, He seems to ignore the rest of us. If you start getting strange phone calls at night, and all you can hear is a computer clicking on the line, or e-mail messages written in some other-worldly gobbledy-gook, well . . . computer programs have been known to go bad!

Peggy Sue

oowawa, are you “trying” to make me paranoid :0)?

I don’t know what it is. But I always save my messaging and if it doesn’t appear I send a quick email to the article writer and put a SOS on the thread. And then, I get scooped out.

The spammy monster must have a taste for my blood and words.

It’s tough being loved this much!

JMM

I don’t have kids, but always thought if I did, I would homeschool since it seems to me that kids aren’t exposed to the things I would want my kids to learn in the school systems in my area.

Socialization can come through other activities like joining the scouts, etc. So if that’s the way you go Docelder, I will be cheering you on.

Docelder

Thanks. It is strangely reassuring to find out that everybody doesn’t think you are going nuts. But, these are strange days.

Obamastolemycounty

I have enrolled my son in virtual high school. I hated the public high school for my older son who graduated this year and will not put my second child there. The oldest did want to graduate with his class so he muddled through. The last straw was during the election last year, my son was called racist for openly supporting McCain/Palin, they held a mock election and all were strongly encouraged to vote Obama. Then after the election one teacher convinced my son that Cuba is one of the coolest places on earth to live. When my teen came home from middle school asking if we could move to Cuba because it’s way better than America, that was it! Plus, one teacher asked if he could borrow some bumper stickers I had that were cool and I said he could, as long as I got them back. the teacher agreed to return them, but now he refuses to give them back! Since they were anti-dem, I am wondering if he really just threw them away! Those bumper stickers weren’t free, and I did especially want the Hillary ones back (those were pro Hillary)! Schools aren’t doing their jobs anymore! I do know there are some good teachers out there, but the ones my kids had were mostly bad!

carolhaka

That is sickening.

Just make sure he is not isolated and goes for sports or music or some kind of activity outside of just school work so that he doesn’t burn out.

CAROL HAKA

Obamastolemycountry

Yep. He is involved with some YMCA programs and does some volunteer work. He started doing that without even having Obama shame him into doing so. He just wanted to as soon as he was old enough so he is a junior volunteer at the hospital I work at. He has to exercise for at least an hour and a half and prove it so he will be going to the Y for that. He is happy that he can schedule school around volunteering. He couldn’t do that before!

carolhaka

Sounds great. I wish all of you the greatest success!

CAROL HAKA
http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Wow – that is really impressive. He sounds like a fine young man!

Docelder

I am hearing similar things from my kids still in school in grades 7 and 9. The racism word is very loosely shouted about now in the school, on the bus etc. Just like in the media of today the term is being overused and overused with an arrogance. This administration has fractured us as a people and as a nation. Things will never be the same, things may settle down but we may never become a post racial nation. Race is poison.

Ferd Berfle

Race is poison.

It certainly is. What I find interesting is the segment of society using such pejoratives and gainsay in lieu of reasoned argument and sound logic. This only further demonstrates the sad state of the educational system in this country.

I will probably get hammered but my opinion is that our system of education does not teach students how to think independently but indoctrinates the students on an agenda. The system does not really teach the fundamentals necessary to become a well-rounded individual, including such areas of endeavor as logic, philosophy (in its many forms), mathematics, composition, and classic literature as they were once taught. That One, who couldn’t win an argument or debate with his own shadow, is called an incredible orator and learned man. Poppycock. He is pedestrian, at best, and a product of a system that creates, via an assembly-line process, the latest model of indoctrinated, tin-plated automaton, ready to spew the content of the latest PowerPoint presentation hot off the presses but unable to answer a single question about what the content of the presentation actually means. This sort of regurgitation of prepackaged pablum does not constitute learning but brain washing. Instead of finding new and unproved ways of teaching, we need to go back to the basics that served us so well for many years.

http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Holy smokes, Ferd – you said it! And speaking as someone who majored in Philosophy as an Undergrad, and who LOVED Logic, I could not agree with you more.

That’s the whole deal with NCLB – teachers being forced to “teach to standardized testing does not teach children how to LEARN, or to think for themselves. We have an entire generation growing up on that.

And you are SO right abt Obama being called a “great orator.” I always react with utter shock when someone says that to me. He can read a teleprompter – that does NOT a great orator make…

Ferd Berfle

He can read a teleprompter – that does NOT a great orator make…

In a single sentence, you painted the still life that is Oblahblah.

My minor was in Philosophy, which didn’t exactly dovetail with Chemistry but certainly helped me separate fact from fiction and spin from truth. If I could have made a decent living at it, I would much rather study epistemology and ontology.

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

Check the poem below posted by denisel. It sums up Obama perfectly.

tzada

Court orders Christian child
into government education

State could take custody of teen homeschooler
http://www.wnd.com/

You may do better since you can get a teaching certificate.

Obamastolemycountry

Isn’t that shocking? Not so much to me because I ended up in the claws of people like this and I spent $92,000 to get sole custody to get rid of them. My ex and I get along better than ever and our kids are happy also, without their meddling. We had a visitation expediter, a parenting consultant and a guardian ad litem telling us what to do for 8 years. We were all sick of it! Anyway, I fought back, but it cost me dearly. I would have paid any amount of money to get rid of those power hungry lunatics. Did you notice in this story one of the players is called a marital master???? WTF? They want to be masters that we have to obey! If you end up in a conflicted family court divoce, expert to suffer with them until your kids turn 18. Your life will no longer be your own, unless you buy your way out like I did! I am working on my little part to help. I will soon be educating people on how to say no to having one of these jokers on your case. They will make you believe you have to agree or they will take your children, but you can say no. It is your right. Never agree to a parenting consultant or any other name they call themselves (and they keep making up new names so they don’t have to be regulated). Guardians can be good or bad and may be necessary, too, but if you get a bad one it is hell on earth until your kids are grown. Please be careful in the fascist, er I mean family courts! This is not an isolated incident. Trust me I have met many people held prison in the family courts, just in my own town. It’s a nationwide problem!

helenk

somewhere along the line we have decided that our children are weaker than we were. Poor babies can not face criticism, should not have to work to attain goals. Should live a feel good life. We have weakened them. Is it any wonder the drop out rate is high, drugs take the place of reality and children think the world owes them? We stopped making them accountable,it is easier to say my child can do no wrong. It is the teacher’s fault or the school’s fault or the neighbors fault We no longer expect them to be the best they can be. It is easy to say with two parents working there is no time but that is a fallacy. During the 18oo’s with high immigration the poor had two parents working and children working while going to school. The children were expected to succeed. The teachers were respected and expected to teach.
It angers me just what we have done to the kids. Lower expectations, Reward laziness and bad behavior.
Do you ever wonder why a lot of jobs left this country?
Why large companies import people for certain jobs?

end of rant

WOMEN WITH INTELLIGENCE AND EXPERIENCE,MEN WHO SUPPORT THEM AND COUNTRY BEFORE PARTY ALWAYS

PUMAS,BUBBAS,EQUALISTS AND THOSE PEOPLE RULE
Tricia Spiegel

We are already seeing some negative impacts from the “self-esteem” movement ofthe 1990s.

Everyone should feel good about themselves no matter what. Not only has it led to bizarre acts (e.g., the boy who killed the little girl for standing in his shadow) but when the shit hits the fan it can all go terribly wrong. Employers want people who know what they are doing and who do it well and responsibly. The self-esteem generation think they are doing employers a favor just by showing up. Guess who wins?

http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Exactly, Tricia. Young people now think they should come in at the same level as those of us who worked HARD to get to where we are, have the same salaries, the same houses, the same amt of respect, without working for ANY of it.

It is just this kind of thinking, the Memphis style, that will enable that kind of behavior down the road.

That is SHOCKING abt the boy who killed the girl. Holy CRAP!

Peggy Sue, GREAT comment – the “ominous” statement was spot on.

Barbara

Hello, all! I wish to respond to this as a former educator- I just allowed my certification in the state of Maryland to laspe last month, and I quit teaching three years ago, due to the harrassment I was receiving at the school where I was teaching. I graduated from a great university, summa cum laude and ended up teaching in a private school, due to the fact that I didn’t know anyone on the school board, who could “vouch” for me….anyways, the school where I was teaching, when I finally quit, was a CATHOLIC school, and I was constantly chastised for being “too conservative”, and expecting too much from my students. I have always found that when you expect a lot from children, you get a lot from them. I also expect good behavior, especially in a religious school. My student load at the time was 250 students. I taught them, had to grade assignments from this number of students, record the grades in a computer data-base, and was constantly hounded by parents because when their dear children didn’t hand in assignments, they received zeros. Every time this happened, the principal defended the parents, and I was made to look like an idiot (in front of the parents) and in every instance, when it came out that I was correct, I NEVER once was told, “I’m sorry” by anyone. The children destroyed my own personal property in the classroom, and the principal asked me, “well, what do you expect, in a middle school?” I simply could not continue to be treated in this manner and told my husband that I had to quit. Parents need to understand that the quality of education in this country is sliding downhill FAST, in all schools, public and private! You need to pay attention to everything that your child is exposed to, all the time, because if you don’t, your children will be the ones to suffer for it in the end. Sorry to rant so long, but it still frustrates me terribly, even after three years….I went into education because I wanted to make a difference, and because I remember fondly all those teachers who made an impact in my life. Just like everything else liberals touch and infest, they destroy! When I was in school during the 1960′s, we had Christmas holiday parties, celebrated Halloween, enjoyed making bunnies at Easter, and danced around the May pole, in celebration- our entire American culture is being destroyed, and it will only get worse, unless we rise up and fight it!

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

I hear you Barbara. It was the politics that finally drove me out of education.

Every year, at the last school I taught in, a teacher was brought up on charges of one sort or another, usually parent generated. One day, I stood in the hallway by my classroom and realized that it was only a matter of time before that beleaguered teacher would be me.

Most of the time, the parents saw the lawsuit as a quick way to make money and none of the charges ever stuck or went into court. The charges would be dropped AFTER the teacher’s personal resources, patience, and reputation had been destroyed.
Katmoon

That is not the kind of catholic School I went to! But, that was ahemm over 48 years ago.
Senneth

My family moved to the US when I was 7. It took my sisters and me three months to learn American, and we devoured all the books at the public library. I loved saying the Pledge of Allegiance, and singing a patriotic song to begin each day. I was sad when this practice was discontinued. In this same way I loved celebrating Christmas, Easter (with chocolate bunnies), Halloween, Valentine’s Day, etc. Those were some of my best memories of school. Sometimes being politically correct in all matters of diversity leaches away those immeasurably precious moments which are parts of every life and form treasured memories.

I have very fond memories of many of my teachers and the extra length they would go to ensure their students learned and contributed to the class.

Thanks for this article, RRRA, it certainly underlines for me that one size never fits all. First Bush and now That One both fundamentally changing our great nation. I find myself saddened at these changes and of course concerned, but more and more I feel helpless to counteract these changes as our Members of Congress don’t seem to listen to us and it is still a long ways to 2010 and the ballot.

carolhaka

This made me think of a movie or a play or something I heard or saw in the past:

The idea of a not pretty lazy, inadequate “black man” skirting and working the system, playing the race card, palling around with holigans and terro*sts, playing at being smart, pretending to have a long form birth certificate and good grades from school ………………………. (had to throw that in)……………….

Does that theme sound familiar to any of the rest of you??????

Wow, I must seem like a rac*st! So, go ahead and COLOR ME RAC*ST!

CAROL HAKA
carolhaka

Good News!

The Feds have asked the SarahPac for information regarding two donations! Hopefully, Holder went issue a “reprieve on not torturing” long enough to WaterBoard her. One of the donations was to Senator John McCain. Maybe they can Waterboard him also for taking it.

Meanwhile, some of you are familiar with me from other sites and may remember that I have had over 22 years experience in all aspects of Merchant Services and wrote a short, detailed route to the proper authorities for tracking all of the illegal transactions from “no name”, “no address”, “fake names”, and my favorite, “Gift Card”, transactions donated to the Obama and DNC campaigns. This took place as the “O’Fraudme” campaign declared “they really didn’t think” that Credit Card Companies had a way of “checking” all of that “fraud tracking” information.

It was an assignment that truly would take maybe an hour or so………..

I’m hopeful I will still hear back from them when they finish investigating Sarah Palin ……..

IMPEACH THE FRAUD!

CARO HAKA

Docelder

Obama has never cared for opposition. He doesn’t do hand to hand combat with enemies… he just eliminates enemies through attrition when they become engulfed with his minions.

CentralMass

I’m not quite sure exactly the impact of the program, but it sound more like they are provided funding and personal to catch these kids early and get them back on track.
“When you fail once 50% are not going to graduate, when you fail twice, 80% aren’t going to graduate,” Cash said.
The Memphis City Schools Board approved spending three million dollars on literacy and math materials support for students who need intervention under the no-fail policy. Dr. Cash says not failing students will save taxpayers money in the long run.”

My wife is a 5th grade up here in MA. Go figure, my writing skills stink.. I know she has had a student or two that somehow made it 5th yet tests and a much lower reading grade level. She identified them early and coordinated with the administration to put the on a corrective action plan (my verbage) to get them caught up by working with them both in class and in after school sessions. I believe she pulled them up to level by the end of the year.
So I would bet this is a good thing. Not some negative don’t ever let them know failure business. When it comes to reading and math at these ages, failure is not an option.

http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Central Mass, there are a bunch of problems with this program as I see it, including kids being able to miss school with no consequences. Iif they miss school, then they need help catching up, which requires additional time from the teacher. It seems an unfair burden to put on the teachers to have students in their classrooms who are not up to the same levels as the other children, thus bringing every one else down. It’s not fair to the students, either.

No grades and no consequences for the child means consequences for others. It seems entirely short-sighted to me.

CentralMass

I’m not quite sure exactly the impact of the program, but it sound more like they are provided funding and personal to catch these kids early and get them back on track.
“When you fail once 50% are not going to graduate, when you fail twice, 80% aren’t going to graduate,” Cash said.
The Memphis City Schools Board approved spending three million dollars on literacy and math materials support for students who need intervention under the no-fail policy. Dr. Cash says not failing students will save taxpayers money in the long run.”

My wife is a 5th grade englishteacher up here in MA. Go figure, my writing skills stink.. I know she has had a student or two that somehow made it 5th yet tests and a much lower reading grade level. She identified them early and coordinated with the administration to put the on a corrective action plan (my verbage) to get them caught up by working with them both in class and in after school sessions. I believe she pulled them up to level by the end of the year.
So I would bet this is a good thing. Not some negative don’t ever let them know failure business. When it comes to reading and math at these ages, failure is not an option.
CentralMass

Edited:
I’m not quite sure exactly the impact of the program, but it sound more like they are provided funding and personal to catch these kids early and get them back on track.
“When you fail once 50% are not going to graduate, when you fail twice, 80% aren’t going to graduate,” Cash said.
The Memphis City Schools Board approved spending three million dollars on literacy and math materials support for students who need intervention under the no-fail policy. Dr. Cash says not failing students will save taxpayers money in the long run.”

My wife is a 5th grade English up here in MA. Go figure, my writing skills stink.. I know she has had a student or two that somehow made it to 5th grade yet tested at a much lower reading grade level. She identified them early and coordinated with the administration to put the on a corrective action plan (my verbage) to get them caught up by working with them both in class and in after school sessions. I believe she pulled them up to level by the end of the year.
So I would bet this is a good thing. Not some negative don’t ever let them know failure business. When it comes to reading and math at these ages, failure is not an option.
tango

Oh read this New Yorker article about the battle over New Yorks worst teachers and how teacher unions and easy tenure, combined with extremely difficult rules for firing incompetent teachers, work togather against the best interests of students and communities:

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/08/31/090831fa_fact_brill?currentPage=all

I wish someone would pay me $100,000 a year to sit in a room and read, sleep, play board games and talk with others during school hours. And give me summers off!

sowsear

Not all of the teachers in this situation were incompetent teachers. Some of them were in disagreement and even legal battles with administrators and school boards.
The major reason most are not allowed to go back to their jobs is because the board which rules on work disagreements for the schools does not meet often and seldon hears but a few cases per year.
Not all of the persons sitting it out were allowed to do leisure activities of their choice. Some of these “centers” were run in a way which kept people sitting in a chair, not allowed to speak or move all day. Nor were many of them earning $100,000 /yr.
sowsear

RRR Amy,
My response to Tango’s comment has been lost in spam. Is it retrievable???
Docelder

I recall my HS Math teacher… really a frustrated rocker who liked muscle cars. He was really laid back as a teacher. He talked openly with us students. Once during a proposed teacher strike he was asked about the pay. He said, it isn’t as much as he wanted, but to him it was only 9/16 of a job anyway. He reasoned he worked 3/4 of the day for 3/4 of the year making it 9/16 of a job. He said if you look at it that way, the pay was really good. I doubt too many teachers would look at it like that. Probably most teachers put in more than 6 hour days as well.

tzada

One of my favorite movies was “To Sir With Love”

sowsear

Learning begins long before a child enters school. Very often the children who eventually do not learn to read are the ones who have never been exposed to books, were never read to, lived in disorganized, even chaotic homes, never been expected to sit still for any length of time, sometimes were verbally or physically abused. Sometimes the children are sent to school as soon as they are legally eligible regardless of their readiness or developmental levels, and/or the parents do not contact teachers/schools unless forced to. Sometimes the children are sent to school sick; sometimes children are absent more often than not. Sometimes the children have undiagnosed learning or physical problems; sometimes parents are unable to provide or unwilling to provide remedies even when problems are discovered and possible remedies suggested. Problems that are not addressed or solved at the earliest possible age just lead to a compounding of the social and emotional consequences of not learning.
CentralMass

Maybe where some of you are heading with this is accurate, but I see this particular issue differently.

I know one of my wife students was a young hispanic girl who was extremely bright, but had a reading issue. It was probably due to a number of factors. Apprently she had faked her way through by memorizing stories from book by listening in class etc.. Yet her reading vocabulary and comprehension was 2 or 3rd grade. My wife was able to help her get upto garde 5 level by working with her and making her work… This is the real idea of no child left behind rather then thr punative tool it has become in the wrong hands and inadequte funding.
http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

As an elementary educator I can tell you this is a rehash of the 1980′s elementary teaching style.

We were not allowed to give letter grades from K through 3rd grade. Our job was to emphasize the reading skills, introduce math skills and language arts skills – some way too early, and get the kids test ready. With so much emphasis on end product it is very easy for teachers to overlook the one thing that will determine a child’s success in school. That is, the teacher’s real job is to instill a LOVE OF LEARNING in all their students. School in the early grades has to be a rewarding place to come to five days a week, not unlike jobs for adults.

Reading is a tricky skill. I found that classrooms typically fell into a pattern of thirds. The top third would master new skills relatively easily and be able to incorporate them almost immediately. The middle third would take longer to acquire the skills and need added practice to become confident. The lowest third of the class would not be ready for the information usually due to maturation, wicked bad home environments, or learning disability issues. They are the ones that need added services to deal with the interfering issues that prevented them from learning.

To prepare my students for fourth grade (when I taught third grade), I would give them letter grades about the last six weeks of school on some assignments based fairly on percentages. Reality was a big wake up call for some of them that had become used to stars and happy faces!

But, since the love of learning was always emphasized, most of the children would rise to the challenge to improve themselves.

If we had an elementary aged child, we would home school today. I would not let my child’s education be handed over to an unprepared twenty something that most likely has gone through a prep program that has no real standards, let alone much of the coursework training done online. But that’s just me.

When I prepped, I had to pass a board exam to even be admitted into the educational coursework required my university. Affirmative Action knocked that step out and the quality of teachers went down precipitously.

End of soapbox! LOL!

Terry

Exactly my experience as a teacher in the ’80′s, Buzz. No real letter grades until 3rd or 4th grade, the transition was always a bit startling, and then the kids would rise. No one has mentioned here the problems NCLB has caused by tying teachers’ hands as to the methods the can employ to teach. Teachers must now use phonetically-based scripted lessons that take the JOY out of learning. I’ve let my certification lapse, but I have been thinking about going back to teaching. I don’t know if I can stand what teachers are required to do now, though.

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

I worked under NCLB the last four years of my career. It was a total nightmare.

The scripted reading and phonics were a hard sell to most kids. Realistically, the majority of them hated the daily phonics lessons and loved the sight word component I snuck in on my own. We endured the ninety minutes of scripted reading and then I would teach with best practices in mind for the rest of the day.

The reason I left teaching was because of the politics. NCLB also played a role as it was difficult to pretend that I liked my job when I knew that best practices were frowned upon.

I have thought about going back, myself, but I can’t stand the thought of slugging through more NCLB trauma.

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

…required by my university…

http://www.rabblerouserruminations.blogspot.com/ Rabble Rouser Reverend Amy

Yes, a love of learning for learning’s sake – I was fortunate to have many teachers who were passionate abt learning in my public school. I still remember some of my teachers who made their subjects come alive for us – what a gift. And we had to WORK for our grades – nothing was given to us that we didn’t earn. It made it all the better to know we succeeded at something.

My cousin is an Ed. prof, teaching the teachers. I know she gets frustrated with where some of her students are academically (or not), as well as their lack of comprehension that teaching is a LOT of work when done well. She is hard on her students, she says, but fair – those were exactly the kind of teachers I adored.

Without that love of learning, without pushing students to work up to their potential, without expecting them to master material, and yes, even fail sometimes, we are accepting mediocrity as a norm. That should be unacceptable to any society, IMHO.

GREAT COMMENTS, folks!

oowawa

Here is one factor that I think has drastically changed a child’s reading environment over the past 90 years: the demise of comic books. Oh yeah, comic books still exist, but they are expensive and aimed at teenagers who can already read. Back in the 1960s and earlier, comic books were plentiful and cheap and were everywhere. There were lots of comics that catered to younger kids. There was a comic book stand in every drug store and grocery store.

I learned to read largely by figuring out the cartoon speech in comic books. I wanted to know what was going on! Oh yeah, even back then comics were scorned by teachers who often saw them as a corruption of real literature. But we got a taste of the scope of literature through “Classics Illustrated.”

Also, the comics in the Sunday papers used to be something special. Many parents would read the Sunday comics to their kids, and point out the words. No more.

Peggy Sue

How funny, oowawa. I loved comic books as a kid but my mother would never buy them [she thought they were trash]. But I had a friend in grade school, a little older than I was, who had a gaggle of siblings. They had oodles of comic books. In fact, there were stacks of them on their enclosed porch. So, I’d go over to the house, ask if Minnie could play [and invariably she was busy because I was considered a baby] but her mother would always say, “but if you want to take a few comics, that’s fine.”

I always took a paper bag with me and then scurried home and hide in my bedroom, where I’d read my eyeballs out. There were classics rewritten as comics. Sci-fi, westerns and then the standard Casper the Ghost sort.

But by reading comics, kids develop a great love of story. I grew older, I grew into books. But I swear, my love of reading started with comic books.

And I owe it all to Minnie Harper’s mother!

Wow, did you ever bring back an old but very fond memory.

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

That’s true on the comic books.

How many parents consistently spend five minutes with their child’s Happy Meal bag going over the games and other content? It’s right there and yet many parents are too busy to notice.

I used to collect the bags for my students a couple of years ago. We would use them as a reading lesson to instill the concept that words are everywhere. I was always surprised at how many kids would say, “Oh, I got this last night.” Then, they would have no clue what was on the bag because no parent had taken the time to read to them.

Diana L. C.

Hey, graphic novels are now the rage, and some of them are excellent. Remember back during the time when we were all posting about the election protests in Iran, the graphic two-part novel Perselpolis was recommended as a way to catch up quickly on the history of the “Muslim democracy.”

Cooney

I am a college teacher, I can’t wait to get more of these students who have been socially promoted in K through 12. Students, who when they get into college are academically retarded, and can’t pass anything. They have never been taught how to pass a class, or better said, taught how not to fail.

Failure is not a bad thing, it is one our greatest teachers. Should we now keep our children from learning to walk because they might fail a few times before they actually succeed.

Peggy Sue

I read an essay several months ago. It might have been in the Atlantic. Not really sure. But it was written by an associate prof at a private college, who was night-owling at a local community college. He was an English prof. And this is not a put down on community colleges, which I think can and do provide reasonably priced course work to students, many of whom might not otherwise be able to attend school beyong the secondary level.

But . . . his personal experience was that the quality of students coming into his Freshman Comp class was incredibly bad. These were students who were ill-prepared, many neither reading nor writing beyond a grade school level. But all these students knew in their heart of hearts that an advanced degree meant something–a better future and job, an easier and more profitable trek through life. But they had not acquired basic, minimum standards.

It was something of a heartwrenching essay because this was a man who sincerely believed in giving people a chance, opening up academic opportunities but he was beginning to seriously question the merits of that belief with students who tried but were desperately underprepared. And he also questioned the merits of “passing” students, pretending that they had fulfilled requirements [something the administration of this community college was pushing] as anything more than a cruel, senseless joke.

The essay stuck with me. We’ve got a genuine problem in River City.

Peggy Sue

I should have also added that this prof wrote under an anonymous byline, which only says to me: when you take a non-PC position? You’re very livlihood could and probably would be seriously risked.

We’ve reached a pivotal moment.

Btw, I listening to Glenn Beck right now. I have serious problems with the histrionics, but . . .

tonight he put up 5 simple principles to present to our representatives. They are genuinely and uniquely American. I don’t care whether we fall into the Democratic, Republican or Independent camp. The points are clear, declarative and uncompromising and are a shot across the bow:

You [the political class] are either with us, American citizens. Or you’re out.

If you can’t catch the show, check out the web. I’m certain this will go viral. As it should.

Terry

Sorry to be ignorant, Peggy Sue (or anyone who doesn’t mind helping), but since I did miss this show and would love to see Beck’s 5 points, where do you suggest I look? Youtube and search for something like Glenn Beck and the date or 5 points? Or does he have a site to go to? I haven’t watched him before, but am hearing so much about him lately, I’m curious.

Terry

Hey, I found it myself!!! What a feeling of success–sort of like what happens when we ask kids to actually learn!

Peggy Sue

Good Terry, I’m glad you found it. When I first looked I did not see tonight’s show posted, but I was positive it would be [and frankly, should be].

I give Beck credit; he’s pushing the envelope in a news media void. And though his presentation drives me crazy, he makes some valid points.

LDW

In Denmark, where there is a 99% literacy rate for adults, children do not start formal studies until the age of 7, and pre-schools and kindergarden rely on play and activities instead of formal lessons. As long as children are in a safe and stimulating environment, they will naturally be learning, and some might be more co-ordinated and athletic, while others more facinated by books or mechanical toys. By age 7, most will be at least ready for reading and writing, and all will have had success and learned to think of school as an enjoyable, exciting place.

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

I agree! American schools push the academics way too soon because the mentality is that it will somehow fill in the learning gaps. It doesn’t. It mostly frustrates young children and turns them off to school and learning. It was something that got started when American educators thought learning needed to follow the Japanese model. Think of the suicide rates, there!

Older students, starting in fourth grade, have a better capacity and actual personal need to know some of the skills, like multiplication and division, and should be able to learn and utilize the information.

Play is “work” for young children. It gives them a natural key to learning for life.

Docelder

Yes, myself I went to college my final year of high school and though it worked out… I would never let my kids do that. Kids need to be kids and they need to mature at their own pace. Learn yes, but don’t force maturity on them.
http://www.sonicninjakitty.wordpress.com Sonic Ninja Kitty

It’s for boosting the ego of the parents. A lot of schooling is all about what the parents need these days (to the great detriment of the kids).

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

That made me smile, Cooney!
http://noquarter foxyladi14

give them tools.not crutches,
kids are our future.
Diana L. C.

I am a retired educator, so naturally I have strong opinions about this topic.

We have a no-fail policy in Colorado that is worse than this. As a teacher of ninth-grade English, I would get students in from the middle school who had been failing almost every subject for all the years of their elementary and middle school education and being passed along. They got to high school, and that was the first time they would have to pass to earn credit for graduation. I had students who had been placed in remedial reading courses too from the time they were in first grade. (More about this practice in a minute.)

I spent much of my last years teaching those ninth graders while taking a different approach than many of the other teachers. Those teachers would tack on all kinds of rules that I didn’t want to have to enforce because it would have taken too much of my time doing math and record keeping when grading rather than in actual teaching a subject I loved. Their syllabi always appeared to me to be outlines for trying to teach “responsibility” rather than teaching their actual subjects. So much of a percentage taken off for being a day late, so much for two days late, a deadline when the assignment would not be accepted, etc. It seemed counter productive to me because kids who were struggling to organize themselves about getting work done would still be penalized for finally getting it done.

After I had a young girl in my class who was the epitome of ditziness, who made my hour teaching her class a real challenge, I came to a conclusion that I would no longer ever work to teach responsibility and just leave that up to the child and his/her parents.. In a conversation with her mother, I could no longer also put all fault on parents. This girl’s older sister was a top school performer. This second girl had failed every single class the year before and most in the seventh grade also. They were desperate for help. They weren’t wealthy; both worked and couldn’t afford to put her in something other than a public school. They said to me, “Please fail her. We try taking away privileges, grounding, everything. Nothing gets into her head other than that she continues on in school at the same time those with good grades do. She doesn’t do so bad on standardized tests. She thinks they are all suckers. It is only now in ninth grade that all her failure will finally catch up to her.”

From that time on, I began to take the first few weeks of teaching ninth graders to develop a list of students who had horrible study habits, who didn’t turn in work on time, who forgot to study or read the assignment. Then after time enough to know just who those kids were, I began contacting those kids’ parents either through email and then by phone. I made one thing clear to them: that I would do my best to get those kids to pass required ninth grade English so they would be on their way to earning credit for graduation, if the parents would work with me. I accepted late work and gave it full credit, but only if they knew I would not accept copied work. Since I did indeed grade all the work I assigned, I could always tell a copied paper. (Unbelievably to me, some teachers assigned work and simply gave credit for its being turned in, without grading it.) I worked with each parent to develop a notification system when the child didn’t turn something in. I found ways to get assignments to parents in advance so they could counter the child who had lost the assignment, etc.

Those kids’ self esteem and confidence were raised more by their actual accomplishment after a semester of having their parents and me making sure them that they just HAD to do the work. I had so many of those parents thank me for doing that.

I developed this tactic also because of my son, who had an Individual Education Plan through school that few of the teachers paid attention to. My son has a normal IQ but he has dyscalculia, which is similar to dyslexia but has different symptoms. It has more to do with not being able to perform mathematical equations and keeping organized because he has trouble sequencing (what should he do first, then second, etc.). Heck, in the stupid block schedules many of our high schools follow, he could never figure out easily what class he was supposed to be in on any day, and he was always put down when he arrived late after figuring it out and sometimes punished. As a parent, I wanted the teachers to let me work with him on coping with his dyscalculia and for them to concentrate on teaching him the subject matter.

One of the things you notice, if you’ve been following the recent reports about the current SAT scores is that again our students’ scores are slipping and have been for the last five years. Educator apologists will complain that this slippage is due to more students taking the exams than before. I personally think it explains some of why so many young people voted Obama—no reasoning skills because they’ve learned to cheat, jump through hoops, and do what it takes to get that diploma without really having to do the learning.

I truly feel our whole public education system took a wrong turn about the late 70’s. Education departments—can anyone say Ayers?—decided the people in education, the teachers and the administrators, knew way more about teaching responsibility than parents did. They got into education to “save” these kids from parents and society because they, like the Messiah, have messianic complexes. Me—I just loved my subject so much when I first began teaching that I wanted the kids to like it too.

Now, as for remedial reading, I disapprove. Except for kids with true disabilities that make reading difficult, all kids can read if it is made clear to them that they should read. But again, educators with their “I am compassionate and know how to nurture” attitudes, put them in remedial reading sometimes in first grade. Have you ever really studied remedial reading materials? They are so vapid, uninteresting, and unchallenging, that the longer a child stays in remedial reading, the further behind they get, and often that’s the case because they’ve come to accept the notion that they can’t read well. Again, it’s making kids understand somehow that they SHOULD learn to read that will get them reading.

My daughter-in-law is from Turkey. She attended one of the top universities in Turkey. It’s an international university in which all her classes were taught in English. She speaks Turkish, of course, but also speaks English as well as most Americans. She also reads Italian. This brilliant young woman married my son (lucky man), who, because of his profession moved her into a very rural small town in Tennessee. The school district there gladly hired her as a substitute teacher. She was getting calls all the time from the teachers who had used her because they wanted only her for their substitute. She was so surprised by American schools, even in a state with poor schools, because the classrooms were so elaborate with so many materials and such a small number of students in each room compared to her experience in Turkey. She said she could not believe how lazy and unconcerned the students were about learning.

She was also very surprised at the lazy lesson planning of the teachers.

Now, there’s my rant and I stand by it.

http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

Lots of times teachers put kids in remedial reading and special ed classes so that the pressure is taken off of themselves. If the kid can’t perform well on testing, then it’s the remedial reading or special ed teacher’s problem and not the regular classroom teacher’s fault. They often petition for special ed without understanding that a measurable disability needs to be present.

It’s a sad but true fact among elementary teachers. I worked with many, many both as a peer and a special ed teacher.

Many times they guise it as caring about the student when actually it’s really a lack of skills on the teacher’s part to deal with students that are stuggling in their grade placement. Sometimes it’s due to classroom size. I personally never want to go back to teaching 28 first graders in one room!

Whatever reason, it is always best to have good support from a parent. In all my experience I found that was a rare commodity.
Katmoon

Thank you Diane for sharing, and I am glad to see this posted. I bet your daughter-in-law is fantastic,(we now live in TN, at the time we had problems with the school system, was 4 years ago in Washington Stat)e.

I truly feel our whole public education system took a wrong turn about the late 70’s. Education departments—can anyone say Ayers?—decided the people in education, the teachers and the administrators, knew way more about teaching responsibility than parents did. They got into education to “save” these kids from parents and society because they, like the Messiah, have messianic complexes. Me—I just loved my subject so much when I first began teaching that I wanted the kids to like it too.

You hit the mark here, I watched it happen to my younger siblings.

Do you remember the “RCA” reading packets? Just curious. I can bet not many 4th grade teachers read a “Wrinkle in Time” to their students anymore, either.

Diana L. C.

I don’t remember anything called the RCA series, but I do remember my teachers reading very good books to us, long classics, ones that took time to get through, etc.

Once I had a colleague who had attended a less traditional college tell me I was putting too many classics on my reading lists, that I should be putting all these “Juvenile Literature” books on instead, about teenagers and their social problems. The buzz word at the time–mid seventies–was “relevance.” They needed supposedly to have their reading relate to their own lives. It was an incredible argument to me since I had grown up reading only classics. I always found something relevant in them, and that is why they became classics. Those juvenile literature books were just too easy to read. Their themes were too obvious–they required no thinking.

Heck I can still remember ninth graders giving reports on things like the medieval morality play “Everyman” and explaining the theological points behind it and its history.

It also made my job as a teacher more enjoyable. As I said once on a post, I finally had to refuse book reports on modern things like Love Story. If I had had to read another report on how “Love is never having to say you’re sorry,” I would have puked.

Terry

Diana L. C. you are my new hero. How lucky your students were to have you.

Katmoon

I fought against our daughter’s high school, because they passed her with D’s and F’s; this is partially what caused the big meltdown in our family. Imagine the parents actually doing what they are suppose to and the school does not honor their end of the deal. She did not “feel” she had to do anything but sit around and look pretty….without making this an insane tirade(still a very touchy subject in the details); she joined a specific church group there after, in the presumption that she would get a free ride for college; paying little attention to what the real price would be to pay. We refused to pay for her first year, due to her attitude of entitlement and lack of honest effort, she had the ability but simply felt she shouldn’t have to.
Well the bill “came due” with the church and she realized it was a price she couldn’t pay; as of Wednesday she started basic training in the U.S. Army; not because she didn’t have options and not because she wasn’t given chances, but maybe, God willing she realizes she needs to gain some self control, become an individual instead of a sheep and grow herself up a bit. We tried, and the school was the first front to fall, caving in and telling us we were too strict because we didn’t want her to lie, which she did to both school and us about her work or lack of, to manipulate the system, because we didn’t reward he entitlement behavior, because we were willing to negotiate but never compromise our basic principles of fairness, and Honesty.

I am not surprised to see this, but I surely wish I was.

Diana L. C.

Katmoon,

I commend you for your attitude about your daughter’s feeling of entitlement. I also worked part-time for several years as an adjunct teacher at the universities near my home. I can’t tell you how nowadays some parents still try to fly in and rescue their babies in college who do nothing but party and then fail classes. They’re called helicopter parents. It’s quite sickening to behold.

Diana L. C.

My long post was caught in the spam filter. Please retrieve it.

Katmoon

Same here. Merci!
Diana L. C.

My comment is still lost. I tried to post it again, but the spam filter gave me the notice that I had already said that. It still doesn’t show though.

CentralMass

My wife and her colleagues are qualified to teach and are making a difference. My wife’s students, even the disadvantage one’s are good kids, eager to learn, full of promise.

What I’m talking about is catching the social promotion and intervening. Catching 5th grade student with a second grade reading ability that some how got promoted through the system
, if possible, get them the help they need to get up to up to grade level. Doing it in away with minimal impact to the rest of the class.

I have three of my own in public schools. My wife and I gave them our undivided attention when they were young to give the fundamental they need to succeed. The are prolific readers and
straight A students. They have the skills to weather the occasional bad teacher or two.

Now my wife is trying to do the same in the class room. her results have been good.
http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

Good for you, CentralMass.

Of course all those who teach like to think they make a difference and many do as long as the system allows them to do exactly that. When the system gets sick is when the problems occur. Perhaps your wife is teaching in a school that allows real education to take place. Perhaps she trained in a setting that required personal responsibility. Great!

It is NOT the same experience everywhere in the nation. Having taught in three different states, I can vouch for that. In two states I taught in, the substitute teachers had to have a four year degree in education. The last state only required the substitute teacher to have a GED – and that was only after several lawsuits.

The real measure will be where your wife’s students are ten years from now. Hopefully your wife and her fellow teachers will take it upon themselves to instill a sense of responsibility in their students for their learning and behavior.

Hopefully, they won’t use Obama as an example for personal responsibility. That would be a massive educational failure to do so.
tzada

Corrected Repost: I can only blame it on spending way too much time on a soap box.

Not every child that has difficulty reading is not smart. My husband is one of the smartest men I know, he has difficulty reading. A friend of mine, had to do a grade 3 times. He is a millionaire several times over. Another multi millionaire client of mine, never went past the 6th grade.

Myself I had no education between the age of 5-12. None, nada, zip. But I had learned to read in 1st grade at the age of 4. So I became a reader. Books, magazines, newspapers, became my lifeline to education. When I was 12 I took a test and was put in the 7th grade.

All that to say this. I don’t know the right answer, but lifes a funny thing, it is what we make of it. I could have huddled in a corner, casting about for the cause of my woes. I choose to not be a victim. I can feel for someones difficulty, but I not their wallowing in victimization.
oldmediatype

C’mon, you knew it was coming to this. It’s the same reason why everybody in little league sports gets a trophy. Can’t have any hurt feelings now can we? Because schools are all about promoting self esteem! For Forest Gump life may have been a box of chocalates but for me life is a lesson I learned in the batters box on a little league baseball field a long, long time ago. Never liked the feeling of striking out. Practiced like hell to make sure it never happened again.
oldmediatype

chocolate, not chocalate. oops
http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

Absolutely. Once in a teacher’s meeting in the 1980′s, I sat next to a teacher who had been around awhile.

The curriculum directors where espousing the joys of “warm fuzzy” teaching where no student would ever have to face the embarrassment of failing.

The older teacher, a man, looked at the rest of us and said, “Good Luck. I’m eligible for retiring at the end of next year. I will not be responsible for creating self indulgent monsters.”
denisel

Pretty Good

by Charles Osgood
from the Osgood File, 1986

There once was a pretty good student
Who sat in a pretty good class
And was taught by a pretty good teacher
Who always let pretty good pass.
He wasn’t terrific at reading,
He wasn’t a whiz-bang at math,
But for him, education was leading
Straight down a pretty good path.
He didn’t find school too exciting,
But he wanted to do pretty well,
And he did have some trouble with writing
Since nobody taught him to spell.
When doing arithmetic problems,
Pretty good was regarded as fine.
5+5 needn’t always add up to be 10;
A pretty good answer was 9.
The pretty good class that he sat in
Was part of a pretty good school,
And the student was not an exception:
On the contrary, he was the rule.
The pretty good school that he went to
Was there in a pretty good town,
And nobody there seemed to notice
He could not tell a verb from a noun.
The pretty good student in fact was
Part of a pretty good mob.
And the first time he knew what he lacked was
When he looked for a pretty good job.
It was then, when he sought a position,
He discovered that life could be tough,
And he soon had a sneaking suspicion
Pretty good might not be good enough.
The pretty good town in our story
Was part of a pretty good state
Which had pretty good aspirations
And prayed for a pretty good fate.
There once was a pretty good nation
Pretty proud of the greatness it had,
Which learned much too late,
If you want to be great,
Pretty good is, in fact, pretty bad.
http://deleted BuzzisbackLatte

That really sums it up. Thank you Denisel.

I can see where this applies to Obama, too.

Ferd Berfle

You said it. And to any number of people I work with. Just getting by is good enough for them. A challenge for them is finding some new way of shirking even more responsibility.

Screw-the-DNC

Ferd, I didn’t realize we worked for the saqme company!!
Screw-the-DNC

Ferd, I didn’t realize we worked for the same company!!

Ferd Berfle

LMAO. Oh, yeah, I remember you–you’re on the second floor, third office on the right.

Chicago

I can’t believe that money is still being spent trying to figure out why the education system can’t teach kids to read.

go back to the time when some freakin genius decided that phonics is a waste of time and dropped it from the curriculum and that would be the time when the education system stopped teaching kids how to read.

many teachers are incompetent (no matter how many people would deny that, it is a fact) since they themselves are the product of this failing education system.

kids are lagging in reading, science, and math skills and not one “expert” in the US know what to do. as long as we keep seeing those Sylvan learning center commercials on TV we’ll know that the education system is still in a downward spiral. whatever Sylvan learning center and other tutorial centers are teaching kids in order to improve their grades should’ve been given to them in school in the first place.

the education system has been on a decline for at least two generations and it all started when the ULTRA-liberals got hold of it. I’m not saying that the education system should turn conservative (I think that would be a mistake), but come on, we all know how idiotic schools are now a days. then add whiny parent to the equation, you know, those parents who think that an hour’s worth of homework is too much for their kids, then you have a failing system that keeps on failing.

my son, had a teacher last year that was so bad every kid in her classroom complained about her. the kids in her classroom didn’t do good at all, yet the school honored her at the end of the school year for gaining some stupid certification. my daughter had an awesome teacher that brought fun and innovation into the classroom and my daughter had straight A’s! yet my daughter’s teacher did not get any recognition after the school year except for the gratitude expressed by parents like me. when will these bad teachers be forced to be accountable for their failures?

bad curriculums, bad teachers, lack of funding, will always, always, create a bad educaton system. want to make it better, weed out the bad teachers, get the union out of the school system, start teaching the basics to kids once again (like phonics, basic math) and stop funding schools through property taxes (that is the most repressive of all taxes whcih takes money from property owners and distributes to non-property owners). fund schools through an income tax and have EVERYONE with income pay for it.