Rant VII: Now With 25% Less Drama
- Thread starter North_Ranger
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Unless of course, you're a Sith. Then go right ahead.To be fair, if my cousins are any indication, there are a lot of shitty teachers.
Never deal in absolutes.
To be fair, if my cousins are any indication, there are a lot of shitty teachers.
Never deal in absolutes.
This is very true. See my rant about the field of secondary teaching scaring off any experience field professions in favor of state certified morons.
at my home university most of the tenured professors don't even have teaching degrees, they argument the chancellor and deans council(the chancellor is like the normal "dean" and the deans are the heads of each college) was that if you earned your PHD in a subject you were going to teach you probably knew what the fuck you were talking about. my previous school was the opposite. it was like what mathias was ranting about.
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makare
You have to be careful there though. Just because you know what you are talking about doesn't mean you can teach it. I've had very knowledgeable profs with alphabet soup after their names who couldn't teach for shit.
I had this one engineer for a professor. He was a really shy, bookish man. He spent the whole class looking at a spot on the floor about 4 feet in front of himself.
His supervisor once told me, "I don't know who that guy in the floor is, but he's getting one hell of a lecture."
I learned a lot from this professor, but he was quite dull. I really think that is one of the problems education is facing... students are rarely self-motivated, and expect the teacher to be Robin Williams from Dead Poets Society, to motivate the children. Use your educators as the fonts of knowledge that they are, and don't expect a song and dance each time you walk into a classroom.
His supervisor once told me, "I don't know who that guy in the floor is, but he's getting one hell of a lecture."
I learned a lot from this professor, but he was quite dull. I really think that is one of the problems education is facing... students are rarely self-motivated, and expect the teacher to be Robin Williams from Dead Poets Society, to motivate the children. Use your educators as the fonts of knowledge that they are, and don't expect a song and dance each time you walk into a classroom.
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makare
I had a prof who had a phd and knew a lot about the subject (Finance) but was incomprehensible in class. No one knew what the hell he was talking about because he couldn't present the information he knew in any kind of meaningful way. Luckily halfway through the semester he got some job in Washington, which he bragged about constantly as if we gave a shit, and left. Then we got a sub who had a masters in English who was able to teach the finance class much better than the other guy. At first we thought why are we having someone with an English degree teach this class but I guess time constraints were a problem. However it worked out great.
GasBandit
Staff member
I suppose it makes sense... Better an english prof who has no problems with understanding finance teaching it rather than a finance prof who does have a problem with communicating in english.
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makare
I'm still annoyed with that guy for bragging about his job. He would spend half a class period, a three hour class period, talking about what he was going to be doing. No one cared! My friend Robin and I still laugh about that.
What I'm always concerned about is secondary education vs. college and the working world. At the college level, as we have seen, there are really few "teaching" requirements. Usually if you have your PhD and have a successful interview, you're in. Profs aren't really geared for active learning in their classrooms. Workplaces like retail do a little in terms of active learning, but most professional jobs give you reading material and lecture and toss you right in.
There's a really huge trend right now in secondary education to shy away from lecture format - to do the whole song and dance ala Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. That's all well and good, but it kinda handicaps students when they go off to college and the real world after high school. Let's face facts, your boss isn't going to give at shit if you know how to comprehend a lecture. He's going to give you the information you need and you learn it or you get fired. College profs care about a student up to a point and will help with remediation where necessary, but overall, if you can't follow a 1 hour lecture you're fucked for anything that requires more than factory work.
Most of the people I work with are actually pretty good teachers. The hiring process and maintenance system kinda keeps things in check, until tenure has been made.
There's a really huge trend right now in secondary education to shy away from lecture format - to do the whole song and dance ala Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. That's all well and good, but it kinda handicaps students when they go off to college and the real world after high school. Let's face facts, your boss isn't going to give at shit if you know how to comprehend a lecture. He's going to give you the information you need and you learn it or you get fired. College profs care about a student up to a point and will help with remediation where necessary, but overall, if you can't follow a 1 hour lecture you're fucked for anything that requires more than factory work.
Most of the people I work with are actually pretty good teachers. The hiring process and maintenance system kinda keeps things in check, until tenure has been made.
To me, this is like being concerned that elementary school has too much of a focus on recess because middle school and high school don't have recess at all. You can try to lecture 15-year-old in a college-like setting if you really want, but you won't get good results. However, that doesn't mean when that kid turns 18 or 19 they aren't ready for the more "boring" lecture format.
Ok, I can buy that. Maturity plays a big factor in developmental growth.
You've earned a Heath bar from me.
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Wasabi Poptart
My neighbor is an idiot. In addition to telling me that Oahu is going to sink because we have too many people here she also told me she wasn't afraid of the tsunami since she loves storms. If I could get away with slapping her for being a dumbass I would.
Also...fuck living in Hawaii.
Also...fuck living in Hawaii.
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rabbitgod
Remember when teaching was a noble and highly sought after profession and education was the highest pursuit?
I'm hoping we can get back to that before I die. I'm probably going to be rrrreeeaaalllyyy disappointed.
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Wasabi Poptart
It's 75 outside. I am sitting in my living room with goosebumps and chills. I fucking hate being sick.
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Wasabi Poptart
She's on vacation in Maui. Can't wait to hear how awful it is there because, you know, they should have already cleaned up from the "storm".
North_Ranger
Staff member
It's the finals season for seniors in Finnigh high schools. Students all over the country are gathering in droves to take the national final exams under the watchful eyes of their teachers, completely isolated from the rest of the school. Today was the day for the English A-Level exam, written part that is. It usually entails a number of articles on which the students will be quizzed, plus an essay that constitutes 1/3 of their final grade.
These articles are selected and sealed in advance, the exam papers sent in advance to the schools and kept in sealed envelopes until the big day.
Today one of the articles was about Japanese efforts to curtail the effect of - and I quote - "typhoons and tsunamis", "with man-versus-nature hubris".
These articles are selected and sealed in advance, the exam papers sent in advance to the schools and kept in sealed envelopes until the big day.
Today one of the articles was about Japanese efforts to curtail the effect of - and I quote - "typhoons and tsunamis", "with man-versus-nature hubris".
I don't want to defend the person, but she probably thinks a tsunami is the same thing as a typhoon, which obviously it most specifically is not. Of course, probably half the time she just refers to it as da kine, from what you've said.
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Wasabi Poptart
I highly doubt she knows what "da kine" means or how it's used in a sentence. She's another Navy wife like me, not a native Hawaiian, and is very averse to learning about the culture here. She insists it's like she's not even in the United States because no one speaks English. It doesn't matter that I've explained these are mostly tourists from other countries.
Beginning with "Bitch, please" next time might get her attention.
Ah, okay.
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makare
Aw I hear you there. I have four dogs and three cats and they are really expensive. They are family though so what can you do? (that is a rhetorical question and doesn't require an answer.)
Yup. Everything was routine today. A checkup, some rabies vaccine boosters, flea repellent, and some ear cleaning stuff because my dogs have stupid allergies that mean I need to clean their ears on a weekly basis. Somehow all of that set me back $350, and that's after my vet waived a few fees. Sheesh. On top of around $150 in food every month these guys are eating me out of house and home.
figmentPez
Staff member
You know that word problem with the snail trying to climb out of the well? The snail climbs up 6 inches each day, but slides back down 3 inches at night, how long does it take to get out of the well? My life feels like that... but the number of inches gained/lost is constantly varying and the well is of an unknown depth. Solve for x-tremely painful.
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makare
I had a pain in my side so I came to the ER. I figure it is gallbladder. A CT scan, two doses of Demerol and two more of another pain killer and it was still bad so they are having me stay the night. I cant have anything to eat or drink until tomorrow. I don't care about the eating but I am dying of thirst 
I am sadness.
I am sadness.
Maybe see if they'll let you swish water around in your mouth and spit it out? That way you're not feeling the dryness on your tongue constantly.
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Wasabi Poptart
There are these sponge things that they use to moisten the inside of patient's mouths. We had them for my grandmother when she was in hospice. They might be called Dentips or something like that. Ask your nurse if they have any.
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makare
So I am alive. I know this because this guy comes in every two hours to confirm that fact. A nurse came in and gave me some more pain killers and I fell asleep again. When I woke up shortly after that I was staring directly at my hand with my fingers curled over. It took me more than a reasonable amount of time to realize it was my own hand and not some bizarre hand shaped spider. What Im saying basically is that I am on some seriously good drugs.
They did end up giving me those sponge things to drink with but when no one was around I did take a few sips of water. Not after midnight though which I think is more than fair.
They did end up giving me those sponge things to drink with but when no one was around I did take a few sips of water. Not after midnight though which I think is more than fair.
Feeling a little gremliny lately, huh?
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