On Mon, 20 May 2013 21:25:28 -0700, Bob Penoyer
wrote:

On Mon, 20 May 2013 17:24:40 -0400, rickman wrote:

[snip snarky rickman BS]

I've followed this thread for a while and I'm struck by your strident
support for teachers and teaching.

You seem to suggest that we mere mortals can't understand teaching
despite being educated in grade school, high school, college, and
graduate school. And, despite having children and grandchildren go
through the same process.

Consider these facts about teaching and teachers:

* As a group, teaching majors have the lowest SAT scores

As per the old saw, "Those that can, DO; those that can't, TEACH"


* Schools of education are regarded as the dregs of universities'
schools

Absolutely!


* If it required special training to teach, why is it that a
5-year-old can teach a 3-year-old how to do something?

* University professors--people who teach--aren't required to have
teacher training or teaching credentials

* Teaching majors learn such things as teaching methods, teaching
tools, etc. The one thing they don't learn--specifically, elementary
school teachers--is something to teach; they are no better educated in
basic subjects than they were when they left high school.

When I was in elementary school, several teachers told our classes,
for example, that "I was never very good at math," or "I was never
very good at spelling." But they taught those subjects nevertheless.

Public schools are worse now than they were 50 years ago, and they
continue to get worse.

When I was in grade school, we had smart kids and we had dumb kids,
but ALL could read. That's not true today, even for high school kids.

Your vaunted teachers have failed us. Jim Thompson's examples of how
his granddaughter was given a problem for which she was not equipped,
and the teacher jumping into simultaneous equations with no prior
preparation in single-variable algebra are only two examples. The
examples of misguided teachers and teaching methods are endless.

Indeed! Even worse, the system seems designed to destroy the family
unit and place that authority in the hands of the government. Observe
how many holidays and traditions have been effectively killed by the
"education" system. If your kid says "Christmas" in school he's
likely to be suspended. And the kids can't even celebrate Halloween.

Rickman labels me "Larkinesque". What a laugh!

Rickman is the one that is "Larkinesque", because he meets the full
specification:

Head fully up butt. Head turned 90-degrees to lock it in place.

Unfortunately I'd also guess that Rickman _is_ a teacher :-(

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
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I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.