Posts by nimblelynx7

Susan James said:The real headache would be those schools that nobody wants to attend—the ones kids end up at because they couldn't get into their first choice (even if high school isn't mandatory anymore).
What happens to the teachers and principals in those situations? 😕

Technically, though, that could solve the funding issue. 😂

I don't think the bottleneck is really in medical school—there's already plenty of screening happening long before students even apply, between entrance exams and people dropping out during freshman year. The real issues are likely in fields like economics, law, transportation, or American studies (and I won't even bring up divinity school, where enrollment is pretty much open to anyone who wants to finish the program).

Michelle Nelson4 said:I honestly think we should implement a standardized set of uniform exams at the end of every grade level for all students. We could use those scores as the primary metric for high school admissions. Plus, let's be real—we should publish the results by school and even by teacher. It’s about time we actually see who is truly pulling their weight and delivering quality education versus who isn't. If we made these results public for a few years, I’m convinced it would finally spark a much-needed conversation about merit-based evaluation instead of just focusing on seniority and tenure.

Take the recent data from Lincoln High, for example. Out of four different fourth-grade classes, five students from one single class hit the top 10% bracket, while the other two classes only had one student each make the cut, and one class didn't have anyone in the top tier at all. It's the exact same school with the exact same demographic of parents... so how is it possible that the kids in that one specific classroom are thinking so critically and solving problems so effectively while everyone else is lagging so far behind?

Sarah Hall53 said:And honestly, it’s the only way it makes any sense at all.

urbantinker8 said:

nimblelynx7 I suppose I should mention that...
It all seems to be written based on their own personal whims, I suppose. The curriculum and the whole general roadmap haven't really seen a single meaningful change in twenty years, yet suddenly everything is being treated like some sort of radical revolution just because I finally graduated—give me a break.

And you're supposed to be the yardstick... for what, exactly...? I guess it’s hard to say, really. Maybe there's a point to it, or maybe we're all just spinning our wheels here, though I suppose that’s more of an observation than a question. It feels like we're grasping at shadows sometimes, doesn't it? I mean, if you're acting as the standard, one has to wonder what the metric actually is, but then again, I might just be overthinking the whole thing.🤷

I guess if I look back at my own high school days, maybe around ten percent of the students ended up heading off to specialized business academies or vocational schools focused on economics.

Well, I guess you were the one who said it first—that it all happened a long time ago. It’s been twenty years, I suppose. Just sitting here thinking about how much time has actually slipped through my fingers since everything started. It feels like a lifetime ago, yet somehow also like it was only yesterday, if that makes any sense. Twenty years is a long stretch, really quite a significant chunk of a person's life, and looking back at where things stood then compared to now... well, it's a lot to process. I guess we just drift along, don't we? One day you're marking one milestone, and the next, two decades have vanished into thin air. Maybe it doesn't even matter how you count it..☕

I’ve always felt that grades are probably the most significant thing in our entire education system, and honestly, everything seems to revolve around them; they dictate a student's whole future, while nobody really seems to care about actual knowledge or deep understanding. It's kind of like what I always say—you just cram everything into your head today, recite it back perfectly tomorrow, and then by the day after, you've completely forgotten it all, and I guess in three days, no one is ever going to ask you about it again. They'll just move on to some other topic, and you'll find yourself just repeating the exact same cycle over and over.

And you’re still basing everything on your own experiences from twenty years ago...? I guess that’s one way to look at it, though maybe it’s a bit outdated, isn't it?🕺

I suppose you wouldn't want to spend too much time collaborating with people who might not exactly possess the sharpest analytical tools, right? It seems like a bit of a stretch to take experiences from working with those types of individuals and then try to spin them into universal truths that don't really hold any water. I mean, maybe it happens, but it feels like a flawed way to look at things, if you ask me.
I suppose, if I’m being honest, grades tend to become this massive, looming priority for parents—which, by extension, puts an incredible amount of pressure on the kids themselves, too. It feels like everything just centers around that GPA or whether a student is hitting certain benchmarks, almost as if those numbers are the only thing that truly matters in the grand scheme of things. Maybe it’s just how we’ve been conditioned to view success here in the States, but it seems like parents often get caught up in the metrics, perhaps unintentionally creating this heavy atmosphere where a child's worth is tied directly to their report card.
I suppose, if you look at it from the perspective of the teachers, those grades are really just nothing more than a single numerical value used to quantify knowledge, purely for the sake of providing some kind of feedback to the parents.
I suppose it’s worth mentioning that the grading rubrics in every single school, regardless of the subject matter, are worked out down to the smallest possible detail; it's all laid out so clearly that you can see exactly what you need to master—and just how much of it you actually need to know—to land a specific grade.
If you take a moment to do a little digging online, I guess you’ll eventually find that there isn't really any mention of specific definitions or rote memorization being required, especially when it comes to those top-tier grades that go beyond just meeting the basic requirements.☕

urbantinker8 said:I guess I should probably start by saying that I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately, though I’m not entirely sure if it matters much in the grand scheme of things. It seems like we often find ourselves circling back to these same old patterns, almost as if we’re stuck in some kind of loop that we can't quite break out of, even when we know better. Maybe it’s just the way things work, or perhaps it's just us being human, which is its own kind of complication, I suppose. Anyway, looking at what urbantinker8 was saying, it really does make you wonder about the underlying reasons for why we react the way we do when faced with these kinds of shifts in our daily lives. It’s a bit subtle, isn't it? Not something you notice right away, but once it hits you, it lingers. I don't know, maybe I'm overthinking it, but there's definitely something there worth pondering if one has the patience for it.

Are you honestly convinced that the curriculum and all those training programs haven't shifted one bit in the twenty years since you finished that famous technical institute of yours? I mean, I guess it’s possible, though it seems unlikely, given how much everything tends to drift over such a long stretch of time.
I suppose you’re under the impression that if someone didn't learn it directly from PIG, then nobody else—neither before nor after your tenure—ever bothered to learn it at all, right?
I was just wondering where you actually pulled that 10% figure from regarding students in business schools and similar vocational programs? I guess I might have missed the specific study or report you're looking at, maybe, since I haven't come across those exact numbers in my own reading lately.

I’m interested in all of it, really. Please, feel free to share whatever is on your mind.☕

I guess I should probably start by saying that I’ve been thinking about this quite a bit lately, though I’m not entirely sure if anyone else has even noticed the shift in how things are moving. It feels like we’re constantly being told one thing, only to have the reality on the ground turn out to be something else entirely, which I suppose is just how life works most of the time, isn't it? I was reading through some old discussions—you know, the kind where people used to actually sit down and weigh the pros and cons without rushing to a conclusion—and it struck me how much the tone has changed. Maybe it’s just me, or maybe it’s the general atmosphere of the country right now, but there seems to be this constant pressure to have an immediate, loud opinion on everything. I tend to prefer a more measured approach, I guess, where you let the dust settle before deciding if something is actually a disaster or just a minor hiccup in the grand scheme of things. It’s easy to get swept up in the noise, but I find myself drifting toward those quieter, more contemplative corners of the internet where people still value nuance. Or perhaps I'm just getting older and more cynical, which is always a possibility, but I think there's a certain dignity in waiting to see how the pieces fall into place before making a definitive statement. It’s a slow process, I know, and it might not be particularly exciting for everyone, but it feels like the only way to stay somewhat grounded when everything else feels so incredibly frantic.

I suppose I’ve been sitting here wondering, somewhat aimlessly, about the whole dynamic between teachers and parents lately, specifically regarding whether there's any actual willingness on the part of educators to essentially pay parents to step in and do their jobs. It sounds like a bit of a wild concept when you first say it out loud, doesn't it? But I guess if you look at the current state of the American education system—where everyone seems a little burnt out and stretched thin—you start to wonder where the lines are drawn. I mean, is there really a scenario where a teacher might feel compelled to compensate a parent just to handle some of the administrative or instructional heavy lifting that they simply don't have the bandwidth for anymore? Maybe it's more about a subtle exchange of value than literal cash, though I suppose that's a bit of a stretch. It feels like we're entering this strange territory where the traditional roles are getting all blurred, and I can't quite decide if it's a practical solution to a systemic problem or just a sign that things are becoming increasingly disorganized. I guess it depends on how you view the responsibility of the school versus the home, which is a conversation that never really seems to end.

Of course not, goodness gracious.🙂
It’s more of a philosophical question than anything else, I suppose, but it really gets at the heart of things—how much would you actually be willing to pay, and to what extent, just to have me handle the responsibilities of a surgeon for you?🙂
I suppose if I weren't actually getting paid to do my job, most people wouldn't even let me draw a single sheep for them, let alone trust me to watch over their livestock or try teaching their kids anything at all.☕
I guess there’s a small, somewhat stubborn part of me that actually finds itself craving homeschooling, if I’m being honest. It’s just this nagging feeling that if everyone were forced to step outside the traditional system, they might finally open their eyes and realize how much time they’ve spent tearing things down for absolutely no reason at all. Maybe people would stop all that senseless finger-pointing once they actually had to face the reality of it themselves.
I suppose people could just go back to focusing on their actual jobs, leaving education—and honestly, a pretty significant chunk of upbringing too—to the professionals who actually specialize in that field and know how to handle it properly.🥳

Susan James said:@JohnDoe-25, I remember learning about interest rates back when I was in seventh grade in middle school (I think that was about 🤣 years ago).
And I’m pretty sure kids are still being taught the exact same thing, along with percentages, in seventh grade today.
Middle school is mandatory,
and seventh grade is part of that core curriculum,
so everyone gets the chance to learn it.

So, what are you actually suggesting regarding interest calculations?
Should we increase math hours in seventh grade so kids get more practice?
Or maybe tighten up the grading criteria for units that cover interest?
Or should bankers come in and teach it instead of math teachers?
What’s your take? If I’m understanding you correctly, you’re an instructor yourself, so go ahead—how would you pass this info on to kids and teens?

Again, the material is already in the school system. How would you organize the process so these kids truly grasp it, see how it works in the real world, and actually remember it by the time they're applying for credit?
(Word problems, reading comprehension, basic addition and subtraction are all covered in the earlier elementary grades. Playing "store" or "grocery shop" is something they start in preschool, though you'll often see older kids playing it during after-school programs right around the time they master their basic arithmetic...)

Michael Nguyen2 said:But seriously, how are parents supposed to track their kid's progress without actual grades? If a student pulls a 4.0 GPA, everyone knows exactly where they stand, right? 🤣?
If we switched to just descriptive feedback, most parents wouldn't bother reading it anyway, and then they'd be right back to demanding numbers. 👏
Interesting read, though. You always have to know what the opposition is cooking up.😁

urbantinker8 said:Again, you're just... sorry, caricaturing things.

Interest rates are covered in various subjects, depending on how specialized the school is, I guess.
As for writing official correspondence, that’s practiced intensively in foreign language classes; I actually know quite a few English teachers who somehow manage to squeeze that into the curriculum.
The stuff about summer vacations is what younger kids in elementary school write about. That seems pretty normal, I suppose. Or do you think eight or nine-year-olds should be expected to know how to draft a resume and a cover letter?🙄

For me, the absolute peak of this absurdity has to be those essays on the SATs. These silly American gimmicks involving strict word counts and such low literacy requirements just to pass the first level really ought to be abolished.
But noooo, that's "external assessment," and we aren't allowed to touch that.😲

Susan James said:That's why they'll probably focus on equipping schools for photographers (which really should be a course, not a three-year vocational trade), hairdressers (who we have plenty of exporting right now), or painters and wallpaper installers (tasks most DIY enthusiasts handle just fine using a few YouTube tutorials without needing formal schooling)....

I've been thinking about this for a few days—all these "modernized" career paths. It honestly feels like it's just a way to prevent certain teaching positions from being phased out. Now, reading the news, it looks like they're even targeting specific workshops for funding... and when I say "funding," I mean finding ways to wash through European Union grants. 🕺

At the end of the day, no curriculum reform makes any sense unless you have motivated, enthusiastic teachers who actually believe in their mission and are ready to defend their teaching methods against both parental pressure and passing trends.

Larry Walker24 said:And most importantly, a colleague of mine over in the States told me students REFUSE to learn anything that won't show up on the SATs, basically saying there's no point in learning it.

Don't even get me started on the kids we see coming out of middle school who can't even handle basic math problems involving numbers up to 10 and some parentheses!!!

As for everything else regarding the American language, I already covered that in another thread so I won't repeat myself.

Larry Walker24 said:And most importantly, a colleague of mine over in the States told me students REFUSE to learn anything that won't show up on the SATs, basically saying there's no point in learning it.

Don't even get me started on the kids we see coming out of middle school who can't even handle basic math problems involving numbers up to 10 and some parentheses!!!

As for everything else regarding the American language, I already covered that in another thread so I won't repeat myself.

Susan James said:Parents will stop interfering once you stop asking for their permission for everything, stop calling them into school for every little hiccup, showing them every single test score, and begging them to help the kids study.

Honestly, seeing how much debate has flared up here over minor details—like whether certain facts in a geography lesson are being taught or not—makes it pretty obvious how much energy is being wasted on trivialities. It lets parents dictate how you do your job, and usually, they just end up criticizing it.
The Secretary of Education is doing the exact same thing with her proposed education law changes. It’s such a shame that as professionals, you didn't step up and react to that.
In the online consultation proposals, there's a ton of copy-paste nonsense from people demanding homeschooling or insisting that parents are the ultimate authority on their child's upbringing and should be left entirely to their own devices.
But hey, once the law passes, at least we'll have legalized the flaws in our school system. That'll probably lead to even more chaos in the classroom, since parents will likely have to give permission for every school counselor or psychologist visit. I wouldn't be surprised if it extends to medical checkups too, because apparently, the parent is always right. That's what the Secretary says, anyway,)
If you look at the link, you can see how underserved communities are facing pressure regarding where USA funds should be directed. To me, that’s further proof that some schools need urgent modernization before others (and I'm pretty sure training photographers and hairstylists isn't a national priority... unless being a blogger or YouTuber is one of the top career goals for kids these days?)

Larry Walker24 said:This is exactly what they should be teaching at PIG.

wanderingbadger44;67053597

Americans rule the world not because of our wars 🤣 but because of their own. They have brute force said:

How is it even possible that people this dim-witted and uneducated can manage to organize an army capable of fighting across an entire continent? How do they even know where to deploy those troops when they can barely read a map? They want to attack Vietnam or North Korea, and then accidentally stumble into Canada instead?