Posts by Robert Rodriguez9

Jacob Lopez2 said:Shortchanged? Give me a break. Students make their own choices regarding electives, just like any other overlapping course offerings in the public school system.
The only ones getting screwed over here are the religion teachers struggling with their scheduling blocks. Kids can always head to a church on their own time if they want to learn about faith.

I’m not sure on this one, but if they had a choice, they might pick computer science or maybe a language that aligns better with religious studies. Then again, religious education holds a different status than your typical elective since it isn't slotted into the standard schedule alongside the core subjects (thanks to that specific federal agreement).

Then why are kids in religious education being left out?

Same here. He’s still young and thinks he knows it all. 😳

rowdypanther12 said:Yeah, I think someone once asked me what kind of stick was used to beat a donkey in some old story from middle school, if I remember correctly or something like that 😁
If I said it wasn't wooden, that wasn't quite the right answer, so I ended up with a C 😳
Basically, my teacher knew exactly which books I hadn't read and would just mess with me occasionally. Otherwise, he’d give me credit for the readings I actually finished because he was just happy that at least one student in class was actually digging into the literature 😂

Like I said before, it wasn't always about everyone getting a grade. In high school, the teacher would just use one or two specific questions to sniff out who actually did the reading and who didn't. If you gave a deep, detailed answer, you got an A. If you showed zero effort, you got an F. Sometimes you could slide by, though. Same thing during class discussions—if you were super engaged, you got an A; if they caught you off guard and realized you hadn't touched the book, you were looking at an F. That was high school for you. Middle school was just the usual, boring busywork.

Larry Walker24 said:🙏🙏

It’s the same kind of stupid question—like, what color were the curtains in this scene?

Completely pointless.

Luckily, most of us in my high school back in the mid-90s didn't give a damn about the required reading. We’d just cram through the material a few hours before class, which almost never happened.

On my final exams, for English, I had:

Adjectives

V. Novak - The Last Stipančićs

Modernism

Actually, it matters because it’s how you tell who actually read the book and who didn't. These might sound like trivial three-sentence scenes, but they’re usually long descriptions that stick in your head if you've actually read the thing—details you won't find in some online summary. For example, back in high school, we had a question about how Judith prepared herself to seduce Holofernes. You couldn't help but remember those specific pages if you were actually paying attention while reading (with actual comprehension, 😁). I remembered enough detail to pull an A on my 😁 exam, and honestly, that was the only question meant to test if we'd actually finished the book.
By the way, I rarely touched the required reading list in high school, but I've been a reader since I was in preschool. ☕

Michelle Nelson4 said:I honestly don't get why people claim elementary schoolers shouldn't be doing book reports in a standardized format. My daughter has been doing them since the second half of first grade: author, title, character analysis... plus a drawing. Over the break, she actually tackled a fourth-grade level report—it was 11 pages long, though about 9 of those were just notes. Personally, I feel like it’s all a bit pointless; she’s learned how to churn out 200 bullet points, yet they've never actually had to write a cohesive essay on a specific topic. It would be a hundred times more useful if she had to write one page on a concrete subject using an introduction, thesis, argumentation, and a conclusion. But of course, that's not how it works. I know she'll still get an A because she turned in 11 pages and hit all the required checkboxes (title, bio, etc.). I suppose our academics know exactly what they're doing; after all, they are products of this same school system, and they are *so* incredibly expert at producing yet another generation that thinks exactly like they do.

Naturally, the kid doesn't question the logic of it all anymore—she just rolls with it. She wrote it exactly as instructed. My daughter is truly an epic success story of the American education system and its approach to reading assignments. 👏

On the other hand, with their science experiments, they did exactly what Amazon requires for homework: they had to solve every problem by describing the experiments and drawing their own conclusions. 🙂

In my kid's class, they just do what the teacher assigned, and I have no clue how long that'll last. Personally, I love that they handle everything during class time. It lets the teacher introduce the book gradually instead of the kid coming home with a bunch of homework questions and having zero idea how to tackle them.
Back in high school, we didn't really have to write anything down, but we had these intense classroom discussions where the teacher could tell immediately if you hadn't read the book. 😁 Grading was pretty blunt—you either got an A or an F, nothing in between, and not everyone even got graded. To pull an A, you had to be fully engaged and know specific details you couldn't just find in a summary. If you sat there silent and clueless, you were getting an F.

Peter Doyle2 said:Man, I’ve been thinking about this too—I'm genuinely curious what they're actually up to in high school.
My daughter is only in second grade, and they don't really assign specific required reading lists yet. But instead, they have this whole "Home Reading" program, and she practically comes home with a different book every single day. Sometimes it's fiction, sometimes it's non-fiction—like yesterday, she had this book all about how milk turns into ice cream. They spend time in the school library every day and pick out books to read right there in class (since they don't really use traditional textbooks). She reads incredibly well without us having to lift a finger at home; she just loves reading and absolutely loves school. I honestly don't think it'll hurt her in the long run that she isn't sitting there dissecting every single plot point, setting, timeline, or character arc for every little book... 😬

Mine is in second grade too, and so far they've just done group or individual worksheets to cover their reading assignments. From what I can tell, they haven't started that deep-dive analysis yet.😁 I love that they have this approach and are gradually getting used to this style of work and writing. It seems like most kids who get assigned books at home end up just having their parents write them.

Peter Doyle2, since you're up there in Canada, see if you can dig up what they're actually teaching in schools over there.

Susan James said:

Yeah, that’s exactly why.
I actually remember when we didn't really start cursive until second grade, and then moved on to other scripts in third.
I recall some of us being totally confused—like, why do we have to learn print and cursive at the same time now? We transitioned to the standard alphabet much slower back then.

To my fellow elementary school teachers... do you remember if we learned cursive in first or second grade back when we were kids?

Unfortunately, there are certain groups of parents (and I've heard experts say this too) who argue against teaching cursive entirely, claiming it's useless since everyone uses keyboards nowadays.
But I truly believe we need to teach cursive. It's great for fine motor skills, and it's fantastic for brain development. Practicing it makes a lot of sense.

I wouldn't say that. I'm pretty sure we did everything in 1st grade, and I'm certain Cyrillic was in 3rd.

Well, I feel a lot better now. My eyes were actually bleeding reading your post, and I’m not even a grammar Nazi. There's really no need to go on a massive rant about definitions and rules. ☕

Do you teach at a school, or did I just get you mixed up with someone else? 🤔

🤣What can I even say about this?

Around here, it's both green and smart. 😬

Look, rearranging heavy desks every single day isn't exactly fun. 😬

Michelle Nelson4 said:I assume they’re doing some kind of group work and then just flip the desks around afterward. That explains why they mention how schools in other countries use furniture on wheels to make rearranging the layout a breeze.

It really strikes me how few students there are, though. Back home in the States, we can barely fit everyone into a classroom even with fifteen desks lined up in perfect military rows...

If I remember correctly, I think people were saying enrollment at that school was pretty low to begin with. 🤔 So it’s not surprising they’re trying out new things just to attract students—or rather, parents. 😁 (edit: rowdypanther12 beat me to it)

Regarding those federal grants and exchange programs, from my own experience, they always look much better on paper than they do in practice, especially for the kids. I’m not saying the kids aren't doing anything, but when you compare the paperwork to reality, there's a gap. Still, hey, at least they're pulling funds to actually get stuff done. Any kind of change is probably a step forward.
My kid's school wasn't part of the first wave of reforms, they aren't in any STEM initiatives, and they don't have those fancy exchange programs. Even so, some teachers—especially the younger ones—still put in the work to push for changes and snag some decent tech for their classrooms. 🙏

My neck actually hurts just thinking about kids having to spin 180 degrees toward a chalkboard. Or is that just for show during photos? 🤔

I’ve been thinking about how much easier life would be if we just restructured teacher schedules. Instead of grouping all the kids who struggle with certain subjects into one massive, disorganized mess—like they do at my local high school—why not prioritize the instructors? If we focused on building more cohesive blocks for the teachers, we wouldn't have these constant gaps and scheduling headaches for the students.

Susan James said:I'm generally on the same page as the Secretary
Quincy:

When asked about what happens to the history, geography, and biology teachers at those specific schools, the Secretary pointed out that school schedules shouldn't be bent to accommodate individual teachers; instead, they have to prioritize what the students actually need.

The only way out might be for some of them to retrain for different roles. If we're expected to pick up the tab for that, we’re looking at a massive headache. We already have plenty of unemployed historians out there, so why should taxpayers fund their retraining? Honestly, if people wanted to teach computer science or math, they probably would have gone into those fields from the start rather than picking history...

It’s not just that they could have; most of them probably wouldn't have even survived a math or CS program, nor did they ever care for it. For some, it's just easier to grind through what they know. I can't picture these older professors who can barely use a computer acting as tech instructors, let alone teachers who aren't built for these fields being forced into retraining just to keep their jobs. It makes me worry about the actual quality of education students would receive.🙄

They need to learn how to count cash, weigh items, stock the shelves, and type on a register, because I honestly don't know what else those pathetic retail workers do all day. If you've got connections, maybe you'll bump up to shift lead or branch manager, but even then, the owner will probably give you some extra "training" just to get you there.

Brandon Foster7 said:Maybe we should just scrap schools entirely and send kids straight to church instead.
Total Middle Ages vibes.
Really hoping someone with half a brain stops this circus before it gets out of hand.

The sad part is, nobody will.