Posts by Jason Morgan

Brandon Brooks11 said:Is that a typo? That number is closer to three hours a day. 🙂

No, that’s how it works on my end.

Good heavens, I don't mean that at all—quite actually the exact opposite of what I just wrote above.

That’s just another metaphor on my part, because honestly, I don't recall anyone ever asking me about Ugandan geography or the minority populations of Uzbekistan back in high school—let alone during middle school.
I can only assume the rest of the students following that same curriculum were just as lost as I was.

rowdypanther12 said:I use that as a metaphor too. 🤷

Alright, but what exactly are we talking about here? Is it a metaphor for grammatical cases, or perhaps the state of the economy in the Netherlands...?

rowdypanther12 said:This is exactly what I’m struggling to wrap my head around. Why would someone who actually enjoys learning—someone bright, curious, and genuinely engaged with school—be forced to memorize how to extract seed potatoes? It feels like such useless trivia. What kind of information is that, and why on earth should anyone be tested on it for five points?
Why can't the time we spend on these things be redirected toward more interesting subjects, or toward actually helping us grasp and connect fundamental concepts?

Good grief, it was meant to be a metaphor for overly granular lessons. I promise you, nobody is sitting in an American classroom studying potato export yields.

Well, kids like that shouldn't be forced to rote memorize everything.

If it’s obvious they’re struggling, I haven't met a single teacher who would demand they sketch out the entire intricacies of the feudal system in exhaustive detail. They’ll just ask them to explain what the feudal system was, in broad strokes.
The same goes for geography—they might be asked where the world's largest oil reserves are located, or to identify the most populated regions and the largest countries on the map.

No one expects these students to master the entire curriculum to the level required of an honors student, quite simply because it makes no sense. Middle school is meant to provide a foundational education, not an exhaustive deep dive.
Everyone has to go through middle school, so there's really no point in forcing everyone through the exact same high-pressure filter.
Just think back to your own middle school classes. In mine, nothing was off-limits, but I am convinced my teacher was absolutely right when he only required us to know the major European capitals at the end of the year, rather than the top producer of luxury cars or the leading exporter of seed potatoes. To demand more would have just resulted in failing students without providing any actual educational value.
That is a completely different matter entirely: the lazy, arrogant, or neglected kids who actually have the capacity to do much more.

David Palmer5 said:So, it feels like all this talk about integration and inclusion is mostly just empty rhetoric...
It honestly seems like things worked better back when schools had dedicated special education classrooms—you had fewer kids to worry about, which meant you could actually give them the attention they deserved.
That said, I don't quite get the pushback; why is it such a massive ordeal to just give a kid with learning challenges simpler assignments or customized tests tailored specifically to their level?

No, they get separate tests and customized oral exams.
And sure, you can walk by during class and hand them something a bit more manageable, but how on earth are you supposed to pull that off every single day within a forty-five-minute period—especially when you're juggling two students with accommodations alongside the rest of the class? There simply isn't enough time in the day. Plus, there aren't even specialized textbooks available for them.

Specialized programs exist for children with partial integration needs (those closer to mild intellectual disabilities), where they attend specialized instruction three days a week. In those settings, they truly thrive, and their progress is honestly quite remarkable because of that specific environment.

David Palmer5 said:It really shouldn't work that way. A true accommodation should mean narrowing down the scope of the material, letting the student move at their own pace, and simplifying the tests. I actually thought there were specific textbooks designed for this sort of thing...

In theory? Absolutely. In practice? Not a chance. We’re still stuck with the same one-hour periods, the same single teacher, and the same crowded classroom. Who exactly is going to manage twenty-five typical students plus one student with specific needs all within a single hour? The answer is: nobody.

The whole concept of an individualized education program is a complete farce. At its core, the child is still stuck in the exact same classroom, forced to listen to the same curriculum that they can’t even begin to wrap their heads around. It essentially boils down to a system where they just need to grasp a tiny fraction of the material to scrape by with a C, and if they aren't causing a scene, teachers feel obligated to hand out those passing grades just to keep the peace.

Kimberly Williams51 said:It looks like moderator Amelia is just trolling in the next thread over:

http://www.forum.com/showthread.php?t=791705&page=14

I can't even tell if she actually changed the thread title from "Baby" to "Babies."

Are you really reporting posts that are over a year old?

Which teachers are actually redundant?

We’ve got a surplus of English, history, and elementary school teachers.

Meanwhile, there's a perpetual shortage of foreign language instructors, physicists, and math teachers.

I haven't encountered the opposite trend anywhere else (unless you count Washington, D.C.)

It feels incredibly foolish to extend schooling to nine years just to overhaul the system so teachers can stay employed.
They should simply split the kids into more classrooms—let's say a maximum of 20 students per room. They could even implement specialized tracks for different learning levels, similar to how they do things in Germany, instead of forcing this exhausting "one size fits all" approach that serves absolutely nobody. Furthermore, they should assign specific teachers to handle disciplinary issues during class, essentially acting as a dedicated detention officer for those disruptive students. And why not organize after-school programs for children whose parents are both working full-time?
There are so many better ways to utilize unemployed educators to improve the system than merely stretching out the school year.

silentraven6 said:Don't you dare say that out loud, or people will start questioning if you consider yourself gifted!

Don't you know that nowadays, every single American born is treated like a little genius? 😂

Precisely.
I once knew a mother whose kid had a 4.0 GPA, though his report card looked more like a colorful mosaic of grades throughout the year. She spent the entire semester trying to convince me that her child was a natural-born virtuoso who just *loved* the subject, despite the fact that his marks swung wildly from Cs to As to Bs purely by chance. 🤷 Or, of course, she’d claim the professor simply has a vendetta against him. ☕

How many truly gifted children have you actually encountered in your lives?
There are those students who consistently earn straight A's—and believe me, I was one of them—but I wouldn't go so far as to label myself "gifted."
Back at my school, there was this one kid who was the definition of a prodigy. Once you see someone like that, you realize you’ve been using the term way too loosely for everyone else. 😬
To give you an idea: back in sixth grade, a classmate handed him an algebra problem from the eighth-grade curriculum. This kid just... solved it by pure intuition (I am being entirely serious!). He actually told his friend he didn't even know how he arrived at the correct answer; it was simply logical to him. 🙏

How on earth is it possible that nobody seems to have a clue what actually happened with Facebook?
This forum is starting to feel like a David Lynch film.

boldnomad45 said:Before the period starts, besides the cramps, my gums and sinuses always flare up.😠
Anyone else notice this? It’s been happening regardless of what I’m doing. Can't seem to stop it.
Before my period, and after—I’m just a total mess. Anyone else dealing with this?

Yes, my gums tend to swell up too.

On a side note, over the last few months, my pain levels have actually decreased quite a bit (I'm down to just one Nuofen Forte every 7 or 8 hours), though I'm not entirely sure why. I'll likely switch to the pill soon because there isn't much point in continuing this way—mostly for the contraception aspect, but it’s certainly better than constantly poisoning myself with Ibuprofen, which absolutely wreaks havoc on my gut flora.

Angelique Kljajić has checked in ☕

Since this thread is locked—and I really have no desire to dig up that old disaster about the cereal bowl and Tiffany—I just wanted to pull Lyanni aside for a moment. I’m hoping she can dial back the tension a bit. My comments weren't directed at her personally; I was speaking more broadly about parents who insist on calling their kids Angelique Kljajić. Also, regarding that comment about people deserving a ban simply because they aren't fans of modern naming trends... well, perhaps a quick seventy-fold pause before hitting "post" might be wise next time.

☕

These posts are a direct, personal insult to me—partly because they use my actual name, and partly because they target one of our moderators by hers. To put it bluntly, they’re calling us a total cesspool.

I am formally requesting a one-month ban for her; clearly, she has an issue with my name.

I trust the authorities will step up and do their jobs properly. 🙄

Anthony Barrett37 said:I am quite frankly stunned 😲

You saw that too, didn't you? ☕

Anthony Barrett37 said:I mean, what am I even supposed to do with that?

Sent from my Tapatalk.

slycrane94 said:Honestly, seeing so many Tapatalk signatures makes me want to start banning anyone who leaves "sent from Tapatalk" in their post. It’s just incredibly tedious.

If they refuse to strip it from their signature, there's a chance it might just show up as blank.