Baltimore to ban grades lower than 50%?

[fuelair]

At first I wanted to teach ESL through making media ... I'd still like to do that because these students have some amazing stories. They want Donald Trump to know they're not all rapists.

Excellent idea - one of my SLD students was a whiz at working with color on our editing system. We were happy, he was honored for his skills!!! We also covered Hispanic filmmaking to the extent possible (I have a good collection on it and pretty fair bit of it!).

 

[fuelair]

They offered AP classes to my children but I wasn't a fan and encouraged them not to take them unless they wanted to since no distinction was made between the AP students and the students in the regular curriculum when it came time to decide who got scholarships based on GPA. There was no distinction made for who was valedictorian based on curriculum, you could take the most basic classes and get a 4.0 but the kid taking physics,chemistry, and trig with a 3.9 GPA got beat out by the kids taking easier classes. I still get mad about it to this day when I think about it and my kids are 27 and 32. Either way, it is not right to interfere with the children's lives just so teaching professionals can justify their jobs. I know it sounds harsh but that's the way I feel about it being on the other end of things.

Here, grades are weighted so Honors and AP outweigh regular. On the other point, the only teaching professionals you should be concerned with there are the persons who actually run the school system - the county (or equvalent) staff and the Principal/ Assistant Principals. They make pretty much all the decisions that concern you - not the teachers!!!!!!

Oh, AP courses should not be being taken for any High School purposes - they should be being taken for the way they cn improve chances of getting the college the kids/you want. By June /July after graduation high school no longer means jack for anything.

 

[fuelair]

At first I wanted to teach ESL through making media ... I'd still like to do that because these students have some amazing stories. They want Donald Trump to know they're not all rapists.

And they now can shoot with their phones and send it right off to You Tube!!!!!

 

[Roger Ramjets]

It's great to get to know individual students well enough to figure out why they are unmotivated and come up with strategies to engage them, but it's not easy.

Algebra isn't easy either, for kids who can't grasp it. So who's the lazy one?

"Miss, I don't get this."
...
"But Miss, I don't get this."
...
"Miss, you're confusing me."

They are trying to tell you something, and it's not "I'm too lazy to be bothered doing this".

 

[fuelair]

Canceled -keyboard problems killed most of the post 3X so far.........

 

[Jodie]

Here, grades are weighted so Honors and AP outweigh regular. On the other point, the only teaching professionals you should be concerned with there are the persons who actually run the school system - the county (or equvalent) staff and the Principal/ Assistant Principals. They make pretty much all the decisions that concern you - not the teachers!!!!!!

Oh, AP courses should not be being taken for any High School purposes - they should be being taken for the way they cn improve chances of getting the college the kids/you want. By June /July after graduation high school no longer means jack for anything.

Well this was 20 + or - years ago, I fussed at everyone but accomplished nothing. The lack of AP courses didn't seem to hurt my kids performance in college or in getting scholarships so it all worked out.

 

[quixotecoyote]

Algebra isn't easy either, for kids who can't grasp it. So who's the lazy one?

They are trying to tell you something, and it's not "I'm too lazy to be bothered doing this".

It could be "I don't care enough to put effort into even attempting to think about this, so I'll just keep saying I can't do it until you go away."

Or it could mean something else.

But the person in the best position to interpret it is the person that was there. That person may be wrong, but there's a better chance of that person being right than some other person she relays part of the conversation to.

 

[Jodie]

It really doesn't matter whether the kid can grasp a subject, or not, if there is no motivation to do so, college isn't for everyone. The worst thing they ever took out of the high school curriculum was vocational education and home economics. I've used more things I learned in home ec and algebra/biology/chemistry than any other subjects I had to take in high school.

 

[fuelair]

At first I wanted to teach ESL through making media ... I'd still like to do that because these students have some amazing stories. They want Donald Trump to know they're not all rapists.

I trust they do all know Trump is an anal orifice.

 

[Roger Ramjets]

Or it could mean something else.

It could mean the kids have a better idea than the teacher does of whether they are confused, or just lazy.

Most teaching consists of throwing stuff at the students and hoping they pick it up. Sometimes they don't. Then you call them lazy.

the person in the best position to interpret it is the person that was there. That person may be wrong, but there's a better chance of that person being right than some other person she relays part of the conversation to.

But if that person can't relay her interpretation convincingly, what does that tell you?

 

[Minoosh]

It could mean the kids have a better idea than the teacher does of whether they are confused, or just lazy.

I wrack my brains trying to get through to some kids. If you've tried it and found success, hats off to you.

"What is 2x + 2 if x=3" is substitution - you replace the "x" with 2 and work the problem. They need to understand that "2x" equals "2 times x." Beyond telling them that - in case they have missed it - over-explaining is fraught with peril.

By the time I work with a student, they will have had this explained to them many times. For whatever reason they may have been zoning out in math class for years. It's often not even the algebra that throws them; it is arithmetic that has anything to do with fractions, decimals or negative numbers.

Most teaching consists of throwing stuff at the students and hoping they pick it up.

Maybe where you went to school. That has not been my experience.

Sometimes they don't. Then you call them lazy.

Some of them tell me they're lazy. In other cases I watch their processes and try hard to remove obstacles to understanding, but at some point (and better sooner than later) they need to commit pencil to paper, or marker to whiteboard. Otherwise I will have no way of knowing where to start with a particular student.

But if that person can't relay her interpretation convincingly, what does that tell you?

It tells me you are making this about me, for reasons I don't understand.

 

[Minoosh]

It could mean the kids have a better idea than the teacher does of whether they are confused, or just lazy.

On the chance you are speaking from personal experience, can you tell me where you lost the thread in learning math? It's something I'm trying hard to understand - the near-phobia that paralyzes some people and leaves them forever thinking they're bad at math.

If this isn't you, can you tell me what part of "replace the x with 2 and work the problem" is most likely to confuse a child? Is it the x that makes them freeze up? These students are just at the level where they stop using x as a multiplication sign. I'm wondering if that has thrown generations of students.

ETA: Studies have shown the best tutor for a third-grade math student is a fourth-grade math student. This can be good for both students. I promise you, math educators in the U.S. are looking for ways to break down the barriers to understanding.

 

[Minoosh]

I trust they do all know Trump is an anal orifice.

It's sad. Their feelings are hurt. One said, "Miss, they think we're all rapists." I asked, "Who is they?" White people, rich people, the people up north. This kid was only 14 but I hope the older ones get to the polls, if they are eligible.

 

[fuelair]

It's sad. Their feelings are hurt. One said, "Miss, they think we're all rapists." I asked, "Who is they?" White people, rich people, the people up north. This kid was only 14 but I hope the older ones get to the polls, if they are eligible.

I know you can't tell them this way, but I like this version best: " Well, Ricardo. you have to understand- and I so wish it was not true - but there is a lowlife class of whites that are just plain ignorant racist ******** - and I would not waste a moment of my life worrying about those tirds!!!"

 

[fuelair]

I wrack my brains trying to get through to some kids. If you've tried it and found success, hats off to you.

"What is 2x + 2 if x=3" is substitution - you replace the "x" with 2 and work the problem. They need to understand that "2x" equals "2 times x." Beyond telling them that - in case they have missed it - over-explaining is fraught with peril.

By the time I work with a student, they will have had this explained to them many times. For whatever reason they may have been zoning out in math class for years. It's often not even the algebra that throws them; it is arithmetic that has anything to do with fractions, decimals or negative numbers.

Maybe where you went to school. That has not been my experience.
Some of them tell me they're lazy. In other cases I watch their processes and try hard to remove obstacles to understanding, but at some point (and better sooner than later) they need to commit pencil to paper, or marker to whiteboard. Otherwise I will have no way of knowing where to start with a particular student.



It tells me you are making this about me, for reasons I don't understand.

Having read this from the beginning and reading Roger R, I am assuming but do NOT know that Roger had a similar situation in school or had a child/children who did. That kind of response in a class (absent Honors or OP) is unusual, but not that uncommon. ("Well, if I can't understand it I won't have to do it and I hate school anyway!!!!!!!" is more the situation).

Teachers are not miracle workers and students cannot learn without personal effort. Anyone who feels otherwise is very, very incompetent.

 

[fuelair]

I'm all about getting rid of the homework requirement. I don't remember having so much homework in middle and high school but it wasn't unusual for my children to have 2-3 hours of it after school. That cuts into any kind of recreation or family time, I despised it, and complained many times to the school board about the distortion of values by making "work" seem like THE most important aspect of your life. I think it is a cultural thing here in the U.S.

Oh, skipped this one - the reason for homework is that there is simply not enough time to have student just working problems in class - there is expected to be actual teaching , group learning and related in class - otherwise, the teacher is just randomly monitoring the students working problems and that is considered by admins to be wasted time as the homework part/just working problem sets does not need to be in class BUT discussing random sample problems like there will be in the homework can be.

And in Language Arts, the teacher (if a bad one or misguided) might want to have the students reading the assigned novel in class rather than discussing the latest required part in class or writing an essay describing what they felt was happening in the assigned part. That is a waste of teacher time as it can easily be done at home. The essay or discussion requires they have read the book but can be done without the teacher present!!!!!

 

[Minoosh]

I know you can't tell them this way, but I like this version best: " Well, Ricardo. you have to understand- and I so wish it was not true - but there is a lowlife class of whites that are just plain ignorant racist ******** - and I would not waste a moment of my life worrying about those tirds!!!"

I think they'd get it!

 

[fuelair]

I feel compelled to try!!!!!

 

[Roger Ramjets]

On the chance you are speaking from personal experience, can you tell me where you lost the thread in learning math? It's something I'm trying hard to understand - the near-phobia that paralyzes some people

I had no problem with math. English literature was my nemesis - I couldn't write a passable essay or analyze a poem if someone put a gun to my head...

and leaves them forever thinking they're bad at math.

It doesn't take much to 'miss the boat'. I remember the first time I tried to use paragraphs in a story. The teacher told me I couldn't do that because she hadn't taught us how to yet. Unfortunately I must have been sick the day she gave that lesson, with the result that years later I still couldn't do paragraphs because it was stuck in my mind that I didn't know how...

The subjects I did best in were those that had textbooks. I would teach myself and then reinforce that learning in class. Unfortunately some subjects didn't have textbooks...

If this isn't you, can you tell me what part of "replace the x with 2 and work the problem" is most likely to confuse a child? Is it the x that makes them freeze up? These students are just at the level where they stop using x as a multiplication sign. I'm wondering if that has thrown generations of students.

For young students it's not an easy concept to grasp. I remember wondering why it had to be 'X'. Couldn't you use some other letter, or even a whole word? Math is so confusing...

ETA: Studies have shown the best tutor for a third-grade math student is a fourth-grade math student. This can be good for both students. I promise you, math educators in the U.S. are looking for ways to break down the barriers to understanding.

The 'best' math teacher I had was a lazy prick. He would just tell us what lessons to do and leave the classroom. Then the good students (like me) would teach the poor students. This was great because we could get on with doing the work without distractions, the poor students actually began to understand math, the 'teacher' got to enjoy lots of free time, and we didn't have to put up with him. Everyone was happy!

In another subject I was chastised for trying to help other students. "You're spoiling your chance to be top of the class!"

But hey, that was over 40 years ago! Now we have the Internet, Google, Wikipedia. No need for textbooks and classrooms, the kids can learn it all online...

 

[Jodie]

Montesorri schools work like that. The best way to learn is to teach it.