Friday, February 17, 2006
Who Should Go to High School?
The real question is "What should we do to improve High School?" As you might imagine from my comments on college, I don't believe all secondary school students should be in a college prep track. And in the US, it is obvious that many of the students feel the same way (though there are many reasons for high school violence, drug use, and dropouts; you can't totally blame the conditions in high schools on curricula). But there have been countless designs of multi-track (or separate) schools; nearly every country from the UK to Russia has tried a different approach to secondary schools. Gymnasium, Lyceum, Teknikum, Vocational Tech, Gesamtschule, Realschule, Hauptschule... They have been related to social or economic class, to future jobs or university, to race, gender, religion, or language, to indoctrination or pre-military training. Some have been open to anyone, while others have a very restricted admittance; some are free and others very costly; some are prestigious and others saddle their students with an enduring stigma. And even with a single program, some schools are well-supported financially (and have excellent teachers, facilities, computers, extracurricular programs) while others struggle to provide even the most dismal education (efforts to even out these inequities, such as the Robin Hood taxing system in Texas, usually cut back on programs at rich school districts without markedly improving poor ones; as always, throwing money rarely solves problems).
If you are looking down here for my solution for high schools... sorry. I have some opinions, but no solutions.
(1) They should be safe, for both students and teachers; no weapons, no drugs, no gangs, no rapes, no beatings.
(2) Classes should be conducted in English; we simply can't provide education in every language that exists in this country... Urdu, Basque, Cantonese, Swahili, Pidgin, Arabic, Ukrainian, Finnish, Spanish, German, Czech, Japanese, Hawaiian, and Greek (among others).
(3) School taxes and bond issues must become affordable; e.g., I would pass new infrastructure costs on to the developers (more on this in some later post).
(4) It is more important for educators to know their subjects than to take education courses (oddly, the worst course I ever took in college was in the Education Department; what does that tell you?).
(5) Every student should be happy and proud about the track they follow, whether pre-university, pre-trade, pre-service, or simply preparing to be a good citizen.
(6) Every student, in every track, should be skilled at reading and with enough mathematical understanding to know what compound interest does; preferably before they enter high school, but certainly before they leave.
(7) I would like to see every student also acquire skills of cooperation; perhaps through school politics, clubs, sports, band, yearbook, or whatever cooperative venture most appeals. But not through gangs.
(8) I would hope that every student would have a creative outlet; writing, dance, dressmaking, art, poetry, drama, pimping their ride, jewelery construction, woodworking, freestyle boarding, scrapbooking...
(9) There should be a track that prepares kids for university; there should also be one that effectively apprentices kids to a trade (and allows them to earn some money at the same time). Neither should be thought of as superior to the other, and both should be available to everyone.
(10) I am not sure, but I think there should not be universal standardized testing (of either students or teachers), and that courses should not be designed as simply cram sessions for such tests. Also, teachers should be more autonomous in their design of lesson plans, selection of text books, and choice of course subjects (I know lots of people will rabidly object to that idea... the foam is dripping from their jaws even now).
If you are looking down here for my solution for high schools... sorry. I have some opinions, but no solutions.
(1) They should be safe, for both students and teachers; no weapons, no drugs, no gangs, no rapes, no beatings.
(2) Classes should be conducted in English; we simply can't provide education in every language that exists in this country... Urdu, Basque, Cantonese, Swahili, Pidgin, Arabic, Ukrainian, Finnish, Spanish, German, Czech, Japanese, Hawaiian, and Greek (among others).
(3) School taxes and bond issues must become affordable; e.g., I would pass new infrastructure costs on to the developers (more on this in some later post).
(4) It is more important for educators to know their subjects than to take education courses (oddly, the worst course I ever took in college was in the Education Department; what does that tell you?).
(5) Every student should be happy and proud about the track they follow, whether pre-university, pre-trade, pre-service, or simply preparing to be a good citizen.
(6) Every student, in every track, should be skilled at reading and with enough mathematical understanding to know what compound interest does; preferably before they enter high school, but certainly before they leave.
(7) I would like to see every student also acquire skills of cooperation; perhaps through school politics, clubs, sports, band, yearbook, or whatever cooperative venture most appeals. But not through gangs.
(8) I would hope that every student would have a creative outlet; writing, dance, dressmaking, art, poetry, drama, pimping their ride, jewelery construction, woodworking, freestyle boarding, scrapbooking...
(9) There should be a track that prepares kids for university; there should also be one that effectively apprentices kids to a trade (and allows them to earn some money at the same time). Neither should be thought of as superior to the other, and both should be available to everyone.
(10) I am not sure, but I think there should not be universal standardized testing (of either students or teachers), and that courses should not be designed as simply cram sessions for such tests. Also, teachers should be more autonomous in their design of lesson plans, selection of text books, and choice of course subjects (I know lots of people will rabidly object to that idea... the foam is dripping from their jaws even now).
Thursday, February 16, 2006
One Letter Changes (2)
Make a new word and define it, by adding, subtracting, or changing a single letter...
orthopox - a correct lesion
upskale - superior leafy vegetable
rediculous - overly bright lipstick
ridiculouse - an absurd skin parasite
pesterior - chiggers in the butt
texidermy - the stuffing of cowboys (not a reference to Brokeback Mountain)
taxidormy - college students who sleep in cabs
taxipermy - what results when you try to do your hair while riding in a cab (after sleeping there?)
toxidermy - having poisonous skin
dolphink - tattletale porpoise
orthopox - a correct lesion
upskale - superior leafy vegetable
rediculous - overly bright lipstick
ridiculouse - an absurd skin parasite
pesterior - chiggers in the butt
texidermy - the stuffing of cowboys (not a reference to Brokeback Mountain)
taxidormy - college students who sleep in cabs
taxipermy - what results when you try to do your hair while riding in a cab (after sleeping there?)
toxidermy - having poisonous skin
dolphink - tattletale porpoise
Who Should Go to College?
Perhaps a third of those who do so now. Where did we get the idea that everyone who graduates from high school must go on to college? Universities are too crowded, and too expensive, and have too many requirements, and keep you out of the job market too long, and don't really prepare you for the job you will be doing. On the other hand, they do expose you to new cultures, allow you to meet new friends, have lots and lots of fun stuff to do (resulting in your taking five or six years to graduate!), and perhaps, if you're lucky, get you thinking (something you probably never bothered with in high school).
It is very disheartening to teach a college class that is filled with students who don't want to be there, are bored, sleepy, hungry and horny, never ask questions, rarely pay much attention to homework, resent tests, can't imagine why the course will ever be of value to them, and haven't even picked up the skills in high school that they need to excel in the class. Many people think that the undergraduate degree proves their value to future employers (not really... companies would much rather see practical, real-world experience on that resume; and grades are so inflated that recruiters tend to ignore them now). Students are also under the illusion that the degree guarantees a job, even with a major in a non-applied field. I've known lots of smart students with a shiny new bachelor's degree that could not find a job (at any salary) in their major, and they wind up making do, unhappily, in an industry with little relation to their college program.
So I have two plans, one for college and one alternative (I'll talk about the latter when I discuss high school in a later entry). Here's the college plan: The student, upon entering college, signs a contract for payment of four years of tuition and fees, and receives an ID card and a diploma. If the diploma is all you want from college, you can leave with it right away, and save yourself four years of heartache! But if you really want to take advantage of college, the ID card gives you access to classes, labs, advisors, sporting events, libraries, the student union, and all that college stuff. No requirements, no pre-requisites... you can take whatever courses and labs you want, in any order. You already know Calc-1? Go right into Calc-2. Not interested in Texas History? Forget it. Now, I would recommend you take full advantage of those advisors I mentioned! They'll tell you that you'll get more out of the Organic Chemistry course if you take the lab also. But they'll also tell you how to have more fun than traditional curricula allow. For example, Abstract Algebra is a wonderfully entertaining course (if taught well)... you Philosophy and Law majors were probably never told that! This plan of mine also has a wonderful advantage; namely, nobody will be in a classroom unless they want to be there. This is good for everyone; teachers, interested students, and the absent uninterested ones. And people can proceed at the pace best for them, whether that is two courses a semester or eight. If your four years runs out without your finishing the studies you want, you can pay some more to get your ID card extended for another year at a time. Another advantage (that some professors will hate)... if a course is taught poorly, students won't take it; and if nobody takes your course, you won't get paid to teach it. So, an automatic quality control for courses is built in.
It is very disheartening to teach a college class that is filled with students who don't want to be there, are bored, sleepy, hungry and horny, never ask questions, rarely pay much attention to homework, resent tests, can't imagine why the course will ever be of value to them, and haven't even picked up the skills in high school that they need to excel in the class. Many people think that the undergraduate degree proves their value to future employers (not really... companies would much rather see practical, real-world experience on that resume; and grades are so inflated that recruiters tend to ignore them now). Students are also under the illusion that the degree guarantees a job, even with a major in a non-applied field. I've known lots of smart students with a shiny new bachelor's degree that could not find a job (at any salary) in their major, and they wind up making do, unhappily, in an industry with little relation to their college program.
So I have two plans, one for college and one alternative (I'll talk about the latter when I discuss high school in a later entry). Here's the college plan: The student, upon entering college, signs a contract for payment of four years of tuition and fees, and receives an ID card and a diploma. If the diploma is all you want from college, you can leave with it right away, and save yourself four years of heartache! But if you really want to take advantage of college, the ID card gives you access to classes, labs, advisors, sporting events, libraries, the student union, and all that college stuff. No requirements, no pre-requisites... you can take whatever courses and labs you want, in any order. You already know Calc-1? Go right into Calc-2. Not interested in Texas History? Forget it. Now, I would recommend you take full advantage of those advisors I mentioned! They'll tell you that you'll get more out of the Organic Chemistry course if you take the lab also. But they'll also tell you how to have more fun than traditional curricula allow. For example, Abstract Algebra is a wonderfully entertaining course (if taught well)... you Philosophy and Law majors were probably never told that! This plan of mine also has a wonderful advantage; namely, nobody will be in a classroom unless they want to be there. This is good for everyone; teachers, interested students, and the absent uninterested ones. And people can proceed at the pace best for them, whether that is two courses a semester or eight. If your four years runs out without your finishing the studies you want, you can pay some more to get your ID card extended for another year at a time. Another advantage (that some professors will hate)... if a course is taught poorly, students won't take it; and if nobody takes your course, you won't get paid to teach it. So, an automatic quality control for courses is built in.
