I know my vacation is just going to fly by.....
So, an update.
WE"RE MOVING!!!! to a non-smelly apartment more central to our jobs with a happier layout and nicer carpet. Last week of June....
Let's see, I've filed the pile of papers. Gone grocery shopping and shopping at Penney's. Picked up a little bit around the apartment. Made Chicken Alfredo...didn't turn out too bad but the sauce needed more salt. and I've played lots of WoW.
Josh and I had an interested discussion about education last night in lieu of the new bill that will require 4 years of Math and Science to graduate (that's each). and the teachers get a "$2000" raise-- 500 of which is actually a 500 healthcare stipend that was taken away that's being given back...
Anyways, about the discussion. Our disagreement seems to come down to the fact that we have a different philosophy about the meaning of a high school diploma and just what high school is for. He supports the 4 year M/S req, I don't. He supports it because it's raising the standards for graduation...a good thing I know, but I'm not sure that it's necessary for a person to be able to be a functioning member of society. Really, how often do people use Algebra II as it is? Now if a student is planning on attending college, I STRONGLY recommend that they have the 4 years of Math at a minimum and at least 3 in Science. Josh thinks (and I'll be surprised if he isn't working up a post in his head while working today) that it'll make a HSD more meaningful and people will have a better understanding of the world around them. I don't know...I realize we shouldn't really make it easier for people to graduate high school, but I don't think we should make it harder either. The discussion got really fun when Josh started saying that if teachers were doing what they should, it wouldn't be up for discussion. Hehehe. I reminded him that nobody has been blaming the students and their lack of motivation or caring. But then, as they taught as at LeTU....it's up to the teachers to motivate the students. *sigh* There are so many problems with the system....
Granted, people need more critical thinking skills when they leave high school, but how is more math and science going to teach it? Especially since they seem to have taken proofs out of geometry... as much as I hate proofs... *sigh* Hmm. time for breakfast. Especially since today's project is clean the bathrooms and kitchen...
Posted by Anna at June 1, 2006 10:05 AM | TrackBackReally, I think I'm with Josh. I, anyhow, do use Algebra II in my every day life, even when I'm not at work. Now, maybe that's just because I'm a weird freak and can think of anything in terms of numbers or vectors, but I don't think it is.
I remember when I first took College Chemistry (8 years ago?), how baffled I was that people didn't have even a cursory understanding of unit multipliers. The first lecture assignment was to find the teacher's office; I asked a fellow student where it was, and wound up trading her knowledge of campus for my knowledge of unit multipliers. Bear in mind, I was 14 or 15, and this girl was 18-20 and a high school graduate, and had no concept, whatsoever, of unit multipliers. She wasn't just a little rusty, she was just clueless.
People might say that they don't use Algebra II in their everyday lives, but I argue that the people who say that are the people who didn't do well in the class, with some exceptions. Of course, if one doesn't have a tool, one cannot make use of it. Unit multipliers are a great example of a very useful, down-to-earth application of Algebra: how many tablespoons are in 3 cups? Or more likely, what fraction of a cup is 3 tablespoons? If my car gets 25 MPG and gas costs $3.29, how much does gas cost for a 600 mile trip? That's all algebra, and half of Americans have no idea how to do that.
The science classes are a bit of a different issue... it is harder to justify them in every day life. However, I agree that they are necessary for a well-rounded education.
Now, as you know, I am probably not the first to jump up and defend four years of grammar and literature, but don't misunderstand me: from an objective standpoint, those are just as necessary as math and science, and in my opinion, neither more nor less.
Posted by: Toad at June 1, 2006 10:34 AMI'm sure I'll get myself in trouble, here, since I do not have a degree in education.
Also, I was never that great in math OR science :-D
Having said that, I think education goes beyond what may or may not be "useful."
I make all my kids take some piano, not because I hope any will major in music. But somewhere down the road, they may find themselves in a little church somewhere, with themselves being the only person who can plunk out a note or two. They may be able to be involved in a ministry that would never cut the grade in a large church.
BUT, even more important than that is the process that is going on in their brain.
Even if they NEVER use music, their brain has (hopefully) been wired in a way that it wouldn't have been had they not studied music at all.
The same goes for Latin. Sure, it's a dead language--meaning no one currently speaks it for everyday communication. But, the very act of struggling to learn a little bit has activated parts of their brains that may be helpful for something later on in life. There's probably a name for this type of approach, I just have no idea what it is...
The practical aspect would be that Latin lends so many derivaties to the English language, that even a modicum of study will aid in discerning vocabulary.
There are just so many things involved....the background and home life of the child, the educational set-up of the younger grades--how much time was spent in ecological and diversity studies instead of the basics?
If the system wants to require more math and science for every student in high school--which could be good--they had better start preparing them in the grade school years.
Anyone involved in classroom teaching has a tough, tough job. It's not just a matter of, "Should we require more math and science, or not?" It involves parents and homelife, slacker kids mixed in with go-getters, the previous curriculum....the whole system.
But basically, I think the concept of requiring 4 years of M/S is a good one. But how to implement it....that is the tricky part.
Posted by: Ma Hoyt at June 1, 2006 11:25 AMMaybe that's what worries me the most about it....the implementation, Ma.
and Toad....that was one of the lessons--unit multipliers with proportions that I did tell my students they would use in the real world. Because they're supposed to learn basics in 8th grade math and we reinforce it in Algebra I. But yeah, and funny....my sister brought up the same thing today on the phone....it's one of the few useful things I took from Chemistry (before I moved from Longview to Lake City).
Thank you for the comments, hope some more are generated!!!
Posted by: anna at June 1, 2006 11:10 PMI'm with Ma on this one: Education should be about more than just picking up tools that you think will be useful. High school, in particular, ought to provide students with a broad assortment of knowledge, if for no other reason than that few high-schoolers really know what they're going to wind up doing for the rest of their lives. *cough*changingmajorslikeIdid*cough*
However, this topic strikes me as somewhat complicated; combined with the fact that the topic interests me, this means I could go on about it for quite some time, possibly without going anywhere. So, rather than bog down Anna's comment space, I think I'll come up with a post of my own about it. (If I do so in the near future, I might comment here to let people know it's done. Or maybe not...)
Posted by: Martinez at June 2, 2006 11:50 AMI'll bypass the M/S issue and just say YAY for the new apartment! Especially that aparment! I was rather impressed by it. To bad they don't rent ones that nice at that price in Dallas. :(
Posted by: Ashley at June 2, 2006 03:51 PM