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Post by rew on Aug 21, 2010 10:40:17 GMT -6
Whatever happened to "Dashboard"? It was touted as the greatest just a few years ago. Haven't heard anyhting in a while.
What ever happened to "Everyday math"? Are they still teaching it?
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 21, 2010 13:42:10 GMT -6
Whatever happened to "Dashboard"? It was touted as the greatest just a few years ago. Haven't heard anyhting in a while. What ever happened to "Everyday math"? Are they still teaching it? It's that outstanding communication the survey says they're doing...oh brother ;D |
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Post by rew on Aug 21, 2010 14:18:30 GMT -6
Not as concerned aboout the commuication aspect as much as 1) did we waste $$$s chasing something untested that turned out to be a waste.
If there's one thing I would say typifies 204 is that we chase a lot of newfangled ideas that don't pan out, yet we are woefully slow to implement technology - think smart boards
and basics - think air conditioning?
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Post by Arch on Aug 21, 2010 16:34:57 GMT -6
If they would spend less time chasing the stupid sh!t and more time actually teaching the materials, things would improve. As it is every little diversion takes away from core learning.... How can one honestly think that less time spent on material helps?
Oh wait, let's just ratchet down the coursework and dumb-down the curriculum to maintain the gpa's... yeah, that's easier to do and doesn't require any real work. It's been very sad to witness this over the years at every grade level. Each kid through a point has had FAR less work assigned than the kid prior to them...and far less is being taught to them as well.
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 21, 2010 17:49:57 GMT -6
If they would spend less time chasing the stupid sh!t and more time actually teaching the materials, things would improve. As it is every little diversion takes away from core learning.... How can one honestly think that less time spent on material helps? Oh wait, let's just ratchet down the coursework and dumb-down the curriculum to maintain the gpa's... yeah, that's easier to do and doesn't require any real work. It's been very sad to witness this over the years at every grade level. Each kid through a point has had FAR less work assigned than the kid prior to them...and far less is being taught to them as well. 10 years between my kids going thru showed me EXACTLY the same thing..my youngest was a straight A student @ Hill who was coasting thru the curriculum without ever learning how to study, how to use proper grammar and therefore write properly -- and never had to bring a book home.. that wasn't the case 10 years earlier. |
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 21, 2010 17:50:49 GMT -6
Not as concerned aboout the commuication aspect as much as 1) did we waste $$$s chasing something untested that turned out to be a waste. If there's one thing I would say typifies 204 is that we chase a lot of newfangled ideas that don't pan out, yet we are woefully slow to implement technology - think smart boards and basics - think air conditioning? our air conditioning was spent in the Metea fiasco - and the refinancing '3 card Monte' |
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Post by southsidesignmaker on Aug 22, 2010 13:24:16 GMT -6
A/C or the lack there of always seems to come up in conversation for the first and last 2 weeks of the school year.
Maybe a discussion of primary school creature comforts from the "over 50 crowd" is in order. I for one was excited when the heat worked well and the roof did not leak over my desk. Of course it was always nice when the nun ordered me to get the mop and bucket, time for a nice break.
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 22, 2010 14:38:21 GMT -6
A/C or the lack there of always seems to come up in conversation for the first and last 2 weeks of the school year. Maybe a discussion of primary school creature comforts from the "over 50 crowd" is in order. I for one was excited when the heat worked well and the roof did not leak over my desk. Of course it was always nice when the nun ordered me to get the mop and bucket, time for a nice break. I didn't have it in school either- nor did we have it at home growing up- but then neither did a lot of people. today it is undeniably more common and I do think would lend itself to a better learning environment. The schools I attended also did not pretend to be better than average either... we tout the schools here as the reason our taxes are so high - I do think A/C would have been a reasonable investment...but we chose to build more monuments to how 'great' we are rather than actually doing something about that. It all comes down to choices.. |
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Post by Arch on Aug 22, 2010 14:39:58 GMT -6
Just because people parrot the party line, doesn't make it true.
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Post by turkeyj5 on Aug 22, 2010 15:59:57 GMT -6
And yes, they are still using Everyday Math, at least in the elementary schools. And yes, it is still weird and hard to follow and not very intuitive, at least for most of the kids I know. I'm sure it helps a few kids who learn well in that convoluted way, but certainly not mine....
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Post by casey on Aug 22, 2010 18:05:16 GMT -6
I've always had a problem with Everyday Math in the fact that they use it and then boom! they hit middle school and it's back to traditional math (forget all about the way they used to learn). How does that work? I've never understood that rationale. For the kids that thrive with the flowery method of Everyday Math they then are just expected to completely reverse gears and move into the much more traditional math. There's no continuity. IMO it's time for the district to scrap Everyday Math - it's not working.
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Post by doctorwho on Aug 22, 2010 18:46:38 GMT -6
And for the sake of the future of the English language- please add grammar to middle school English so that these kids can learn to write properly-- and for those who go elsewhere to high school- so that they don't have to spend their summer taking grammar from tutors so they don't fail freshman English at schools that actually require it.
Spent some time Saturday talking to a parent who is part of a carpool from Stonebridge ( imagine that !) - and another whose kids went to Still & grammar ( and lack of it) was a hot topic
Even Dr D was all over that one
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Post by rew on Aug 23, 2010 8:42:16 GMT -6
May I add one last comment about the AC. Yes I went to a school with no AC and we had a wall of windows to the ceiling that fully opened. There was not a single interior room.
The ES schools in D204 were designed for AC. The rooms have awning windows that open 9" and completely block any breeze.
And no I don't buy the argument that it was good enough forty years ago, so it's good enough today and I refuse to believe anyone really means to use that as an excuse.
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Post by casey on Aug 23, 2010 9:15:04 GMT -6
The thing that is so ridiculous is that many of our schools were built in the last 10-15 years. Every single one of them should have been built with AC. I don't care that some of the older schools (Brookdale etc.) didn't have it they should have never built the newer schools without it. What a dumb decision that was.
Let's face it, the existing SB was so caught up in parity and since other schools didn't have it well then by gosh no one should have it. Real brilliant solution, eh? Had they built the newer schools with it they would only have to retrofit a few of the buildings not the majority. Dumb decisions have been a part of the district for so long. Pretty sure ALL the 203 schools have AC.
Sad to say but I doubt we will ever get AC in the elementary schools. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.
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hon
Frosh
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Post by hon on Aug 23, 2010 9:37:25 GMT -6
Please explain to me why a decision that was made 10 to 15 years ago is now the fault of this sb?
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