Hi Mike,
I found out that the purpose of grading student's has changed since we were students and teachers. The only people that can understand it are professional educators that are not distracted. I don't think it is possible for a K-12 student to understand it. If a student attempted to understand it, they would likely be told that 'it's none of their business'.
There is also a complicated method of grading schools. It's called the School improvement and rating system. I wonder who is behind that.
Stephen
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Within education, what is the purpose of grading?
The answer to this question has changed since I was a teacher. Now, there are many answers to that question in Florida and what the answers are and who is controlling is very important.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
The evolution of the car radio.
The evolution of the car radio.
Our car did not have a radio when I was in grade school . We road in silence. No one said much other than something like ‘Turn right at the at the next corner.’ I was kept busy playing an alphabet game involving seeing something that began with a letter of the alphabet: The next letter is 'C'. Find something that begins with the letter 'C'. There is a cow.
Our first car radio was AM. That arrived when I was in High School. There were few stations at the time and most of them broadcasted a weak signal and the programming was worse. The nearest one to me was in Midland, Michigan. That was about 20 miles from Hope. Another one was in Saginaw. That would have been about 50 miles away. The reception was mostly static. When the reception was clear it would only last a few minutes and then drift back into static.
I got my first car after I graduated from high school. It's radio was AM. I seldom turned the radio on because the quality of the signal was so poor that it was best to leave it off.
When I was in college in the 70's the car radios were still mostly AM and the reception still had not improved much. However, at the time home receives had made a giant leap in quality. I recall wondering why they did it for the home and not car. They would about 20 years later.
Now the car radios are top quality. My truck's radio is beyond criticism. What came next were people like Rush, Sean Hannity and other radio talk show talkers. Recently I was drive in heavy traffic on US 19 and thought about all of us listening to a talker that wants to effect our thinking.
There was a time when we drove in silence. If we talked. It was to the passengers. Now we listen to a talker with a political, religious or some other agenda. I think of people like Rush as being political provocateur.
What would George Orwell think about this?
Our car did not have a radio when I was in grade school . We road in silence. No one said much other than something like ‘Turn right at the at the next corner.’ I was kept busy playing an alphabet game involving seeing something that began with a letter of the alphabet: The next letter is 'C'. Find something that begins with the letter 'C'. There is a cow.
Our first car radio was AM. That arrived when I was in High School. There were few stations at the time and most of them broadcasted a weak signal and the programming was worse. The nearest one to me was in Midland, Michigan. That was about 20 miles from Hope. Another one was in Saginaw. That would have been about 50 miles away. The reception was mostly static. When the reception was clear it would only last a few minutes and then drift back into static.
I got my first car after I graduated from high school. It's radio was AM. I seldom turned the radio on because the quality of the signal was so poor that it was best to leave it off.
When I was in college in the 70's the car radios were still mostly AM and the reception still had not improved much. However, at the time home receives had made a giant leap in quality. I recall wondering why they did it for the home and not car. They would about 20 years later.
Now the car radios are top quality. My truck's radio is beyond criticism. What came next were people like Rush, Sean Hannity and other radio talk show talkers. Recently I was drive in heavy traffic on US 19 and thought about all of us listening to a talker that wants to effect our thinking.
There was a time when we drove in silence. If we talked. It was to the passengers. Now we listen to a talker with a political, religious or some other agenda. I think of people like Rush as being political provocateur.
What would George Orwell think about this?
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
This is a video that you must watch.
The fear of science is killing us.
Editor's note: Michael Specter is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of "Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet and Threatens our Lives." TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading," hosts talks on many subjects and makes them available through its Web site, http://www.ted.com/
Editor's note: Michael Specter is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of "Denialism: How Irrational Thinking Hinders Scientific Progress, Harms the Planet and Threatens our Lives." TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to "Ideas Worth Spreading," hosts talks on many subjects and makes them available through its Web site, http://www.ted.com/
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Florida education is going though major changes.
Here is a link to a YouTube video that was made by a Pasco teacher. My first impression of it is that there just isn't something right about this teacher and his message.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rljPMN7Y_d8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rljPMN7Y_d8