Text 5360, 66 rader
Skriven 2013-10-02 21:32:57 av Ruth Haffly (1:396/45.28)
   Kommentar till text 5277 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: homeEc 247
==================
Hi Michael,

 RH> Sigh, yes. As I got older and more experienced, I found I could
 RH> debate, proving my answer was just as valid as their's, with some
 RH> teachers.

 ML> Fair enough. This shows something of the bogosity of the early
 ML> tracking system, of which I was a major beneficiary. People's
 ML> levels of intelligence and self-confidence tend to even out with
 ML> age and maturity; your elementary-school genius might become an
 ML> adult ordinary, and your elementary-school dolt might end up
 ML> at the Princeton Institute for Advanced Study (I am acquainted

We weren't tracked too much in elementary school; the classes were too
big (about 30 kids with no aides). One teacher taught everything from
reading (did have several groups, depending on reading level) to math to
science to social studies and all academics in between. Arts classes
were taught by the teacher who did it for the whole school. The average
classroon may ave contained a genius and a plodder but they were both
taught at the same level. We didn't get too much more tracking in junior
high or high school until my senior year--senior English classes were
split. I remember wanting to change my schedule for some (now forgotten)
reason but the guidance counselor wouldn't let me as I'd have to go into
a different level English class and he didn't want me to.

 ML> with one of these; his childhood IQ was reported as about as
 ML> close to zero as possible, but things improved, and he ended up
 ML> a stockbroker. Maybe things didn't improve.

The Peter Principle or the more things change, the more they remain the
same?


 RH> Even tho both my sisters took the same basic course I did,
 RH> neither of them could do much more than boil water when they left home.

 ML> There's practice, and there's aptitude. If you have neither,
 ML> too bad. Along with poor guidance, terrible things can happen.

Being younger than me, they didn't have the responsibilities at home
that I did, especially the youngest sister. Mom was busier too, and
didn't have the time to teach them as much about cooking.

 ML> A little flexibility here on the teacher's part would
 ML> have done wonders.
 RH> It just wasn't possible in that school set up.

 ML> Fix the setup. In the world you describe, nobody wins:
 ML> the teachers feel put upon, the students get squiddly.

Don't know how things are now but then the school board (which ran the
school) was a bunch of older men who didn't seem to want to change too
much, too fast. A "Batchelor Survival" class was added my senior year
but I don't really know what they were taught, other than how to make
chocolate chip cookies.

---
Catch you later,
Ruth
rchaffly{at}earthlink{dot}net  FIDO 1:396/45.28


... Not all questions worth asking have answers...

--- PPoint 3.01
 * Origin: Sew! That's My Point (1:396/45.28)