So school starts tomorrow. - Page 3

Ghost_Tracker · #31 08-21-2009, 06:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

Yes, I agree.

Even though part of me (while in high school) wanted an extended summer vacation, I was fine with six weeks off in June-July- #1, I've always HATED summer (I've f'ing hated this current one as it is) and #2, I was in Phoenix, and summer in Phoenix especially sucks.

A year-round high school calendar with sufficient vacation breaks (spaced appropriately) really does make the most sense. It also helps introduce the concept that the real world doesn't revolve around a three month summer vacation.

"The only emperor is the emperor of ice cream."

(Stephen King has that quote in one of his books - - "Insomnia," I think it is.
It means that the kids are the real rulers of the world, and they're the ones
living in the "real world.")

Just to try to extend the thought, in the 1960s, the "real world" involved making steel, and mining iron, and building skyscrapers and roads and bridges, hauling concrete around the country, even building locomotive engines. These days it's all about moving pieces of paper from one place to another - or usually in files over the internet - and other things that have absolutely nothing to do with making something. Don't get me wrong, of course people have bills to pay and most have to live in the "real world" and it's extremely difficult for most families and most individuals. Many people are working 70 hours a week and/or have 2 or even 3 jobs. I understand all that. But if we as a society had the same priorities we had in the 1960s (for example), we wouldn't be concerned about teaching kids to "keep up" with China and to be able to move pieces of paper around faster than they can. They aren't - they're building things. BIG things, made of steel. HEAVY stuff that costs a lot of money, and makes even more money. Moving pieces of paper and information around, as a group, essentially boils down to play behavior. Students can learn to move information around all they want - but is it really gonna help much? Year-round school years aren't gonna help our society as a whole if they're not learning what they need to learn. And the more that they start to realize (as a group) that they're wasting their time (at least somewhat), then the more of them are gonna rebel. Then you have more disruptive students, more kids cutting class, etc., and LESS gets done.
We need to work efficiently, not more.

Just some ideas.

P.S. - By the way, to paraphrase Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs, "ALWAYS go back to first principles - what are the real MOTIVATIONS behind something?" Why is it that the teacher's unions would feel motivated to have their teachers working 12
months a year instead of 9? And granted that teachers have historically been underpaid, and I'm sure that there's plenty of school
districts where they're still grossly underpaid. Having said that, I can tell you that in the school district here - a "working class" neighborhood - they're making $75,000 a year, the last I heard. That was a few years ago, it's probably more now. Double that (almost...) for a married couple. Many of them ARE making what most would consider to be "good money." 12/9 X 75 grand = 100 thousand dollars a year. I really do doubt that the teachers unions have in mind that this be done for free. I suspect there may be other motivations.

camchristo · #32 08-23-2009, 02:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

I feel bad for those who somehow feel they've gained worth by completing certain classes/programs, in a pursuit of superficial "success". Anyone who knows anything knows that real-life experience is basically ALL that matters.

In a strictly real-world sense, I agree with you. I could do my job as a lawyer without having gone to college or law school. Law school did not prepare me for what the job would really be like and it did not teach me to be a lawyer. I could have been taught the job, just like any other.

However, the reality is that it is somewhat difficult to break into a well-paying job without having the right paperwork (read: degree). You're just not going to get your foot in many doors without it. I realize there are exceptions but I'm talking in a broad sense. I'm a proponent of education if for no other reason that to gain an edge in the job market.

markolas · #33 08-23-2009, 02:43 PM

We always started around the end of August, so this sounds about right. But school also let out around the end of May. After I got to high school, it seems like they moved the last day up to the first week of June.

I went to school in Louisiana, and what blows my mind about schools in Texas is how late in the day they start - we used to have to catch the bus at 6:30am - sometimes it wasn't even light outside. In Texas, school apparently doesn't start until 9am!

daniellaaarisen · #34 08-23-2009, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markolas

We always started around the end of August, so this sounds about right. But school also let out around the end of May. After I got to high school, it seems like they moved the last day up to the first week of June.

I went to school in Louisiana, and what blows my mind about schools in Texas is how late in the day they start - we used to have to catch the bus at 6:30am - sometimes it wasn't even light outside. In Texas, school apparently doesn't start until 9am!

Now that I'm a senior, I'll get out in mid May. For all other grades, though, school ends the first week of June. Ridiculous.

We have a block schedule, which means that there are seven periods in total but they are divided over two days-- one day has four 85 minute periods (beginning at 7:45AM), the other three (8:45AM). LUCKILY, I have a free first period which means the earliest I ever have to get to school is 8:45 and the latest is 9:30

. We get out at 2:30 every day.

It doesn't help too much, though, considering my schedule is already killing me. For my first semester, I have:

AP English Literature
AP French Literature
AP Environmental Science
AP Philosophy
Calculus
US Government

Sigh. Where did summer go?

Ghost_Tracker · #35 08-23-2009, 04:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

AP English Literature
AP French Literature
AP Environmental Science
AP Philosophy
Calculus
US Government

I think maybe I'm seeing a pattern in that list. Not quite sure what it is.
Hmmm . . . .

daniellaaarisen · #36 08-23-2009, 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost_Tracker

I think maybe I'm seeing a pattern in that list. Not quite sure what it is.
Hmmm . . . .

Me screwing myself over with APs? Yup, tis the pattern of my life.

LikeAWillow · #37 08-23-2009, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

Now that I'm a senior, I'll get out in mid May. For all other grades, though, school ends the first week of June. Ridiculous.

We have a block schedule, which means that there are seven periods in total but they are divided over two days-- one day has four 85 minute periods (beginning at 7:45AM), the other three (8:45AM). LUCKILY, I have a free first period which means the earliest I ever have to get to school is 8:45 and the latest is 9:30

. We get out at 2:30 every day.

It doesn't help too much, though, considering my schedule is already killing me. For my first semester, I have:

AP English Literature
AP French Literature
AP Environmental Science
AP Philosophy
Calculus
US Government

Sigh. Where did summer go?

Slacker.

Gov and Calc are both offered as AP's.

Oh, wait, I wouldn't have nearly the dose of you in my life that I need if this schedule got any more ridiculous.

daniellaaarisen · #38 08-23-2009, 05:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LikeAWillow

Slacker.

Gov and Calc are both offered as AP's.

Oh, wait, I wouldn't have nearly the dose of you in my life that I need if this schedule got any more ridiculous.

Want a bed to sleep in over Halloween weekend?

Bitch.

LikeAWillow · #39 08-23-2009, 05:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

Want a bed to sleep in over Halloween weekend?

Bitch.

Who's going to sleep that weekend?

Ghost_Tracker · #40 08-23-2009, 06:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LikeAWillow

Who's going to sleep that weekend?

Three words - - -

Not

Laurie

Strode.

daniellaaarisen · #41 08-23-2009, 06:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghost_Tracker

Three words - - -

Not

Laurie

Strode.

Such a good movie.

LukeA · #42 08-24-2009, 12:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by camchristo

In a strictly real-world sense, I agree with you. I could do my job as a lawyer without having gone to college or law school. Law school did not prepare me for what the job would really be like and it did not teach me to be a lawyer. I could have been taught the job, just like any other.

However, the reality is that it is somewhat difficult to break into a well-paying job without having the right paperwork (read: degree). You're just not going to get your foot in many doors without it. I realize there are exceptions but I'm talking in a broad sense. I'm a proponent of education if for no other reason that to gain an edge in the job market.

Sophomore year of college, I took an internship. Two weeks later, I was hired full time, immediately coordinating major, national projects and managing million dollar productions/investments. None of this had anything to do with where I went to/what I did in college. All I had to do was exhibit my intelligence, awareness, and drive for success. In fact, I had to continue the charade of going to college, "learning" everything I was doing for a living on a daily basis, just to get the degree/piece of paper. My then-girlfriend had to deal with the exact same scenario at the same college/similar company. Its not an unusual concept- seizing an opportunity and utilizing your abilities- all without relying on name or prestige.

Its been my experience (based on what I've seen with friends and colleagues) is that superficial AP classes/clubs leads to a superficial placement at a certain college- where you pay outrageous sums of money to attend- which leads to a superficial placement at some job somewhere. Nothing intellectually redeeming- just means to an end, or a self-satisfaction for jumping through so many hoops. Seems like a whole lot of bull**** when all that really matters is a fundamental (hands-on) knowledge of your field, along with the right opportunity (that's earned based on effort and credentials, and I'm not talking about school), and some inspired, hard work.

camchristo · #43 08-24-2009, 02:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeA

Sophomore year of college, I took an internship. Two weeks later, I was hired full time, immediately coordinating major, national projects and managing million dollar productions/investments. None of this had anything to do with where I went to/what I did in college. All I had to do was exhibit my intelligence, awareness, and drive for success. In fact, I had to continue the charade of going to college, "learning" everything I was doing for a living on a daily basis, just to get the degree/piece of paper. My then-girlfriend had to deal with the exact same scenario at the same college/similar company. Its not an unusual concept- seizing an opportunity and utilizing your abilities- all without relying on name or prestige.

Its been my experience (based on what I've seen with friends and colleagues) is that superficial AP classes/clubs leads to a superficial placement at a certain college- where you pay outrageous sums of money to attend- which leads to a superficial placement at some job somewhere. Nothing intellectually redeeming- just means to an end, or a self-satisfaction for jumping through so many hoops. Seems like a whole lot of bull**** when all that really matters is a fundamental (hands-on) knowledge of your field, along with the right opportunity (that's earned based on effort and credentials, and I'm not talking about school), and some inspired, hard work.

I can't really tell whether you're agreeing or disagreeing with me (or a little of both).

I did say there are exceptions, certainly. It depends on your field. As far as lawyer, doctor, veterinarian, CPA, etc. - those things you just won't get into without the degree. Although I have been told you can take the bar exam in California without ever having gone to a day of school so long as you've worked in the legal field for five years. So, another exception, if true.

Ghost_Tracker · #44 08-24-2009, 04:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daniellaaarisen

Such a good movie.

I actually prefer the sequel, believe it or not.

"I SHOT HIM TEN TIMES!!! I SHOT HIM TEN TIMES!!!"

"We'll pay you a million dollars, Mr. Pleasance."

"MAKES SENSE TO ME!!! MAKES SENSE TO ME!!!"

No really though, somehow I thought the sequel was much better.