Male Elementary Teachers

[BlackFalkin]

There needs to be an affirmative action for male teachers.

Young boys need role models that are male as well as female.






And I would bet that 75% of male elementary teachers are gay

Jon, what percentage of div1 college fb players do u think are gay? My guess is 0%.

[Vidav]

There needs to be an affirmative action for male teachers.

Young boys need role models that are male as well as female.






And I would bet that 75% of male elementary teachers are gay

Jon, what percentage of div1 college fb players do u think are gay? My guess is 0%.

No chance that not a single one is gay.

[andy7171]

Jon, what percentage of div1 college fb players do u think are gay? My guess is 0%.

No chance that not a single one is gay.

Depends on if we are lumping in kickers and punters in as football players?

[Pwns]

And we wonder why our country is 17th in math and 39th in science.

Actually Z, in terms of internationally standardized tests, our elementary school aged children are pretty much at the top. It's in the middle grades when they start to fall behind and at high schools they have fallen behind further.

If there is one thing education-wise that we do well in the US it's educate young children.

[Franks Tanks]

And we wonder why our country is 17th in math and 39th in science.

Actually Z, in terms of internationally standardized tests, our elementary school aged children are pretty much at the top. It's in the middle grades when they start to fall behind and at high schools they have fallen behind further.

If there is one thing education-wise that we do well in the US it's educate young children.

We also forget that America is much more diverse than most of the countries at the top of these lists. Countries like Sweden, Switzerland etc. are very homogenous and quite wealthy across the board. They do not have a massive population of poor people and recent immigrants who skew the numbers in the US. The best students, say top 30% or so, are as good as any in the world. We need to do a better job in inner cities and rural areas where poor kids are often much behind their peers. Much of this is due to external conditions such as their home life or course.

[kalm]

Actually Z, in terms of internationally standardized tests, our elementary school aged children are pretty much at the top. It's in the middle grades when they start to fall behind and at high schools they have fallen behind further.

If there is one thing education-wise that we do well in the US it's educate young children.

We also forget that America is much more diverse than most of the countries at the top of these lists. Countries like Sweden, Switzerland etc. are very homogenous and quite wealthy across the board. They do not have a massive population of poor people and recent immigrants who skew the numbers in the US. The best students, say top 30% or so, are as good as any in the world. We need to do a better job in inner cities and rural areas where poor kids are often much behind their peers. Much of this is due to external conditions such as their home life or course.

Bingo!

[GannonFan]

We also forget that America is much more diverse than most of the countries at the top of these lists. Countries like Sweden, Switzerland etc. are very homogenous and quite wealthy across the board. They do not have a massive population of poor people and recent immigrants who skew the numbers in the US. The best students, say top 30% or so, are as good as any in the world. We need to do a better job in inner cities and rural areas where poor kids are often much behind their peers. Much of this is due to external conditions such as their home life or course.

Bingo!

I always wonder how much other countries exclude certain students, i.e. special education kids. We include them in most cases, and we carry those kids all the way through 12th grade. In other countries, those kids aren't in the system, and furthermore, they weed out lower performing kids and often only the best of the best get to complete all 12 grades. It makes the scores look great, but at what cost to the general populace?

[Franks Tanks]

We also forget that America is much more diverse than most of the countries at the top of these lists. Countries like Sweden, Switzerland etc. are very homogenous and quite wealthy across the board. They do not have a massive population of poor people and recent immigrants who skew the numbers in the US. The best students, say top 30% or so, are as good as any in the world. We need to do a better job in inner cities and rural areas where poor kids are often much behind their peers. Much of this is due to external conditions such as their home life or course.

Bingo!

In addition Switzerland may have 1 million elementary school kids and the US may have 25 million. Our 1 million top kids are way higher than their 1 million. Our top 10-15 million are probably in line with their 1 million. Our bottom 5-10 million are however quite lower. Using ranking based simply on our averages or mean is a bit mis-leading because the US is still the most diverse country in the world with loads of immigrants who come to school barely knowing the language. US schools certainly have huge issues to contend with, but we have a lot of great teachers and schools in this country.

[Franks Tanks]

Bingo!

I always wonder how much other countries exclude certain students, i.e. special education kids. We include them in most cases, and we carry those kids all the way through 12th grade. In other countries, those kids aren't in the system, and furthermore, they weed out lower performing kids and often only the best of the best get to complete all 12 grades. It makes the scores look great, but at what cost to the general populace?

Good point. In the U.K lower performing kids are moved to what we know as Vo-tech schools very early on in their academic career. Wonder if these kids are even counted?

[kalm]

I always wonder how much other countries exclude certain students, i.e. special education kids. We include them in most cases, and we carry those kids all the way through 12th grade. In other countries, those kids aren't in the system, and furthermore, they weed out lower performing kids and often only the best of the best get to complete all 12 grades. It makes the scores look great, but at what cost to the general populace?

Good point. In the U.K lower performing kids are moved to what we know as Vo-tech schools very early on in their academic career. Wonder if these kids are even counted?

We should do the same. Turns out, not everyone is capable of or interested in college. Of course a good chunk of the trades are being taken up by immigrant labor.

[Franks Tanks]

Good point. In the U.K lower performing kids are moved to what we know as Vo-tech schools very early on in their academic career. Wonder if these kids are even counted?

We should do the same. Turns out, not everyone is capable of or interested in college. Of course a good chunk of the trades are being taken up by immigrant labor.

I agree. Some are not smart enough, and some are but have no interest. Nothing wrong with that, but it of course makes a ton of sense to train these people at a useful skill. I think even Obama finally backed off his college for everyone mantra.

[UNI88]

We should do the same. Turns out, not everyone is capable of or interested in college. Of course a good chunk of the trades are being taken up by immigrant labor.

I agree. Some are not smart enough, and some are but have no interest. Nothing wrong with that, but it of course makes a ton of sense to train these people at a useful skill. I think even Obama finally backed off his college for everyone mantra.

There is truth to that but it isn't a one size fits all solution and you'll be short-changing some kids. On of my college roommates is a good example. He was a poor student in high school and his counselors tried to push him toward vocational training. He went to college instead, go his sh!t together his sophomore year and graduated then went on to get a masters and is doing quite well. Different kids mature at different rates.

[kalm]

I agree. Some are not smart enough, and some are but have no interest. Nothing wrong with that, but it of course makes a ton of sense to train these people at a useful skill. I think even Obama finally backed off his college for everyone mantra.

There is truth to that but it isn't a one size fits all solution and you'll be short-changing some kids. On of my college roommates is a good example. He was a poor student in high school and his counselors tried to push him toward vocational training. He went to college instead, go his sh!t together his sophomore year and graduated then went on to get a masters and is doing quite well. Different kids mature at different rates.

Very true, but it's not as if we'd be sending them to the gulag. They'd still have opportunities to improve their stake at their own pace. But why waste resources on them in the mean time when they either lack the motivation, support at home, or finances to pursue college?

Besides, the world needs ditch diggers too.

[UNI88]

There is truth to that but it isn't a one size fits all solution and you'll be short-changing some kids. On of my college roommates is a good example. He was a poor student in high school and his counselors tried to push him toward vocational training. He went to college instead, go his sh!t together his sophomore year and graduated then went on to get a masters and is doing quite well. Different kids mature at different rates.

Very true, but it's not as if we'd be sending them to the gulag. They'd still have opportunities to improve their stake at their own pace. But why waste resources on them in the mean time when they either lack the motivation, support at home, or finances to pursue college?

Besides, the world needs ditch diggers too.

True, but you need to build the advancement opportunities into the system or the bureaucracy will try to mainstream everyone to simplify things. Similar to how an enlisted person in the military can go to OCS if they demonstrate promise. The other aspect is that no matter how much you progressives want to make sure that ditch diggers can make a living you can't pay them $40/hour. Certain jobs just aren't worth that much anymore and the market has to adjust if American companies want to compete.

[dbackjon]

There needs to be an affirmative action for male teachers.

Young boys need role models that are male as well as female.






And I would bet that 75% of male elementary teachers are gay

Jon, what percentage of div1 college fb players do u think are gay? My guess is 0%.

And you would be 100% WRONG.

Probably 10-15 %, same as any branch of the military.

I know of at least 40 guys that either are playing FBS football, or played FBS football.

[kalm]

Very true, but it's not as if we'd be sending them to the gulag. They'd still have opportunities to improve their stake at their own pace. But why waste resources on them in the mean time when they either lack the motivation, support at home, or finances to pursue college?

Besides, the world needs ditch diggers too.

True, but you need to build the advancement opportunities into the system or the bureaucracy will try to mainstream everyone to simplify things. Similar to how an enlisted person in the military can go to OCS if they demonstrate promise. The other aspect is that no matter how much you progressives want to make sure that ditch diggers can make a living you can't pay them $40/hour. Certain jobs just aren't worth that much anymore and the market has to adjust if American companies want to compete.

Agreed. But the problem is the cat's already out of the bag. Ditch diggers expect iPhones, internet, cable tv too, while still being able to support a family. And we kind of need them to buy those things to drive the economy.

[Ibanez]

At least for math (when I subbed in Norfolk), I noticed that the students never understood the reasoning behind it. They fully understood the how, but they never grasped the why. Maybe it's just the engineer in me, but there's no point in knowing math if you don't get the concepts behind it. Nearly all the nations ahead of us teach proofs in elementary while most US students learn them in high school.

edit: Basic multiplication is in the lesson plan tomorrow. I'm not really supposed to deviate from what the teacher wants, but I'd be interested to learn if they know why multiplication works the way it does. I know at that age, all I was taught were the multiplication tables.

Dude, I never understood what a derivative was for until I was a junior in COLLEGE. I knew how to CALCULATE them, but had no idea what they were actually used for. Then again, my Calc teacher was Chinese and spoke virtually NO English except what he'd memorized to be able to attempt to teach Calculus.

I was a sophomore in college when I figured out percents. For some reason, I could never grasp the concept. Now, I can do percents in my head at an alarming rate!

[Ibanez]

I had male teachers in High School and with the exception of 1, they were all douches. Especially the one that tried to fail me, saying I cheated on a group project. What a fuckin idiot.

[danefan]

Dude, I never understood what a derivative was for until I was a junior in COLLEGE. I knew how to CALCULATE them, but had no idea what they were actually used for. Then again, my Calc teacher was Chinese and spoke virtually NO English except what he'd memorized to be able to attempt to teach Calculus.

I was a sophomore in college when I figured out percents. For some reason, I could never grasp the concept. Now, I can do percents in my head at an alarming rate!

Read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

The section on "why are asians better at math than us" is dead on. The English language is not conducive to learning math. What the fuck is a "twenty"? The English equivalent of "Twenty" in most asian languages is "two tens". Twenty-seven = Two-tens Seven

Math is learned at the same time these kids learn their language. Americans (and other native English speakers) need to learn the language first and then the math and the two do not logically tie together for the most part.

I'll venture to guess that you learned percentages when you really figured out the components and how they drive the answer.

[mrklean]

I agree. Some are not smart enough, and some are but have no interest. Nothing wrong with that, but it of course makes a ton of sense to train these people at a useful skill. I think even Obama finally backed off his college for everyone mantra.

There is truth to that but it isn't a one size fits all solution and you'll be short-changing some kids. On of my college roommates is a good example. He was a poor student in high school and his counselors tried to push him toward vocational training. He went to college instead, go his sh!t together his sophomore year and graduated then went on to get a masters and is doing quite well. Different kids mature at different rates.

So True College is not for everyone.

[mrklean]

I had male teachers in High School and with the exception of 1, they were all douches. Especially the one that tried to fail me, saying I cheated on a group project. What a **** idiot.

you cheated

[Ibanez]

I was a sophomore in college when I figured out percents. For some reason, I could never grasp the concept. Now, I can do percents in my head at an alarming rate!

Read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

The section on "why are asians better at math than us" is dead on. The English language is not conducive to learning math. What the fuck is a "twenty"? The English equivalent of "Twenty" in most asian languages is "two tens". Twenty-seven = Two-tens Seven

Math is learned at the same time these kids learn their language. Americans (and other native English speakers) need to learn the language first and then the math and the two do not logically tie together for the most part.

I'll venture to guess that you learned percentages when you really figured out the components and how they drive the answer.

Thanks for the tip. I don't recall really how It clicked. I remember seeing something and it was 50%. I quckily divided it by 2 and found that the $100 item was $50. Then I realized to look at the number, $100.00 and found it easier to break it into 10s. So 10% off a $100 was 10 and it just went on and on from there. For some reason it clicked.

On the other hand, i'm almost 30 and fractions still piss me off. My wife though, she is good with fractions.

[GannonFan]

I was a sophomore in college when I figured out percents. For some reason, I could never grasp the concept. Now, I can do percents in my head at an alarming rate!

Read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

The section on "why are asians better at math than us" is dead on. The English language is not conducive to learning math. What the **** is a "twenty"? The English equivalent of "Twenty" in most asian languages is "two tens". Twenty-seven = Two-tens Seven

Math is learned at the same time these kids learn their language. Americans (and other native English speakers) need to learn the language first and then the math and the two do not logically tie together for the most part.

I'll venture to guess that you learned percentages when you really figured out the components and how they drive the answer.

Good book - I actually liked the part about the ages and how if you're born at certain times you're screwed for certain things like sports (depending on the sport and where you live). Such is the impact of arbitrary dates. Good stuff.

But I didn't buy into the language stuff as much. Sure, it sounds good, but kids who have parents who are enthusiastic about math tend to have kids that are good at math, regardless of the language they speak. Anyone can learn math (it's my Ratatouille philosophy), you just have to want to and think you can. We have a cultural mental block that for many people (who say they aren't good at math and they then lower expectations for their kids in turn) ends up being a self-fulfilling result. Besides, Gladwell was a big proponent of the 10,000 hour idea - anyone can be an expert in anything if they devote 10,000 hours to it. I'm sure he didn't mean that for just the Chinese kids.

[Ibanez]

I had male teachers in High School and with the exception of 1, they were all douches. Especially the one that tried to fail me, saying I cheated on a group project. What a **** idiot.

you cheated

You really are an idiot. It was a group project, dumb ass. 4 people worked on a project.

[danefan]

Read Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell.

The section on "why are asians better at math than us" is dead on. The English language is not conducive to learning math. What the **** is a "twenty"? The English equivalent of "Twenty" in most asian languages is "two tens". Twenty-seven = Two-tens Seven

Math is learned at the same time these kids learn their language. Americans (and other native English speakers) need to learn the language first and then the math and the two do not logically tie together for the most part.

I'll venture to guess that you learned percentages when you really figured out the components and how they drive the answer.

Good book - I actually liked the part about the ages and how if you're born at certain times you're screwed for certain things like sports (depending on the sport and where you live). Such is the impact of arbitrary dates. Good stuff.

But I didn't buy into the language stuff as much. Sure, it sounds good, but kids who have parents who are enthusiastic about math tend to have kids that are good at math, regardless of the language they speak. Anyone can learn math (it's my Ratatouille philosophy), you just have to want to and think you can. We have a cultural mental block that for many people (who say they aren't good at math and they then lower expectations for their kids in turn) ends up being a self-fulfilling result. Besides, Gladwell was a big proponent of the 10,000 hour idea - anyone can be an expert in anything if they devote 10,000 hours to it. I'm sure he didn't mean that for just the Chinese kids.

Agreed 100%. I'm not saying its not overcomeable. I'm extremely proficient in math and my job really depends on it. My brother is as well and actually turned out to be a high school math teacher. But it is really due to our parents creating that interest at a young age and in particular my dad who was not a strong math student realizing early on in his career the importance of math and the need to impart that on us.

But I do believe it is a hurdle that English speakers need to overcome, which as you point out most don't even try to.