Our children are our future….Years ago when our youngest went off to first year University, she was a top student in our rural world. She was not ready and struggled. The students that are going now from “covid-ed” are even less prepared for next stages and I shudder to think what will happen to them. Public education must be made a priority as we are quickly destroying our future.
Interesting points! I'm an elementary teacher. I was curious to see how many parents spoke to me in private about hating online learning but said nothing to the administration. And, the messaging from the leadership has been to drown us in toxic positivity. 'You've got this' and 'you are so important to us' have been on repeat for 2 years now while almost half our staff has turned over. Online learning was a great way to flatten the curve. Now it's just a political gambit.
Well said. The majority complain about many things, be it education, politics, or policies they dislike, yet do nothing to change the status quo. Education has been taken over by the School Boards and teachers unions, to which they determine the way your children are educated. If your unhappy with the ideology and indoctrination instead of reading, writing and arithmetic, do something. Go to school board meetings, start home schooling, or look around for other options. If you still can not find anything, get together with others who feel the same and start something new.
Yes, she is correct, but one reason not everyone embraces change, especially in math is because being bad at math and being a professional is embarrassing for many people...I am one of them...I became a CA even after I failed Math 30 and was afraid of it in university in Alberta. My friends could NOT believe I couldor even would succeed at my chosen career, I did for many years and have the framed certificates on my wall in my home office!. The thing is accounting Math is easy, engineering math not so much. What I learned was that I wasn't bad at math, I was bad at understanding the way it was taught, without any regard to how it is practical and usable, which is indicative of the fact that the ONLY unit I excelled at was geometry in all its forms.
It is all about the way math is taught. You hit the nail right on the head here. I am going back to school after 15 years, studying economics. I was in the military prior as a MARS officer and we needed to do a lot of mental math as part of our profession (trig for navigation, for example and calculating speeds and distances). I learned many tricks from colleagues while in the navy and I can use those tricks in economics (easy math, like you said) but none of the students who are much younger than me have these tricks, they either see math as being something completely foreign or as the rote long form taught by their teachers. I was trying to explain how fractions work easily in the head when you bring down certain values like distance and speed and cancel them out just the same as numbers, a way of understanding mathematical formulas in word expressions and got nothing by blank stares from my peers. But you know who does get it? The kids from India and Asian countries who learned how to do the math in visual and unique ways that make it easier too. We have failed our children in North America.
As heartbreaking as that article was to read, it was also refreshing. We need to have more people speaking out about the growing mental health crisis among our children. The message to them has been clear, "wear your mask or you're going to kill Grandma". In reality, mask wearing in schools has been shown to have minimal effects on reducing spread. But we've got people in pretty important positions, like CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, quoting poorly done studies claiming schools without mask mandates are 3.5 times as likely to experience COVID outbreaks as ones that did.
At this point, it feels like those in power are more interested in using our children as political pawns rather than doing what is in their best interest.
Not a great start calling people with opinions whiners. Some people don’t crow about what they are “doing” about it, but are actually “doing” quite a lot. And the electorate in all jurisdictions are permitted to have a reasonable expectation that elected officials and public employees deliver the services promised and paid for, including sensible policy decisions
"Heck, even three parents at the principal’s office … they’d have no choice but to change tactics. "
What exactly are we advocating here?
Advocating for people to express their views to a principal is one thing, appearing to suggest that people gang up on a principal in their own office is another.
No one was advocating for anything except to let the School Board, Principle, or teachers know your dissatisfied. If no one speaks up, know one knows. If you receive no action, start looking for alternatives on your own or start a charter school. If you wait for someone else to fix your problems, you might be waiting a long time.
You like your textbooks “the older the better”? I certainly hope the solutions we find to the problem of schooling are better than this. Progressive teachers are working on this too.
We are not doing anything and that is the problem. If your willing to send your children to the public schools then you are setting your children up for failure. It is the school Administration, School Boards, and Teachers Unions, that are destroying the education system, not the public.
They are filling full of the University graduates that have been indoctrinated in Critical Theory which is the dumbing down and the deconstruction of Western Society. Its the ideology that supports two plus two can equal what ever you want it to, as its not really important. Its the crowd that wants all conversation to which they disagree with, shut down and that the school should have more control than the parents over their children.
We are no different than the US in the matter of having ideologues in our unions, schools administration, and throughout our society. They have control in our Federal and other Governments and are doing their best to turn our country into their Post National State. They are in the midst of the deconstruction of Western society gang that despises anything of Western culture, free speech, and debate. They have made it so people are looking for alternatives, as they are beginning to understand the repercussions of this ideology and the damage it does to their children and society. They are leaving people little choice as they have failed in their job of educating the children.
I am amazed they even teach writing. Last I heard cursive writing was no longer taught. Just because you dislike what I say does not make it untrue. You just proved my point with your comment.
So what do you suggest? We hire more teachers, build more schools all at the cost of the taxpayers, who at this time are in dire straights? Should we make the Unions and School Boards more powerful so they can control the entire city, government, and decisions of parents as they do in Toronto? Let them dictate policy and tell parents what they can and can not do? Allow indoctrination of the children instead of teaching?
Perhaps your not aware of the problems in the larger cities or that the School Boards and Teachers Union dictate whether the school is open or closed to the students? Perhaps starting charter schools would be a more preferable way to specialize in special needs, tech, or science? Perhaps even the trades so there is a great variety of choices.
The way it is now the public are at the mercy of these public institutions and that is not how it was ever intended to be. Perhaps not all teachers are ideologues either as I know many really good ones but the Union leaders and School Boards are, and that is where the problems lays.
"Offload special needs" ... really? That's not very inclusive or kind or accommodating for a retired teacher. I'm old enough to remember when kids were streamed into "vocational" and "academic programs" in public school, and those with disabilities were hidden away in other places. Is that what you prefer? I'm a tad shocked by your comment actually.
Charter schools are not “private” or “for profit”. They are “… publicly funded and the school associations must be non-profit societies.” They “… cannot have a religious affiliation, cannot charge tuition, and cannot operate on a for-profit basis.” There are 13 charter schools in Alberta in 23 buildings. There are resources online to help choose, establish or administer a charter school for K-12 students. Look it up. And please know your facts before you spout off.
Not charter schools. This information is available online so please, do your homework, professor. Are there "private" schools as well? You bet. Some are paid for handsomely by parents so that classrooms can be small (8 students) and "hands-on" is much more likely. What those schools do is provide an option for kids and parents to get the necessary one-on-one time that some kids needs. They actually take the pressure off public schools because a lot of the kids have learning challenges that are difficult to be met in regular classrooms, no matter how many aides are put in. And you know that many administrators (not the good ones) are not inclined to put a kid on an IEP unless they absolutely have to, which is why there's so little support for teachers in classrooms that integrate all learning levels. Look closely at the dysfunctional public education model. You'll see the vast majority of funds being spent everywhere but in the classroom where it's really needed.
You are a good teacher to which should be commended. I was not denouncing all teachers so I did want to set that record straight. I was not speaking of you personally, so I apologize if you thought I was directing it at you. I was denouncing the system, School Boards, Unions, and those teachers who indoctrinate instead of teach.
You are probably one of the dedicated ones who is really good at what he does. You know that there is a lot of deadwood in education, teachers who use the same lesson plans for years, and seldom take advantage of professional development. That's as much on the administrators as it is on those teachers, but administrator's hands are tied by the unions who keep those free-riders on the payroll. It's good to see you're a team player and going to bat for your "colleagues" but my guess is, under it all, you're not really supporting the crappy teachers so much as you are this noble profession which deserves better. Your own teaching methods - "very hands-on and involved a lot of collaboration" - isn't possible in front of a screen, as you've said. But this is the direction public education is heading. You, of all people, should be fighting against online learning and for a return to in-person education instead of praising the very few who can be creative online. The vast majority of kids lose out in this scenario.
Our children are our future….Years ago when our youngest went off to first year University, she was a top student in our rural world. She was not ready and struggled. The students that are going now from “covid-ed” are even less prepared for next stages and I shudder to think what will happen to them. Public education must be made a priority as we are quickly destroying our future.
Interesting points! I'm an elementary teacher. I was curious to see how many parents spoke to me in private about hating online learning but said nothing to the administration. And, the messaging from the leadership has been to drown us in toxic positivity. 'You've got this' and 'you are so important to us' have been on repeat for 2 years now while almost half our staff has turned over. Online learning was a great way to flatten the curve. Now it's just a political gambit.
“toxic positivity”. Well said.
Well said. The majority complain about many things, be it education, politics, or policies they dislike, yet do nothing to change the status quo. Education has been taken over by the School Boards and teachers unions, to which they determine the way your children are educated. If your unhappy with the ideology and indoctrination instead of reading, writing and arithmetic, do something. Go to school board meetings, start home schooling, or look around for other options. If you still can not find anything, get together with others who feel the same and start something new.
Yes, she is correct, but one reason not everyone embraces change, especially in math is because being bad at math and being a professional is embarrassing for many people...I am one of them...I became a CA even after I failed Math 30 and was afraid of it in university in Alberta. My friends could NOT believe I couldor even would succeed at my chosen career, I did for many years and have the framed certificates on my wall in my home office!. The thing is accounting Math is easy, engineering math not so much. What I learned was that I wasn't bad at math, I was bad at understanding the way it was taught, without any regard to how it is practical and usable, which is indicative of the fact that the ONLY unit I excelled at was geometry in all its forms.
It is all about the way math is taught. You hit the nail right on the head here. I am going back to school after 15 years, studying economics. I was in the military prior as a MARS officer and we needed to do a lot of mental math as part of our profession (trig for navigation, for example and calculating speeds and distances). I learned many tricks from colleagues while in the navy and I can use those tricks in economics (easy math, like you said) but none of the students who are much younger than me have these tricks, they either see math as being something completely foreign or as the rote long form taught by their teachers. I was trying to explain how fractions work easily in the head when you bring down certain values like distance and speed and cancel them out just the same as numbers, a way of understanding mathematical formulas in word expressions and got nothing by blank stares from my peers. But you know who does get it? The kids from India and Asian countries who learned how to do the math in visual and unique ways that make it easier too. We have failed our children in North America.
Written by an Ontario teacher, and mum. https://bariweiss.substack.com/p/im-a-public-school-teacher-the-kids?r=ilfha&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email
As heartbreaking as that article was to read, it was also refreshing. We need to have more people speaking out about the growing mental health crisis among our children. The message to them has been clear, "wear your mask or you're going to kill Grandma". In reality, mask wearing in schools has been shown to have minimal effects on reducing spread. But we've got people in pretty important positions, like CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, quoting poorly done studies claiming schools without mask mandates are 3.5 times as likely to experience COVID outbreaks as ones that did.
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2021/12/mask-guidelines-cdc-walensky/621035/.
At this point, it feels like those in power are more interested in using our children as political pawns rather than doing what is in their best interest.
Not a great start calling people with opinions whiners. Some people don’t crow about what they are “doing” about it, but are actually “doing” quite a lot. And the electorate in all jurisdictions are permitted to have a reasonable expectation that elected officials and public employees deliver the services promised and paid for, including sensible policy decisions
Ummmm,
"Heck, even three parents at the principal’s office … they’d have no choice but to change tactics. "
What exactly are we advocating here?
Advocating for people to express their views to a principal is one thing, appearing to suggest that people gang up on a principal in their own office is another.
No one was advocating for anything except to let the School Board, Principle, or teachers know your dissatisfied. If no one speaks up, know one knows. If you receive no action, start looking for alternatives on your own or start a charter school. If you wait for someone else to fix your problems, you might be waiting a long time.
You like your textbooks “the older the better”? I certainly hope the solutions we find to the problem of schooling are better than this. Progressive teachers are working on this too.
Well said.
That is why there is a need for charter schools.
We are not doing anything and that is the problem. If your willing to send your children to the public schools then you are setting your children up for failure. It is the school Administration, School Boards, and Teachers Unions, that are destroying the education system, not the public.
They are filling full of the University graduates that have been indoctrinated in Critical Theory which is the dumbing down and the deconstruction of Western Society. Its the ideology that supports two plus two can equal what ever you want it to, as its not really important. Its the crowd that wants all conversation to which they disagree with, shut down and that the school should have more control than the parents over their children.
We are no different than the US in the matter of having ideologues in our unions, schools administration, and throughout our society. They have control in our Federal and other Governments and are doing their best to turn our country into their Post National State. They are in the midst of the deconstruction of Western society gang that despises anything of Western culture, free speech, and debate. They have made it so people are looking for alternatives, as they are beginning to understand the repercussions of this ideology and the damage it does to their children and society. They are leaving people little choice as they have failed in their job of educating the children.
I am amazed they even teach writing. Last I heard cursive writing was no longer taught. Just because you dislike what I say does not make it untrue. You just proved my point with your comment.
So what do you suggest? We hire more teachers, build more schools all at the cost of the taxpayers, who at this time are in dire straights? Should we make the Unions and School Boards more powerful so they can control the entire city, government, and decisions of parents as they do in Toronto? Let them dictate policy and tell parents what they can and can not do? Allow indoctrination of the children instead of teaching?
Perhaps your not aware of the problems in the larger cities or that the School Boards and Teachers Union dictate whether the school is open or closed to the students? Perhaps starting charter schools would be a more preferable way to specialize in special needs, tech, or science? Perhaps even the trades so there is a great variety of choices.
The way it is now the public are at the mercy of these public institutions and that is not how it was ever intended to be. Perhaps not all teachers are ideologues either as I know many really good ones but the Union leaders and School Boards are, and that is where the problems lays.
"Offload special needs" ... really? That's not very inclusive or kind or accommodating for a retired teacher. I'm old enough to remember when kids were streamed into "vocational" and "academic programs" in public school, and those with disabilities were hidden away in other places. Is that what you prefer? I'm a tad shocked by your comment actually.
Charter schools are not “private” or “for profit”. They are “… publicly funded and the school associations must be non-profit societies.” They “… cannot have a religious affiliation, cannot charge tuition, and cannot operate on a for-profit basis.” There are 13 charter schools in Alberta in 23 buildings. There are resources online to help choose, establish or administer a charter school for K-12 students. Look it up. And please know your facts before you spout off.
Not charter schools. This information is available online so please, do your homework, professor. Are there "private" schools as well? You bet. Some are paid for handsomely by parents so that classrooms can be small (8 students) and "hands-on" is much more likely. What those schools do is provide an option for kids and parents to get the necessary one-on-one time that some kids needs. They actually take the pressure off public schools because a lot of the kids have learning challenges that are difficult to be met in regular classrooms, no matter how many aides are put in. And you know that many administrators (not the good ones) are not inclined to put a kid on an IEP unless they absolutely have to, which is why there's so little support for teachers in classrooms that integrate all learning levels. Look closely at the dysfunctional public education model. You'll see the vast majority of funds being spent everywhere but in the classroom where it's really needed.
You are a good teacher to which should be commended. I was not denouncing all teachers so I did want to set that record straight. I was not speaking of you personally, so I apologize if you thought I was directing it at you. I was denouncing the system, School Boards, Unions, and those teachers who indoctrinate instead of teach.
You are probably one of the dedicated ones who is really good at what he does. You know that there is a lot of deadwood in education, teachers who use the same lesson plans for years, and seldom take advantage of professional development. That's as much on the administrators as it is on those teachers, but administrator's hands are tied by the unions who keep those free-riders on the payroll. It's good to see you're a team player and going to bat for your "colleagues" but my guess is, under it all, you're not really supporting the crappy teachers so much as you are this noble profession which deserves better. Your own teaching methods - "very hands-on and involved a lot of collaboration" - isn't possible in front of a screen, as you've said. But this is the direction public education is heading. You, of all people, should be fighting against online learning and for a return to in-person education instead of praising the very few who can be creative online. The vast majority of kids lose out in this scenario.