as a former teacher, teaching from a powerpoint presentation and then handing out a worksheet is not teaching (not having a dig at the teachers, their hands are tied)
So the people who whined about To Kill a Mockingbird forcing kids to confront the ugly truth about racial politics in this country are just phoning in their fascist school curricula, resulting in material that is way more honest about racial politics than anything it came before?
I'm gonna need a minute to stop laughing before we continue this conversation.
Failing schools don’t fail because of bad curriculum. They fail because they don’t have any money, their students’ families don’t have any money (and therefore don’t get the support or environment they need to succeed), their buildings are crumbling, their buses are falling apart (or nonexistent), their classes are too big, and their teacher turnover is too high (because they aren’t paid enough, have to spend all their time dealing with behavior problems instead of teaching, and have too many students per class). I’m painting with a pretty broad brush, of course, but the problems are indeed way bigger than some curriculum changes can fix.
So the curriculum department does not have any teachers in it?
"working with the curriculum department to strengthen and catch errors in lessons, leaving their students with teaching assistants and learning coaches, Miles said.
“They’re going to be able to help the curriculum department see a little bit closer, from the teacher’s perspective, what the material looks like,” he said. “They’re going to have a better eye and help us vet.”
Why do I get the impression those teaching assistants and learning coaches are going to be there mostly to report back to Das Reich on how completely the teachers are buckling to the new order?
Something like that. With job titles like, "Quality Control Assurance Officer." Very clean, very tidy. Very much hiding the evil with a skin of shiny goodness.
So very, very white. Alabaster skin, milky white complexions. Maybe the occasional cream, but not too much, and some people might consider that faint tinge of color to make them too brown. But, y'know. Standards or some shit.
"teenage eating disorders, which felt inappropriate for the age level, teachers said."
Well, I remember 3 pre-teen girls in my homeroom in 8th grade had eating disorders. 2 were anemic and 1 was bulimic. I wouldn't be surprised if 10% of the girls in the school had such conditions. Puberty is one common time those conditions really start up in this sick culture that told all the girls they were supposed have bodies like Barbie.
This is the time that they NEED to be educated about it so they can seek help. And their teachers need to be trained to recognize the symptoms. And their classmates need to know how incredibly harmful their words and behavior can be (good luck with that one).
I agree with you, if the lesson was something helpful or positive and actual education or real actual this is what real doctors say is healthy. From what Dok was writing, it sounds like the assholes in charge are using some half assed, poorly sourced AI chat bot to make the lessons. In that case, the lesson could have been pulled from a pro anorexia site (horrifying they exist), some batshit influencer's feed promoting a very unhealthy diet, or some corporate "factsheet" on how ultra processed food is better for you than fresh food. In which case, thank the power of your choice the teachers caught it before teaching it.
A few years back, I read something put out by some right wing "think tank" (can't remember if it was Heritage or something similar) was saying we only need a handful of "master teachers" for the entire country and their lessons could be broadcast into classrooms, blah blah blah.
Leaving aside the schadenfreudy delight of Righties having to answer for plopping upsetting material in front of the kiddos, the really scary part here is the implied plan to eliminate teachers altogether.
Canned lessons - even if they were terrific - followed by an equally canned worksheet to prove you can regurgitate in the short-term mean that qualified teachers will no longer be necessary. A mere proctor would be enough.
Hedge-fund charter schools have edged towrads this, hiring barely-graduated kids straight out of college to read rotely from their "curriculum", and this gambit in a huge school district is the next step.
This charter school asshole's entire job is to wreck the Houston Public School system but I find it morbidly, darkly hilarious that there is this assumption that 'anyone' can come in and develop a cirriculum for students easy-peasy that gets them on the track for success! This is obviously failing badly but of course Abbott will blame the teachers or someone else and make this guy the permanent superintendent forever and ever, because their unending experiment to stupefy Texans is an explicit goal.
Aren't the right supposed to be banning books with "sexually explicit" stuff?
No, they're behaving as groomers apparently
They always have.
as a former teacher, teaching from a powerpoint presentation and then handing out a worksheet is not teaching (not having a dig at the teachers, their hands are tied)
Oh no!!
https://youtu.be/KCiVG6mTor0?feature=shared
So the people who whined about To Kill a Mockingbird forcing kids to confront the ugly truth about racial politics in this country are just phoning in their fascist school curricula, resulting in material that is way more honest about racial politics than anything it came before?
I'm gonna need a minute to stop laughing before we continue this conversation.
"now half of you have the 8-bit “Super Mario” theme bouncing through your heads."
I didn't until you mentioned it, Dok. THANKS A BUNCH
As a member of the "Xennial" microgeneration, I felt specifically and maliciously targeted by that bit.
Same
Failing schools don’t fail because of bad curriculum. They fail because they don’t have any money, their students’ families don’t have any money (and therefore don’t get the support or environment they need to succeed), their buildings are crumbling, their buses are falling apart (or nonexistent), their classes are too big, and their teacher turnover is too high (because they aren’t paid enough, have to spend all their time dealing with behavior problems instead of teaching, and have too many students per class). I’m painting with a pretty broad brush, of course, but the problems are indeed way bigger than some curriculum changes can fix.
not broad enough...
So the curriculum department does not have any teachers in it?
"working with the curriculum department to strengthen and catch errors in lessons, leaving their students with teaching assistants and learning coaches, Miles said.
“They’re going to be able to help the curriculum department see a little bit closer, from the teacher’s perspective, what the material looks like,” he said. “They’re going to have a better eye and help us vet.”
Why do I get the impression those teaching assistants and learning coaches are going to be there mostly to report back to Das Reich on how completely the teachers are buckling to the new order?
You mean like in those soviet era war/spy novels where there was always an apparatchik standing around apparently doing nothing?
Something like that. With job titles like, "Quality Control Assurance Officer." Very clean, very tidy. Very much hiding the evil with a skin of shiny goodness.
And that skin is white, of course.
So very, very white. Alabaster skin, milky white complexions. Maybe the occasional cream, but not too much, and some people might consider that faint tinge of color to make them too brown. But, y'know. Standards or some shit.
Seems like the Houston Independent School District is no longer "independent".
This is just wrong on so many levels.
All of this is very depressing, Dok. You should have included a picture of Thornton to take off some of the sting.
It’s almost as if Texas doesn’t want students in Houston schools to learn anything at all
Wait
"teenage eating disorders, which felt inappropriate for the age level, teachers said."
Well, I remember 3 pre-teen girls in my homeroom in 8th grade had eating disorders. 2 were anemic and 1 was bulimic. I wouldn't be surprised if 10% of the girls in the school had such conditions. Puberty is one common time those conditions really start up in this sick culture that told all the girls they were supposed have bodies like Barbie.
This is the time that they NEED to be educated about it so they can seek help. And their teachers need to be trained to recognize the symptoms. And their classmates need to know how incredibly harmful their words and behavior can be (good luck with that one).
Anemic or anorexic?
Anorexic. Thank you for the correction!
I wasn’t sure, so I asked! And you’re welcome.
I agree with you, if the lesson was something helpful or positive and actual education or real actual this is what real doctors say is healthy. From what Dok was writing, it sounds like the assholes in charge are using some half assed, poorly sourced AI chat bot to make the lessons. In that case, the lesson could have been pulled from a pro anorexia site (horrifying they exist), some batshit influencer's feed promoting a very unhealthy diet, or some corporate "factsheet" on how ultra processed food is better for you than fresh food. In which case, thank the power of your choice the teachers caught it before teaching it.
"Wait until they're 18 and then give them the information and let them decide."
*eyeroll*
I'm so sick of these people who seem to not be capable of critically reasoning themselves out of a wet paper bag.
If its a Power Point presentation they don't need teachers to do it...this is designed to eliminate them.
A few years back, I read something put out by some right wing "think tank" (can't remember if it was Heritage or something similar) was saying we only need a handful of "master teachers" for the entire country and their lessons could be broadcast into classrooms, blah blah blah.
Hm, have they considered that a saboteur is including all the objectionable stuff on purpose? 🤔
ChatGP is trolling the Fascist Right? *sniff* They grow up so quickly!
Leaving aside the schadenfreudy delight of Righties having to answer for plopping upsetting material in front of the kiddos, the really scary part here is the implied plan to eliminate teachers altogether.
Canned lessons - even if they were terrific - followed by an equally canned worksheet to prove you can regurgitate in the short-term mean that qualified teachers will no longer be necessary. A mere proctor would be enough.
Hedge-fund charter schools have edged towrads this, hiring barely-graduated kids straight out of college to read rotely from their "curriculum", and this gambit in a huge school district is the next step.
School on Vulcan without the laughs I guess... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvMxLpce3Xw
They're putting cameras in the learning pits to livestream the inevitable fistfights.
This charter school asshole's entire job is to wreck the Houston Public School system but I find it morbidly, darkly hilarious that there is this assumption that 'anyone' can come in and develop a cirriculum for students easy-peasy that gets them on the track for success! This is obviously failing badly but of course Abbott will blame the teachers or someone else and make this guy the permanent superintendent forever and ever, because their unending experiment to stupefy Texans is an explicit goal.