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What did you learn in college that helped you throughput your career?

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I was an Animal Science major. I never really went into that field since jobs were few and far between at that time and I was too uncertain of myself to really pursue it well, but when I started teaching science, much of it was very useful. My masters program for becoming a school principal was rather poorly done. Thankfully I worked as an assistant in an inner city school for three years with a principal who was very good. I learned more in that time by far than I did in the college courses.

But bear in mind that this thread was really about what is being done in Oregon in removing all testing requirements for high school graduation. It really amounts to child abuse.

And that's pretty much what happened when I was in college -- "So Oregon announces that reading, writing, and math are no longer important. But they will, as I understand it, enforce new testing centered around cell phone proficiency and transgender pronouns."

Of course, the three Rs are exceedingly important important subjects that should be taught at the elementary level -- PLUS proper cellphone use and LGBT issues.

My undergrad curriculum had dissolved into courses that we would "need" in order to successfully answer questions on "Jeopardy" (which I am able to do), rather than manage and teach a classroom of 30 children. Years later, when I attended a Catholic university's secular master's program, I learned so much during my two internships (18 month's worth) and the very informative yet practical coursework.

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But they will, as I understand it, enforce new testing centered around cell phone proficiency and transgender pronouns."

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That was actually sarcasm.

I think we might agree that there are some things which are difficult to teach in a purely classroom setting. Surgeons, for instance, do classroom work but also do a LOT of surgical work. Teaching is the same way. I went right from being an animal science major to teaching school. I figured most of it out on my own because I had to. What I learned in courses afterwards added very little.

so, if I understand you, you are self made man, and a very flawed example of your handiwork

Could very well be. Depends, I suppose, on who you ask. However, since you started your sentence with a lower case letter and ended it with no punctuation mark, then I guess it can be said we are quite similar in being "flawed examples".

Is that how it's taught in Australia? Or could it be a result of the high school dropout rate??

Well by your definition I am a high school drop out but with two fellowships and a higher degree. What you do in your teens doesn't define your life. I have sailed before the mast, pioneered a vineyard, and been a leader in my endeavours. So my punctuation isn't always PC here, but then I didn't have the benefit of a US high school education where you are taught to look down upon others because they don't meet your standard of perfection. When I was at school, there wasn't the same emphasis on finishing secondary school as there is today, because jobs were plentiful and the attraction of earning money was strong. In any case, I was the child of a working class family living in an industrial area. a family that had lived through the great depression. There are no longer any high school drop outs here, a standard of secondary education is mandated, not optional

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There are no longer any high school drop outs here, a standard of secondary education is mandated, not optional

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No high school dropouts in Australia? That has already been shown to be a ridiculously false claim.

I didn't say you were a high school dropout. I do question your writing skills, but this is just a message board, so perhaps you are simply being overly informal.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

No high school dropouts in Australia? That has already been shown to be a ridiculously false claim.

I didn't say you were a high school dropout. I do question your writing skills, but this is just a message board, so perhaps you are simply being overly informal.

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let's call it lazy, shall we and a tip of the hat to not being PC and following your incredibly bad spelling and grammar rules

Lazy? Well, I wouldn't go that far in your case. It's bitterness, jealousy, and hatred that's really the big concern.

Not for me, I wouldn't be in your shoes if you paid me. You see I don't believe the myth, they don't serve koolaid here

Do you have anything other than myths and shoes? At least you aren't contending that there are no dropouts in Australia. That's progress of sorts.

You know, you are like our legendary monster, the Bunyip, you keep popping up in unexpected places. No I take that back, you are like that other monster that inhabits the shadows, the Yowie.

oh to be by the billabong when the Yowies are in bloom. Yowoeeeee!

Hmm. This is still appropriate. "Do you have anything other than myths and shoes (and Yowies)? At least you aren't contending that there are no dropouts in Australia. That's progress of sorts."

The only dropouts we have are the dropbears that terrorise Yankee tourists

That's already been shown to be untrue.

How do you know? Have you ever been here? This is a delightfully place, full of protected species, Koalas, emus, dingoes, aboriginees, just one big national park and barbquearea. I look our my window to the far away hills and thank God I am so blessed

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How do you know?

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Because there is an abundance of reference materials out there that show otherwise. I've already posted them. https://www.askmehelpdesk.com/showth...60#post3872860

I'm glad you like your country. I'm sure it's a wonderful place in many ways. I have no idea why you cannot love and appreciate where you live without constantly tearing down and criticizing where I live. There's a bitterness there that is hard to explain.

I've told you before, I don't like the actions of your government, I'm sure the landscape is beautiful, the people warm and loving, but, something gets lost there somewhere

Sure looks and sounds like bitterness at work. Just sayin.

No I just an observer, I wish I had something else to observe but your actions dominate the news cycle

Bitterness. Jealousy. Very ugly to watch.

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Originally Posted by jlisenbe

Bitterness. Jealousy. Very ugly to watch.

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Then don't watch, the solution is in your hands

This from a Wall Street Journal op ed :
'The Real Structural Racism
Is it OK that black eighth graders aren’t proficient in math and reading?"

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Embarrassed by the way our big city public school systems are failing black children, progressives answer not by making it easier for these kids to get into schools where black children are achieving, whether this be charter or parochial schools. Instead, they focus on getting rid of the embarrassment by getting rid of the achievement tests that expose it, doubling down on race preferences and trying to hamstring the schools that show black children can and do learn in the right environment.

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The Real Structural Racism - WSJ

That should be the question of the day. It is obvious that we are discriminating against poor blacks by confining them to under performing schools. It should be a national disgrace.

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Shaffer said that expecting students to use proper syntax and grammar “are all made up rules. They're arbitrary. They were created by Westerners in power, in linguistic justice” and part of "white supremacy" that "runs deep," adding that she tries “to undermine that BS in my classroom as much as I can.”

"We study linguistics and the rules that we actually use to communicate instead of the made-up rules that white supremacy created for when we write papers and stuff, which is what scholars call the 'language of power.'"

She continued, "Well, let's look at how we write essays [where we] start with an introduction that includes a thesis, always cite your sources, use transition words like ‘however’ and ‘therefore.’ These are all made-up rules. They were created by Westerners in power. Which got me thinking, what if I started my school year with a unit honoring how we talk rather than teaching students how to write properly."

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California English teacher says proper grammar is ‘white supremacist,’ refuses to teach it | The Post Millennial | thepostmillennial.com

Good for her! Now maybe she can tackle that "white supremacist" math next. All of this 2 + 2 = 4 stuff is just a creation of western power-seekers.

The liberals are still hot on the trail of educational equality. A city university in NY is being occupied by the students. Their demand? That all students receive a grade of A in every course in which they are enrolled. This is from the article. '

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"We demand that every student receives a final course grade of A as well as the removal of I/Z grades for the Fall 2022 semester." The letter insisted, "Attendance shall have no bearing on course grade." (According to the New School’s website, an "I" grade is a "temporary incomplete" and a "z" grade is an "unofficial withdrawal.")

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If the students genuinely believe that idea is a sensible proposal, then it tells us all we need to know about the quality of education they have received so far since, according to their demands, a student who does not attend class and does no work should still receive an A in the course. They evidently cannot understand that giving out A's to everyone makes the grade of A entirely meaningless. It would amount to nothing more than a participation trophy.