What is achievement?
All schools are looking to have students achieve, but the definition of the word may need some tweaking if we are to see results.
During my horrible second year in Clark County, I saw the problem first hand. While the principal wanted to see achievement, what he really wanted was to see that students were passing the course. I, on the other hand, understood achievement to mean that students would be able to do the assigned task while reaching or at least approaching mastery. Since we were not on the same page, I struggled within the confines of the system. (For the record, I do NOT believe passing students is the answer.)
This same issue has come up in the local schools. My son does not understand math concepts nor does he have an easy time reading and understanding non-fiction. Nevertheless he is passing his classes because the grading system is designed to give credit for handing in work or having a parent sign a quiz. Neither of those indicate the student's ability to do or understand the work. Furthermore, no one is addressing the fact that I have an 8th grade son who is having real academic difficulty. Masking the grade simply allows the teacher off the responsibility hook.
Can we give students credit for being in the room and doing work but not measuring accuracy?? Do we call that achievement?
Thursday, February 21, 2013
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
Small town politics
The campaigning is heating up in this small community. I live in the Town of Highlands but cannot vote for mayor of the village of Highland Falls; nevertheless, the winner of that race does have impact on me. Furthermore, since we have had the same fool in office for quite a number of years, I am pleased to see that someone other than a felon is running against the current mayor (yes, I believe the only person to run against this guy is a fellow with some criminal background).
So, the background. Highland Falls has had the same mayor for a long time. Long enough, in fact, for him to have a personalized license plate. The hubris of that alone makes my hair stand up on end. But, to the point.... this mayor is mean. He has been known to give the finger to those who cross his path -- literally. He is also a bully. While I am not naive and realize that small towns have carried on in this manner for a long time, I do not like the flavor of the community under his mayorship.
Understand, there has been talk for many years of joining the small Hamlet of Fort Montgomery and the Village of Highland Falls. As a resident of Fort Montgomery, I can vote for the Town Supervisor, but I cannot vote for the Mayor of the village. If the two communities were to officially join (a fiscally wise move), it would be nice for us to join with equal standing. As it is now, I do not have public water or sewer. I do not have a sidewalk. I do not have mail delivery. I do not have gas lines. Joining the two communities means that I have to accept the added tax burden of caring for infrastructure that I cannot claim benefit from. It's an issue. Someone who was forward thinking might address that point. The current mayor has not. Instead, he has taken what is available to the village and basically told the town to go scratch.
Example: West Point was to return lands to the town for development. In some manner of high jinx, the mayor was able to strong arm the dealings so the land was granted to the Village, not the town. That meant, though it's moot now, that if the property were developed, the tax dollars would go to the Village, not the town. The mayor has also been weird about providing water to the town. He wants to charge more for town residents who live on the water line. Still, they'd be paying to get the water AND for the added stress on the water treatment plant.
In comes an opponent. This guy is a very active member of the community and has a DJ business that had been used for 4th of July festivities until this past year. When the 4th of July Committee (headed by the Mayor) opted to use another DJ, the shit hit the fan and the line in the sand was drawn. So, here's what is ahead. Said DJ, another townie who has some shady behavior that has even the locals wondering if the devil you know is the devil you stick with, has thrown his hat into the ring and is running for Mayor. If he loses, he can expect the Mayor's office to come down hard on him in one way or another. He'll have difficulty getting building permits or be written up for some minor legal infraction (like having too many friends visiting and parking on the street, for example).
So, the nastiness moves forward. And, since the decisions of the 4th of july committee seem to have set this in motion, let the fireworks begin.
So, the background. Highland Falls has had the same mayor for a long time. Long enough, in fact, for him to have a personalized license plate. The hubris of that alone makes my hair stand up on end. But, to the point.... this mayor is mean. He has been known to give the finger to those who cross his path -- literally. He is also a bully. While I am not naive and realize that small towns have carried on in this manner for a long time, I do not like the flavor of the community under his mayorship.
Understand, there has been talk for many years of joining the small Hamlet of Fort Montgomery and the Village of Highland Falls. As a resident of Fort Montgomery, I can vote for the Town Supervisor, but I cannot vote for the Mayor of the village. If the two communities were to officially join (a fiscally wise move), it would be nice for us to join with equal standing. As it is now, I do not have public water or sewer. I do not have a sidewalk. I do not have mail delivery. I do not have gas lines. Joining the two communities means that I have to accept the added tax burden of caring for infrastructure that I cannot claim benefit from. It's an issue. Someone who was forward thinking might address that point. The current mayor has not. Instead, he has taken what is available to the village and basically told the town to go scratch.
Example: West Point was to return lands to the town for development. In some manner of high jinx, the mayor was able to strong arm the dealings so the land was granted to the Village, not the town. That meant, though it's moot now, that if the property were developed, the tax dollars would go to the Village, not the town. The mayor has also been weird about providing water to the town. He wants to charge more for town residents who live on the water line. Still, they'd be paying to get the water AND for the added stress on the water treatment plant.
In comes an opponent. This guy is a very active member of the community and has a DJ business that had been used for 4th of July festivities until this past year. When the 4th of July Committee (headed by the Mayor) opted to use another DJ, the shit hit the fan and the line in the sand was drawn. So, here's what is ahead. Said DJ, another townie who has some shady behavior that has even the locals wondering if the devil you know is the devil you stick with, has thrown his hat into the ring and is running for Mayor. If he loses, he can expect the Mayor's office to come down hard on him in one way or another. He'll have difficulty getting building permits or be written up for some minor legal infraction (like having too many friends visiting and parking on the street, for example).
So, the nastiness moves forward. And, since the decisions of the 4th of july committee seem to have set this in motion, let the fireworks begin.
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Moving to Las Vegas was a culture shock, but nothing compared to the fact that those who graded the Nevada Writing Proficiency exams were not counting spelling. The news I got: Spelling doesn't count.
Well, it's just one more place where the state of Nevada got it wrong. Spelling DOES count.
Imagine my horror, then, when I saw the sign above -- my own hometown library guilty of a spelling error. There was nothing bizarre about the bazaar I attended at the library. Except maybe that no one knew the bizarre was really a bazaar?
Tyler was telling me a story last night about some stuff he sees on Facebook. Apparently there is a group of people who have their facebook pet peeves listed. Tyler claims they are full of misspellings. So, he added to the list of facebook pet peeves: My pet peeve is when people don't know how to spell! Oh, my boy, a real chip off the old block. (Many claim the computer writing that contains spelling errors is just typos, not spelling errors. I beg to differ.)
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Football Shenanigans
So another football season has ended and we can all breathe a sigh of relief.
I am a football fan, but I have become increasingly annoyed by the Superbowl Super Show. Really. It's just plain annoying.
During any other game, the half time is 15 minutes. Players are used to this break. They enter the locker room and do whatever it is that goes on in there. Regardless of if it's a pre season game or a play off game, the duration of half time is the same. But during the super bowl, the half time show is 30 minutes long. This must affect the pace of the game and the way the players get themselves ready. The super bowl is the culmination of a dream for these players and it seems unfair to change the game for entertainment -- the game itself is entertaining.
Why is the Super bowl half time so long? To allow for the Super stars to do their Super silliness. The pyrotechnics are stunning. Then, the athletes come back on the field in an arena full of smoke. Where is the sense in this????? This year we had the added burden of a power outage (some say it's because of the half time show) that put the game on hold for an additional 30 minutes. After the long half time and the power outage, the team that was getting its butt kicked was able to stage a comeback. If they had been able to pull off the win, could we all really believe the extra time allotment hadn't been the reason?
The super bowl is still a game and should be presented as any other. I am not alone. Others are having a discussion about deleting the super half time show. I say, thank goodness. The super bowl is about the sport of football. Let the Pro bowl, the game where the players bask in the glory of their super stardom, host the football shenanigans while the super bowl presents the best teams playing the game we fans enjoy.
I am a football fan, but I have become increasingly annoyed by the Superbowl Super Show. Really. It's just plain annoying.
During any other game, the half time is 15 minutes. Players are used to this break. They enter the locker room and do whatever it is that goes on in there. Regardless of if it's a pre season game or a play off game, the duration of half time is the same. But during the super bowl, the half time show is 30 minutes long. This must affect the pace of the game and the way the players get themselves ready. The super bowl is the culmination of a dream for these players and it seems unfair to change the game for entertainment -- the game itself is entertaining.
Why is the Super bowl half time so long? To allow for the Super stars to do their Super silliness. The pyrotechnics are stunning. Then, the athletes come back on the field in an arena full of smoke. Where is the sense in this????? This year we had the added burden of a power outage (some say it's because of the half time show) that put the game on hold for an additional 30 minutes. After the long half time and the power outage, the team that was getting its butt kicked was able to stage a comeback. If they had been able to pull off the win, could we all really believe the extra time allotment hadn't been the reason?
The super bowl is still a game and should be presented as any other. I am not alone. Others are having a discussion about deleting the super half time show. I say, thank goodness. The super bowl is about the sport of football. Let the Pro bowl, the game where the players bask in the glory of their super stardom, host the football shenanigans while the super bowl presents the best teams playing the game we fans enjoy.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)