Teachers strike

[TRA Rotid]

Originally Posted by Angel

But seriously, does no one see what is wrong with that sentence? I have written it exactly as it says on the paper...

But you still have to answer. Whatever numbers you put there, the answer must still be correct. And you can`t put a bigger number in the second blank.
It makes sense, but still pointless and rather non-developing.

Or, you could answer - I bought 3 oranges for 50 pence (odd word), but I only had 1 pence so now I have to do slave labour for 1 pence an hour and repay my debt.

[games master2]

Originally Posted by Arseface

It was a pretty bad joke.... It didn't even make sense.

shag er arder
shag=have sex with

[Walker]

Will read rest later, but:

More money for teachers=good. My mom's one. Obviously, they should be paid several million a week.

Some teachers=evil. Such as the eighth grade Algebra teacher who told me she would flunk me if I didn't get out of the class.

[Tsuyu]

Originally Posted by Walker

Such as the eighth grade Algebra teacher who told me she would flunk me if I didn't get out of the class.

I almost choked on my drink when I read that!

[Dark Drakan]

Originally Posted by Tsuyu

I almost choked on my drink when I read that!

Not just me that read that wrong at first then.

[Angel]

Originally Posted by TRA Rotid

But you still have to answer. Whatever numbers you put there, the answer must still be correct. And you can`t put a bigger number in the second blank.
It makes sense, but still pointless and rather non-developing.

Yeah, I have no problem with doing this homework - my issue is with the fact that the figures were not put in like they said they were and I have no idea what Jessica can or cannot do in class so it is pointless me putting in the figures myself if they are going to be too hard or too easy for her. No point in asking her either because she'll blatantly lie

[Walker]

Originally Posted by Tsuyu

I almost choked on my drink when I read that!

Figures it's Tsuyu who would misread "flunk" as something else.

Originally Posted by Drakan

Not just me that read that wrong at first then.

And Drakan who would agree. Vision getting blurry again?

But no, although she did **** me over, she didn't use that word or meaning.

And, on the subject of standardized testing... it's evil. You do need to measure everyone's progress, but you can't just slap everyone to the same level. My mom teaches special ed, and they expect special ed to pass the same MSA as regular ed? What the hell.

So what's Jessica's issue, out of curiosity? Is it the math or the reading? Or both?

EDIT: MSA=Maryland State Assessment. Or Maryland School Assessment. Or something. It's the standardized test for middle and elementary schools in Maryland.

[Darg]

I agree that teachers are underpayed and sometimes overworked, and they need a bit more money to put up with all the crap they have to deal with. It's like getting paid next to nothing to go to a place populated by all flavors of annoying and evil to teach what doesn't generally want to be learned... well, it's exactly like that actually. I can't think of many jobs harder than being a teacher that pay that little, to be honest.

[Walker]

On the other hand, there are some useless teachers. And there are some good kids. There's balance to it all.

[Dark Drakan]

Originally Posted by Walker

Figures it's Tsuyu who would misread "flunk" as something else.
And Drakan who would agree. Vision getting blurry again?

Happens to the best of us...

Originally Posted by Walker

On the other hand, there are some useless teachers. And there are some good kids. There's balance to it all.

Yeah thats very true, some teachers just seem to not care about some of the kids who are falling behind and think its because they are not doing their work. They dont take into account that they are there to teach these kids how to do the work not just leave them to get on with it when they dont understand.

[Angel]

Originally Posted by Walker

So what's Jessica's issue, out of curiosity? Is it the math or the reading? Or both?

Reading she is getting better at but she has the infamous Dart memory (my family) and she only needs to hear something a couple of times before she has memorised the whole thing, so reading to her is pointless as she can hold the book up, recite it to you, but not actually know the words, just remember them from what you said.

Writing is hard for her - being a leftie like me I can understand her frustrations because we are taught the right-handed way of doing things which is actually quite tough. She can't spell even the most simple words and is supposed to be able to read and write 145 words by July. She can read 35 and write about 20 - if that.

Maths is something she cannot understand - they are taught the logic behind the maths; they have to show HOW they arrived at such and such an answer, rather than just answering it. I get why they need to do this but she's 6 for goodness sakes. She is sent home with work she cannot understand and then told off for not understanding it. It's like me going in there and yelling at them for not understanding nuclear physics...

She's been tested for special needs before at her old school and they said she'd be ok but since she's come to this school she has gotten worse and worse to the point where they've had me in for parent/teacher night and said "she won't pass her SAT's and she won't meet the required targets by the end of the school year so it is likely she will struggle in Year 3" - but not one person has offered to help out. And that's what annoys me. Sure, go on strike and demand better pay but do your damn job in the first place.

[cometojames]

turns out my school isnt closing but some teachers are going on strike which means we have free lessons where we are supurvised, not tought. This is because the union NUTS who are going on strike advised the strikers not to get a cover teacher.

[Father of Skorm]

yea, thats the general rule, no cover, and no cover work. or else they might as well be there...

angel, have you tried phonics? i am not in the slightest bit wat mite b called an expert, but it sound a bit like jessica may be dyslexic... and thats wat the dyslexic kids at my school used 2 do 2 help their reading etc. dunno if its ne help...


yea, in general the teachin quality in this country is, well 2 be honest, s***. every1 is put in2 2 groups. the really 'special needs' and evry1 else. we need different levels for different abilities. there is currently little or no provision for the 'gifted' (those that can do the work with such ease that they get bored, and thus dont do the work and are sometimes labeled as 'thick'), which is, granted, improvin. but, there is nothing for the variance in ability, nationwide, in the middle section whatsoever! it is all down to the school, and more often than not it doesn't even consider that until you are higher in the schooling system. the best we had in mt priary school was ppl being put down a year (which is stupid as they were really unprepared come their SATs) and 1 person put up a year (and he was a cocky b****** in the 1st place...). i got extra homework for maths, because i was good at it, but i had 2 go out of my way for it and after a while the will to learn just gets sucked out of you...

[Angel]

We did try phonics but she gets confused - it doesn't help that stuff you can buy in the shops to assist your child at home is never taught at school... I think she could be dyslexic but it's hard to say without further testing which is not routinely offered to kids in this country who are struggling...

Schools these days cater for the average - those who are more advanced are left to stare vacantly at the ceiling on boredom and those who cannot keep up are largely ignored in the hope that some other poor sap of a teacher will pick up on it and have to deal with it instead. Jessica's best friend is incredibly smart and is not being pushed enough so she finds school boring and easy. Jessica struggles with everything aside from physical education and art but because those are not "real" subjects, she is offered no encouragement in those areas but instead is dumped in a group with kids who are still better than her and told to "keep up".

They keep having these retarded education reforms but clearly are basing these "ideas" on second-hand reports that OFSTED people (you know, the angry guys who couldn't cut it out to be teachers so they get to be the ones who assess them instead) churn out. It's all about school ratings these days, not about educating children and supporting them in the areas they are going to excel in. Sure, an all-round education is necessary but if the child has no concept of maths, is it really worth making them take GCSE level if all they are ever going to need in life is the ability to operate a simple calculator?

And you're right, FoS - abilities are not considered until you reach high school age and by then the damage has already been done if you are needing special help. No one ever bothered to find out if I was dyscalculic and they just called me stupid. I am by no means stupid and my IQ is probably higher than those who taught me - I just struggle with logic and mathematics. There are insanely intelligent people out there who cannot make toast or have no concept of what a kettle is for - doesn't mean they are stupid, just not adept at things which do not apply directly to their area of genius.

[Father of Skorm]

OFSTED is getting more towards the helping of the extremes (including the extremes of average ). my school just underwent an ofsted, and was, um, in need of improvement? i think that was what was sed... basically its a good school, tidy, well behaved mostly, but we dont really do anything for the special cases. so we failed. or as close 2 as u can get w/o getting shut down or getting a serious lookin at...

mymaths.com (or co.uk im not sure...) is quite good for helping to understand maths stuff, not sure if it goes down to primary education tho...