{"conf": "education", "generated_at": "2026-04-26T08:00:02.954878Z", "threads": [{"num": 1, "subject": "education conference intros", "response_count": 18, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "spif", "date": "Mon, May 19, 1997 (02:02)", "body": "Hello all. As Terry has said, I'm the host of this conference. I'm going to create a few topics to start things off, but feel free to create your own. This conference is not limited to any one aspect of education, so whatever comes to mind is appropriate as long as it has to do with education in some form or another. That's not limited to formal education, either - if you want to talk about your learning experiences outside of formal educational settings, feel free; in fact, I'm going to start a topi for just that purpose. I'd be interested in hearing your opinions about educational practices and theories. My hope is that this conference can allow us to share ideas and experiences related to education. Perhaps we can even come up with some ways to help improve education in our communities. A little about myself. I live in the Kansas City area and work for a consulting company. I also work with an organization known as Virtual Online University ( http://www.athena.edu/ ) that provides online education. VOU also provides consulting for organizations that want to use digital information technology (computers and networks) to provide innovative education."}, {"response": 2, "author": "moulton", "date": "Mon, Jul 12, 1999 (01:54)", "body": "I've been involved in educational technology and education research for about 12 years. I'm developing a theory of emotions and learning."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Jul 12, 1999 (03:28)", "body": "Is there a url where your theory is posted and/or are you willing to do so here? You may even start your own topic on it if you'd like..."}, {"response": 4, "author": "moulton", "date": "Mon, Jul 12, 1999 (11:05)", "body": "See my article, \"Bring a Candle, Not a Sparkler\" at http://www.musenet.org/WCE See especially my Articles on EdNet and the 5th installment, \"Project-Based Learning and Communitas,\" which you can jump to directly with this URL: http://www.musenet.org/bkort/ednet/ednet.5.txt There is also a mathematical angle to this theory which doesn't travel well in ASCII. When I do the stand-up version of it, I rely on some bricolage involving a little puppet named Montana Mouse. It works pretty good as a stand-up, but loses its punch in flat ASCII. But see Moulton's Computer Dialogues at http://www.musenet.org/bkort/dialogues/Intro.html which date back to 1985."}, {"response": 5, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (23:33)", "body": "Hello, Barry! Activity in this conference is usually minimal, maybe now that you're here that'll change."}, {"response": 6, "author": "moulton", "date": "Thu, Jul 15, 1999 (23:46)", "body": "I'm active on some mailing lists with eductors who focus on new technology. I had invited some of them to the Motet site at U-Mass. Perhaps I can lure them here, now that the U-Mass site is dark for the summer."}, {"response": 7, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (14:16)", "body": "Hi, I'm an education PhD researcher from England. I'm researching language issues in primary schools in Mali, West Africa. Not much technology going on there in the primary schools I'm involved with. They're just desperate for brown paper for wall posters! Anyway, greetings to one and all, Maggie"}, {"response": 8, "author": "Isabel", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (14:35)", "body": "Welcome to the Spring, Maggie!!!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "aschuth", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (14:39)", "body": "Hiya, Maggie!"}, {"response": 10, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (14:43)", "body": "Hi, Maggie. I'm not a researcher or consultant or highly published intellectual. I am a real-life high school English teacher in Hawaii, more into the nuts and bolts than the theoretical. In fact, in my classes, we do have an occasional nut who bolts, and that's just the teacher!"}, {"response": 11, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (15:26)", "body": "Welcome Maggie, let us know the things you'd like to talk about and we can direct you to the right places or create them for you!"}, {"response": 12, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (17:13)", "body": "Thanks everyone for a warm welcome. As to what I'd like to talk about. Well, my real concern is how kids grow and learn when the facilities are so difficult. The kids we observed in classes in Mali are SO keen, and the teachers struggle against almost impossible odds, but their morale was great. We saw classes of 80 children with a rookie teacher. They'd only been in school 4 months and were already doing tens and units addition, reading cursive writing on posters with stories of up to 13 sentences. Using the mother tongue (as opposed o French) does seem to make a difference, but i think there's other things involved too. I coldn't help comparing what I saw to inner city schools in Britain (where I live). Maggie"}, {"response": 13, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (17:22)", "body": "attitude is HUGE... the attitude of the child towards education the attitude of the family the attitude of the community... (and WELCOME Maggie!)"}, {"response": 14, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (17:51)", "body": "Hello, everyone! I'm a graduate teaching assistant at the second largest university in Missouri. I'm an English major, and I'm teaching two sections of freshman composition this semester. This is my first time teaching ANYTHING, EVER, so obviously I was very nervous at the beginning but I'm getting better. My biggest problem is attitude--I've always been a dedicated student who did my homework without too much complaining, went to class every day, and participated in discussions. Now, I have students who could care less if they make a D, and I just don't understand that! Anyone have any ideas?"}, {"response": 15, "author": "moulton", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (18:33)", "body": "Please see my paper, Bring a Candle, Not a Sparkler ."}, {"response": 16, "author": "Irishprincess", "date": "Thu, Sep 30, 1999 (19:07)", "body": "Barry--I saw your article about computers in education, and somehow I think that computers will end up being a curse and not a blessing. All of the graduate assistants just had a lecture on Tuesday about the use of computers as learning tools for teaching English. I was rather unimpressed, since all of the assignments (part of Webquest) seemed as if they would be just as effectively delivered on paper, and the only purpose of doing them over the Internet was to make them look jazzy. Don't you think, th t in some situations, it would be detrimental to students to not have the benefit of actual human interaction? There have been many teachers of mine who I have learned so much simply by being in their presences, not only through the transmission of exactly what I'm supposed to be learning, but I also learned from their personalities and charisma. That's how I learned to be a teacher. But in a virtual classroom, students and teachers can't even look at one another. I just can't imagine having a class w th a teacher who wouldn't know me if he saw me on the street. It's impossible to really know someone by staring at text on a screen. What is your opinion on this?"}, {"response": 17, "author": "moulton", "date": "Fri, Oct  1, 1999 (15:04)", "body": "The benefit of the telephone is that you can talk to someone who is not in the same room, not in the same town, not in the same country. I enjoy learning with people from many cultures, from far away places with strange sounding names."}, {"response": 18, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (08:42)", "body": "Hi everyone ..have finally moved in here properly ...and I'll try and get things going. Come and join me and introduce yourselves and the education topics you're interested in. This conference can include almost anything to do with 'education' and at some point or other we have all been educated or hae little people who are undergoing education so everyone should be able to find something that interests them. Maggie education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 10, "subject": "Parents, I need your great ideas!", "response_count": 0, "posts": []}, {"num": 11, "subject": "Texas Education", "response_count": 13, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb  4, 2002 (10:36)", "body": "Jim Nelson, the Texas commissioner of education resigned yesterday, effective at the end of March. It will be very interesting to see who Perry appoints to replace him. I always thought some of the high points of GW's reaign as guv were his choices for commissioner of ed. Very astute appointments, i always though, especially Moses. Articles about the resignation can be found all over the state at: http://www.dfw.com/mld/startelegram/news/state/2516543.htm http://www.dallasnews.com/texas_southwest/nelson_23tex.ART.5cbf8.html http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/wednesday/metro_state_1.html http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=320&xlc=587192&xld=320 http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1222573"}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Mar  6, 2002 (08:28)", "body": "I found an very interesting website called Texas New Media Association \"serving Austin's Interactive community\" About Us Our board of directors and staff is comprised of an interesting variety of college students, high school teachers, interactive professionals, accountants and corporate executives eager to serve the needs of high school counselors, teachers and students to accomplish their goals. The Work Our board of directors and staff is comprised of an interesting variety of college students, high school teachers, interactive professionals, accountants and corporate executives eager to serve the needs of high school counselors, teachers and students to accomplish their goals. Get Involved Tell a student. Tell a teacher. Post an article. Invite a guest speaker to talk about how students can get involved. Post internships. Become a TNMA sponsor in your school.. The list is endless. If this site interests you or would interest someone you know contact: Ryan Trujillo, ryan@texasnewmedia.org."}, {"response": 3, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Thu, Jun  6, 2002 (21:01)", "body": "I really believe that we could have a peaceful world if education is based on the ideology of a peaceful world. Of course help and understanding of the politicians will be crucial. I work for Pakistan American Cultural Center in Karachi, Pakistan. We have an English Language Program for adults. It could serve as a very important tool in developing understanding and goodwill among the masses if targeted properly. I had written to the American Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan that I had a few ideas and whether they would be interested in knowing details of them. Sadly, I didn't receive any response from them -- total silence. My observation is that in all of the troubled areas of the world, basis of education and targeting are misdirected. and targeting"}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun  7, 2002 (03:16)", "body": "Perhaps if you contacted the American media (NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN) you could get some coverage of your ideas and proposals as they are relevant in this changing part of the world. What were you saying about targeting? Your sentence dropped off a bit there."}, {"response": 5, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Fri, Jun  7, 2002 (17:57)", "body": "Yes something went wrong after targeting. By targeting I mean the focus of education is completely towards achieving degrees to get jobs. Of course we do need good jobs but along with that we also need civilized law abiding citizens. That's what's lacking in the education system in most of the third world countries."}, {"response": 6, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, Jun  9, 2002 (06:40)", "body": "What you're talking about needs a wider venue. I hope you can hook up with the right media types. Terrorism will keep cropping up unless we have a better education system in third world countries that doesn't focus on religious hatred."}, {"response": 7, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Sun, Jun  9, 2002 (09:03)", "body": "There is no such thing as \"hatred\" in any of the religions of the world. That's what education should make the masses aware of."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun  9, 2002 (10:29)", "body": "The school at which Sikander teaches has its mission statement on http://exchanges.state.gov/education/engteaching/eal-elp1.htm Intolerance for anything different from ME is at the root of all things. Suddenly we are being Politically Correct. Racial profiling is an anathema, so in screening for possible terrorists, on Thursday last I was subjected to a thorough personal search and everything I brought with me was opened and checked. Small children are also being targetted. I was dressed as any mother might dress. I usually travel well dressed, but this time I went as a mom and looked so converntional I could hardly stand it. What did it get me? I am white, benign, friendly and \"middle aged\" So I got the search while non-white young adult men with unconventional baggage and clothing were not searched. I would really like to find out what they thought they might prove in doing this. Education must also involve rational thinking. I suspect what is being done is far more foolish than useful. I dread my next check in and I must go to the east coast next."}, {"response": 9, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun  9, 2002 (10:30)", "body": "And, for the record, Sikander's teaching mission is a noble one. He needs support and, Terry is correct, much wider coverage."}, {"response": 10, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Mon, Jun 10, 2002 (18:54)", "body": "Marcia's experience of check-in does show irrational thinking. Perhaps some wise guy wanted to prove something. Marcia you are very intelligent. You have even located me on the internet. I was not even aware that this page existed. Thanks for drawing my attention."}, {"response": 11, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Thu, Jun 13, 2002 (17:40)", "body": "The geography lessons in schools should not only cover maps and climate of the different areas of the world. There should be some exchange of knowledge about people and their ways living in different parts of the world. This is not covered in the school curriculum in Pakistan. I try to introduce different countries and their culture in my English lessons. Do the schools in USA have such coverage in their geography lessons."}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Fri, Jun 14, 2002 (08:07)", "body": "They pretty much do, geography knowledge in US schools is pretty open."}, {"response": 13, "author": "TheMaharaja", "date": "Fri, Jun 14, 2002 (18:01)", "body": "Thanks Terry. I was 99% sure that geography lessons in US schools must have a wider coverage. In Pakistan there are two categories of schools, those imparting education using English as a medium of education and those using Urdu as a medium of education. The English Medium schools (as they are called) do have a wider coverage of all subjects and try to follow the curriculum of British \"O\" & \"A\" levels. In these schools civility is also given importance. This, however, is not the case in Urdu Medium schools. There the emphassis is on getting degrees by hook or by crook to get good jobs. The problem is that almost all English Medium schools are commercial ventures and have very high admission and tuition fees and as such beyond the reach of the masses. education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 2, "subject": "informal education", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "donnal", "date": "Wed, Aug 27, 1997 (14:46)", "body": "Well, (spif) I'm much like you in that almost everything I know about computers has been acquired informally. It seems to me that it requires the motivation (why do I want to learn Java), the opportunity (do I have the necessary system, software and so on), and persistance. In case you hadn't guessed, I am trying to teach myself Java at the moment, and the biggest hurdle seems to be carving out sufficient blocks of time."}, {"response": 2, "author": "jgross5", "date": "Mon, May 18, 1998 (21:31)", "body": "I really like the idea of self-directed learning, plus I do very much like the idea of home-schooling. And I like the idea of free schools. I like the idea of working with one or 2 or 3 kids, by learning from them. I'm 48, they would be so close to the beginning, compared to me. They would be still so unformed, compared to me, and they'd be more innocent. Those kind of qualities are fun to think about getting close to and learning from. To just be struck by what I see going on in them and seeing if I can go with it because it's so breathing and alive, to move nimbly with where they're going, to move with as much feeling as they're moving with.....it seems such a beautiful challenge, like life itself is talking to me, saying: \"see, it is still possible to feel and change and be passionate.\" But the thing about kids, when I listen in to those emotions that are closest to them, they, the kids, are incredibly original, they've just got that already goin' on, and they kinda do like to be accompanied by the truly interested in that regeneration, the outcomes, the forthcoming actions, as that regeneration moves in and through us and out into the day. I mean it feels plenty good, mmm?"}, {"response": 3, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 1998 (22:48)", "body": "I used to be a French tutor, and I loved the one-on-one more than any classroom setting."}, {"response": 4, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep  4, 2000 (02:26)", "body": "Home schooling tends to be idealised ...I did it for two years, and, yes, there are joys inseeing your kids develop, but most of the time it's just plain HARD WORK. There can also be a sense of insecurity. Normally we worry about our kids... we all do .... but with home schooling you worry more about whether you are doing a good job and whether they are keeping up. I know some people feel that is unimportant in comparison to the advantages, but it certainly worried me. I felt much happier when we were using an acredited system marked by an outsider. On the plus side we developed very good relationships with our kids, and now as adults their memories of that time are very positive."}, {"response": 5, "author": "autumn", "date": "Thu, Sep 14, 2000 (00:20)", "body": "I LOVE home schooling--it has changed our lives so much. It's such a liberating, empowering concept...never to be a slave to someone else's schedule. The added close family bond is a big plus too. Our worst day homeschooling is still better than spending the day apart from each other."}, {"response": 6, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Sep 14, 2000 (02:43)", "body": "How old are yur kids Autumn? Mine were eight and eleven when we home schooled."}, {"response": 7, "author": "autumn", "date": "Tue, Sep 19, 2000 (22:31)", "body": "My daughters are eight and six. How old are your children now, Maggie?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (06:01)", "body": "22 and 25!!!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Sep 20, 2000 (14:25)", "body": "Here's a site that discusses informal education in depth. Worth perusing, I thnk ... http://www.infed.org/i-intro.htm"}, {"response": 10, "author": "autumn", "date": "Mon, Oct  2, 2000 (22:00)", "body": "Interesting link! education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 3, "subject": "the current state of education", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, May 19, 1997 (02:07)", "body": "so... the president's gonna reduce class size... (in grade's 1-3) what in the heck is he gonna do about self contained rooms: finding competent paras, protecting student rights, promoting adequate conseling (or any at all!) within the ED rooms, encouraging paid trainings for support staff... AND class size?!?! venting... frustrated with a system that really doesn't put the kids first."}, {"response": 3, "author": "LaughingSky", "date": "Sun, Feb 22, 1998 (21:25)", "body": "The current state of education in my county is very poor. I overheard a junior at our local high school who asked someone where they were from and got the reply, \"Pennsylvania\",and stated, \"Where's that?\" I found that to be a rather frightening reply!Instead of cutting down on education funding, that is just one example that we need funding increases, instead!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Jun  9, 1998 (18:40)", "body": "the current state of education... school is OUT! (of course I start teaching summer school on June 22 but that's DAYS away!!!!) WooWOO!"}, {"response": 6, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jun 19, 1998 (00:36)", "body": "Lamar Middle School's suggested Parent and Teacher Reading List 1. Grounded for Life?! (Stop Blowing Your Fuse and Start Communicating with Your Teenager) by Louise Felton Tracy, M.S. 2. The Roller Coaster Years (Raising Your Child Through the Maddening Yet Magical Middle School Years) by Charlene C. Giannetti and Margaret Sagarese 3. Living with a Work in Progress (A Parent's Guide to Surviving Adolescence) by Carol Goldberg Freeman 4. Reviving Ophelia (Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls) by Mary Pipher, Ph.D. 5. H.E.L.P. (How to Enjoy Living with a Preadolescent) by Judith Daenen"}, {"response": 7, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Jun 25, 1998 (22:21)", "body": "Makes parenting sound like a LOVELY experience, no?"}, {"response": 8, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Fri, Jun 26, 1998 (00:10)", "body": "something along those lines... as you well know..."}, {"response": 9, "author": "jgross", "date": "Wed, Nov  4, 1998 (01:49)", "body": "Dwindling Anatomy of Spaceless Mindshadow gimme a little somethin' to say and I'll say it just like you the jugglers are throwin' up snakes cuz you told them that's what they oughta do the snapshot was taken and you were the only one lookin' good they looked broken and shaken just like you said they would the rose rose in all its morning glory by afternoon it made its financial statement other flowers grew and filled out the story but it ended when they paid you their late rent not as much as before and then a little more the animal within grows claws, a hide of tough skin moments of rising mist, seclusion, indecisiveness, and you're in"}, {"response": 10, "author": "jgross", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "Bryan Venable's heading at the start of this topic: \"what's the current state of education in your neighborhood, city, state and/or country? is it as good as it can be? is it as good as it should be? what could make it better?\" a Salli Raspberry school I've got her book on how to start your own school and Terry's probably got an earful from her on stuff about the school even if it was something in the past by the time he met her"}, {"response": 11, "author": "jgross", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "I think this will go better right about in here than in Functional Foods, (but what triggered it was Response 41 in that topic): I think friendship is so hard because of how many things in the other person we don't like, and how that makes us react in ways we don't like to. So we don't like that about ourselves, and we don't like stuff about them. And it implies that we have something in mind about how we would like friendship to be. But we try to have that by making it into a should. That 'should' gets in the way of what we are. The person who we like but mostly don't like (therefore they're not a friend), is really a mirror for us. And we don't look in that mirror. What we don't like reflects our pain. It hurts to see pain. But the pain is what we are. We're constantly pushing out of sight what we are. Because it's too painful to get to know. And because we then pursue what we think we should, something more like what we'd like. We don't know ourselves, and that's why. Our friendships are not deep and strong, and that's why. Dislike stops us in our tracks. And we're not going to waste our time wondering why. We're not going to waste our time seeing the connection. And this is why we're so out of touch with our communities and our world. It's painful to be with those who are too different from us. It's painful to feel, so we don't. We numb ourselves against it, so we can get by on being pleasant. If we're pleasant and we hang with those who are different from us then we can say we're diverse or we mix well. The dislike, and its pain, leads us to who we are, if we feel our way into the dislike. There are so many different dislikes that go on. And we overcome them with diplomatic pleasantness until we can get out of there and away from the dislike---which is then where we can say that we don't belong with the dislike because it's not us. Wrong. We're wrong there. It is us. It's a projection. They are acting out something inside us that we dislike. It's painful to feel it again as it arises in others. So we don't feel. We numb ourselves to it. And accordingly, our lives are, to that degree, small, petty, self-centered, shallow, superficial. Intelligence is actually being able to discern the essential. To do that we must venture into the pain. Far enough to go all the way. And truly understand the pain of dislike. We will find out 2 truths. One is that we are not separate from other people: there is no separation between us and another. The other truth is that compulsions, grooves, habitual patterns of behavior die hard and painfully. This is what education needs to go into, along with reading, writing, reasoning, arithmetic, and various other subjects. We can't learn to learn without love. True friendship is not possible if we don't know how to love. Love will never happen if we prevent ourselves from feeling. Life is feeling and change. If we give power to pain and dislike, we go astray in our lives. We must come to understand the deeper meanings of dislike if we are going to learn who we are and how to be friends. When we see what we dislike as a hindrance, by saying to ourselves that we dislike something because it's a hindrance and therefore a must to avoid, we are disconnecting ourselves from our selves, our life, our feeling, and our intelligence. Fear comes out of that. And freedom will never be, as long as fear is breeding fear."}, {"response": 12, "author": "TIM", "date": "Fri, Nov 20, 1998 (13:36)", "body": "I like this! It's good. education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 4, "subject": "the future of learning", "response_count": 8, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "jgross", "date": "Tue, Oct 27, 1998 (20:20)", "body": "One of the other factors in a rapidly changing world might be *following*. See, cuz I like to follow Lulu around. She's a year and 2 months old and doesn't speak English yet. Diana (her mother) asked me if I could watch Lulu while she went to practice (plays bass in a band called Gallus Mag). I says, \"Sure thing.\" Me and Lulu head for Metz Park in a stroller, her riding, me pushing, although I asked her if she'd like to switch places (she didn't seem to hear me). We get there and I just let her loose. She's messin' around on the grass for a little while and starts to cry. She's crawling with fire ants. I slap 'em all off, she stops crying real soon. Then we go to the sand pit and her shoes are off now. But she sees something and heads off toward it. I figure as long as she keeps on her feet and keeps moving, the ants won't have a chance to get on her. About 40 feet away, she comes upon the object of her attention: a purple balloon that had strayed from a birthday party that was being set up about another 60 feet away from her. While she was over there, two men were 20 feet from her trying to decide something about the birthday party preparations---and they were talking with each other. Lulu was quite interested and started to head over to them. I wanted her to, but I walked over to her and got her and the balloon and brought her back to the sand pit. We did a buncha stuff there---like one thing we did was, she would grab some sand and let it slide outa her hand, so I would grab a big handful of sand and let it slide outa my hand down onto her hand---she really liked that---and while I did that I started talking to her in her language, how she talks: babba-lock-ta-bauuu-jee-ma-withhh That's an example and it goes on and on. She likes when you talk to her on her terms, and starts right in talking, herself.....and you can tell it helps her settle more into herself and she just feels like trying more things because of that. She saw something again. Stood up. Headed over to it. It was 5 people unloading some stuff out of a mini-van for the party. I followed her. She got closer and closer to them. Then she veered over to a rose bush that had a single pink blossom, I think because I had headed over there. But if I had been less shy, me and Lulu would've been doing stuff with those people that were there at the minivan, and also the two men earlier. I would've just followed her and been right with her. Babies know where the action is. And that kinda learning that comes out of coming upon stuff like that is the best learning there is. It's free and toyless, it's real real human. When we got home (we were at the park a couple hours), Diana was back. She started singing this song to Lulu that she said Bahi's mother had sung to Lulu (Diana's married to Bahi). The song has only one word in it, the word \"nine\", and Diana was singing nine nine nine nine, over and over in different ways. I said, \"Hey, ya know, that might be how she'll learn her first word. Nine might be the first word she says in her life.\" I don't think Diana felt much for what I just said....no reaction....like she was nonplussed. But Lulu liked the \"Nine\" song, and music transfers real well what's going on in song, so if Diana got Lulu to sing along, and then if she brought the word \"nine\" into a Lulu-talk conversation, Lulu could start to see how words do talk in other talks. We were behind the house, in the backyard, and a car went by on 2nd Street out front, and music was comin' out of its stereo loud and clear, and Lulu just heard it, didn't see anything (she was looking at us), and what she did was, she started dancing, doing her little dance-shake-thing to the music that rolled by way out front. And education was real different for me, while I was with her, because babies are so revolutionary and they are not lost at sea in the advent of just checkin' out what happens to be goin' on around them. I know cuz I followed her.....and was followin' what she was up to."}, {"response": 2, "author": "pmnh", "date": "Wed, Oct 28, 1998 (00:16)", "body": "(awesome)"}, {"response": 3, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (23:25)", "body": "You relearn everything when you observe through a baby's eyes, on their level."}, {"response": 4, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (11:02)", "body": "if I ever have kids Jim, I'd like you to learn from them"}, {"response": 5, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Mon, Sep  4, 2000 (02:32)", "body": "There has ben a lot said and written about online learning, and idstance learning. One factor that seems to be ignored in the blurbs is 'stickability'. It is true that some subjects lend themselves to this kind of learning better than others, but even so the drop out rates are likely to be quite high. I don't have documentation on that, but self-motivation has always been a problem with individualised learning plans. Most of us need human contact to keep going. If online education is to succeed it must have some aspect of real life contact. It is no use having the most fantastic onine materials if people try it and give up. I wonder too whether certain personality types do better with this kind of learning environment than do others.... Just some thoughts....."}, {"response": 6, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Jul 17, 2001 (10:11)", "body": "There is an article in the latest edition of TechKnowLogia. IT Education for the porrest of the poor: Constraints, Possibilities and Principles. By Daniel A. Wagner. WWW.TechKnowLogia.org or http://www.literacy.org/products/WagnerTechKnowLogiaArticle.pdf"}, {"response": 7, "author": "moulton", "date": "Sat, Aug 25, 2001 (01:43)", "body": "My latest contribution to this topic may be found on our website at the MTI Media Lab on the Affective Learning Companion Project... http://www.media.mit.edu/affect/AC_research/lc/index.html"}, {"response": 8, "author": "wer", "date": "Tue, May 13, 2003 (11:48)", "body": "Dear Friends, What would your life be like if you never had the chance to go to school? It may be difficult to imagine, but this is the reality for 115 million children around the world. At last year's G8 Summit, eight of the world's richest nations agreed to provide the funds needed to help the poorest countries ensure education for both boys and girls. A year later, they have done little to fulfill their commitment. Don't let world leaders break their promise. Please sign the petition to make sure G8 countries are reminded of their commitment when they meet again this June. The deadline to sign the petition is 23 May, 2003. Go to: http://ga0.org/ct/mpq63K918P-n/ Help spread the word by sending this message to at least 5 friends to get them to sign, too. Remember, every signature counts. Sincerely, Your friends at NetAid and the Global Campaign for Education http://www.netaid.org/ education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 5, "subject": "spring", "response_count": 4, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Sun, May 25, 1997 (12:24)", "body": "Could you go in to more detail please? What kinds of \"spring materials\"? This sounds so fascinating and I'm trying to get more of a clue about what you're doing. It's cool that spif started this education conference."}, {"response": 2, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Feb  4, 2002 (10:36)", "body": "This is one of those posts that makes you wonder, what ever became of this!"}, {"response": 3, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sat, Mar 16, 2002 (16:42)", "body": "Figure that guy thought \"the spring\" was a resource on...well, springs??"}, {"response": 4, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Sun, Jun  9, 2002 (10:17)", "body": "I wish he had posted in a science conference if he wanted hydrological information. I think he might have wanted to know about Yapp software we use to do the posting and programming on the posts. I also wonder and wish he would return. Good teachers are what determines the success of succeeding generations! education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 6, "subject": "College Students", "response_count": 7, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 10, 1997 (03:47)", "body": "I chose University of Illinois, but, thinking back, if I had it to do over I would have picked a smaller, more intimate school. U of I is big like UT. And I came from a class of 100 in my high school. It was about 12 hours by bus from St. Louis. I had *no chance* to make either the basketball or track team at U of I. At a small school, I may have had a chance to participate in sports. But I did get some great exposure to computers and programming which has been useful to me. I slipped in, this is more \"who went where\" that \"who goes where\" now. And I'm an alum, not a current student."}, {"response": 2, "author": "KC5OJK", "date": "Wed, Sep 10, 1997 (15:44)", "body": "What would classify as a \"smaller, more intimate school?\" Personally, I think UT has everything that you could possibly want. I like the way that you can make UT seem as big or as small as you want. The only thing that I would change about UT is to make the buildings closer together. I have a hard time getting to some of my classes on time if I have to walk from one end of campus to the other due to a previous class. Other than that (and the fact it's too close to home) I love UT."}, {"response": 3, "author": "donnal", "date": "Sat, Sep 13, 1997 (16:14)", "body": "My son, Philip, is going to University of Memphis. He initially took a look at the school because they offered him a good scholarship, but we have all been quite impressed with it. This is his second year. It's a large university (something like 20,000 students, I think) and has many of the advantages of a large school, but because less than 5,000 stay on capus, it has the feel of a small school. (It's also 2.5 hr from our home in Little Rock.) The administration seems very \"student oriented\"."}, {"response": 4, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Sep 13, 1997 (23:11)", "body": "Isn't the Univ of Arkansas in Faytetteville, the fabled \"hogs\", what made him decide not to go to this school? Are there colleges/universities in Little Rock?"}, {"response": 5, "author": "donnal", "date": "Sat, Sep 20, 1997 (23:34)", "body": "You are right. UALR is here in Little Rock and UA is in Fayetteville. He wouldn't have considered staying \"at home\" :-) and I think most of his reasons for choosing Memphis were pretty subjective. Nonetheless, he seems to be getting a good education there, as well as enjoying it."}, {"response": 6, "author": "donnal", "date": "Sat, Sep 20, 1997 (23:34)", "body": "BTW, Hogs beat Bama today."}, {"response": 7, "author": "jgross", "date": "Sun, Nov  8, 1998 (02:26)", "body": "How Many Fingers Am I Holding Up explanations are extended lyrics that pull out your insides secrets cripple themselves to preside over your backwoods a caller from the line on the horizon nightwalks into the swamp bracken and what if after so many steps stragglers hand you squirrels dressed in your nerve endings your daughter has accidents involving the shortest moment of your never-ending wisecrack November sky a mile high above India cold angel paging your abdominal marks robbing a grave of its way home letting you know you don't know how to fly alone along the torments a guy inside your girlfriend says it's any day but this and your conversation with his parents ends on a dark and mystic kiss education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 7, "subject": "putting kids mentors/teachers on the net", "response_count": 11, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Mar 27, 1998 (10:41)", "body": "ooh! let me know how it goes! (I am so glad this new education topic has nothing to do with all that crap in Arkansas -- I got a little worried when I saw there was a new topic in this little used conference)"}, {"response": 2, "author": "spif", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 1998 (21:04)", "body": "I'd also like to hear about this experimental project."}, {"response": 3, "author": "terry", "date": "Sat, Apr  4, 1998 (21:28)", "body": "OK, an update will be posted soon!"}, {"response": 5, "author": "stacey", "date": "Thu, Apr  9, 1998 (10:11)", "body": "what school? and where? wouldn't, by any chance, be run by the Schoenborn's would it?"}, {"response": 7, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Jun 17, 1998 (22:52)", "body": "There is a program like this at my daughter's elementary school; the teacher literally looks over the kids' shoulders while they look up research topics and gather info (it's sort of a gifted & talented thing)."}, {"response": 8, "author": "slime", "date": "Tue, Sep 15, 1998 (19:10)", "body": "I'm new to this group...can anyone tell me where I might find out about strategies for using the internet as a learning tool for kids (k1-6) with hearing impairment? thank you"}, {"response": 9, "author": "terry", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (08:49)", "body": "Here is a great place to start, I'll post your comment in the porch conf... or, better, yet ... why don't you post this there and point to thes conference and topic? And welcome aboard. also, you may want to send an email to the conference host mailto://spif@well.com and tell him that you're here."}, {"response": 10, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (13:48)", "body": "mmm...welcome, Simon, I'll see what I can find..."}, {"response": 11, "author": "autumn", "date": "Wed, Sep 16, 1998 (23:55)", "body": "Simon, I would think the web would have a host of resources. Try this link: http://www.education-world.com"}, {"response": 12, "author": "terry", "date": "Thu, Sep 17, 1998 (01:21)", "body": "Anyone email spif?"}, {"response": 13, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (12:14)", "body": "http://www.edweek.org/context/topics/issuespage.cfm?id=11 August 22 2000, Education Week Connecting to the Internet Connecting to the Internet opens up a world of possibilities for America's schoolchildren. All of a sudden, the greatest libraries in the world are closer than the cafeteria. Forget those musty encyclopedias and old maps; colorful, interactive, and up-to-date information is instantly accessible with a click of the mouse. Students in otherwise ordinary classrooms become part of the biggest school of all time, with the best field trips, the most diverse student body, and the greatest assembly speakers ever. From the Archives \"Web Sites Worry Privacy Watchdogs,\" June 21, 2000. \"Laptops for All Doesn't Mean They're Always Used,\" June 7, 2000. \"Cheaper Quasi-Personal Computers To Be Marketed to Schools,\" May 31, 2000. \"Study Finds Disparity in Internet Use,\" May 24, 2000. \"Black And Unplugged,\" Teacher Magazine, March 2000, in which a leading African American scholar examines cyber-segregation. \"Attacks on Web Sites Put Technology Officials on Alert,\" Feb. 23, 2000. \"College Board Sets Sights on Closing 'Digital Divide,'\" Feb. 2, 2000. \"Poorer Schools Still Lagging Behind On Internet Access, Study Finds,\" Feb. 23, 2000. \"Early-Childhood Professionals Ponder Value of Internet Access,\" Jan. 12, 2000. \"For-Profit Company To Offer High School Diploma Over Internet,\" April 21, 1999. \"Final Tally Released on 1st Round of 'E-Rate' Discounts,\" March 10, 1999. \"Business Group Calls for More Technology Training,\" March 3, 1999. \"Program Aims To Make Teachers Masters of Technology,\" Nov. 4, 1998. \"Computers Have Little Use Without Teacher Training, Study Says,\" July 9, 1997. Nevertheless, many students, teachers, parents, and administrators are entitled to wonder what all the fuss is about. Connecting to the Internet--and surfing on its primary attraction, the World Wide Web--takes hardware, software, and expertise that most schools simply don't have. The hardware issue alone can leave some classes behind. Classrooms lacking computers or phone lines need both for even the slowest connection to the Internet. In a survey released in spring of 1999, the Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics announced that 51 percent of the nation's 2.4 million public school classrooms had Internet connections as of last fall. In 1997, that figure was 27 percent, up from only 3 percent of classrooms in 1994. Even the \"education rate\" program, funded at $1.66 billion in 1999, its first year, won't fully solve the problem. The e-rate program, which the Federal Communications Commission oversees, was authorized by Congress in the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Fees charged to the nation's telecommunications companies pay for the discounts; schools and libraries must pay the remainder of the cost of the eligible services and hardware. But the program has raised political and corporate hackles. Long-distance companies are balking at having to foot the bill, and some Republican politicians have taken to calling the program the \"Gore tax,\" linking the program to Vice President Al Gore's goal of connecting all the nation's schools to the Internet by 2000. Consider some of the other complications. Teachers frequently need extensive training before they feel comfortable using computers--not to mention connecting to and navigating the Internet. Most have no idea yet how to integrate the Net into their lesson plans. And most schools don't have technical support staffs to repair broken computers or answer questions. The Internet--literally, an international public network of computers--can be a confusing place to visit. Equity is a serious issue. Students with Internet access will have potentially much greater learning opportunities than those who don't. And perhaps more importantly, knowing how to use the Internet is itself an increasingly sought-after job skill. Many educators worry that the have-nots could be left out yet again. Schools serving poor areas are still only half as likely to be on the Net as those in wealthy communities. Some of the concern about the Internet has been about pornography. The same network that offers visitors a wealth of information and social interaction also has more than its share of vandals, impostors, and pornographers. Net-savvy educators say the risks students may face on-line are almost insignificant compared to the risks they face in the real world, but there is obviously cause for concern. Many schools have found a partial solution by crafting \"appropriate use policies.\" These policies, often drafted with community support, forbid such activities as downloading pornography or tampering with the network. In addition, many schools use filtering and blocking software. But nothing is 100 percent effective, of course--and many teachers have concluded that supervision is the best safeguard. In spite of the concerns about connecting to the Internet, it's been a long time since th"}]}, {"num": 8, "subject": "Local Control of Schools", "response_count": 35, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Thu, Nov  5, 1998 (10:13)", "body": "we just got over our day of elections here in the US. since i live in texas, we are currently innundated with Republican rhetoric and dogma. one issue that keeps popping up is that of \"local control\" of school systems, whereby each school system decides on its own methods of operation, etc, with no intervention on the part of Federal entities. am i the only one in the world who thinks this is a bad idea? i sure do feel like it. right now most folks in the US would agree on one thing: the educational system here is not working very well. the students we are turning out can't read, think, or do math. i think one of the problems we have is a total lack of standards for teachers and students across the US. my own work experience has been in large academic instituions, large US corporations, and the US military. in these places i have seen situations where there are many separated units all trying to do essentially the same thing or accomplish the same job, mission, etc. more often than not, one thing that helps to increase productivity and reduce costs within that organization is to give all of the disparate units a common set of standards, procedures, and processes with which to operate. in the US, there are no federal guidelines for basic qualifications for teachers, no standard curricula, no standards for the school environment itself, nothing. local districts can (and do) descend down to the level of the worst teacher, worst teaching materials, and worst students, simply because it is easier and cheaper to do this than it is to maintain a level of excellence. we have federal standards for work environments, hospitals, prisons, highways, and even very stringent ones for the care and use of lab animals. all except for our children, our most important natural resource. i would love to hear some thoughts and opinions on this issue."}, {"response": 2, "author": "jgross", "date": "Thu, Nov  5, 1998 (21:32)", "body": "A corporation and an agency can have systematic standards that are high quality, but they also have the human element that can manipulate those uniform criteria and methodologies. Apply it to education and the results may be impressive. Kids will be able to examine lots of different subjects and act skillfully to bring about improvements in science, technology, medicine, mathematics, logic, philosophy, the humanities, the arts, social policy, community development. The population will be better educated. But what is education? Surely it is something more than raising our intelligence and skill levels. I think it's important to question how we feel, to see whether we even do feel. Feeling, and becoming deeply aware of what and how we feel, can get submerged and smothered and lost in the competitive struggle to become proficient at physics or nursing or whatever vocation you or your parents and the school system prepares you for. We can be exposed to lots of knowledge and facts and things that are going on and that people are involved in. And is that really education? The whole of life is overlooked. Life is in the heart, and the heart is always relinquished in education. A great teacher who inspires students---that's not life. It's subordination to the direction of another. Which we gladly do. Why? Because it's so strange to be inspired. It's so delicious. And we prefer that to being bored out of our skulls. It's not life, though. Life has its own direction which can't be traced except by the heart and feeling that's unimposed on. It's beyond technique, methodology, standards, criteria. And it's beyond the current state of education, too."}, {"response": 3, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Thu, Nov 12, 1998 (17:43)", "body": "excellent points, guys!"}, {"response": 4, "author": "TIM", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 1998 (16:29)", "body": "Too often state agencies exercise too much control over curriculum and texts, to the point where everything is so rigidly controlled that school can be taught by the janitor."}, {"response": 5, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Sun, Nov 15, 1998 (22:19)", "body": "that, i believe , is a whole different issue. the fact that teachers have no control over how they teach (which is true, i think) is distinct from the issue of there being a lack of standards for education in this country. we can have standards for excellence and allow our teachers to teach under those standards without the ridiculous level of control we see nowadays."}, {"response": 6, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 16, 1998 (09:24)", "body": "It sounds like a nice idea, but, unless you are willing to settle for a core of necessary instruction, that the teacher can expand on at will, you will have dictation, not teaching."}, {"response": 7, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (10:29)", "body": "that is exactly what i would like to see."}, {"response": 8, "author": "TIM", "date": "Tue, Nov 17, 1998 (13:55)", "body": "I would too. It would be nice to be able to get teachers teaching again, instead of reading someone elses material"}, {"response": 9, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (23:28)", "body": "That's what I love about Montessori, the teacher directing the students toward learning opportunities that they discover and interpret for themselves. And practically no dittoes."}, {"response": 10, "author": "TIM", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (23:45)", "body": "My mother was impressed by montessori. unfortunately too late to affect me."}, {"response": 11, "author": "autumn", "date": "Sun, Nov 22, 1998 (23:51)", "body": "Ours here ends at 1st grade. I would love to see it expand thru elementary age. Are Waldorf schools popular there?"}, {"response": 12, "author": "TIM", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (00:21)", "body": "Never heard of them."}, {"response": 13, "author": "terry", "date": "Mon, Nov 23, 1998 (07:25)", "body": "They're real popular in Austin. This was gleaned from http://www.io.com/~karisch/waldirad.html Austin Waldorf School 8702 South View Road Austin, Texas 78737 USA 512-288-5942 Affiliation with AWSNA: member Dated Founded: 1980 Grades Offered: K-9 The Austin Waldorf School offers a quality Waldorf education to approximately 260 students on its beautiful 11-acre campus in southwest Austin, Texas. For the school year 1997-98, the school will offer three kindergartens and grades 1 through 9 -- yes, the first high school class begins in Fall, 1997! For enrollment information, contact Carol Toole or Stacy Ehrlich at (512) 288-5942."}, {"response": 14, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (11:27)", "body": "I miss teaching and learning in the classroom I don't miss the top-down lesson plan stuff (and pretty effectively avoided most of it) I don't miss the poor allocation of funds, the rating a teacher and students based on standardized (as if!) test scores in 'fundemental' subject areas. My kids could take it or leave it as far as math and science were concerned. I read to them all the time, we conceptualized math concepts, we experimented with science... they loved reading. ALL of them. They could sit quietly for hours being read to or paging through a book. Now the fundementals of teaching reading, the struggle to keep and hold attention of a child who felt incapable of learning in such a capacity... that was a challenge. We learned how to get along with each other. How to redirect (not stymie) our anger and frustration. How to express fear and sadness and joy and excitement 'constructively' (for lack of a better word). We would chalk up the days lesson for a better one as the need arose to discuss anger or death or drugs or anything (and it often did). I love all of those kids for a variety of different reasons... their willingness to give, their strength, their weakness, their desire to be loved, their smiles, their sense of humors, their tears, their compassion, their ability to teach me, their ability to make me feel needed, their ability to make me feel completely useless, their mischeviousness, their creativity, their desperate desire to fit in... And just in the last couple of weeks have I been able to shake off the better part of the guilt I felt in leaving them and realize that my health and my happiness and my need to grow in a different direction doesn't speak negatively of me or any of them. I'm terribly concerned with the 'state of education' here. Just two weeks ago the front page article of the newpaper was about the lack of teachers in the state and how the CDE is contemplating lowering teaching certification standards to attract more eligible teachers. Well here's some news for everyone... that will only make the situation worse. Good teachers dislike the mediocity in the schools already... they are going elsewhere. And the last thing I want is more teachers that are comfortable with the level of blech existing there already. As a country, we keep making teaching more 'plug and play' read off the lesson plan the same way and teach it to all the children the same way. Well children are all different (not telling you anything you don't know, just venting) and cookie cutter education doesn't make for cookie cutter children... it makes for a bunch of children that don't learn squat except maybe that they can't learn the way material is being presented. Blah, blah, blah, I suppose I could go on for days, just preaching to the choir (as it were) but I just get ruffled inside and then stew about it. Makes me not want to have kids. Unless of course Jim would volunteer to teach my kids at the park!"}, {"response": 15, "author": "PT", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (12:44)", "body": "I agree with everything that you just said. My aunt teaches in a public school. She has found a way around the mediocrity. She teaches in the inner city. She believes that those kids need the education most of all. In the inner city, the administrators tend not to pay any attention to what is taught."}, {"response": 16, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (13:03)", "body": "not to be argumentative but that philosophy is certainly detrimental as well. I think I get what you mean about your aunt finding \"a way around the mediocrity\" it has to happen in your own head, you circumvent it inyour brain and in your heart and you just do the best you can do with what you've got to work with. She is a stronger person that I if it doesn't eat at her everyday. (problem is, I'm just not so good at detachment)"}, {"response": 17, "author": "PT", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (13:06)", "body": "Maybe she is stronger. I know for a fact that she has spent a long time dealing with the frustration of a system that thwarts her at every turn."}, {"response": 18, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (13:14)", "body": "that's interesting. i think i saw some of that inner city perspective while working at the UT med school here in san antonio. i used to recruit high school volunteer students from the poorest inner city school in SA to work in my research lab. they were all chicano/a and about half of them came from single parent homes. the teachers and administrators were very flexible with me in terms of letting me keep the best and brightest for longer than i could, and allowing them to do more for their final projects. this was in contrast to the admin stuff i had to put up with while working with students from the health careers magnet high school. most of them were unable to see a project thru to its completion because of time contraints both in terms of the time i had them (one semester) and in terms of their daily schedules."}, {"response": 19, "author": "ratthing", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (13:16)", "body": "i am no good at detachment either, stacey. the new environment of teaching, where there is minimal contact between teachers and students, would not work for me."}, {"response": 20, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (13:31)", "body": "oh, I had plenty of contact. remember all of my kids were 'diagnosed' as emotionally disturbed. Plenty of physical restraint was necessary (you know, knives and physical assaults student to student, self-mutilation...) so I reciprocated with hugs. Yep, it was frowned upon but how in the hell else are you supposed to help these kids understand what appropriate physical contact is and that all contact doesn't have to hurt?"}, {"response": 21, "author": "PT", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (15:32)", "body": "Stacey, I hope that you haven't given up teaching. Teachers like you are sorely needed."}, {"response": 22, "author": "stacey", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (15:38)", "body": "I have. Just a month ago (November 11th being the day I broke my contract)"}, {"response": 23, "author": "PT", "date": "Fri, Dec 11, 1998 (16:08)", "body": "I hope, then, that one day you will go back to it."}, {"response": 24, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Mon, Dec 14, 1998 (01:10)", "body": "that's what she's got us for... captive little learners with no hierarchical rules and regs... so, whatcha gonna teach us, Stace?"}, {"response": 25, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Dec 14, 1998 (18:11)", "body": "*laugh* looks like you already know all the facts!"}, {"response": 26, "author": "KitchenManager", "date": "Tue, Dec 15, 1998 (00:32)", "body": "if only..."}, {"response": 27, "author": "PT", "date": "Tue, Dec 15, 1998 (13:04)", "body": "I don't think that it is possible to know all the facts, about anything."}, {"response": 28, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Aug 20, 1999 (18:13)", "body": "I am a politically incorrect teacher. I teach English during the week at a local high school. In Hawaii, English is a second language and should be taught as such (those in charge will not take that approach or allow teachers to do it except on a case-by-case basis). Except where funds are available for G/T (gifted and talented) education, ability grouping has been replaced by heterogeneous classrooms with geniuses, dolts, and everyone in between in the same classes--the highly motivated become listles and the unmotivated become behavior problems. When politicians and psychologists got personally involved in the everyday aspects of education, public schools went to hell in a handbasket (sorry for the cliche). It is more important for me to feed a child's self-esteem than it is to nurture intellectual curiosity. I believe that self-esteem is something you earn, not something you learn. Although I believe in inquiry and Socratic questioning, I think a certain amount of what one referred to as \"dittoe ,\" and which I take it to mean drill and regurgitation of info, is necessary, no matter how unglamorous or boring. Especially in math, science, and history, where are certain amount of \"facts\" and \"procedures\" are necessary to have at hand in the brain. Afraid I'm old school about that. I'm a bigger dinosaur than Barney!"}, {"response": 29, "author": "mrchips", "date": "Fri, Aug 20, 1999 (18:18)", "body": "So I'm not misunderstood about self-esteem and intellectual curiosity, the statement I made is the current paradigm of education, what the politicians and psychologists think it's important for me to do. I believe the opposite. I believe if the kids need their egos fed, they should go to Mama. She will always love them, even if they become Uzi-wielding mass murderers. It's my mission to teach them, not to love them. I'm not unsympathetic, but if I have to choose between self-esteem and knowledge, it' damn hard to get by in the world on self-esteem alone."}, {"response": 30, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Fri, Aug 20, 1999 (18:47)", "body": "John, thanks for bringing an important subject back to On Topic discussion."}, {"response": 31, "author": "stacey", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (17:24)", "body": "depending on the age of the children you're working with... sometimes you have to feed them some self-esteem so they even think they're worthy of knowledge..."}, {"response": 32, "author": "moulton", "date": "Mon, Sep 27, 1999 (18:38)", "body": "About 15 years ago, one of the 9-yr olds I worked with referred to adults as \"dolts.\" I understood her sentiments completely. I don't blame kids for not wanting to learn anything from adults. We are terrible role models, and we engage in atrocious and idiotic practices, not the least of which is routinely damaging children who disobey authority. I can't imagine wanting to learn anything from anyone who believes it is appropriate to damage children."}, {"response": 33, "author": "stacey", "date": "Tue, Sep 28, 1999 (10:29)", "body": "gosh... and we have parents like that..."}, {"response": 34, "author": "moulton", "date": "Wed, Sep 29, 1999 (13:40)", "body": "Yup, we sure do."}, {"response": 35, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Jun 30, 2001 (09:04)", "body": "House approves education bill For first time, federal aid would be tied to test scores; vouchers omitted May 24 2001 Go to http://detnews.com/2001/schools/0105/24/a03-227959.htm for full article Bill highlights * Requires annual state tests in reading and math for every child in grades three through eight. Schools unable to improve test scores enough after one year would qualify for extra federal aid, but could be required to replace some staff members. Low-income students could transfer to another public school. * If a school's test scores do not show enough progress after three consecutive years, low-income students could use their portion of Title I money for tutoring, summer school or transportation to another public school. Tutoring services could be provided by parochial schools. * Authorizes $400 million to help states design their own standardized tests. * Authorizes $24 billion for elementary and secondary education, about $5.4 billion more than this year. * Requires schools to let students transfer to another public school if they are the victim of a violent crime at school. * Allows school districts to use up to half of their federal money without oversight from state or federal governments, although Title I money would still be to help poor children. As a pilot program, 100 school districts -- two per state -- could enter into an agreement by which schools would be freed from virtually all restrictions on federal money. * Provides nearly $1 billion per year for the next five years to improve reading, with a goal of making sure every youngster can read by third grade. * Provides more money for charter schools. * Requires schools to develop report cards that show a student's academic progress compared to other students locally and statewide. * Requires schools to ensure that students are proficient in English after three years of attending school in the United States; requires school districts to get parents' consent before placing a child in a program that is not primarily taught in English. By Greg Toppo / Associated Press education conference Main Menu"}]}, {"num": 9, "subject": "Education in Africa", "response_count": 10, "posts": [{"response": 1, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Sat, Aug 26, 2000 (06:22)", "body": "I really should have done this ages ago.... Just reread the intro for this conference and found we were free to enter topics... Oh well, an Africa topic is here now. As I am gearing up to leave for Mali in six weeks or so my thoughts are rapidly turning to the schools I will be visiting there. Now I have this topic I'll send Marcia school related items from Mali to post in here for anyone who is interested."}, {"response": 2, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Tue, Aug 29, 2000 (17:54)", "body": "Marcia, you'd better look at this ..."}, {"response": 3, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (02:15)", "body": "I amloking. Do not know enough to say anything. You are returning to educate the educators, are you not?"}, {"response": 4, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (02:23)", "body": "No, I would not presume to do that ... I am working alongside them, documenting what I see to help with evaluation. I am going as a learner .... to learn from them. Inmy possible future long term assignment I may be able to share some of my areas of expertise, but I need to do a lot of learning first."}, {"response": 5, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (02:26)", "body": "Will you be communicating in English mainly? Or a local language?"}, {"response": 6, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (02:27)", "body": "I know you are a linguist, as is your husband..."}, {"response": 7, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (08:56)", "body": "My Malian co-researcher speaks English, French and Bambara. We communicate together in English and he translates for us. We can manage to get around in French, and I can follow conversations, but am not very confident in speaking. Bambara, the language used in the capital Bamako, is very similar to Mandinka, the language we learnt in The Gambia. However, the similarity is more like English and French!!!! We did one month's Bambara language learning last time, and will continue again this time. I feel quite embarassed by my lack of proficiency... The classes we will be observing will be using Bambara and/or French. Although in one school all the children come from Malinke speaking families. Malinke is VERY similar to Mandinka, and I can communicate in that at a basic level. However, Malinke is not used in class..... In the experimental system I am researching the kids start in Bambara ( or whatever the local language is - 13 out of 32 have been chosen as languages for education). They are taught French as a foreign language in year 2 and start writing it in year 3. By years 5 and 6 they should be using French in most classes. At the end of year 6 they take the same leaving exam that the kids who started in French take."}, {"response": 8, "author": "MarciaH", "date": "Wed, Aug 30, 2000 (15:44)", "body": "I am so impressed and sepressed at the same time. Like most Americans, I am fluent in only one language, though I do know an American who speaks 39 and counting. in Hawaii, children never learn any language properly and let the creole pidgin of the streets suffice. I can speak that!"}, {"response": 9, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Thu, Aug 31, 2000 (02:47)", "body": "Creoles and Pidgins are now becoming recognised as languages in their own right in many countries after being disparaged for centuries. Obviously there are varying degrees both of proficiency and of the development of pidgin languages. There is a continuum along which this development travels from a functional pidgin language which is used merely for trade/communication between languages and which is truncated in it's vocabulary, to a full blown Creole which is as rich and diverse as any language. The test usually is whether a language (whatever it is called...pidgin or creole) is the mother tongue of any of its speakers. If the kids really are only speaking pidgin then the language is becoming creolised and developing."}, {"response": 10, "author": "sociolingo", "date": "Wed, Sep  6, 2000 (12:52)", "body": "Here's an innovative project bringing soar powered multimedia computers to Mozambique classrooms. http://www.learningforall.org/projectintro.shtml education conference Main Menu"}]}]}