Ms. Teen USA - South Carolina

[KaskadskyjKozak]

She is the decider!!!

 

stfu, treetoad! she's a rocket scientist in comparison to you

[dt_3pin]

Did you see that composure when faced with her own retardity? She's almost good enough to be president!

 

[Jason_Martin]

3.5 GPA Jason

 

what do you say about that?

 

I think somebody asked her to write her GPA on her beauty pageant application and she lied.

 

Jason

[fig8]

What the hell did people expect from a contestant representing a red state? And a southern red state at that, where the bible is probably the primary text book.

[No. 13 Baby]

Miss Teen South Carolina has nothing on "The Definer"...

oMzHq4qIS0I

 

...you can even hear the audience laughing at him!

[minx]

3.5gpa? really, what does that say about the SC school system. apparently she has actually graduated from HS with that level of critical thinking.

 

don't be so quick to comment on her attendance. we don't know how often she went to class or not. the school gave her those grades...and a false sense of achievement

[KaskadskyjKozak]

What the hell did people expect from a contestant representing a red state? And a southern red state at that, where the bible is probably the primary text book.

 

I'll bet I could run circles around YOU w/r/t geography, Mr. Smug. Knowledge and intelligence is all relative.

[Winter]

Miss Teen South Carolina has nothing on "The Definer"...

oMzHq4qIS0I

 

...you can even hear the audience laughing at him!

 

well at least we know he can hear and speak. thinking and problem solving are different skills altogether.

[G-spotter]

I think when she saw the blank space next to GPA she wrote down her IQ instead.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I think when she saw the blank space next to GPA she wrote down her IQ instead.

 

grades in US high schools and universities are ridiculously overinflated. they've even dumbed down the SAT so scores can be higher. it's all about not harming the fragile self-esteem of our students, making them "feel good" about themselves (w/o justification). the culture of entitlement. hmm... "feelings" and "entitlement", I wonder where a lot of THOSE ideas come from.

[JayB]

Not from P-Chem or DiffEq's if my experience is any guide.

 

Still remember writing "Go Huskies!" on the final question of one of those exams, which was good for 1 point out of 10....

[goatboy]

I'll bet I could run circles around YOU w/r/t geography, Mr. Smug. Knowledge and intelligence is all relative.

 

Maybe so, but not w/r/t grammar.

 

What you mean to say is that "knowledge and intelligence are all relative."

[Doug]

Would you rather have someone who gets coddled all the way though school and gets straight A's but is dumber than a box of rocks, or someone who got the marginal grades they deserved?

 

You get the latter and you can still be president!

[John Frieh]

Not from P-Chem or DiffEq's if my experience is any guide.

 

Still remember writing "Go Huskies!" on the final question of one of those exams, which was good for 1 point out of 10....

 

Was your TA's name Gary? That would explain the sympathy point sickie sickie :laf:

[KaskadskyjKozak]

I'll bet I could run circles around YOU w/r/t geography, Mr. Smug. Knowledge and intelligence is all relative.

 

Maybe so, but not w/r/t grammar.

 

What you mean to say is that "knowledge and intelligence are all relative."

 

nitpicking typos is poor netiquette.

 

I type 60 wpm, and rarely proof-read these frivolous postings, so spelling and grammar errors are inevitable (and not worth fixing).

 

Now go lick sack.

 

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Not from P-Chem or DiffEq's if my experience is any guide.

 

Still remember writing "Go Huskies!" on the final question of one of those exams, which was good for 1 point out of 10....

 

Was your TA's name Gary? That would explain the sympathy point sickie sickie :laf:

 

I TA'd and later taught a "weeder" course in CSE at a major university, and 30/100 was still a passing grade...

 

And my favorite horror story of grade inflation is from an Econ 101 class at the UC system (where the average SAT score was over 1200). On one midterm the mean score was 37/100 (that was a B). I scored a 100.

 

 

 

[G-spotter]

thump thump thump

 

please show us your report cards from elementary school too

[KaskadskyjKozak]

thump thump thump

 

please show us your report cards from elementary school too

 

What's the matter, Dru - you don't rate?

 

[Jason_Martin]

 

grades in US high schools and universities are ridiculously overinflated. they've even dumbed down the SAT so scores can be higher. it's all about not harming the fragile self-esteem of our students, making them "feel good" about themselves (w/o justification).

 

Unfortunately there is some truth to this. The last thing a prinicpal wants is a parent calling about their child... or about anything for that matter. So if a kid is failing and a parent is on the phone with the principal pressure is put on the teacher. In many cases a parent phone call bypasses the teacher because the student tells his Mom that the reason he's failing is because the teacher hates him. After hearing from the parent a couple of times the principal will use the code words to the teacher of "try something different." In other words make it easier or let something slide.

 

I taught at a small town Washington school for awhile where I told the kids that they would not pass my Freshman English class if they didn't pass their book quizes. They had to read two short novels in a semester and I would test them on the content of those novels as many times as they wanted...but they had to pass the quizes to pass the class. If they didn't read the books, it didn't matter what else they did, they wouldn't pass.

 

Now these weren't hard quiz questions. An example of one might be, "What was the real Lord of the Flies? Hint: it was impaled on the end of a stick." If you didn't read Lord of the Flies, you wouldn't get this. But if you read the book, it would be simple to answer such questions.

 

My principal told me that if he were in high school he didn't think that he could pass my class because of the book reading requirement. He forced me to dumb down my class.

 

As much as politicans and internet posters would like to make education a partisan issue, it really shouldn't be considered one. My principal at that school was a hard core conservative...but I don't think that had anything to do with his actions.

 

My wife is an elementary school art teacher and they are not allowed to give prizes for quality. They can't have competitions because a child's ego might get hurt if he or she doesn't win. KaskadskyjKoak would like you to believe that those of us who are liberal are on board with such a policy. This is not at all the case. My wife -- who is liberal -- would love to give prizes for the best art in her classroom. Indeed, she sees competition as a way to increase quality.

 

I think you could find many many many examples of things that don't align with one's idea of partisan politics in education...and it drives me nuts when education is bandied about by politicians the way it has over the last few years.

 

Though both political parties like No Child Left Behind, teachers on both sides of the aisle see it as problematic because it doesn't address many of the root problems in education. It doesn't take quality educational models into account and put them into action.

 

There are some simple ways to fix most of the problems in education and they don't lead down the path to standardized testing. How about lowering class sizes and raising parental accountablility? How about paying the best teachers the best wages for working in the most difficult educational environments? How about raising the bar on disruptive student behavior?

 

Ultimately teachers ARE responsible for helping kids with their self-esteem. But they are also responsible for teaching the kids...and part of teaching kids is teaching them that they are not always going to come in first place, but also teaching them that if they work hard they have a shot at it. I think schools would be much better off if the teachers had more control over these types of things instead of less due to restricive policies, political wrangling, and half-assed educational administrators.

 

Jason

Edited August 28, 2007 by Jason_Martin

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Unfortunately there is some truth to this. The last thing a prinicpal wants is a parent calling about their child... or about anything for that matter. So if a kid is failing and a parent is on the phone with the principal pressure is put on the teacher.

 

Who's talking about failing grades? There are too many A's and B's given out. That's why someone as dumb as Ms. Teen USA can have a 3.5 (if the claim above is actually true). I don't like the idea of a straight curve - some threshold for an A and B that is reasonable could result in more A's and B's, but we are nowhere near that threshold.

 

As for your story about reading assignments - well, I met an undergrad at the UW, who had a 3.5 high school GPA and had NEVER FINISHED reading a novel cover to cover. Ever.

 

 

 

[No. 13 Baby]

Though both political parties like No Child Left Behind, teachers on both sides of the aisle see it as problematic because it doesn't address many of the root problems in education. It doesn't take quality educational models into account and put them into action.

 

Jason: I agree about much of what you have said, and I don't mean to nitpick, but its not accurate to state that "both political parties like No Child Left Behind."

 

Watch any of the Democratic presidential candidates' debates and you'll see near-unanimity that NCLB needs at best an overhaul... if not totally scrapped.

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Though both political parties like No Child Left Behind, teachers on both sides of the aisle see it as problematic because it doesn't address many of the root problems in education. It doesn't take quality educational models into account and put them into action.

 

Jason: I agree about much of what you have said, and I don't mean to nitpick, but its not accurate to state that "both political parties like No Child Left Behind."

 

Watch any of the Democratic presidential candidates' debates and you'll see near-unanimity that NCLB needs at best an overhaul... if not totally scrapped.

 

Was that Bush's AND Ted Kennedy's spawn?

[Jason_Martin]

Unfortunately there is some truth to this. The last thing a prinicpal wants is a parent calling about their child... or about anything for that matter. So if a kid is failing and a parent is on the phone with the principal pressure is put on the teacher.

 

Who's talking about failing grades? There are too many A's and B's given out. That's why someone as dumb as Ms. Teen USA can have a 3.5 (if the claim above is actually true). I don't like the idea of a straight curve - some threshold for an A and B that is reasonable could result in more A's and B's, but we are nowhere near that threshold.

 

As for your story about reading assignments - well, I met an undergrad at the UW, who had a 3.5 high school GPA and had NEVER FINISHED reading a novel cover to cover. Ever.

 

Certainly getting a C instead of a B could have parent on the phone being just as angry...

 

I want to make it clear that I whole-heartedly support raising the standard across the board...but to do this there has to be a will not only amongst teachers, but amongst parents.

 

Parents need to demand the best education of their child as possible. They need to demand it from teachers and politicians and from their community. And they have to understand that by demanding the best education, the schools will always challenge their children to be better. This means that school won't be easy -- or always fun -- for any child.

 

I'm not sure parents really want to demand that...because it would make them accountable too.

 

Jason

[KaskadskyjKozak]

Unfortunately there is some truth to this. The last thing a prinicpal wants is a parent calling about their child... or about anything for that matter. So if a kid is failing and a parent is on the phone with the principal pressure is put on the teacher.

 

Who's talking about failing grades? There are too many A's and B's given out. That's why someone as dumb as Ms. Teen USA can have a 3.5 (if the claim above is actually true). I don't like the idea of a straight curve - some threshold for an A and B that is reasonable could result in more A's and B's, but we are nowhere near that threshold.

 

As for your story about reading assignments - well, I met an undergrad at the UW, who had a 3.5 high school GPA and had NEVER FINISHED reading a novel cover to cover. Ever.

 

Certainly getting a C instead of a B could have parent on the phone being just as angry...

 

I want to make it clear that I whole-heartedly support raising the standard across the board...but to do this there has to be a will not only amongst teachers, but amongst parents.

 

Parents need to demand the best education of their child as possible. They need to demand it from teachers and politicians and from their community. And they have to understand that by demanding the best education, the schools will always challenge their children to be better. This means that school won't be easy -- or always fun -- for any child.

 

I'm not sure parents really want to demand that...because it would make them accountable too.

 

Jason

 

Isn't there a pill or something that you could give kids that would make them smart?

 

 

[Jason_Martin]

Though both political parties like No Child Left Behind, teachers on both sides of the aisle see it as problematic because it doesn't address many of the root problems in education. It doesn't take quality educational models into account and put them into action.

 

Jason: I agree about much of what you have said, and I don't mean to nitpick, but its not accurate to state that "both political parties like No Child Left Behind."

 

Watch any of the Democratic presidential candidates' debates and you'll see near-unanimity that NCLB needs at best an overhaul... if not totally scrapped.

 

You're right...Dems don't all support it now...but a large number did back when it went into action. I should have worded my other post that way.

 

Jason