Homeschool World Forum

Theodore · Posted: Tue Apr 24, 2007 9:58 pm Post subject:

The sad thing is the school is absolutely serious.
If people think insulting Muslims with ham is OK, "More degrading acts will follow, until at some point we'll end up having violence," Wessler said.

I guess ham is what's really behind the Middle East!
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mdsmomct · User Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 46 Location: CT

Theodore · Posted: Sat Jun 09, 2007 1:14 pm Post subject:

[I usually post stories from the US, but anyone in Canada may find this one interesting.
Failure is not an option

She has skipped 30 classes in a row and hasn't handed in an assignment all term, but the principal wants her teacher to cut this Grade 12 student some slack.

"He told me, 'Look, the student says she's finally willing to hand in all her work, so I want you to mark it and don't take off points for being late,'" sighs the English teacher at a west Toronto high school.
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The Farming Game - Software Edition for PC, Mac, Linux
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

momo3boys · User Joined: 14 Feb 2006 Posts: 574 Location: Western Mass

Wow, I thought that US students had it easy. That certainly is ridiculous! I wonder if the parents know where there children are during the school day, and if they care?
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Theodore · Posted: Mon Jun 11, 2007 8:03 pm Post subject:

US students do have it easy, but Canada is going for the gold I think Smile

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The Farming Game - Software Edition for PC, Mac, Linux
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

jenniferGWOTW · User Joined: 11 Jun 2007 Posts: 12 Location: Canada

We can't afford that extra day. The school system swears it's not affecting anyone's education. That's why just about every school in the district ranks in the bottom half, if not the bottom tenth, of the provincial rankings. Sheesh!
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Theodore · Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2007 7:23 pm Post subject:

Burlington High Drops Valedictorian Tradition

Burlington is the first public high school in the area to ditch the valedictorian tradition and the public student ranking that goes with it. The school made the change to reduce competition among students and do away with what some say is a false distinction -- selecting one student as the best in the class when the next-best is a statistical hair away.

Those poor students who don't make valedictorian will just cry their little eyes out! Something must be done!
_________________
The Farming Game - Software Edition for PC, Mac, Linux
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

mdsmomct · User Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 46 Location: CT

"She can't remember who was named valedictorian of her high school class and predicts that after the BHS graduation Friday, few will remember whether there was or wasn't a valedictorian. "

That is me- I can't recall if we had one or who it was and does it matter? Laughing

But I also wonder how do you get a 4.1 or 4.3 GPA? I thought 4.0 was the highest.

4given · User Joined: 22 Mar 2007 Posts: 735 Location: S.Indiana

iamnettie · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 1:57 pm Post subject:

Theodore · Posted: Thu Jun 14, 2007 10:15 pm Post subject:

It's grade inflation to up the school average and make them look better, without actually improving the level of education. Either something is a high school course or it isn't, you shouldn't be able to boost your GPA with 5.0 or 6.0 rated AP courses, then basically count them again for college credit.

I've heard of high school students with a GPA as high as 7 or 8. If they're really that good, they should be taking community college courses or enrolling in college for dual credit. Does a 4.0 GPA even mean anything any more?
_________________
The Farming Game - Software Edition for PC, Mac, Linux
The board game has sold over 350,000 copies worldwide, garnered many awards, is used by over 2,000 schools, and is used extensively by homeschoolers.

mdsmomct · User Joined: 30 Aug 2006 Posts: 46 Location: CT

I guess anything to make those numbers look good! Thanks for cluing me in...

Morgan · User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 102 Location: U.S.

I agree with the ridiculousness of some of the school supplies that are required for middle school students. I mean, why in the world would a 7th grader need crayons? Seriously, shouldn't you be done coloring with crayons in school by middle school? Dry erase markers as well; they were required for my 7th grade classes, but two out of four of my teachers didn't even have dry erase boards in their rooms...

And then during the winter, when they have the little elementary kids snuffling and sneezing because they have a cold, they run out of tissues and they say, "Oh, we have to wait until a student brings them in." when a runny-nosed child comes to the teacher and asks where the tissues are. How sad! That alone seems like it could make some moms remove their little kindergarten children from public schools...

And the middle/high schools are getting more and more dangerous, and they act like they solve the weapon problem by just removing the one kid. It's sure to happen again, right? Sure, they start not allowing backpacks to be taken into classrooms, but you could just as easily sneak a weapon into your pants pocket or binder. Don't you agree?
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ncmom · User Joined: 13 Jul 2007 Posts: 324 Location: Eastern NC

I don't know if the whole state of NC does this or not but in the area I live in kids are not allowed to get zeros. Even if they don't do the work you have to give them a 59%. This was only for the first 3 quarters but if they buckled down and did the work the fourth quarter and made up what they missed (which you had to let them do) they could pass. When I worked in the schools I was told by an administrative official that a 69% was to close to a 70% so we had to give them a 70% on their report cards. When I asked why she said it was because the parents would complain. My father who taught high school math quit teaching because he said the kids didn't want to be there and would flat out tell you they were going to pass and it didn't matter if they did the work or not. The kids know they can't fail so they feel like "why go". I had kids tear up their test in front of me, throw it in the trash and walk out of the class as they were telling me they didn't want to take the test right now and would take it later. Punishment for this...NOTHING! As the teacher you were required to keep a folder with missed assignments for the entire year for the kids so when they decided they wanted to make up the work they could come and get it from you. Then the school systems in the area I live in wonder why so many of the schools have failing scores when the kids are really tested. When I was in school you wouldn't have done this in fear of the punishment not only by the school officials but your parents too.
OH and get this the schools around here encourage the kids to drop out and go to the dual enrollment program where they finish high school but also do college work. If they can't do the work in the high school then why could they do the work for high school and college at the same time. I have never been to any of these classes to observe but if I had to guess I would say they are probably just being passed through there too. I mean the program is run by the public schools and state.

Morgan · User Joined: 07 Aug 2007 Posts: 102 Location: U.S.

Even though my Algebra class was supposed to be "more challenging" than the regular 7th grade class, the lowest score one could get was 50%, and you had an unlimited amount of time to make up your work as well. Also, if you got lower than a 70% on an assignment, you were allowed to re-do the assignment and keep your second score if it was higher than your first! This should not be allowed, don't you agree? Especially since the answers would be shown to the entire class before they could re-do the work. We were required to jot down the correct answers in red pen next to every wrong answer you had, so you could simply refer to your first assignment for the correct answers if you were re-doing it! And the teacher wondered why students always got 100% on their second try...
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"What we want to see is the child in pursuit of knowledge, not knowledge in pursuit of the child."
- George Bernard Shaw