Paragary takes a stand against TVs in his restaurants. That's rad. I agree. I think TVs should be confined to sportsbars. And some sushi places.
Did anybody catch the recent New York Times front page story about no child left behind that had content about and pictures from MLK high school in Sac? It's about how some schools are cutting back to teaching exclusively math and reading so that kids can pass those no child left behind standardized tests. That is so sad. High school is boring enough. Can you imagine it with only two subjects? I understand the thinking behind it, because we shouldn't be graduating kids who can't read very well, and I know some of you math people will object, but I honestly don't use math much in my everyday life (even working in a lab), and I use my science, geography, social studies, history knowledge (what little of it I can remember) way more frequently. I think there is too much emphasis on math with these tests. And in general, it just seems like a fucked up system.
Oh man, Bravo closed down?
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but i do think math is important! don't get mad at me! I can't stand another round of "you self-important indie hipsters always gotta hate on math cuz it doesn't fit into your cool yuppie lifestyle" or something along those lines
i agree Beckler that not including other subjects is extremely short sighted. there has to be a better solution. as 99% of educators will tell you i'm sure, No Child Left Behind is not it.
although, Math is a huge failure of our school system and that does need to be remedied. i know, i hardly ever use my math skillz and a three year old can outsmart me when it comes to rhombuses. but, as a country we are falling drastically behind in engineering and other dominant fields.
in fact, sad as it may be, America only dominates when it comes to consumerism and ideology. i forget the direct quote, but an astounding number of ideas, inventions and innovations come from American minds (Swedes are second). but we outsource everything. not only our sweatshop clothing.
Math and science (one of the many things N.C.L.B. fails to realize) are key to revitalizing any kind of economic security in America.
in case i sound a bit too Nationalist, let me say that the fact our schools are cutting education to the bare minimum makes my heart break for the sole reason that education (living somewhere as prosperous as we do) should be a given. children should have the ability to learn and experience the whole gamut of subjects our schools could offer. education for educations sake is never a bad thing.
In theory, it seems like a great idea for kids to have a varied schedule that includes music, art, etc. The problem is that, especially in smaller schools, it's hard to nab a credentialed person to teach these courses. What you end up with is a sub and a room full of kids bashing away on electric pianos with no direction. In many cases, it's a wasted hour in a student's day. Most schools won't hire a permanent FULL TIME music or art teacher. At best, you'll have someone splitting their time among three campuses. As you can imagine, this hectic schedule can lead to numerous missed days on the arts teacher's part. Also, seeing as theyr'e often not full-time, it's difficult for them to build a rapport with students (ie, they can't really bond with the kids at lunch or after school).
As for science, teacher's wanting credentials in this field have, recently, been forced to prove competency not ONLY in biology/physical science, but in chemistry and physics! As you can imagine, someone with a degree and a comprehensive knowledge of ALL of these subjects is probably looking for something a little more prestigous than teaching.
Hope this clears stuff up. And for the record, these are just obervations, not proven facts
I didn't know we had a MLK Junior High. Math is teh shit. NCLB is teh not.
few people use much math, but that's kinda not the point. most people don't directly use much of anything they've been taught. lower education is largely about learning how to learn, how to think logically & reason things out, etc. that's what makes math so important. and, of course, it's important as a foundation for all sorts of other things.
bummer about the teaching-to-the-tests thing though, that doesn't really teach anyone anything. and kids who take art & music classes do tons better in the more "academic" stuff anyhow. again, it's all about getting the brain going, learning to concentrate & focus & absorb new information, etc.
That's a good point. I don't thin it's a simple issue. I just don't think that half the time should be spent on math and half the time on reading, but I think the reading emphasis is more justified because you can't really learn anything else if you can't read very well. Except math. I'm really just trying to get charles riled up but he is too busy studying math to read heckasac.
While I doubt it'll do any good, the idea behind NCLB is great. It is an acknowlegement that there are way too many high school graduates who can't write and couldn't spell their way out of a wet sack. Elmore Leonard and Joe Bob Briggs both commented that the most literate correspondents they get are from older people doing long stretches in prison. I guess that is the future of successful publicly-funded education. Makes sense when you realize how much money there is for prisons than for education in this state and many others. So, all you working-poor parents (there has to be at least one who monitors Heckasac) better teach your young'uns to commit felonies early and often if they wants tuh larn tuh readnrite gooder.
Ed
anonymous- while you may be correct in your observations, a lack of properly managed programs does not negate the need for arts and sciences in schools.
Darin, thanks for stating the need for all types of studies so well.
Ed, i'm sorry, but NCLB is not well intended. it's about money. and lining administrators pockets. as are most school initiatives. you certainly are right about the prisons systems education being more fruitful than our public schools. but remember, they do have a more "captive" audience.
I totally agree about the TV thing. Especially sucks when your date is a sports-oriented person. No matter how good the conversation is; their eyes eyes stray over the game or sportscenter. Plus I was always told it was rude to watch TV during dinner. I wish they would just relegate the TVs to the sports bars.
Are there any sushi places in Sac that don't have TV's? I know they had TVs alread at Takas's - but they seem more prevelant now.
I bet Fuji doesn't have a TV but I've never eaten there. Does Fuji have sushi?
Ha! I guess no restaurant can survive in the spot vacated by my distant relative Helen Wulff and her now-legendary restaurant.
Of course, that is one that is one diabolically daft location...
Dunno much about the origins of NCLB, but I do know that it had a lot of support from well-meaning people because there was and still is a problem. My main point wasn't in support of it as enacted, but mostly to point out the fact that public officials are more willing to invest in penal solutions than preventive measures. Because the prison lobby is so strong and the education lobby seems to want to keep the status quo (ie cover their asses) I stand by my strategy: to get educated, go to prison. Want medical care? Go to prison. We'll have a lot less people on the street looking for jobs that "Americans don't want anyway" when the new superprisons are built. Mark my words.
Ed
Ricksha on 10th doesn't have televisions. it's more of a japanese restaurant than strictly a sushi place, but they do have decent sushi. i'm not referring to the tuesday night $1 hand rolls, but the other stuff.
i'm pretty sure Hana Tsubaki doesn't have a tv either.
if they do, it's rather tucked away and inconspicuous.
I didn't say anything about there being no need for these programs, I said that in PRACTICE, there are huge roadblocks in setting up valid arts programs. HEckamax and I were lamenting last night how, as English teachers, it's very difficult for us to have free-form discussions, since low-achieveing kids are not used to being treated like mature adults. Does this mean we give up and just hand them worksheets to shut them up? Of course not. You have to struggle to find a happy medium between control and innovation. What non-teachers ofetn don't realize is that ALL classes (even arts) MUST have structure, like any good Englsih or Math class. Unfortunately, arts curricula tend to be rather free form. And, as any city teacher can tell you, free form does not work.
- Patrone
The reality on the ground is that NCLB has created even more paper work for teachers and not a whole of of positive change for students. Bush got a little too much credit for his education reform in Texas because once the state's test scores were compared to national standards they weren't as impressive as first boasted.
That said, I do believe there needs to be accountability. Going through schools in Richmond Unified, I had quite a few crappy teachers who were allowed to be crappy.
It sucks that kids at schools like mine aren't getting much outside of language arts and math, but it's also true that we need to give them those basic foundations first. All my students are very poor and most come from non-English speaking homes. It's up to the teachers to jazz up the material and bring out the social studies, science, music, etc moments that are nestled in there. Some of the less creative teachers don't think to do this.
-Jed
Crap! We lost Bravo. I went to a birthday dinner there a year or two ago and felt like I was dining in some big city restaurant -- chicago, nyc. it was kinda 'least sac in sac,' but in a good way. darn shame.
-Dave
agreed Patrone. at first it sounded a bit like you were saying it doesn't work so screw it.
now that i know who that anonymous was, dood, i know that aint your skeez.
The value in mathematics education is not in remembering how to use the quadratic formula or the properties of a parallelogram or the integral of sin x, but to learn how to reason through any situation or to think linearly. I don't honestly believe that my students are going to use the area of an n-gon in their daily life after geometry class, but I do think that there are skills that they have learned that will enrich their life.
I love math because of the beauty that I see in an elegant solution to a problem. Not in the numbers that are present but in the ability to move smoothly, precisely from one point to another. I love that there is an answer to each and every problem and that one way or another or another or another I can get there. It's not always quick or easy but there is always satisfaction in the end with a job well done.
This is what students are missing these days. The emphasis with NCLB is to input information and to have students regurgitate that same information without processing it. My students, who have passed through most of elementary and middle schools in this current climate of standardized tests, do not have reasoning or processing abilities. They are unable to see past a simple problem or to apply any sort of reasoning skills. They can't see the beauty or joy in math or school.
Miss B
Well put. I always enjoyed math in school (well, not really geometry) and I went up to calculus (painfully so, ask Charles)in college (OK calculus for bio majors, which is probably easier). It's just too bad we have to choose one thing or the other in the current academic climate.
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