[K12OSN] Making K12LTSP "school friendly"

Jim Kronebusch jim at winonacotter.org
Wed Feb 9 03:33:17 UTC 2005


> What's wrong with books, pencil, and 
> paper along with the computers?  Why are you so against them?
> 
> --TP

Whoa! That is the bad side of email.  I sometimes lack in accurately 
portraying my beliefs, it doesn't really provide a real time two way 
interaction I need to get my thoughts across.  

That being said I also completely agree with every thing you have stated as 
well.  I feel that most of the kids in the schools I have been involved in 
are trained to take tests, and that is it.  I have told people before that I 
really don't hold degree's in much regard other than it shows perseverence 
and the willingness to dedicate to something (crap, I just know that will be 
taken wrong as well :-).  In fact a project I worked for a few years ago was 
real bad at this.  And one of the classes they taught was to become a CCNA!  
Teachers were actually standing behind students coughing and grunting and 
stuff to indicate they would choose a different answer. We cranked about 60 
CCNA certified kids out of that class per year that could at best crimp ends 
on a cable....sometimes.  Why, if they didn't pass we didn't get paid.  
Horrible.  

I myself am guilty to just coasting through school and quick cramming the 
night before a test with end of the chapter tests and reading quiz notes and 
such, mostly because I just didn't have a teacher that really cared and got 
me involved with real life scenarios.  The only classes I really excelled in 
were shop type classes, the teachers I had their were real life, and 
everything I did directly related to the real world, much more interesting.

I totally agree that a lot of the teaching methods in the schools I have 
been in are terrible.  I don't believe a teacher should be going through the 
motions with something they themselves don't understand (often the case with 
technology).  

I have no bias towards and "tool" used to educate as long as education is 
the actual outcome.  

I guess a lot of what has been said in the last few emails is what really 
boggles my mind about this list.  I notice that a lot of the people on this 
list are in fact teachers trying to go that extra mile to better their tools 
in the classroom.  This is awesome, I wish we had you guys in the schools I 
am involved in.  And it at least gives me hope that my kids who are just now 
getting into school will have teachers like you, teachers who care and are 
actually there to educate and improve their lives, not just to grab a 
paycheck and go home (not that a paycheck is bad, I like mine, I'm not near 
as hungry with it :-).
  

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