... but would include land grants, canal and road construction, anticipating Ike's great road building gift tothe nation and contractors in 1956, land for schools--all things designed to promote the general welfare--why not health care--is this not easily included under the same rubric?
Included, yes. Likely to get the same support / result, not so much. Reforming health care isn't going to benefit the ins companies like the I'state system did the building industy... unless the gov't pays for everyone's coverage. nless the compaies can see a way to make more money out of it they won't go there. :'(
Another experiential activity; after a build up on the causes of the war (my list is another thread) the kids come to class to find the desks piled to simulate the trenches and no-man's-land… darkened room, lots of noise from FX audio and 4 dozen nerf balls… pick your side.What I found was that the kids took it as a lark at first, then more seriously but about half way through the period they were winded. A truce just happened for 5-8 minutes and then they wopund back up. This was pretty much the norm for every group... strikinglysimilar to reports from WWI about how it really went.Their assignment was to write a letter home from the trenches explaining the causes of the war to a relative or friend. They had a choice of their character but they had to give appropriate background to flesh-out their letter. Got some that were amazingly good. I used this for about 9 years (same as FrRev simulation) 3-5 classes per year.Take a look...
--check out Preamble to Constitution--focus your eyes onthese words...We the People....promote the general welfare...implication circuit engaged!
I'm not going to get in the middle but... promote isn't the same as provide; just as the pursuit of happiness is the deal not happiness itself. CAUTION: CYNIC AT WORK! 8)
My cynical side tells me it is likely a note to “put the idiot's statue right here”… or based on the earlier dating something like “post no bills here”. ;D
Wally--sorry to say I never used lesson, plans or notes or aid books--It provably would have been better if I hadWillyD
My downfall in being an auditory learner... good lectures were my easiest way to learn and we teach like we learn. Lesson plans are fine but can stiffle teachable moments if they are followed without thinking (like bad maps get one lost). That said I brought in things like the FrRev activity as a change-up. Besides it got the IC's off my back when they said I lectured too much. WWI Trench Warfare was even better! 😮
Hmmm....I wonder where the "savings" is going. Aren't public schools notorious for continually asking for more and more money even as the quality of their students (in terms of test scores) remains stagnant or declines? Sorry...perhaps I shouldn't be turning this into a gripe session about the state of American education.
No problem; any savings go to pay for whatever is the new flavor of the month solution to the problem you point out. Oh yeah, and the millions it costs state and local districts for the bloddy testing. 😮
... but the fact that the school district is paying for it makes it questionable, and I think it sets a problematic precedent. We should ask ourselves two basic questions - does having the internet on school buses create better students? If so, is it worth the taxpayers' money used to fund it?
Part 1; it is likely part of a technology grant. Innovative ideas (even if impractical) often win these sorts of things. Part 2; your question of something being worth our money isn't the thrust of the NCLB act... it is what makes it look like Congress is doing something to improve education. If the district gets funds from the Feds it usually has restrictions upon what it may be used to pay for... even if it is something the district doesn't need; if they use it for anything else they loose funding totally. Carrot or stick is often both.
I can't imagine that the typical student of today is academically better than the average student of the late-19th or early-20th century....even though these latter students lacked wi-fi connections.
Many of the textbook companies are putting more of their ancillary materials on the i'net to save school districts money. As we've seen with some of the quiz materials some of us have posted, they are quite good; some of the sites are secure and the klids are able to take pre and post tests and even the actual assessment online (teacher can check it and record the grade).Today teachers are encouraged (in some cases mandated) to include i'net assignments and projects... not bad on the face of it but not the end-all either. Like any other tool it's handy but not the only tool in the bag. I've seen kids complain they couldn't find anything on a certain topic because though they could twitter, facebook, etc. and find all the games, music, and porn yhou wanted... either couldn't do or didn't have the patience to do a good search. I just walked over to the book shelf and pick the right volume of World Book and.... They thought that was cool... no one had shown them how to do that.Just another tool, if you know how to use it... fine. If not use something else.
Author
Posts
Viewing 15 posts - 541 through 555 (of 1,556 total)