Re: There's no data, no metrics, nothing...Well we had one governor that did that, and just got out of jail. The guy who followed him was not only a crook but incompetent - he's still in jail without ever having pocketed his fortune, but definitely having made a fool of the state.
Re: There's no data, no metrics, nothing...Are you objecting because there is only one reason to be governor of Illinois: to make money that one would not make otherwise, by lawful means, while making a fool of the state?
Re: What if?I was thinking more along the line of the incongruity/irony of extending the Net to schools and at the same time having the possibility of loosing the openness of the Net.
Re: What if?I don't think the Internet is 'open' today in most schools anyway - there are strict limits on what kids can access. And it's not about having Internet access so much as having access to educational resources. Those may or may not be Internet-based.
Re: There's no data, no metrics, nothing...Yes but my first paragraph didn't start: There are three reasons why it's a stupid idea for politicians to dictate how schools operate.
And that's what the kids were being taught. Not a first paragaph with three sentences but a first sentence that had a "statement of three."
When I talked to the teacher afterward, she admitted to being horrified that this was now the way they were forced to teach writing but said it was not a choice teachers could control. I told her that one day she and I would hear a young man or woman step to a podium and say, "There are three reasons I should be the next governor of Illinois...."
Re: There's no data, no metrics, nothing...Interesting. Your last post has three paragraphs. The first paragraph has three sentences. The last paragraph has three words... I vaguely remember five as being the magic number for "composition" writing back in the G.O.D.s. Maybe we all had longer attention spans then, or sturdier pencils.
Re: There's no data, no metrics, nothing...Yes, the obsession with testing has grown over time - mostly because the politicians keep wanting "results." I had to quit volunteering in the second grade classroom of my daughter, who is now a teacher herself, because of the formulaic way they were teaching kids to write. It was all about preparing them to take a test at the end of third grade that was considered a significant part of the "school report card."
As a result they were told that every essay begins with a sentence involving a statement of three, and was followed by three paragraphs proving that sentence and a concluding graph restating the statement of three.
Re: There's no data, no metrics, nothing...Good to hear (that there will be more details). These private partnerships can be good and shore up shrinking school budgets, but some of the programs I've seen are little more than in-class advertising dressed up as altruism. I look forward to more details. Specifically who in rural school areas nobody wants to serve or upgrade is going to somehow begin deploying 100 Mbps.
Re: There's no data, no metrics, nothing...There is going to be another White House event within the next couple of weeks at which more details will be revealed. I don't know much more than that. I did get the feeling from one source that the SOTU mention wasn't entirely expected. But that may have been just one individual's surprise.
-desi
#notforpersonalenrichment
Connectivity is more the thing schools need.
And that's what the kids were being taught. Not a first paragaph with three sentences but a first sentence that had a "statement of three."
When I talked to the teacher afterward, she admitted to being horrified that this was now the way they were forced to teach writing but said it was not a choice teachers could control. I told her that one day she and I would hear a young man or woman step to a podium and say, "There are three reasons I should be the next governor of Illinois...."
As a result they were told that every essay begins with a sentence involving a statement of three, and was followed by three paragraphs proving that sentence and a concluding graph restating the statement of three.
It was nauseating.