Higher Education

[Giant Communist Robot]

"parasauralophus"

My daughter wants to be a paleontologist

[Schmeelkie]

"parasauralophus"

As the mother of a boy over age 3, I know which one that is... Bella, at 3, knows the names of several dinosaurs - she has quite the vocabulary and seems to be trying to learn everything Pumpkin knows. He's into snakes, and she know that his favorite, the King Cobra, does not live around here, but that rattlesnakes do live in this country. crazy. I just find it pretty cool that Pumpkin can now get pages and pages into early reader chapter books without asking me what a word is. He thinks the 2nd grade sight word list they sent out (he's still in 1st grade) is a joke - 'those are all easy words, Mom'.
And he'll do this:
Bella: "I see'd a squirrel at school today"
Pumpkin: "no, you SAW a squirrel"

[piqaboo]

GCR - cool!

Schmeelkie - reading and grammar yet! Way cool.

When Altoid was 2 yrs, 2 months, she had her first visit to her new pediatrician.
Part of the assessment is responsiveness, etc, as they evaluate for autism.
Altoid got interested in a toy in the exam room and wasnt making eye contact, answering questions or anything.
Naturally new doctor is looking at us a bit sideways when we explain she's very verbal, clear, easy to understand, and all that.
So Jim says very sharply "Altoid, what is your favorite dinosaur?". Instantly, without so much as taking a breathe, Altoid answers "Parasauralophus".
That took the heat off the verbal assessment.

I need courses in weaponry. We saw "How to Tame Your Dragon", and I didn't know the name of ANY of the pretty 'toys'.
(Yes, sword, ax, but what KIND of sword, or ax?)
I am now the proud mother of a baby nightfury, named Altoid.

[Haggis@wk]

I need courses in weaponry. We saw "How to Tame Your Dragon", and I didn't know the name of ANY of the pretty 'toys'.
(Yes, sword, ax, but what KIND of sword, or ax?)

I would think so! To have a child that age who's not educated in all sorts of adult cutlery is child neglect!!

I haven't seen the movie yet but the weapons I saw in the movie trailer aren't that accurate, the axes look like Minoan labrys rather than traditional Dane axes. The swords are hard to see but seem to be similar to the spatha that the Viking and Romans used. Can't tell much about the spears.

[Shapley]

I need courses in weaponry. We saw "How to Tame Your Dragon", and I didn't know the name of ANY of the pretty 'toys'.
(Yes, sword, ax, but what KIND of sword, or ax?)
I am now the proud mother of a baby nightfury, named Altoid.

Just order a Museum Replicas Catalogue. They make for interesting reading, and help you to identify the various types of armour and weaponry. They usually provide a little bit of historical information about the products they sell. Who knows, you may find a few toys that you've just gotta have around the house. We have the official 300 collectors Spartan sword. No οίκος should be without one.

[piqaboo]

I need courses in weaponry. We saw "How to Tame Your Dragon", and I didn't know the name of ANY of the pretty 'toys'.
(Yes, sword, ax, but what KIND of sword, or ax?)

I would think so! To have a child that age who's not educated in all sorts of adult cutlery is child neglect!!

I haven't seen the movie yet but the weapons I saw in the movie trailer aren't that accurate, the axes look like Minoan labrys rather than traditional Dane axes. The swords are hard to see but seem to be similar to the spatha that the Viking and Romans used. Can't tell much about the spears.

Lets see: its a movie about an imaginary Viking village located somewhere north of Scotland, who's inhabitants speak English and fight mythical beasts, done in claymation (I think), and you're concerned because they chose the prettiest fancy weapons they could? :bwahahahahahahahahah!:

[Schmeelkie]

I need courses in weaponry. We saw "How to Tame Your Dragon", and I didn't know the name of ANY of the pretty 'toys'.
(Yes, sword, ax, but what KIND of sword, or ax?)

I would think so! To have a child that age who's not educated in all sorts of adult cutlery is child neglect!!

I haven't seen the movie yet but the weapons I saw in the movie trailer aren't that accurate, the axes look like Minoan labrys rather than traditional Dane axes. The swords are hard to see but seem to be similar to the spatha that the Viking and Romans used. Can't tell much about the spears.

Lets see: its a movie about an imaginary Viking village located somewhere north of Scotland, who's inhabitants speak English and fight mythical beasts, done in claymation (I think), and you're concerned because they chose the prettiest fancy weapons they could? :bwahahahahahahahahah!:

Pumpkin and his Dad have seen it twice now - Pumpkin would see it again if we let him...I wanna go, but I think it would start to be really unfair to Bella (at 3, not ready for this scary a movie). Am thinking of taking them both to Shrek 4...

I took a medieval culture class in college - really trying to combine history, art history and music...and I ended writing my final paper about how advances in weaponry changed how battles were fought over the period (so very un-Vassar of me!). But of course, that was ...hmmm...maybe 18 years ago now. Might be able to ID some of those weapons...just have to see the movie!

[Haggis@wk]

I need courses in weaponry. We saw "How to Tame Your Dragon", and I didn't know the name of ANY of the pretty 'toys'.
(Yes, sword, ax, but what KIND of sword, or ax?)

Actually Piq, thanks for your post. It was the impetus I needed to go see it and me and the MRHYN just got back a few minutes ago. We really liked it and I'm thinking this 3D thing is gonna catch on!

Weapons wise it measured up in some places, they had several proper Dane axes but they were off put by swords more common to the Norman age.

Gerard Butler's voice sounded familiar but other than the Phantom in "Phantom of the Opera" I don’t know if I’ve seen him in anything else.

I thought it was quite brave to make “Toothless” look so sinister, usually you’d have expected a cute dragon. Some of the animation (flying through the clouds) was very striking and the 3D touches were as appropriate. I thought I had a spot on my glasses until I realize it was a piece of soot falling down; very effective. The snow flakes were also quiet amazing.

I highly recommend you see the picture in 3D. This is the first movie I’ve seen in a theater since 2006 or 2007. That was “Keeping Mum” with Rowan Atkinson and Maggie Smith (and probably the last movie that Patrick Swayze was in) It was a quirky art house kind of movie but I liked it so much I bought it and we still enjoy it. I highly recommend that one as well.

[Haggis@wk]

California teachers

Why would a California teachers' union oppose a tax increase that would raise unionized teachers' salaries? Because some (18%) of the money would go to increasingly popular charter schools

As if you needed any more examples that Teachers Union have absolutely no regard for anyone but themselves.

[jamiebk]

I used to put teachers on a pedestal and truly some (few) still deserve to be. However, for the vast majority of teachers in CA teaching is nothing more than a blue collar job with extremely low standards of performance. The "it's my break time" or "I can only work 8 hours per day" mentality is pervasive. These people work less than 9 months out of the year...are tenured (can't be fired...even for cause) and walk away with retirements approximating 90 percent of their earnings. It's ludicrous. It's not much better at the administrative level either. Talk about sucking from the government teat. It's not all their fault though. Government imposed programs like "no child left behind" have ruined what was left of public education. These require a government mandated course of study that merely "teaches to the test". It is no wonder the charter schools are prospering, as are private ones.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

You'll be happier if you realize that the pedagogs employed by any school system are actually two separate, and distinct, groups. There are Teachers. There are Professional Educators. And if you ask one of them what they are, they usually correctly self-identify.

I, personally, prefer the Teachers but school districts tend to preferentially reward the Professional Educators. Professional Educators tend to have majored in "education" and may even be shaky on subject knowledge - but they write grants and books and design Programs and go into Administration. Teachers are generally a lot more solid on subject matter and, while they do all the Teaching Strategems in the Education textbooks, may not know the correct nomenclature for said evolutions. The Teachers are a lot more pupil-oriented; the Professional Educators are more Program and Process oriented.

Teachers usually have no time for running the union. They may not even remember, on any given day, that there is a union. So, who is left to run the Union? I suspect stray lawyers, and politicians, and other demonic denizens.

Maybe we should turn the whole thing over to the Custodians...

[jamiebk]

Teachers usually have no time for running the union. They may not even remember, on any given day, that there is a union. So, who is left to run the Union? I suspect stray lawyers, and politicians, and other demonic denizens.

Not true selma...the last 2 presidents of the CA teachers union have been (are) classroom teachers.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Teachers usually have no time for running the union. They may not even remember, on any given day, that there is a union. So, who is left to run the Union? I suspect stray lawyers, and politicians, and other demonic denizens.

Not true selma...the last 2 presidents of the CA teachers union have been (are) classroom teachers.

But they might have been Professional Educators. I hate to think that a real Teacher had been so corrupted.
:sigh: There speaks the sister and mother and friend of a number of real Teachers. None of them have time for union stuff...

[jamiebk]

Teachers usually have no time for running the union. They may not even remember, on any given day, that there is a union. So, who is left to run the Union? I suspect stray lawyers, and politicians, and other demonic denizens.

Not true selma...the last 2 presidents of the CA teachers union have been (are) classroom teachers.

But they might have been Professional Educators. I hate to think that a real Teacher had been so corrupted.
:sigh: There speaks the sister and mother and friend of a number of real Teachers. None of them have time for union stuff...

Santa Barbara County Teacher David A. Sanchez Voted President-Elect of 340,000-Member CTA
Contact: Sandra Jackson, 916-801-4776 or Becky Zoglman at 916-296-5271

LOS ANGELES – David A. Sanchez, a Santa Maria elementary school teacher in Santa Barbara County and current vice president, today was unanimously voted president-elect of the 340,000-member California Teachers Association.
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Downey School Teacher Elected Secretary-Treasurer of the California Teachers Association
Contact: Mike Myslinski at 650-552-5324

Los Angeles -- Daniel “Dan” Vaughn, an English/language arts teacher at West Middle School in the Downey Unified School District in Los Angeles County, was elected secretary-treasurer
#############
Barbara E. Kerr Re-Elected President of 335,000-Member California Teachers Association
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BURLINGAME – In a unanimous vote, veteran Riverside educator Barbara E. Kerr, president of the 335,000-member California Teachers Association, has been re-elected to a second term of leading the largest state teachers' organization in the country.

Kerr, Sanchez and Vogel will end their first two-year terms in office on June 25, when their second two-year terms will begin.

A native Californian and a passionate advocate for children, Kerr is a veteran kindergarten and first-grade teacher in the Riverside Unified School District.
Sanchez, a kindergarten teacher in Santa Maria, Santa Barbara County, is bilingual and often speaks out in Spanish on CTA radio ads about conditions in our schools of greatest need.

There are lots more where these came from. These are teachers....

[Haggis@wk]

Our sexist higher education system:
Huge College Degree Gap for Class of 2010.

“For last year’s graduating Class of 2009, women dominated at every level of higher education. Here’s the national breakdown: for every 100 men, 142 women graduated with a bachelor’s, 159 women completed a master’s and 107 women got a doctoral degree. ”

Obviously, we need to extend Title IX beyond athletics . . . .

You might think I’m kidding but I’m not. Since we’ve given up on merit and instead focus on group representation nowadays, what’s the argument against such an approach?

[piqaboo]

You conclude that there was only a selection for gender, and not an equal evaluation of academic and other factors?

[Haggis@wk]

You conclude that there was only a selection for gender, and not an equal evaluation of academic and other factors?

Academics and merit no longer play a role. If they did the names of the graduating class of every Ivy League college would lean heavily towards Lee, Lui, Nguyen, etc.

Title IX only pertains to women, there are no "Men's Studies" curriculums at any college I'm aware of, nor am I aware of any preferences for admissions to males.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

I don't think it's all that valid a report - I'd like to see the sample sorted by a number of other criteria. Try ethnic group - is the Asian derived graduating component as female-dominated as, say, the Hispanic one? Is there an age-sort? Try a gender breakdown by age group: 20-25; 26-30; 31-35; 36-40; 41+ and see if any interesting patterns emerge. Military service/no military service might be another interesting sort selector.

NO single-factor sort should be used to gauge any group (especially when the sample size and selection aren't fully disclosed!)

[Schmeelkie]

Yeah - it seemed like a little too little detail to me too...
and I was kind-of offended reading one of the comments that boiled down to: women just take the 'fluff' majors and aren't going to get anywhere in careers. And one of the 'fluff' subjects he mentions is psychology - which offends me! I'm sure some parts of the huge subject that is psychology could maybe be considered fluff, I know I've seen some pretty stupid research out there, but the vast majority is serious research. Sheesh....
I do think a lot the trends in higher ed are due to a growing expectation that you will go to college after graduation, but not many really think out whether they SHOULD. For a lot, it's just a waste of time and money (great partying experiences, but not much else). A lot of college students seem to have been told they should go, haven't thought about it too much, and believe they should get good grades just for showing up. High school counselors should work a little more at figuring out if a student is really ready for college...

[Schmeelkie]

Found this in today's Futurity Today email:
http://futurity.org/society-culture/academic-probation-hits-college-guys-harder/

Guys who did well in HS, then ended up on academic probation in college were more likely to drop out than girls. One more bit of info....