 Hot for virtual teacher! |
Associated Press – January 16, 2008:
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Insane!!! I agree with the Teachers Union 90 percent of the time but they are dead wrong on this.The future of education is the internet.I like to think a virtual teacher like Miss Dewey could have taught me anything.If you haven’t seen her check it out.Awesome!
Wow, billabong, I feel really strange about this. I disagree with the teacher’s unions 90% of the time but I think they have this one right. The internet is a great resource to be used while obtaining an education for research or for offering low population classes to multiple geographic locations but it cannot replace that daily “show up and interact” experience that is so important.
It is homeschooling at the taxpayer’s expense.
I’m not certain, however, if that is necessarily a bad thing.
“the nation’s largest teachers’ union,”
And these are the keywords. Unions were created to protect the benefits of those affiliated to it.
The teachers should love it. They can teach from a place that is safe from the kids.
This sort of virtual school helps a concerned parent maintain the discipline and controlled environment that is so helpful in the learning process. Plus, they don’t ever have to unlock the dungeon door 😉
Friends of mine that homeschool have stayed even with the government schools with a couple hours a day, and the parents were not college graduates or anything like that. Most time in school is wasted, so far as actual education is concerned.
The social aspects are arguable. Homeschooled kids I know normally have far better (less violent) social skills and are far more self confident. That’s on the average, not every single one, so never mind the exceptions.
On the other hand, they don’t typically have to deal with sociopathic criminals in the playground, the way normal kids do. The kids who learn to deal with the sociopaths win, the kids who don’t lose big time. I don’t know if the net value of the experience is positive or negative. It probably depends on the teachers, principals, and playground monitors. (Why do I feel pesimistic?)
But, yes, the teachers’ unions are more concerned about the well being of the teachers, and the kids can drop dead so long as the teachers get paid.
Don’t “taxpayers” include her parents? If they’re paying into the system, the system should offer them some benefit. This is why I’m for vouchers — as long as the parents choose a school that meets the state’s standards for accreditation, they should be able to send their kids wherever they choose, and the state should give the parents a rebate for the amount they would’ve spent on the child in a public school.
#7 – Friends of mine that homeschool have stayed even with the government schools with a couple hours a day
Those parents doing it right can easily achieve this because:
Most time in school is wasted, so far as actual education is concerned.
Thanks to education being so low a priority and thanks to both government and parents being almost genetically resistant to change, schools still work on an industrial revolution model. Lining kids up, marching them, and not to mention the never ending stops to correct behavior or apply discipline, as one should expect with class sizes over 30 students.
We have a 50s era model for a 21st Century world… No wonder we have so many dumb people in the idiocracy.
The social aspects are arguable.
Not really. Most good home schoolers put their kids into community based programs like soccer or martial arts, use library resources and such, and seek out other opportunities to keep their kids active in social situations. Most home schoolers don’t miss out on socialization.
On the other hand, they don’t typically have to deal with sociopathic criminals
9 year olds are rarely sociopathic criminals.
It probably depends on the teachers, principals, and playground monitors. (Why do I feel pesimistic?)
Because you have a preconceived mistrust of professional educators, likely because you don’t understand education. Don’t worry. You are in the majority there.
But, yes, the teachers’ unions are more concerned about the well being of the teachers, and the kids can drop dead so long as the teachers get paid.
That isn’t even remotely true… What is true is that teachers are professionals with considerable skills and specialized knowledge and as a society we want to pay them like they are shift leaders at a freaking fast food joint.
It’s easy to babysit kids, and its hard to know what teachers do, so we just assume (as a people) that teachers are babysitters.
There is NOTHING wrong with teachers standing up and demanding they be paid like a professional. They should at least be paid like chain store regional managers, the VP of sales at company X, or the managing editor of a fashion magazine… especially since one teacher can provide 10 times the value of those last three guys put together.
The local public schools in our district barely meets California’s standards for accreditation.
That is why both of my children were homeschooled and I believe that is also why both are attending the UC (University of California) system on full scholarships.
And yes, I paid taxes during that period and I did not mind doing so, then, thinking that I might be helping to raise the standards in my community but screw that now. This community like many across America is going down the tubes so fast that it makes the head spin.
#9
“9 year olds are rarely sociopathic criminals.”
Try being a chubby asian kid in a hispanic school and see how “friendly” the kids are.
The state and so called educators consider a kid an asset not a human being.
I’m so happy the Nevada teacher’s union got it’s ass spanked. 🙂
#11 – Yes, but look at the sort of hunk of burnin’ love you’ve grown up to become 🙂
#12 – The state and so called educators consider a kid an asset not a human being.
If you are looking at a system, being the state and federal government and school administrators, etc… I don’t disagree and it is a shame.
Take teachers out and look at them individually, and I know more than enough of them to know that you are dead wrong.
At some point we either need to stop beating up on teachers, or we might as well just invite China to annex the country… Because our resistance to doing what is right to fix education is killing our nation’s future.
Being dumb is not a virtue.
“Being dumb is not a virtue.” However, if you’re smart in school, kids label you as a nerd or egghead, neither of which are complementary.
I grew up in the 50s, and can remember dumbing down my answers in class to fit in and avoid that egghead label. It was only cool to be smart when the US was involved in the race to space and the Moon. Once that was over (I was in college when the first moon landing happened, siblings were in grade and middle school), I can remember my brothers and sisters having social issues with being smart.
Isolation while homeschooling doesn’t help either, as the kid doesn’t get social skills. My oldest grandson was homeschooled for awhile, and had trouble fitting in when he went to a regular grade school.
Wonder why the teachers unions are opposed?
They need to rethink the need for so much school with the internet. Colleges are overrated by and large.
There seems to be a lot of bias against Home Schooling in the media. An episode of NCIS, a couple of seasons ago, had Abby’s new lab partner as a Home Schooled psycho, who nearly killed her after months of waiting for the opportune moment. “Proving” that not only are the home schooled mentally unbalanced. But also bad planners. Well, that was CBS’ take on it. As CBS and the creators of NCIS, both pro military. I can’t help but believe the whole thing comes down to this.
The home schooled are far less likely to be recruited into military service. Not unless Congress passes some law that makes their access to home schoolers a mandate to receiving any sort of diploma. Which they’re not going to do until home schooling reaches some critical mass number. Because it will call too much attention to the present influence of the military in the public school system. “Career Day” is only about careers in the military. Not about being doctors, lawyer, scientists, etc. The Home Schooled aren’t getting this pitch, and I doubt it’s a mere coincidence that the gov’t and the media have a “problem” with any form of education that excludes military recruitment.
My son is home schooled and it is wonderful. He is 14 and taking college courses. His homeschooling has cost us a fortune but, well worth it.
While I agree that many teachers need to be paid more, teachers unions, like all unions hate any kind of competition.
Certain people don’t like the idea of kids growing up outside the influence of the gove schools.
#18 – While I agree that many teachers need to be paid more, teachers unions, like all unions hate any kind of competition.
Who likes competition?