Should every skill taught in public education be coded with an employment skill to verify its validity? No. Why not? Well, here are some reasons why not: School is not training for a ...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2021/11/ask-blogger-should-every-skill-taught.html
Do public high school teachers ever feel it is their ethical duty to teach things that aren’t part of the State-mandated curriculum? Sure. We are always editing the curricula for our classes ...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2020/07/ask-blogger-do-we-stick-to-curriculum.html
"Trump will say anything to rally his base. He wants to be re-elected." I don't think that's his primary motivation for saying the things he does, for doing the things, for telling the lies. ...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2020/02/the-walter-mitty-president.html
I was wasting time the other day, reading an article that my browser labeled "5 Administrative Tasks that Waste Teachers' Time " even though the actual title at the top of the article itself was ...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2020/01/teaching-grammar.html
Q: Does the college SAT accurately measure one’s intelligence level, or is it simply a comparative tool? Narrator: The SAT is not about intelligence. It is testing English grammar, writing,...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2020/01/ask-narrator-sat.html
Ask The Blogger: I accidentally slept through my exam, which is worth 50%. Should I ask my professor for a redo, or would that look bad? Curmudgeon: You should absolutely ask. The answer is...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/12/ask-blogger-slept-through-final-exam.html
Ask the Curmudgeon: If I was accepted by Early Decision, can the college revoke my acceptance? Are there typical grades that must be maintained for the HS senior year in order to attend the col...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/12/ask-blogger-admission-revocation.html
Ask The Narrator: "I fly the Stars and Bars and a Trump flag. LGBTQ aquintances have said that it's hurtful. I said, 'You might as well de-friend me now because I have a Trump 2020 flag hanging...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/12/ask-narrator-flags.html
Warning: The narrator of this blog is "going there". ASK THE NARRATOR: AN APP What do you think about an app that helps parents to easily communicate with teachers towards the educational welf...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/11/ask-narrator-apps.html
"I'm sick of paying for everyone else's kids to go to school. Why can't people without children pay smaller amounts of school tax than people with children?" ASK THE NARRATOR Because you’re...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/11/ask-narrator-taxes-for-education.html
Recently, the Narrator was asked if college would ever be made mandatory like K12 is. The narrator says no. Ask The Narrator "WILL COLLEGE EVER BE MANDATORY?" No. K-12 students, by a...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/11/ask-narrator-mandatory-college-for-all.html
ASK THE NARRATOR Q: HOW DO I PREPARE FOR THE MATH SAT? A: HARD WORK. THERE IS NO "ROYAL ROAD TO SUCCESS." Learn math every day. Practice math every day. Take your courses seriously eve...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/11/ask-narrator-sat-prep-tactics.html
In the spirit of all of those movies with a Narrator voice-over ... It's the Inaugural Episode of ... ASK THE NARRATOR WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL CLASSROOM SIZE FOR CREATING THE BEST QUALITY LEARN...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2019/11/ask-narrator-class-size.html
(Note: I originally wrote this piece several years ago, but bumped it to the top when I read that the GOP is thinking of reconfiguring their primaries and convention.) What if we really wan...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2010/03/let-math-fix-elections.html
By request Ms Cangialosi: Because someone's beagles do this all the time ... Fresh from today's test: Nominated by @MathsPadJame , Seriously? Nix The Tricks , Dammit! I'...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2014/01/do-this-and-bunny-dies.html
Perhaps the most important aspect of PBE implementation and effectiveness is the death of the average. If you screw this up, the whole thing is worse than traditional methods. Let's examine a t...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2018/04/pbe-part-three-death-of-average.html
For those whose states haven't yet been jumping on this bandwagon, what is PBE? PBE is short for Proficiency-Based Education, sometimes called Standards-Based Education (SBE). The gist of PBE...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/11/pbe-part-two-gist-of-problem.html
This is the first of several posts about PBE, Proficiency-Based Education. I am trying to set down my understandings and beliefs, give some advice from my (very) limited experience, and lay a gro...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/11/pbe-part-one-getting-started.html
I am not a fan of computer-based courses except when the alternative is nothing. If the choice is Moodle or nothing, then Moodle wins, but it's not a great solution. Even a mediocre teacher is be...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/11/another-problem-with-computer-based.html
Short speech this afternoon included the following statement: > "We believe that all students should be able to take any or all AP > courses at our school." This was the conc...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/10/consistency-of-message.html
My school is implementing Proficiency - Based education this year. (Some people call it Standards-Based Grading) We're behind the curve; the State of Vermont has decreed that ALL schools in ...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/09/more-pbe-idiocy.html
Either you are proficient or you are not proficient. You can pretend to other "Levels" but that is the crux of standards-based education, or Proficiency-Based Education as it has been recently ...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/09/dont-average-proficieny-based-grades.html
Periodically, one hears the clarion call: "Raise Your Standards and the Students will Rise to meet them!" Bull. To paraphrase Dick Cheney: "You teach the kids you have, not the kids you wis...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/09/the-students-you-have.html
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/07/education-research-part-2_15.html
"Education Research." Even in these times of political ignorance of research, science, and fact-based decision-making, there's still a place in every American's brain for education research. It...
https://mathcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/2017/06/the-problem-with-education-research.html