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Black wrote:
Are you still teaching? If not, how long ago were these student experiences you're referencing?
I'm a recent crossover to education after taking early retirement in 2009. So my experiences are current. I only worked with Social Science for a portion of a year. At my principal's request I've switched to a hard to fill area - Photography.
I know, it sounds funny but we are an art magnet school and finding a qualified photo teacher is far harder than finding a social science teacher (possibly the most widely held certification). With 30 years in photography, I fit the need.
Marty,
Some of those answers were pretty far afield. I've heard worse - one of my favs was a student who expounded on the evil of the French bombing Pearl Harbor.
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Grace62 wrote:
This is a spoof people, filmed for entertainment and carefully edited for maximum humorous effect.
Carefully edited for maximum humorous effect, yes.
However, "spoof" implies that the intent was parody or satire-- I don't think it's the right word here.
I see no indication that the "funny" responses were not actual best-effort responses on the part of the respondents.
Students found Jay Leno’s “Jay Walking” videos funny and decided to make one of their own. As is natural for a comic bit, the creators edited in the funniest responses, with the students’ consent. Though there were many correct answers to these pop questions, the comments in national forums concentrate on the negative, and, as usual, do not take into consideration the amount of editing it took to get these funny, incorrect answers. So, we are taking down our video. Thanks for thinking about this. It is an interesting lesson for all.
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Ombligo wrote:
[quote=Black]
Are you still teaching? If not, how long ago were these student experiences you're referencing?
I'm a recent crossover to education after taking early retirement in 2009. So my experiences are current. I only worked with Social Science for a portion of a year. At my principal's request I've switched to a hard to fill area - Photography.
I know, it sounds funny but we are an art magnet school and finding a qualified photo teacher is far harder than finding a social science teacher (possibly the most widely held certification). With 30 years in photography, I fit the need.
Marty,
Some of those answers were pretty far afield. I've heard worse - one of my favs was a student who expounded on the evil of the French bombing Pearl Harbor.
Sounds like a great gig!
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Black wrote:
I see no indication that the "funny" responses were not actual best-effort responses on the part of the respondents.
And I see no indication that they were.
I'd guess there is some of both. I have a tough time believing that older teens living in Olympia, WA don't know that they live in the state's capital. You can't go many places without seeing the capital building in that very small town.
If you want to know how American students are doing with their knowledge of US history or geography, we have standardized testing for that. And no the results are not spectacular.
You tube videos by kids having fun at lunch should not be used to judge American students, other than in their ability to have some fun.
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Grace62 wrote:
[quote=Black]
I see no indication that the "funny" responses were not actual best-effort responses on the part of the respondents.
And I see no indication that they were.
Students found Jay Leno’s “Jay Walking” videos funny and decided to make one of their own. As is natural for a comic bit, the creators edited in the funniest responses, with the students’ consent. Though there were many correct answers to these pop questions, the comments in national forums concentrate on the negative, and, as usual, do not take into consideration the amount of editing it took to get these funny, incorrect answers.
If any of the students intentionally gave incorrect answers for the sake of entertainment, I'd think the above statement would reflect that, as it would be by far the most effective response to those who misused the video to make political statements.
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Black wrote:
[quote=Grace62]
[quote=Black]
I see no indication that the "funny" responses were not actual best-effort responses on the part of the respondents.
And I see no indication that they were.
Students found Jay Leno’s “Jay Walking” videos funny and decided to make one of their own. As is natural for a comic bit, the creators edited in the funniest responses, with the students’ consent. Though there were many correct answers to these pop questions, the comments in national forums concentrate on the negative, and, as usual, do not take into consideration the amount of editing it took to get these funny, incorrect answers.
If any of the students intentionally gave incorrect answers for the sake of entertainment, I'd think the above statement would reflect that, as it would be by far the most effective response to those who misused the video to make political statements.
Oh I think the response as is was pretty darned effective.
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Ombligo wrote:
[quote=Black]
Are you still teaching? If not, how long ago were these student experiences you're referencing?
I'm a recent crossover to education after taking early retirement in 2009. So my experiences are current. I only worked with Social Science for a portion of a year. At my principal's request I've switched to a hard to fill area - Photography.
I know, it sounds funny but we are an art magnet school and finding a qualified photo teacher is far harder than finding a social science teacher (possibly the most widely held certification). With 30 years in photography, I fit the need.
Marty,
Some of those answers were pretty far afield. I've heard worse - one of my favs was a student who expounded on the evil of the French bombing Pearl Harbor.
It WOULD be evil if the French would bomb Pearl Harbor.
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Grace, sadly it is what it is. American education could and should be a lot better. Don't make excuses please.
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American education could and should be a lot better.
It comes down to this.
Whether spoof or not, Buck is absolutely correct. While I don't doubt that there are a lot of smart kids being graduated from High School, I am a firm believer that there are more kids than ever (based on percentage) that are being graduated when they should not be.
I'll not bash for the sake of bashing, especially since CA has little to no room to put on academic airs.
American education could and should be a lot better.
So succinct it bears repeating.
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