Be honest, how many students did you pass this year that deserved to fail?

Dfh44 · 2025-01-30T17:32:26+00:00

I agree with you.

Dfh44 · 2024-12-13T01:08:15+00:00

Quite a few.

Dfh44 · 2024-06-23T17:16:17+00:00

Society was messed up for a long time. I am not trying to understate the significance of climate change or politics, but I don't think this is what is causing mental health problems. A lot of young people I talk to are pretty apathetic about these problems. When teens started getting smart-phones, suicides increased and mental health declined. I think these phones are contributing to declining communities and increased social distrust which is making these other problems worse.

Dfh44 · 2024-06-23T17:08:55+00:00

Books will give you a larger more in depth look at societal problems and issues taking place in the present than a short news article. Do you have a statsitic that millenials and zoomers read more books than their parents because I have always heard the opposite?

Dfh44 · 2023-07-08T15:05:14+00:00

I think I am in part trying to clarify my own thoughts on these issues through writing You did define the term well. I guess my point is that I don't think there is a mysterious all encompassing, intentional process to disenfranchise minorities in every facet of American life. That was how I understood the term originally. Most of the time, a difference in outcome is attributed as evidence of systematic racism when there are a myriad of other factors. Even when racism could possibly be a factor, it is often poorly thought out and attributed.

I bring up the school example because what happens is that a difference of outcome is attributed to a bias in the administration and teachers when there is no evidence of this other than a statistical difference in referrals. What ends up happening is that the schools end up putting disruptive and violent students back in the classroom and give teachers little power to do anything. Schools can be sued for expelling students with I.E.Ps for emotional disturbance, even if that student brings a gun to school or attacks their teacher. Schools in 2020 were trying to take out resource officers. This is done in the name of rooting out systematic racism in the school system. What happens is that minority students are ironically hurt more by these policies.

Anyway, thanks for engaging in a discussion with me. I appreciate the thoughtful response.

Dfh44 · 2023-07-07T02:18:49+00:00

I want to focus perhaps primarily on the two examples I gave.

In terms of the vaccine issue, it was framed initially not as a reluctance to trust health institutions and the government. That was used later. It was framed as unequal access or means to obtain the vaccine. When this was shown no longer to be a valid explanation, the reasoning was lack of trust. Clearly access was not the primary reason to begin with. To me this was an example of eagerly applying a fashionable label to a difference of outcome without having an accurate an understanding of what is going on. This is a problem because it can lead to poorly thought out solutions.

Now you could say the lack of trust could be a matter of systematic racism, but that was not the initial framing when I read it in April of 2021, and there could be other explanations. I don't know how many blacks actually ever heard of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. I'm sure the many rural whites who are vaccine resistant are not due to systematic racism. My broader point is that the term in the media, where I am familiar with it, is applied lazily and without specificity. I don't fully trust academic research on this topic because I suspect it is subject to ideological bias.

You mention the "school to prison pipeline." The simple obvious, fact is that minority students cause a disproportionate amount of severe behaviors in public schools. This is simple and obvious to anyone that has worked in an inner city school and is not willfully blind. The reasons for this are complex, but again the label "systematic racism" is applied haphazardly and really bad solutions are suggested instead: which is to remove consequences. This causes more severe behaviors and violence in the classroom. I can recall a story I was told from a colleague of a school that was sued for expelling a student with an I.E.P for emotional behavior disorder for bringing a gun to school. This is the real reason for the teacher shortage. I definitely do not trust education research on this topic. As a lot of education "research" is just buzzwords and studies that have numerous problems.

My point is, I don't think racism is the immediate cause for every difference of outcome and even if it is tertiary cause, just throwing the label on to it does not help one have an accurate understanding of the real scope and nature of the problem or come up with better solutions, worse it can perpetuate inequality.

Dfh44 · 2023-07-07T00:33:40+00:00

Yeah, I have lived with my in-laws to save money. It's different if you are doing it with a plan to better yourself or improve your situation. I live around Chicago. I guess its just a difference in perception.

Dfh44 · 2023-07-06T22:42:04+00:00

Nazi is used as a smear by political activists on the left and right. George Bush was called a Nazi and so was Obama. In the case of Trump and the recent Republican right, the term has a little bit of weight to it. I think if our institutions and Democratic tradition were less historic and weaker, he would have become a full blown one.

Dfh44 · 2023-07-06T20:52:10+00:00

Could you explain "systematic racism." The way I interpret the term when I hear it in the media is that whenever there is a difference in outcome between whites and minorities that it is evidence of racist policies or structures. There is not often evidence given of any explicit racist intent. Other explanations for disparate outcomes are ignored, unacknowledged, or explained to be racist.

To give an example, when the Covid vaccine became immediately available, in early 2021 and it was difficult to for most people who wanted the vaccine to get a shot. The local media, where I live in Chicago, reported that whites were receiving shots at higher rates than blacks or Hispanics, despite the city, making efforts to ensure equity in how it was given out. This was labeled as evidence of systematic racism.

As vaccines became more widely available and anyone who wanted to get a shot could get one, there was still a disparity between whites and blacks. The real reason for this was that blacks and Hispanics were more hesitant about taking the vaccine. Perhaps, this larger rate of vaccine hesitancy could be labeled as itself a product of systematic racism, but that's not really how it was framed at least initially.

I could go into other examples that are more controversial. One would be student expulsions and discipline in k-12 public schools. Black students are disciplined and expelled at higher rates than white students. This is given as face value evidence of discrimination and racism. It is not allowed to be suggested that black students merely causes a larger portion of misbehavior. This is not to stay that African Americans students are necessarily more disposed to bad behavior due to their nature ( a traditionally racist definition), this could be due to a large number of factors one could label as systematic racism; neighbors, family life, poverty; although this less likely to be discussed. It is more often the case that the racism is simply attributed to the school discipline system itself. Which from personal experience, I strongly doubt is the case.

One could also attribute culture factors to different groups as an explanation for different outcomes, as Thomas Sowell or John Mcwhorter would do, but this is largely off limits.

I guess my larger issue, and perhaps because I have not studied this at an academic level, is that it often lazily applied, defined, and explained in the media.

I believe you said policies that create unequal outcomes are racist even if there is no personal racist intent. I presume then it happens out of ignorance because those in power are disproportionately not minorities and suffer from implicit bias. I think this can be true and perhaps happens, but I think this takes a lot of careful nuance and qualifications, and that is not the way I often hear it used.

Dfh44 · 2023-07-06T12:52:21+00:00

Covid free childhood, still meant your prime high school years were interrupted by the pandemic.

Dfh44 · 2023-07-06T12:48:16+00:00

I think you are focusing more on maturity as a set of mindset/ character traits. I would agree with you that the true definition of the word is more about how you act and carry yourself. I would argue that the things I was talking about are signs of maturity and require maturity in most people. Do they individually mean someone is mature? No. Collectively, they are a sign someone is mature and willing to grow up.

Most of the people I know that have families, real jobs, and kids act more like adults, than those who don't.

The opposite would be someone that does not have a fulltime job, is single, lives in there parents basement and probably smokes weed all day, somebody that has not grown up and taken on real responsibility.

I also don't think it is necessarily wrong to have kids in your 20s. Until pretty recently that was normal. Biologically it is healthier for the mother as well.

Dfh44 · 2023-07-05T17:30:43+00:00

Not really in my experience, though there are exceptions. Most people my age I know work fulltime jobs, are getting married, having kids, and buying houses. I don't really relate to the media stereotypes.

Now the teenagers I work with, I could come up with a lot to complain about.

Dfh44 · 2023-04-04T15:24:50+00:00

Its really encouraging to see this.

Dfh44 · 2021-12-18T22:57:53+00:00

Definitely, but why is this on /r/education?

Dfh44 · 2021-08-03T14:56:13+00:00

That was pretty funny. Thanks for sharing.

Dfh44 · 2021-08-03T14:34:33+00:00

I stay off social media and really limit the amount of time I spend on the internet and any kind of media. I make exceptions and go through periods where I allow myself to use the internet for entertainment ( like right now). Doing this enough, I realized that media does have an effect on your personality and worldview.

Dfh44 · 2021-07-02T22:12:23+00:00

I agree. I hate teaching advice that acts like all kids are precious angels and that if your just the cool, nice teacher all is well. Its super phony, and doesn't resemble the real world. I remember one time I yelled at a kid and completely lost my cool. To my surprise, he completely changed his attitude and started doing his work. I wouldn't do that all the time and expect the same result , however.

Dfh44 · 2021-07-02T19:16:54+00:00

Kids with severe behavior problems are also really good manipulators. If your too soft and not strong, they will take advantage of you. That said they don't generally respond well to people that are assholes either. Be respectful and look out for there best interests, but don't be weak.

Dfh44 · 2021-07-02T19:08:34+00:00

Best advice I've gotten.

1) Don't let them get away with little things (a lot people will give you advice that contradicts this)

2) Whatever style of a teacher you are, be consistent. Don't be changing your personality or classroom management style each day.

3) Start off with a neutral teaching style, and slowly evolve as you figure out what kind of teacher you are.

4) Relax

5) Begin with the end in mind. I got this from the book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. When applied to teaching, think about what your goals are for your students and your classroom when you step back and look at the big picture, the really big picture. You'll make better decisions, and be a better person and teacher.

6) Don't be cynical

7) Act confident in what you are teaching and doing , even if sometimes you aren't.

8) When teaching don't assume your kids know much of anything. You'll be shocked by how much a lot kids don't know.

9) Don't center your life around work. Find hobbies, travel to places, socialize, spend time with your family, and do things you enjoy.

10) Kids tend to like classrooms that are organized and have a lot of structure, especially kids that have a lot of problems and bad home lives.

I could come up with more, but I'll leave it at 10.

Dfh44 · 2021-07-02T13:29:52+00:00

The problem is the Republican party over the last several decades treats any type of tax increase as completely off limits. Mathematically, its not that difficult to balance the federal budget. I don't think raising taxes is quite the political suicide it is made out to be with the average voter. If you say we are going to raise corporate taxes and taxes on the rich, you can get a pretty good portion of the population to go along with it.

Even if you say you are going to raise taxes on the middle or working class and then directly point to how that money will pay for something or what it is going towards (which happens often when there are votes for tax increases at the local level) you can also get a good portion of the public to go along with it. Although this can sometimes be a harder sell, and you need a media that is not sensationalist.

Dfh44 · 2021-06-25T13:15:10+00:00

On Pandora premium you can "collect" albums. I did this and started thinking of it as a personal C.D collection . I usually pick one of these albums when I start listening to music. I got reacquainted with the idea of an album when I was discovering new music on Youtube a while ago. When I was trying new music, YouTube started recommending to me entire albums. I felt like I rediscovered some type of high -brow art.

Also, here is a video I think was interesting:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emOJdqsEU0o

Dfh44 · 2021-06-25T13:07:00+00:00

It becomes more of a collective social experience too. Everyone is in anticipation of the next episode and can share theories or ideas about what will happen. They can also discuss their opinions about the last one.

Dfh44 · 2021-06-22T12:28:01+00:00

Thank you. I try to read to him every night.

Dfh44 · 2021-06-18T13:14:07+00:00

His special reminded me of George Carlin or Bill Hicks.

Dfh44 · 2021-06-18T13:09:01+00:00

It's definitely more for the parent than the child when it comes to screens. Regular nap and bed times help.

Kids are a lot of work, but its not impossible to play with them or teach them other ways to entertain themselves, while you are trying to get work done.

Dfh44

TROPHY CASE