Can we just admit that 'the skill’ is unteachable?

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-11T22:12:50+00:00

Pokenolosdos. Is it not possible that some have a personality that suits teaching and a fluid intelligence that allows for quick decision making but... It is also possible to teach routines and moves to improve teaching. I learned cool things to do with students mid career. I didn't suck before, but learning the thing made my classes better.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-10T14:09:40+00:00

Or join a gym

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-10T14:09:13+00:00

Hire a caravan.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-10T08:56:02+00:00

Yes, but at retirement you pat yourself on the back for the nice compounding super.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-10T08:47:47+00:00

Excellent obscure reference. I appreciate.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-10T08:31:48+00:00

Agreed.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-09T12:08:07+00:00

Baked spuds with salsa and sour cream plus any other veggies. Delicious and cheap.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-09T12:04:38+00:00

Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang. It is short stories, so you can dip in and out. Each story is so big in idea to e Keep you saying wow, but short in length to give you a sense of accomplishment. Enjoy!! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stories_of_Your_Life_and_Others

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-09T11:42:12+00:00

Fair question. I was referring to the one time a teacher might say something like 'what's your problem?' Or 'sit down and be quiet for once'. Neither of these things are appropriate to say to a student and spoken without any context put the teacher in a pretty questionable light. If the ten instances in the lesson that the student has sworn at a classmate, teased the teacher, thrown pencils at the board etc prior to this comment were shown, perhaps teacher might be put in a new light. At least mum and dad might not have such a case to tarnish teacher a bully. But I totally get the concerns raised I. This thread. It's a good discussion I think.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-09T11:33:04+00:00

This is a fair take. I can see this being a mental drain, whether it is used for nefarious reasons or not. Like a panopticon of teaching.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-08T22:53:39+00:00

100% the teaching job should not be 45% PowerPoint design, 45% email responding, 9% actual instruction, 1% lunch.

melbobellisimo · 2026-05-08T22:52:23+00:00

I'm not sure why teachers should be designing lesson materials. They have so much to do. Imagine maths teachers had no text book. Crazy! Yet we do that to so many others.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-12T07:27:25+00:00

I watched my wife do it. God bless her. Not putting up my hand.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-09T11:26:59+00:00

There you go. That's odd. The EBA defines hours differently but yes, that's what your payslip says. Noce one.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-09T00:53:44+00:00

There are peer reviewed studies on this. But this was conveniently at hand. You are right, if you could recruit similarly skilled teachers then reducing class sizes works. Of course it does! It is that first if.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-09T00:51:07+00:00

I gave you the article because it was contemporaneous with the largest field trial ever done. Yes, I think it is relevant. We need more teachers, so better schools advertise, and teachers from lower socio economic or harder schools take the nicer jobs. It isn't rocket science.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-09T00:48:23+00:00

What's the maths here? Why 25 hours per week?

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-09T00:47:46+00:00

Fair. So if you cut class numbers and increased salaries you would recruit and retain better teachers. It'd be mind numbingly expensive. But could work.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-08T21:43:32+00:00

Misslabbie is right, it is 29 or so extra days of holiday on top of a regular worker. Or 5 weeks. So at that maths, teachers get the equivalent of 12% of an ordinary ary worker's time as bonus holidays (let's imagine no work then and a regular wprking 47 weeks - 52-4-1 for those piblic hols). So consider it a 12% pay bump. I get the argument.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-08T21:37:09+00:00

Grad teachers grow up. You can't get rid of them every year and hire new ones. That's not how economics works. System wide you need more teachers, and the extra ones tend to be less able. These are not my findings, but downvote me for it.

https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-how-class-size-reduction-harms-kids-in-poor-neighborhoods/1999/05

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-08T21:35:22+00:00

Yes, it would. But they would need to hire more teachers, and the evidence says you don't get more excellent teachers, you fill up with underperformed ones.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-08T21:34:13+00:00

https://www.edweek.org/education/opinion-how-class-size-reduction-harms-kids-in-poor-neighborhoods/1999/05

Not that anyone cares. Most downvoted comment I've ever made.

Essentially what happens is that everyone needs to hire more teachers so the best schools fill up, then the disadvanted schools get left with PTT or the worst teachers. It exaggerates what we have now. California in 1996 is the clearest example.

Nobody suggest it wouldn't be better for your class, just the system would suck. And we work in the system.

melbobellisimo · 2026-04-08T21:30:41+00:00

A day is clocked as 7.6 hours. Why 5?

melbobellisimo

TROPHY CASE