Re: [Phys-l] Ca mandates 8th-grade algebra test

[Jack Uretsky <jlu@hep.anl.gov>]

If I'v told this tale before, I apologize.
	After Adm and Eve were banished from the Garden and told to go 
forth and multiply, they did.  They multiplied and multiplied until they 
were surrounded by a horde of screaming, unmanageable, hungry kids.  At 
their wits end, they knelt and prayed their creator for relief.
	Sure enough, off in the distance a small cloud formed.  Slowly it 
began to rotate, then faster and faster.  The cloud formed a funnel that 
dipped down to the ground, then rose, moved rapidly toward the 
beleaguered parents and their charges, then stopped.  The funnel descended 
to the ground, and out of the mist stepped the first schoolteacher.
	She looked around her, then at the parents, then at the horde of 
kids, sniffed, and said, loudly, "Hmmph!  We never would have put up with 
this in the old days!"
				Regards,
					Jack

On Fri, 11 Jul 2008, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:

> I was in Grammar school while we had Korea, Atomic Bomb drills, gang fights between neighboring towns, etc. Sorry, but I don't buy the "times are different for these kids" routine. The real difference is lowered expectations. Teachers go into shock when they hear about mandatory testing. Why?
>
> Bob at PC
>
>
>
> ________________________________
>
> From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu on behalf of Jack Uretsky
> Sent: Fri 7/11/2008 3:25 PM
> To: Forum for Physics Educators
> Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Ca mandates 8th-grade algebra test
>
>
>
> Watching my kids going through high school in the early seventies?  My
> goodness, yes.  I did not face a draft, a cold war, the social pressure of
> a wealthy Chicago suburb, the increibly rising costs of college, the
> instability of families...  It was a very different culture.
>                                                Regards,
>                                                        Jack
>
> On Fri, 11 Jul 2008, LaMontagne, Bob wrote:
>
> > And how has this changed from 50 years ago?
> >
> > Bob at PC
> > (BTW - This "old geezer" started out teaching High School)
> >
> > ________________________________
> >
> > From: phys-l-bounces@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu on behalf of Jack Uretsky
> > Sent: Fri 7/11/2008 12:36 PM
> > To: Forum for Physics Educators
> > Subject: Re: [Phys-l] Ca mandates 8th-grade algebra test
> >
> >
> >
> > > From another Geezer:
> >        School grades are not necessarily the most important issues in the
> > lives of adolescents.  An adolescent is busy learning how to get along
> > with his/her peers, how to deal with family issues, acquire spending money
> > and plan for the future.
>
> --
> "Trust me.  I have a lot of experience at this."
>                General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
>                just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley
>
>
>
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> Forum for Physics Educators
> Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
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--
"Trust me.  I have a lot of experience at this."
		General Custer's unremembered message to his men,
		just before leading them into the Little Big Horn Valley