HYPOTHETICAL SCENARIO
Your local board of education approaches you and says, "We realize that public education is currently lacking something. And we think you know what it is."
They give you this offer:
You can choose 1 grade
and you get 1 day that you can choose ANY CURRICULUM YOU WANT. The kids have to learn whatever you think they need to learn. For one day.
You don't have a lot of time to teach life skills like "patience" or "responsibility", nor do you have time to teach them anything too complex. You've got 1 grade for 1 day.
How would you make a lasting difference in these kids lives? Or would you just send everybody to recess?
I will train these kids in revolutionary warfare techniques devised by Mao and the Vietcong, so they can help install me as the People's Commissar for Education.
Because one day ain't gonna cut it.
Failing that, I'd teach my pre-planned class on Theories of International Relations and Zombies.
12th grade, and I teach them all about the current job market. Then I puke in the wastebasket, laugh, flip them off, and stagger down the hallway.
I would take over the music classes for the day.
sheet music would be tucked away.
The kids would get instruments and we would just play.
The only instruction would be to listen to what the other kids are doing and try to make what you are doing fit in with the musical conversation. If you can figure out how to get a noise out of something, it is an instrument.
Everybody learns improv. And everyone learns that your mind and your creativity and your imagination are not limited to the confines of black marks on a piece of paper.
Quote from: R.W.H.N. on June 28, 2011, 04:42:13 PM
I would take over the music classes for the day.
sheet music would be tucked away.
The kids would get instruments and we would just play.
The only instruction would be to listen to what the other kids are doing and try to make what you are doing fit in with the musical conversation. If you can figure out how to get a noise out of something, it is an instrument.
Everybody learns improv. And everyone learns that your mind and your creativity and your imagination are not limited to the confines of black marks on a piece of paper.
Just like in The Music Man!
I'd probably pick 6th grade and teach them rape awareness.
My day would probably be something like:
This is the Internet. This is how to relate to it. This is how to protect yourself & your privacy. This is how to use search engines.
Not sure what grade I'd pick, exactly, but older kids definitely. And, I would teach them as much as I can about space, and the importance of space exploration.
Quote from: Cramulus on June 28, 2011, 04:53:24 PM
My day would probably be something like:
This is the Internet. This is how to relate to it. This is how to protect yourself & your privacy. This is how to use search engines.
And they'd be like "Out of the way, old man. We're going to Redtube!"
Quote from: Cuddleshift on June 28, 2011, 04:55:26 PM
Not sure what grade I'd pick, exactly, but older kids definitely. And, I would teach them as much as I can about space, and the importance of space exploration.
Yep, nothing like having a dream to crush.
11th or 12th grade.
Money and Credit: Their differences and best uses. What NOT to do with credit. How to go about living comfortably without living beyond your means. Compound interest and savings. Long term investing. Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies. Recommended further reading.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 04:56:34 PM
Quote from: Cuddleshift on June 28, 2011, 04:55:26 PM
Not sure what grade I'd pick, exactly, but older kids definitely. And, I would teach them as much as I can about space, and the importance of space exploration.
Yep, nothing like having a dream to crush.
This generration needs it's own version of Carl Sagan.
Really, though, we (mostly) have the technology to do some really amazing things out there. The only problem is interest. Somehow, someone has managed to convince people that this infinitely huge void filled with uncountable amounts of dangerous and amazing things that COMPLETELY SURROUNDS US is not worth the time to explore, investigate, etc.. Maybe if kids had a better idea of the Universe, and the potential benefits of exploring it, there would be more interest, and with more interest, things will actually get done. This is actually a pretty good time to be alive for this sort of thing. The prospect of space exploration is garnering itself some political support, and the technology of today is better suited to tackling the tougher aspects of space exploration. Things like carbn nano-tubes (for use on the space elevator) and ion plasma engines (helpful for covering HUGE distances of space. Mars in less than a few months. I'd totally jump on that ride) and even simple re-designing of a space-suit that doesn't make you look like like and have the range of motion as the michelin man.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Too young to have families yet, hopefully, and young enough to still be living at home for a few more years so with parental guidance and a little discipline, they'd get a much better start than they'd otherwise get.
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:08:44 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Too young to have families yet, hopefully, and young enough to still be living at home for a few more years so with parental guidance and a little discipline, they'd get a much better start than they'd otherwise get.
And when they DO have kids, that cushion will evaporate like a snowflake in Tucson, on account of the "found money" rule.
one of my friends suggested that they'd just make the kids watch VHS tapes of Carl Sagan's Cosmos all day.
Particularly that excellent bit about how we're the first beings with the ability to resist our reptile brain.
My lefty beardo commie roommate said he'd want to teach a day of civics. Not all that presidential election crap, like the electoral college, but how politics actually works on a local level. And how to get involved in the forces which actually change things, not facebook petitions and the like.
A close second for me would be to teach media literacy. Kids are bombarded by many more messages from many more sources than I was as a kid. I imagine it could be a bit dizzying for a raging ball of hormones and angst. I think it's a good idea for kids to understand messaging, to think about what messages mean, what the motivations of the messager are, etc., etc.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:10:30 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:08:44 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Too young to have families yet, hopefully, and young enough to still be living at home for a few more years so with parental guidance and a little discipline, they'd get a much better start than they'd otherwise get.
And when they DO have kids, that cushion will evaporate like a snowflake in Tucson, on account of the "found money" rule.
Can't save everyone from themselves, but making the money harder to get your hands on or not worth the loss (putting it in an IRA) would help deter that sort of behavior.
It's an attempt to educate those who are willing to learn, it's not a guarantee of learning, and it's a damn sight better than what is currently taught.
IMO, I think a class of this sort should be mandatory from a year before legal working age until graduation.
I would teach kids how to fight science with wood.
Oh yeah! Media Literacy -- that's definitely something I'd want to include but forgot to mention.
One of my hopes for America's future would be a movement of media literacy and media skepticism. Kids should learn how to watch out for biased framing, evocative language, and other ways you can manipulate a narrative to suggest a certain conclusion. At this point I've got a little twitch that I get when a politican says words like "Freedom" and "patriot" and "founding fathers"... basically, Robert Anton Wilson & Robert Shea usage of the word "fnord".
WATCHING OUT FOR FNORDS 101
it would be impossible to teach in public school though, people would accuse you of partisanship
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:16:25 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:10:30 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:08:44 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Too young to have families yet, hopefully, and young enough to still be living at home for a few more years so with parental guidance and a little discipline, they'd get a much better start than they'd otherwise get.
And when they DO have kids, that cushion will evaporate like a snowflake in Tucson, on account of the "found money" rule.
Can't save everyone from themselves, but making the money harder to get your hands on or not worth the loss (putting it in an IRA) would help deter that sort of behavior.
It's an attempt to educate those who are willing to learn, it's not a guarantee of learning, and it's a damn sight better than what is currently taught.
IMO, I think a class of this sort should be mandatory from a year before legal working age until graduation.
So, you're in favor of mandated liberatarian indoctrination? :lulz:
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:23:28 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:16:25 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:10:30 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:08:44 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Too young to have families yet, hopefully, and young enough to still be living at home for a few more years so with parental guidance and a little discipline, they'd get a much better start than they'd otherwise get.
And when they DO have kids, that cushion will evaporate like a snowflake in Tucson, on account of the "found money" rule.
Can't save everyone from themselves, but making the money harder to get your hands on or not worth the loss (putting it in an IRA) would help deter that sort of behavior.
It's an attempt to educate those who are willing to learn, it's not a guarantee of learning, and it's a damn sight better than what is currently taught.
IMO, I think a class of this sort should be mandatory from a year before legal working age until graduation.
So, you're in favor of mandated liberatarian indoctrination? :lulz:
wat?
How could you possibly get that from what I wrote?
So it's libertarian indoctrination to teach people at an early age what money is, what credit is, to save a portion of what they earn, invest for the long term, and to not live beyond their means or screw up their credit?
:?
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:28:26 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:23:28 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:16:25 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:10:30 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:08:44 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Too young to have families yet, hopefully, and young enough to still be living at home for a few more years so with parental guidance and a little discipline, they'd get a much better start than they'd otherwise get.
And when they DO have kids, that cushion will evaporate like a snowflake in Tucson, on account of the "found money" rule.
Can't save everyone from themselves, but making the money harder to get your hands on or not worth the loss (putting it in an IRA) would help deter that sort of behavior.
It's an attempt to educate those who are willing to learn, it's not a guarantee of learning, and it's a damn sight better than what is currently taught.
IMO, I think a class of this sort should be mandatory from a year before legal working age until graduation.
So, you're in favor of mandated liberatarian indoctrination? :lulz:
wat?
How could you possibly get that from what I wrote?
So it's libertarian indoctrination to teach people at an early age what money is, what credit is, to save a portion of what they earn, invest for the long term, and to not live beyond their means or screw up their credit?
:?
Yep. You're pushing straight-up Ayn Rand, there. Everyone knows that if everyone saved like that, our economy would collapse like Susan Brownmiller.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:31:02 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:28:26 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:23:28 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:16:25 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:10:30 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:08:44 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:03:07 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:01:57 PM
Creating a cushion of a minimum 2 years wages for emergencies.
It'd be a LONG fucking day.
Yeah, it would, given a mode wage of $19,200/year and an average family size of 3.5 people. :lulz:
Too young to have families yet, hopefully, and young enough to still be living at home for a few more years so with parental guidance and a little discipline, they'd get a much better start than they'd otherwise get.
And when they DO have kids, that cushion will evaporate like a snowflake in Tucson, on account of the "found money" rule.
Can't save everyone from themselves, but making the money harder to get your hands on or not worth the loss (putting it in an IRA) would help deter that sort of behavior.
It's an attempt to educate those who are willing to learn, it's not a guarantee of learning, and it's a damn sight better than what is currently taught.
IMO, I think a class of this sort should be mandatory from a year before legal working age until graduation.
So, you're in favor of mandated liberatarian indoctrination? :lulz:
wat?
How could you possibly get that from what I wrote?
So it's libertarian indoctrination to teach people at an early age what money is, what credit is, to save a portion of what they earn, invest for the long term, and to not live beyond their means or screw up their credit?
:?
Yep. You're pushing straight-up Ayn Rand, there. Everyone knows that if everyone saved like that, our economy would collapse like Susan Brownmiller.
:lulz:
Assuming teaching it would mean everyone would do it, and that having a higher national savings rate would be a bad thing.
ok man.
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:35:20 PM
and that having a higher national savings rate would be a bad thing.
ok man.
Ask the Japanese about that. They tried it that way, back in the 80s, and learned what happens when people don't spend like mad bastards in a consumerism-driven economy. Low retail sales = no economy.
I fail to see why this is such a difficult thing to wrap your brain around.
8th or 9th grade.
I'd teach them about how important history is, various 'philosophies of history' and how you cannot trust historians.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:37:13 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:35:20 PM
and that having a higher national savings rate would be a bad thing.
ok man.
Ask the Japanese about that. They tried it that way, back in the 80s, and learned what happens when people don't spend like mad bastards in a consumerism-driven economy. Low retail sales = no economy.
I fail to see why this is such a difficult thing to wrap your brain around.
That's a major simplification of why Japan crashed that leaves out a lot of the OTHER major reasons the economy crashed, and there was nothing "libertarian" about the Bank of Japan's inflationary monetary policies.
[ETA] and they had moved to a major export driven economy by then, running a large trade surplus, and we were buying their shit like mad soo.. what are you talking about?
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:47:06 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:37:13 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:35:20 PM
and that having a higher national savings rate would be a bad thing.
ok man.
Ask the Japanese about that. They tried it that way, back in the 80s, and learned what happens when people don't spend like mad bastards in a consumerism-driven economy. Low retail sales = no economy.
I fail to see why this is such a difficult thing to wrap your brain around.
That's a major simplification of why Japan crashed that leaves out a lot of the OTHER major reasons the economy crashed, and there was nothing "libertarian" about the Bank of Japan's inflationary monetary policies.
Okay, so tell me how declining retail sales spurs an economy, or even maintains one...Rather than leading to a downward spiral.
I am all ears.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:48:52 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:47:06 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:37:13 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:35:20 PM
and that having a higher national savings rate would be a bad thing.
ok man.
Ask the Japanese about that. They tried it that way, back in the 80s, and learned what happens when people don't spend like mad bastards in a consumerism-driven economy. Low retail sales = no economy.
I fail to see why this is such a difficult thing to wrap your brain around.
That's a major simplification of why Japan crashed that leaves out a lot of the OTHER major reasons the economy crashed, and there was nothing "libertarian" about the Bank of Japan's inflationary monetary policies.
Okay, so tell me how declining retail sales spurs an economy, or even maintains one...Rather than leading to a downward spiral.
I am all ears.
Their property bubble burst due to loose monetary policy fueling mal-investment and driving up property prices beyond their true value. Sound familiar?
This meant lower retail sales at home after the recession started, but since they were still a major exporter, we were still buying a lot of their goods over here.
Rather than do what they should have done and pull a Volker on their interest rate to suck in the inflation as quickly as possible to allow a real recovery, they did the same thing we're doing right now, pumping in more money to try and reinflate the bubble.
The biggest difference is that their banks just kept lending money they had little chance of seeing repaid.
I would take 4th grade and teach them all about ME, THEIR FUTURE DICTATOR :argh!:
Clearly "spend everything you make and take out loans to buy the shit you can't afford" has worked so well for the world.
My idea is just fucking CRAZY compared to doing it like we've been doing it.
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:53:30 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:48:52 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:47:06 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:37:13 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:35:20 PM
and that having a higher national savings rate would be a bad thing.
ok man.
Ask the Japanese about that. They tried it that way, back in the 80s, and learned what happens when people don't spend like mad bastards in a consumerism-driven economy. Low retail sales = no economy.
I fail to see why this is such a difficult thing to wrap your brain around.
That's a major simplification of why Japan crashed that leaves out a lot of the OTHER major reasons the economy crashed, and there was nothing "libertarian" about the Bank of Japan's inflationary monetary policies.
Okay, so tell me how declining retail sales spurs an economy, or even maintains one...Rather than leading to a downward spiral.
I am all ears.
Their property bubble burst due to loose monetary policy fueling mal-investment and driving up property prices beyond their true value. Sound familiar?
This meant lower retail sales at home, but since they were still a major exporter, we were still buying a lot of their goods over here.
Rather than do what they should have done and pull a Volker on their interest rate to suck in the inflation as quickly as possible to allow a real recovery, they did the same thing we're doing right now, pumping in more money to try and reinflate the bubble.
The biggest difference is that their banks just kept lending money they had little chance of seeing repaid.
Okay. That doesn't explain how lower retail sales HERE will generate or maintain the economy. Is this one of those "if we lower the rate of income, we'll have more income" things? Because it seems to me that less retail sales = less jobs, which means less money for retail purchases, which means less jobs, etc.
And investing? Oh, that's rich. Because that shit was JUST FINE in November of 2007, right?
Quote from: The Fred ⊂(◉‿◉)つ on June 28, 2011, 05:55:37 PM
I would take 4th grade and teach them all about ME, THEIR FUTURE DICTATOR :argh!:
You should teach them how to draw dragons.
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:56:13 PM
Clearly "spend everything you make and take out loans to buy the shit you can't afford" has worked so well for the world.
My idea is just fucking CRAZY compared to doing it like we've been doing it.
Okay. You tell us how to get off the 3rd rail, here. What's your plan for completely restructuring our economy without upsetting the apple cart?
high school.
firearm safety with a trip to the range.
:D
Also, I'm kind of curious, here. Where to invest? The banks are crooked, the stock market's a sham, metals are for fools, real estate is basically valueless.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:57:17 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:56:13 PM
Clearly "spend everything you make and take out loans to buy the shit you can't afford" has worked so well for the world.
My idea is just fucking CRAZY compared to doing it like we've been doing it.
Okay. You tell us how to get off the 3rd rail, here. What's your plan for completely restructuring our economy without upsetting the apple cart?
I've got to go back to work, lunch over. I'll try and come back when I get a few things done.
Sorry for derailing this shit Cram, it wasn't my intention.
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 06:04:22 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 05:57:17 PM
Quote from: Disco Pickle on June 28, 2011, 05:56:13 PM
Clearly "spend everything you make and take out loans to buy the shit you can't afford" has worked so well for the world.
My idea is just fucking CRAZY compared to doing it like we've been doing it.
Okay. You tell us how to get off the 3rd rail, here. What's your plan for completely restructuring our economy without upsetting the apple cart?
I've got to go back to work, lunch over. I'll try and come back when I get a few things done.
Sorry for derailing this shit Cram, it wasn't my intention.
:(
Nobody ever lets me play their libertarian games.
Dok,
Is like Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer.
not a derail, don't sweat it.!
"What would you teach kids" was a sneaky way of asking people how they think the world could be saved -- without provoking starry eyed idealism or cynical doom and gloom defeatism. Good discussion, anyway.
I would teach the kids that we are actually going on strike on Thursday, because our government refuses to read easy to understand graphs, and so class is cancelled.
Because this is actually happening.
10th grade.
How to fix shit around the house.
Quote from: Cain on June 28, 2011, 06:14:30 PM
I would teach the kids that we are actually going on strike on Thursday, because our government refuses to read easy to understand graphs, and so class is cancelled.
Because this is actually happening.
What?
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 06:40:03 PM
Quote from: Cain on June 28, 2011, 06:14:30 PM
I would teach the kids that we are actually going on strike on Thursday, because our government refuses to read easy to understand graphs, and so class is cancelled.
Because this is actually happening.
What?
Teachers gotta pay more into pensions, because apparently the cost of public sector pensions is "spiralling out of control".
Whereas the government's own economists have known for several years that this year is going to be the most expensive in terms of costs, and from here on in the cost to the public is going to decline, with no changes needed. Revised estimates after the impact of the economic crisis came to the same conclusion.
So we're striking.
Quote from: Cain on June 28, 2011, 06:54:29 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on June 28, 2011, 06:40:03 PM
Quote from: Cain on June 28, 2011, 06:14:30 PM
I would teach the kids that we are actually going on strike on Thursday, because our government refuses to read easy to understand graphs, and so class is cancelled.
Because this is actually happening.
What?
Teachers gotta pay more into pensions, because apparently the cost of public sector pensions is "spiralling out of control".
Whereas the government's own economists have known for several years that this year is going to be the most expensive in terms of costs, and from here on in the cost to the public is going to decline, with no changes needed. Revised estimates after the impact of the economic crisis came to the same conclusion.
So we're striking.
I don't suppose the MPs are taking a cut in their (public sector) pensions?
They've heroically "accepted" a pay freeze, of their £65000 per year, not including "legitimate" expenses (second home in London, money for trouser presses, paying peasants to clean out the moat, paying for a flat for your rent-boy etc).
Quote from: Cain on June 28, 2011, 07:02:03 PM
They've heroically "accepted" a pay freeze, of their £65000 per year, not including "legitimate" expenses (second home in London, money for trouser presses, paying peasants to clean out the moat, paying for a flat for your rent-boy etc).
Wow. That must be tough on them. I weep for their sacrifice.
Throw in inflation and tax increases, and most public sector workers have effectively taken a pay cut already (pay was frozen in 2008). In addition to that, this would cause the average teacher to earn £120 a month less.
Quote from: Iptuous on June 28, 2011, 06:01:46 PM
high school.
firearm safety with a trip to the range.
:D
This.
Quote from: Charley Brown on June 28, 2011, 06:39:08 PM
10th grade.
How to fix shit around the house.
And this! Even a "how not to spend your money like a retard" along DP's ideas would be useful. FFS, how to balance a checkbook even so you don't overdraw your stupid account. No-one knows how to do anything useful anymore. Highschool, especially the first two years of high school were shoving the same information down our throats over and over so we could pass the MCAS and graduate. I started highschool in Honors biology, but the next year had to take what essentially amounted to middle-school science over again "because it's on the MCAS!" Highschool home-ec? We had to take tests labeling basic kitchen equipment. This is a whisk! This is a spatula (except no, it's a "pancake turner". Wtf? DERP!). And I think we made French toast and maybe muffins or something. We did that in middleschool AND they taught us to sew then. Not label stupid pictures on a paper.
By highschool, at the latest, kids should be learning "real world" skills, not just regurgitating the same basic information over and over to learn how to take a test. I am amazed at some of the things people out of highschool have no clue how to do. But they sure can download the latest I-Tunes and discuss the latest news on American Idol like nobody's business.
How to roast a chicken and carve it, with potatoes and a vegetable.
Feed a family of 4 for less than $10.
Like others have said already to, media awareness/analysis. I watch some of the commercials on TV and can pick out their "key-words" and "tricks" (for lack of a better word) and wonder how people can get drawn into it, but obviously they do because they keep putting out commercials doing the same things over and over (hey, that's a guy like me! and he's smiling! I need those pills too so I'll be happy!)
Or I hear what I would consider to be otherwise intelligent people spouting some catch phrase or rhetoric or whatever, against this or that and the only support they can offer for it is that "Fox news said it!" and continue with circular logic from there.
Critical analysis can't be taught in a day.
Financial responsibility and frugal self-sufficiency can.
Considering we have a time limit, I know which way I'd go.
I don't think anything that I would consider necessary can be taught in a day, except maybe how to shoot a gun and which zombie body parts are best to shoot at.
Well if they are male zombies it is obviously the crotch.
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on June 28, 2011, 07:19:06 PM
Critical analysis can't be taught in a day.
Financial responsibility and frugal self-sufficiency can.
Considering we have a time limit, I know which way I'd go.
That is true, I just started going off on everything else and the fact that schools really don't send kids off with many "real life" skills, which is a shame. At least I was prepared for all those multiple choice & short essay tests I take on a daily basis at my job! Though I do suppose they help to hone kids' bullshitting skills.
/soapbox
This would be a great day course:
Quote from: LMNO, PhD on June 28, 2011, 07:12:17 PM
How to roast a chicken and carve it, with potatoes and a vegetable.
Feed a family of 4 for less than $10.
Even including with it (or a day itself) a basic "smart shopping" course (looking for coupons/sales/best deals, buying in bulk and storing portions, comparing brand v. store, quality v. quantity, etc.)
I don't know.
I think I've shared this before, but I actually HAD a "school of hard knocks" sort of course called "On Your Own" when I was a 12th grader. It taught us stuff like balancing checkbooks, how to read a bank statement, how to look for and apply for a job, we did that "balloon baby" thing where you had to partner up and take care of a baby to simulate what a pain in the ass 24-hour babysitting is, how to play the stock market (!), how to look for and rent an apartment or house, and on and on.
It was actually a REALLY helpful class.
As for being in control of a particular class or whole grade for one day...there's just too much that I can think of...the media savvy idea is good. I also like the idea of teaching kids some critical thinking--even a few simple exercises can last a while and make an impression if done right/effectively.
Rethinking it for the third time:
A day-long experiment and discussion over a specific kind of unconcious Bias has a good chance of sticking with a kid for a long time.
I'm thinking of something like Eye of the Storm (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0365177/), where a teacher separates her 3rd grade class by eye color as a lesson about racism. Follow up documentaries have shown that the kids largely became more sensitive to discrimination, even as adults.
Maybe a Prisoner's Dilemma game, or Newcomb's problem type of experiment, with discussion afterwards?
<mean streak>
11th grade.
Milgram experiment.
</mean streak>
Gimme the 10 year olds.
Class on "controlled regurgitation of memorized facts" vs. "thinking for yourself and actually figuring shit out."
Quote from: Cramulus on June 28, 2011, 04:53:24 PM
My day would probably be something like:
This is the Internet. This is how to relate to it. This is how to protect yourself & your privacy. This is how to use search engines.
I think I'd do this. Searchlores style, as a tribute to Fravia+. It'd take a bit of preparation to up it for more modern times.
Not because it's the most important thing to teach, but rather because it's the most important thing that I could teach
well.
Quote from: R.W.H.N. on June 28, 2011, 05:15:17 PM
A close second for me would be to teach media literacy. Kids are bombarded by many more messages from many more sources than I was as a kid. I imagine it could be a bit dizzying for a raging ball of hormones and angst. I think it's a good idea for kids to understand messaging, to think about what messages mean, what the motivations of the messager are, etc., etc.
Yeah speaking of Searchlores style, I'd also teach them "reality cracking" [as it's called there]--basically a form of awareness vs advertisements and media that is not quite but almost advertising.
edit: critical thinking, that's the term.
Quote from: Luna on June 28, 2011, 10:41:24 PM
Gimme the 10 year olds.
Class on "controlled regurgitation of memorized facts" vs. "thinking for yourself and actually figuring shit out."
Most 10 year olds have a shaky enough grasp on probability, let alone critical thinking.
Quote from: Cain on June 29, 2011, 09:20:26 AM
Quote from: Luna on June 28, 2011, 10:41:24 PM
Gimme the 10 year olds.
Class on "controlled regurgitation of memorized facts" vs. "thinking for yourself and actually figuring shit out."
Most 10 year olds have a shaky enough grasp on probability, let alone critical thinking.
Too true... I figure it's not too young to teach them that you can't believe everything you're told. The teachers can force them to spit back what's written in the books... but they need to understand that what's written in the textbooks these days isn't always truth... particularly if you're at the mercy of the Texas school board.