Since 2009 I have spent my summers riding an orange and cream colored scooter round Chicago. She purred and zipped and zoomed and so was dubbed “Sneaky Cheetah.”
Alas, she didn’t make it to her third July 4th and so I took it upon myself to trade the Sneaky Cheetah for a cool looking motorcycle, which I got from a buddy of mine. The motorcycle, however, is an animal of a different nature, as scooters don’t have a clutch, or a shifter, and for the Sneaky Cheetah, I didn’t even need the special “M” Class license in Illinois to ride it. I decided I needed to take a motorcycle riding course.
I took the course this past week. We were six students and one instructor over two days: In the morning we were in a classroom learning bike basics and road safety, and both afternoons were spent “in the field” learning how to operate a motorcycle. On the third morning there was the “M class” licensing test, administered by an
To the Editor:
Re “Smells Like School Spirit,” by David Brooks (column, July 1):
Mr. Brooks has misrepresented my views. While I have criticized charter schools, I am always careful to point out that they vary widely. The overwhelming majority of high-quality research studies on charters shows that some are excellent, some are abysmal and most are no better than regular public schools.
Some charters succeed because they have additional resources, supplied by their philanthropic sponsors; some get better results by adding extra instructional time. We can learn from these lessons to help regular public schools.
Others succeed by limiting the admission of students with disabilities and those who can’t read English, or by removing those with learning problems. These students are then overrepresented in regular public schools, making comparisons between the two sectors unfair.
I don’t want to get rid of testing. But tests should be used for information and diagnostics
ATLANTA — A state investigation released Tuesday showed rampant, systematic cheating on test scores in this city’s long-troubled public schools, ending two years of increasing skepticism over remarkable improvements touted by school leaders.
The results of the investigation, made public by Gov. Nathan Deal, showed that the cheating occurred at 44 schools and involved at least 178 teachers and principals, almost half of whom have confessed, the governor said.
A culture of fear, intimidation and retaliation existed in the district, which led to a
If you think back to those classes or courses you loved the most during your education I think you will find that what made the course so compelling was the relationship you developed. It could be a relationship with the teacher. “I loved Mrs. Cannon; she was the best teacher, she was fun and fair and hard but she helped me so much.” Or, you may have loved the topic and content so the teacher didn’t really matter. “I want to learn enough French so I can be talk to people from France and maybe visit there.” Learning happens in relationships with either people or content. So it is important to recognize that “liking” and the ability to see connections and possibilities is key to learning for the long haul.
Clearly you can be terrorized into learning. Fear of being embarrassed in front of others; fear of being held back in some way; or even fear of some change in your public image. But learning through fear is short term learning. It is the kind of thing you remember for the test but forget as soon as the grade or presentation is over. This learning is often characterized by how quickly it is forgotten and how little you can actually say about the topic after the event.
coopmike48
arneduncancoopmike48coopmike48
DianeRavitch
mikeklonskycoopmike48
tbfurmancoopmike48mikeklonskycoopmike48coopmike48coopmike48
fklonskyfklonsky
leoniehaimson
Relationships in Learning
0 Comments