Because if you're so desperate for your son to do well in his English class, a little modeling on the importance of English would not go amiss.
No joke.
I say, "Garbage. You know a lot more than this paper indicates. I guarantee you, if I put a stack of ten-dollar bills down in front of you as you worked and took away one bill each time you made an error, you'd make a lot fewer errors. You're just not bothering to think about it."Good point. I think that, perhaps, there isn't enough "reward" for bothering to get it right. Not that education is, or should be, about 'reward'. But - for me, it was exciting to get things right. It was exciting to know I *nailed* a test. To have a paper returned with a 100% in red across the top. I got a rush from that
( ... )
You know, a lot of these parents (this one included) DO check homework and encourage their kids to work hard and get good grades.
But they don't understand the connection between schoolwork and other aspects of their lives. Doing well in school usually goes hand in hand with parents limiting TV, encouraging reading, modeling reading, making a real effort to speak and act as an educated person who values education for more than just financial success.
And yes, the concept of the reward bothers me, too. When I give them the stack-of-money scenario they grin and say, "You should do that!" Sure, that'll happen.
For some people, there seems to be an almost willful rejection, in e-mails and other written communication, of rules of composition.
I accepted a Facebook friend request from a high-school classmate. Everything this woman posts there is in ALL CAPS (so, of course, it seems as though she shouts everything she says). Also, she follows the trend of using "UR" in place of "your" or "you're." (There's a feature on Facebook where you can hide all posts from a particular person. It's become my favorite feature.)
I blame George W. Bush for this. Almost every day for eight years, there was an embrace of anti-intellectualism in politics, and it seeped into the general culture. A line of demarcation drawn, with "college professors," "eggheads" and "people who think too much" on one side, and people who, apparently, go with their gut instinct and never, ever change their minds on the other
( ... )
and people who, apparently, go with their gut instinct and never, ever change their minds on the other.
Just the way you phrased this struck a chord with me (to hijack Deen's LJ for a minute)- what with all the drama I've been dealing with regarding my flister who seems to have all the markers for Delusional Disorder. I've been reading up on DD, and that's one of the markers - the delusional person clings to their delusion with a seeming inability to change their mind on it.
When you look at it like that, it becomes frightening how much of religion and politics could easily fall under the banner of mental illness.
(Sorry, aunt_deen, just following the path of the conversation!)
Comments 14
No joke.
I say, "Garbage. You know a lot more than this paper indicates. I guarantee you, if I put a stack of ten-dollar bills down in front of you as you worked and took away one bill each time you made an error, you'd make a lot fewer errors. You're just not bothering to think about it."Good point. I think that, perhaps, there isn't enough "reward" for bothering to get it right. Not that education is, or should be, about 'reward'. But - for me, it was exciting to get things right. It was exciting to know I *nailed* a test. To have a paper returned with a 100% in red across the top. I got a rush from that ( ... )
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But they don't understand the connection between schoolwork and other aspects of their lives. Doing well in school usually goes hand in hand with parents limiting TV, encouraging reading, modeling reading, making a real effort to speak and act as an educated person who values education for more than just financial success.
And yes, the concept of the reward bothers me, too. When I give them the stack-of-money scenario they grin and say, "You should do that!" Sure, that'll happen.
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On the bright side, at least this mom cares, right? She's trying? Ahhhh.
Hope you've been well, btw! Haven't seen you around much, missed you!
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I have to get back into it, though. I miss you guys.
Email coming. You can kick my ass a little.
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I accepted a Facebook friend request from a high-school classmate. Everything this woman posts there is in ALL CAPS (so, of course, it seems as though she shouts everything she says). Also, she follows the trend of using "UR" in place of "your" or "you're." (There's a feature on Facebook where you can hide all posts from a particular person. It's become my favorite feature.)
I blame George W. Bush for this. Almost every day for eight years, there was an embrace of anti-intellectualism in politics, and it seeped into the general culture. A line of demarcation drawn, with "college professors," "eggheads" and "people who think too much" on one side, and people who, apparently, go with their gut instinct and never, ever change their minds on the other ( ... )
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Just the way you phrased this struck a chord with me (to hijack Deen's LJ for a minute)- what with all the drama I've been dealing with regarding my flister who seems to have all the markers for Delusional Disorder. I've been reading up on DD, and that's one of the markers - the delusional person clings to their delusion with a seeming inability to change their mind on it.
When you look at it like that, it becomes frightening how much of religion and politics could easily fall under the banner of mental illness.
(Sorry, aunt_deen, just following the path of the conversation!)
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Yes, how dare you bring intelligent conversation to my LJ? ;)
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