Everything looks good from here... Yes. Yes, this is a fertile land, and we will thrive. We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... 'This Land.' I think we should call it 'your grave!' Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal! Ha ha HA! Mine is an evil laugh! Now die! Oh, no, God! Oh, dear God in heaven!

Wash ,'Serenity'


Natter 34: Freak With No Name  

Off-topic discussion. Wanna talk about corsets, duct tape, or physics? This is the place. Detailed discussion of any current-season TV must be whitefonted.


Hil R. - Apr 27, 2005 6:28:36 pm PDT #9551 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

I'm watching, Emily. I'm halfway irked -- I think she has a good point, but takes it too far -- some of the stuff she's arguing against seems totally silly and probably harmful, but some of the other stuff seems useful.


Jesse - Apr 27, 2005 6:29:10 pm PDT #9552 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

Note: Christina Hoff Summers is on the Daily Show talking about this book: [link]


JenP - Apr 27, 2005 6:29:44 pm PDT #9553 of 10001

sj, yes. Absolutely don't. Something is up there.


Emily - Apr 27, 2005 6:30:22 pm PDT #9554 of 10001
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola

Yeah, exactly. I do think it gets taken too far sometimes, but you know what? It's about 23rd on the list of What's Wrong with America's Schools. Is the thing. And she seems like a nice lady, but it just sounded so much like "These kids today got it so damned easy -- we should be whipping their asses! Laura Ingalls Wilder wouldn'a stood for any of this guff!"


Hil R. - Apr 27, 2005 6:30:33 pm PDT #9555 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

And I usually won't grade with red ink. I agree, the color just looks too harsh. I had a teacher in high school who wouldn't use it because she said it looked like someone bled all over the paper, and I liked it.


Jesse - Apr 27, 2005 6:32:10 pm PDT #9556 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

She's annoying. See also, Who Stole Feminism? and The War Against Boys.


Hil R. - Apr 27, 2005 6:34:25 pm PDT #9557 of 10001
Sometimes I think I might just move up to Vermont, open a bookstore or a vegan restaurant. Adam Schlesinger, z''l

Although, today, I overheard a student complaining because "This class is ridiculous. I'm a good student, and I've been working really hard, and even if I get an A on the final, I'm not going to get any higher than a B in this class, and that really isn't fair. I'm a good student, and I deserve a higher grade than that." This is far from the first time I've heard a student arguing that exact same thing, the "I worked hard, therefore I deserve an A, even though I haven't demonstrated a mastery of the material."


sj - Apr 27, 2005 6:35:06 pm PDT #9558 of 10001
"There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea."

sj, yes. Absolutely don't. Something is up there.

I think he is poisoning Spy Daddy, and making him sicker.


Emily - Apr 27, 2005 6:35:42 pm PDT #9559 of 10001
"In the equation E = mc⬧, c⬧ is a pretty big honking number." - Scola

Wasn't The War Against Boys the one which said that our emphasis on raising girls' self-esteem was having a harmful effect on boys?

I thought Stewart was responding well, but it did just seem like a strange guest to book. And "what we need is a return to common sense"? Sounded an awful lot like "the only thing a good teacher really needs is a piece of chalk and a chalkboard."


Jesse - Apr 27, 2005 6:36:50 pm PDT #9560 of 10001
Sometimes I trip on how happy we could be.

This is far from the first time I've heard a student arguing that exact same thing, the "I worked hard, therefore I deserve an A, even though I haven't demonstrated a mastery of the material."

Self-esteem run amok! Or however you spell that.

Seriously, I am a good student, but I far more often think I've gotten an A I didn't deserve.

Edit:

Wasn't The War Against Boys the one which said that our emphasis on raising girls' self-esteem was having a harmful effect on boys?

Yes.