More teachology

My Master of Science is in Computer Science. When I taught in a local college, I found that some people in my classes thought I was practicing "occupational birth control", and I remembered the doctoral head of the department where I studied for my degree. (I was in way over my head, and my daughter's friends thought that Mom was a single parent, but I somehow made it though the courses.)

The department head in my university had cured me of the "occupational birth control" approach - he demanded that we memorize portions of reference books and spit them back on high stakes tests. My classmate, Marsha, looked at the second question on a final exam that read, "Name all 32 Interrupt Priority Levels for a VAX 11-785" and did a bit of math - she would not fail the course if she did not pass the test. She wrote, "I did not buy reference books to memorize them" and walked out of the classroom.

I didn't announce to my students that they had to memorize crap. I wanted my students to focus on success; If my students showed up, paid attention, and tried their best, I would support them. Nobody who did that was less than average.

We Can Kill

A pilot in Arizona can murder a suspect along with others in Libya or any other country, and we're supposed to be proud?

The technology is amazing, but the use of it is abhorrent.

How is it?

Mitt RobbedMe offers a secret plan to fix the economy, just like Nixon offered a secret plan to end the war in Vietnam, and people believe it? How dumb are we?

Nixon should have been tried for treason for making deals with the Vietnamese.

Reagan should have been tried for treason for making deals with the Iranians.

What the fuck is wrong with us?

Custodial Time Killing

My Bachelor of Science degree is in Occupational Education. When I studied Abraham Mazlow's "Hierarchy of Needs" I thought it was so obvious that everybody with an I.Q. above room temperature would intuitively know it. Unfortunately, I was wrong.

When I was teaching in high schools in California and Illinois, it seemed that my job was more about crowd control than education. I had great students, but many of them suffered badly at the hands of our society and behaved accordingly. I can't blame people for reacting to their environment.

Norman Goldman replies:

Norman Goldman	Sep 11 (2 days ago)
to me

custodial time killing is sadly the mission of many schols, Gene...until the "kids" go off to prison.

norm

All health care is important to society. We are important to each other; we need to take care of each other; that's important to all of us as responsible citizens. By societal definition, we are not "on our own" and responsible to nobody.

I cannot repeat this enough: During the Reagan administration, East Moline State Hospital, a mental heath facility in western Illinois, was emptied of its obviously undeserving patients. My mother had been a freeloader in previous years.

The hospital then became reopened as East Moline Correctional Facility, and the previous patients then became inmates. Prison guards are so much less expensive than hospital staff.

Society feels no impact, of course. Untreated mental patients are harmless to themselves and others, of course. Society saves so much money, and we benefit so well from this idiocy.

What could possibly go wrong?

hateriots

What has been pushed as patriotism is coming to reflect "hateriotism." I could expect a hateriot to assault someone who suggests that they are far less than honest, caring people.

Everybody needs a Mister Wagner in their life

When my mother moved to California to live with her sister, I rented a corner of my uncle's basement. I was 17. Someone discovered that I had no legal guardian, and turned me in to the school district.

The Dean of Students, Mr. Wagner, called me in to his office to tell me that I would have to pay tuition as an out of state student because Mom was living with her sister, Alice, in Los Angeles, California.  This happened in October, the last year of my high school enrollment.

He thought about it for a half a minute. Then he told me that the paper work would take some time. Then he told me that he would make sure that it would disappear until I had graduated.

I never got a chance to tell him that I loved him for doing that.