Academic underachievers (Boys, discipline, dropouts, grades, medications, etc.)

The Washington Times ^ | January 22, 2006 | Joyce Howard Price

[xsmommy]

i am trying to think of the example of one he missed on the practice test. the question asked which one does not belong and it listed "fez", "fedora", ""bowler" and a non-hat option which i can't recall, well he had no idea and it is because only through reading books would you know that those were hats. you won't see them on vocab tests.

[xsmommy]

i was not the slightest bit abashed about paying cash money for reading either. you motivate with whatever works, IMO!!!

[moog]

Very true. My mom gave me some old reading tests from 30 years ago when she taught. They were pretty interesting to try out.

It's interesting to see the type of vocabulary one obtains from reading. Some kids really do gain a lot.

[DarkSavant]

Girls tend to be easier to condition into the mold the schools want. Sorry, but experience has shown me that it's much easier to indoctrinate a girl than a guy. They tend to be much prouder of getting good grades for regurgitating eveything the teacher says without thinking. Some experiences may vary, but I've never seen a girl challenge a teacher's stance on anything, but for guys it's very common. If BS is being taught, more likely than not guys won't pay attention, but girls will to get their A's because it makes them feel good.

[thinking]

and the majority of school teachers are female....

[FreeKeys]

Those running the government school show ( the NEA and educrats) hate America. They hate everything it stands for and want it destroyed. What better way to do that than educationally and emotionally crippling boys and turning out ineffectual men.

Solution: Destroy their weapon. Abolish government schooling. Put parents, teachers, and administrator back in charge. This can only be done if universal K-12 education is completely and totally privatized.

I tend to agree, but it's not politically realistic any time soon. The best you might hope for is scaling back gummint schools to 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade so the poorest kids get a chance to learn reading, writing and 'rithmetic, as Thomas Jefferson suggested, IIRC.

click on this:

[moog]

A reason why I became one.

[Thoeting]

Read the book "The War Against Boys" by Christina Hoff Summers. Enlightening to read how popular culture is being reworked in front of our eyes to denegrate men and "feminize" boys. Good discussion of how colleges would soon be dominated by girls (that became true sooner than the author thought it would) and how cooperative learning done poorly can hurt boys while it helps girls.

There has been discussion at the local level in a nearby county of having all girl and all boy middle schools. Certainly a thought. Of course we USED to have excellent all-male colleges until the liberals got a hold of them....

[Thoeting]

I have one daughter who is more of the typical compliant type. She has had teachers with liberal philosophies but she didnt' feel comfortable challenging them. One English teacher in particular did a number on McCarthy. That was then.......this is now. My younger daughter realized she would probably have this teacher and has read everything she can get her hands on about Joe McCarthy, including Coulter's book. This is one girl who is ready to challenge any teacher with facts. She is one tenacious little bulldog who is not afraid of challenges. But, you are very correct in your assumption that she is in the minority. It is the boys that more often will either challenge, or just ignore and go back to planning whatever mischief they can. (I was not fortunate enough to have boys, but I do get an absolute KICK out of my 4 nephews. Always, always something in the works with them.)

[moog]

You sound like ANOTHER great parent. I like hearing about others' kids. I get a big kick out of some things that these little ones do and say too.

[BikerTrash]

...government school cesspools of ignorance...

Excellent description.

[redpoll]

Thank God I live thousands of miles away from THAT madness. This semester in my sophomore English class we are reading "Beowulf," to be followed by "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey." Boys, for the most part, enjoy exciting stories with heroic men showing strength, courage, and intelligence.

To use the words of one sophomore boy: "I'm sick to death of girl amazon stories." You know, the ones where the girls are great and strong, and the boys barely mentioned at best or evil at worst.

The good news, at least for myself and my son, is that our schools way up here at the edge of the Arctic Circle are little influenced by the gender Nazis. I don't think there's a leftist in the bunch until my son gets to high school, and by that time, he should have the wherewithall to compassionately think of any leftist he meets as a prattling fool. It's good teaching in a place where a student who shows up at your doorstep with a shotgun means, "Let's go hunt some birds."

[moog]

I have a high school classmate who teaches on Kodiak Island. He's "bearly" making it. :)

[moog]

Do you think that maybe the lack of discipline has a role in this too? Teachers really can't do much to a kid that acts up or refuses to do school work (and trust me, kids KNOW that and some will take advantage of that fact!) Expelling the unruly ones, to the student, is like giving them a free mini holiday. Just wondering what your thoughts are. Oh man, you actually want me to be serious. Crap. I think lack of discipline can have a role too. Keep on trying is what I do. I'm not one to send too many kids to the principal's office, but I do expect the kids to get their work done and do it nice and so forth. i completely agree with your expelling statement, though. Interesting this topic is one thing that was discussed in church today. Several people made the comment on how important having both a MOM and a DAD are and I had to agree. Phew! Okay, I think I'm done being serious. That can get to me you know. :)

[moog]

See, I'm getting tired. I forgot to capitalize one of the "I" words.

[wintertime]

Both of my boys had a great lady teacher.( Fog724)

To Fog724,

So....they have a great lady teacher this year. What about next year? What happens when they are crowded in a school bus with a bunch of kids who haven't had a "great teacher".

Clearly, the evidence points to boys being educationally and emotionally abused by the entire government school system throughout their entire K-12 system. And,,,,it isn't good for the girls either to be witness to this abuse.

But,,,do you honestly think that your boys will have "great teachers" throughout elementary school and the stable of teachers they must endure in middle and high school?

[wintertime]

but it also includes things like the family unit, individual responsibility and effort, parental involvement, media, and so on and so on. ( moog)

To moog,

A government school teacher or principal can not address parenting in the home. Why? Government schools can't because the advice that must be dished out is NOT politically correct. If any teacher were to really take parents to task for poor parenting they would be fired.

Another problem is that no one is held accountable in the government system. The parent is forced to send their child to government school and the government school is forced to accept them. Geeze! Where's the accountability there?

Only a private school can dish out the (sometimes offensive) advice to parents that can really make a difference, and teach the values that are more likely to lessen the incidence of single motherhood.

[kiki04]

Wow. You homeschool, right? Is there a ping list for homeschoolers here? Are you using any particular curriculum?

My daughter is 18 months and we are considering homeschooling.

[wintertime]

Not a bit actually. I think it is a bunch of factors, one big one being the absence or presence of a strong male figure in the household. ( moog)

To moog,

A government school can not teach the values that would lead to fewer single moms.

But,,,,I bet my 7th grade nun, Sr. Margaret Victoria, at my elementary school, St. Joan of Arc, would have had plenty of plain, easy to understand comments about to both parents and children.

If you want to see the moral values of society improve then lobby for the privatization of universal K-12 education. The parents ( mostly single moms) most in need of clear moral values and practical help and suggestion on creating education conducive homes can only hear it from private sources. Private schools can be one of those sources.

While I believe that you, personally, are a good influence on the students you teach, your influence on the parents can only be very limited. Why? This is so, because you can not have the entire government school system supporting the values that would really make a difference.

I promise you that at St. Joan of Arc moral and educational values were integrated into every subject and in every classroom, and were again reinforced at our local Catholic high school. Guess What? Single parenthood was frowned upon and in clear language plainly discouraged.

[Thoeting]

Yes, it is possible if the parents are proactive and alert. My older is in college and I watched everything and everyone like a hawk. Doubt I was the most popular parent, but I know I didn't care. The squeaky wheel gets the grease.