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Texas schools are teaching US History - specifically, the Boston Tea Party (what I consider to be the tipping point toward the American Revolution) - as if it were a terrorist act.
At the root of every country's origins, one would more than likely be able to discover what would now be called a "terrorist act".
[moved to the Soapbox to let the discussion open up a little. - Chris Maunder.]
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
modified 27-Nov-12 23:01pm.
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Freedom fighter or terrorist. It depends on which side you're on.
People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
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And whoever wins has the privilege to write history from his perspective.
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Spot on.
People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day.
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: Texas schools are teaching US History - specifically, the Boston Tea Party ... as if it were a terrorist act.
This means the whole country is going to start teaching it this way, because normally everyone else follows Texas's choice of textbooks... 
EDIT: Also, I'm interested to hear what our neighbo(u)rs across the pond think of this...
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
modified 27-Nov-12 13:28pm.
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What's a textbook? We don't use those in my child's school. They use handouts and computers for reference.
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Do not do what has already been done.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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Doctor Nick wrote: They use handouts and computers for reference.
Those handouts are written by someone. And assuming they aren't using Wikipedia to teach American History, the online stuff is probably some sort of official publication as well.
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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Well some of the handouts are created by the teachers over the years but as for reference they use the library for research if need be. The only issue with this is if you have a 50 year old teacher using handouts from the 70s.  Seems to be working out all right so far but this is the new way of doing things so of course nobody has found loopholes yet. The other thing that might blow your mind is that they have little to NO HOMEWORK. The only measure of whether they understand is by actually using the material and tests. Took awhile to get used to but the more you think about it it makes sense.
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Do not do what has already been done.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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Doctor Nick wrote: a 50 year old teacher using handouts from the 70s
They're using handouts from before they were teachers...
Doctor Nick wrote: they have little to NO HOMEWORK. The only measure of whether they understand is by actually using the material and tests
The problem with this is that they have little to no feedback about how much they have learned before they are tested on it. A student is much more likely to learn the material if they did poorly on homework before the test than if they do poorly on the test. There is no motivation to learn it after the test has already been taken. If they know that they don't know the material well because of homework, they still have the motivation of a test to learn the material.
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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It's interesting because they actually now take the test before they even learn the content so they know where they need to work and the teacher knows what each student needs to work on. It actually leads to more directed instruction. Then they take the test again and if they fail a section they have to take the test again until they pass it. So like true developers they get to fail over and over again until they get it right. Then again this is just a sample of what some of the teachers are doing. It doesn't work in every subject but it does solve the issue of teachers being overloaded with what is essentially busy work neither the students nor the teacher wants to deal with (complete for student and check for the teacher) and helps the student know areas of improvement. As I said, it's new and shiny right now because nobody has had a chance to prove it doesn't work yet but there's hope.
The main message I've noticed is that the school is working to change the way the kids learn to fit more into an office environment instead of the old factory mentality. For example they no longer have a school bell because that was something originally designed to train kids for the whistle in a factory telling you when to go from one place to another. All interesting and in the end I think mostly crap but might as well try something right?
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Do not do what has already been done.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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Now that I have some more details, I actually like that system. As you said, it reduces the amount of busy work, for both the students and teachers, and it tailors the units to how long it actually takes for the students to learn it, not some arbitrary period of time. If they take the test the first time, and all of the students pass it, there is no reason for the teacher to then spend time covering that subject. They can immediately continue to the next one. 
Do they always take the whole test? For instance, if a test has seven sections and I fail one, I retake the entire test and not just the section I failed, correct?
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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Yes, you retake the whole test. I see that as ensuring you didn't already forget the other stuff too. Another point is the teacher does move on after the test but it is up to the student to come in and get the help they need. I suppose if enough kids failed a given section they would hang back and bring everyone up but they don't stop for one or two kids. This makes the student more responsible for their own learning as well because it's up to them to get the help they need rather than wait for the teacher to cater to them.
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Do not do what has already been done.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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Doctor Nick wrote: Yes, you retake the whole test. I see that as ensuring you didn't already forget the other stuff too.
That's what I was thinking as well.
Doctor Nick wrote: This makes the student more responsible for their own learning as well because it's up to them to get the help they need rather than wait for the teacher to cater to them.
This will be very important when college comes.
Is this a private or public school? Or some sort of public magnet school?
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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Public school. Small school though for a small community. Average graduating class I think is like 60-70 students. They also are a one to one school which means every kid gets a laptop they take home and are expected to take care of. Hence the online research. Caveat there being if they use Wikipedia they have to cite the source Wikipedia cited in the article causing them to eventually get to an "official" source.
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Do not do what has already been done.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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Colin Mullikin wrote: EDIT: Also, I'm interested to hear what our neighbo(u)rs across the pond think
of this...
Bit of a 'so what'? It was over 200 years ago: who cares? And I hardly think throwing some tea into the water is an act of terrorism, more just a waste of good tea.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
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mark merrens wrote: more just a waste of good tea.
Who says it was GOOD?
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Do not do what has already been done.
Absolute power corrupts absolutely.. but it ROCKS absolutely, too.
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Fair point: maybe they really threw it out because it was really bad tea.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
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They threw it overboard because the Royal Governor of Boston refused to order the ships back to England *with* their cargo.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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I see you have suffered another sense of humor failure. Perhaps a nice cup of tea? 
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
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This deserves a 5. 
The United States invariably does the right thing, after having exhausted every other alternative. -Winston Churchill
America is the only country that went from barbarism to decadence without civilization in between. -Oscar Wilde
Wow, even the French showed a little more spine than that before they got their sh*t pushed in.[^] -Colin Mullikin
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I recognized the humor. I'm just still annoyed at the whole thing.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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John Simmons / outlaw programmer wrote: I recognized the humor. I'm just still annoyed at the whole thing.
It's a bit late to worry about it now: you won, you have your own country, enjoy it, don't worry about 200 year old tea.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
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Enjoying it is currently against the law. The "pursuit of happiness" (and "liberty") were struck down by the Supreme Court as being contradictory to current government agenda.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
-----
You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
-----
"Why don't you tie a kerosene-soaked rag around your ankles so the ants won't climb up and eat your candy ass." - Dale Earnhardt, 1997
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You reap what you sow...
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." Red Adair.
nils illegitimus carborundum
me, me, me
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