Friday Morning

02010-08-20 | Uncategorized | 8 comments

Great sentences. Here is one neo bohemia noted, from Anathem:

August moonlight . music « neo bohemia
“…everyone heard music but only a few actually knew how to make it.”
– Anathem
Neal Stephenson

I enjoyed this sentence yesterday:

Socks were no longer quite so foreign in themselves, but the weight of these, wet, still amazed him.

It’s from Spook Country by William Gibson, which I am rereading, getting ready for the new Gibson novel “Zero History” next month.

Other:

In addition to a drinking water crises there will apparently also be a Helium crisis. It’s those damn party balloons!

Un-gifting or un-branding – very funny.

Movement on the education front. Not sure this L.A. Times study is the right thing though. It doesn’t measure a teachers overall ability, only how well s/he does in raising test scrores. I am not convinced that all this standardized testing is the way children learn best. I remember fondly those moments that were not at all related to testing, when a teacher would take 30 minutes or an hour to talk about something that was often quite unrelated to the subject of the class, but inspired us and made us see a different angle.

Terrible! We need a redesign of cities:

Marginal Revolution: Parking fact of the day
Several studies have found that cruising for curb parking generates about 30 percent of the traffic in central business districts.

8 Comments

  1. Carol Anderson

    I really agree with you about the measuring of education. It’s really impossible to get any idea from tests, because the main things a person learns and teaches are not able to be a part of any test I know of. The love of learning goes down to a mere memory if all you get is byt the book rote learning. The $$$rewards are now given to the states that used to be given to children for doing well. I don’t believe in either. Learning should remain being fun challenges. No need for any other rewards.

    Reply
  2. Brenda

    :) Yesterday, I was at a job interview that listed within the job description “college degree”, so I reminded the interviewer that in my interest letter that I did not have a degree but I do have college classes. She said, your experience is worth more than what someone might have read in a book. Good to hear it two days in a row. Hoping that I get the call that I got the job.

    Reply
  3. Carol Anderson

    When I think of my freshman year in college, it was like an awakening. With a real variety of subjects and people I learned new things that I didn’t know were interesting to me. I’m glad I did. And yet, when it came to getting a Master’s I decided the courses were all too limiting, so like you, I took something I felt I could learn more from.

    Reply
  4. Brenda

    My youngest son just graduated from college and yes my husband of 32 years is a college graduate. I do sometimes wonder if I had chosen the path of full time college student or the path of going to work full time and college part time, how my life would be different, but only for a split second. I am thankful for a happy marriage, two wonderful adult sons and my precious grandaughter. Awe the degree may happen eventually, but for the present, employment seems important, and my pedigree will have to wait. The “degree” opens employment doors but I truly wonder if it opens an advanced degree of happiness. :-)

    Reply
  5. Carol Anderson

    It was right for you. I wouldn’t regret it a bit. You knew yourself better than I . Well, I knew I wanted to teach, so I knew I had to learn. Of course the classes that helped the most had more to teach than the “How to” teaching courses. Then, I could teach with a 2 yr. certificate, and I picked up the others during summer school.
    I just wish it was less costly for us to educate everyone. For all the $ that is cast on to our kids to pay, maybe we should extend High School to another year?

    Reply
  6. Brenda

    Yes, the cost has kept the degree out of reach for me but we were able to help my son obtain his degree. I love learning so the internet has been a great resource tool for me. Thank goodness for teachers! :-)

    Reply
  7. Carol Anderson

    Agreed. My friend from Holland says the govt. pays for education up to Junior college level. Jeff joined the National Guard to get help in Medical School. I wonder about Germany and others. The internet is a wonderful resource for learning. And now with Skype, communication is fantastic. To be able to see my son and talk to him in Afghanistan…invaluable. And I do enjoy coming here among so many good people….like you.

    Reply
  8. Brenda

    Thank you Carol. I can not imagine having one of my sons in Afghanistan. Yes, I also enjoy the good people as you that have joined the circle of Ottmar Friends. So nice of you to say. :-)

    Reply

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