EPTUS Politics Mega-thread - Page 3591
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Now that we have a new thread, in order to ensure that this thread continues to meet TL standards and follows the proper guidelines, we will be enforcing the rules in the OP more strictly. Be sure to give them a complete and thorough read before posting! NOTE: When providing a source, please provide a very brief summary on what it's about and what purpose it adds to the discussion. The supporting statement should clearly explain why the subject is relevant and needs to be discussed. Please follow this rule especially for tweets. Your supporting statement should always come BEFORE you provide the source. If you have any questions, comments, concern, or feedback regarding the USPMT, then please use this thread: http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/website-feedback/510156-us-politics-thread | ||
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JimmiC
Canada22817 Posts
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gobbledydook
Australia2605 Posts
On April 20 2022 11:37 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: A hundred dollars says that Florida's governor can't point out something that BEST Math does differently - let alone better - than CC Math. It's the same skills and content and teachers, with the same likelihood of finding a math textbook that has a few weird/bad math problems. The link I provided already describes what BEST does differently. | ||
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Simberto
Germany11977 Posts
On April 20 2022 12:51 gobbledydook wrote: The link I provided already describes what BEST does differently. No, it doesn't. It gives broad statements what someone claims it does better. "Ends confusing/crazy math that was a roadblock for parents to help students at home" is not an actual statement of what it does. It is a political claim. To me as a maths educator, that sounds suspiciously like "maths is being taught like in the 80s so conservative parents don't get angry". Which is a bad thing. | ||
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Mohdoo
United States15743 Posts
DPB, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the topic of parent involvement in education. As long winded as possible. | ||
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Simberto
Germany11977 Posts
On April 20 2022 13:28 Mohdoo wrote: Glad I plan to handle the STEM education of my children directly and not trust the garbage bin that is the American education system. One of the things Americans would benefit from learning from Eastern societies is the idea that there is a benefit to being at least somewhat involved in your children's education. DPB, I would be interested to hear your thoughts on the topic of parent involvement in education. As long winded as possible. I am not DPB, but i hope you don't mind if i also answer. My short answer would be: Yes, please. One thing that is consistently weird in school is that the parents you tend to have the most contact with in school are those of students that don't need it. Or, put differently, the parents who are engaged enough to regularly check in during parent-teacher conferences and that sort of stuff are the the parents of students who do well, while the parents of students who don't do as well usually don't come to those things. So get involved. Talk to teachers (not constantly, but whenever there is a parent-teacher thing, go there). Ask them what they think your child needs. Ask them how you can support your childs education. But don't do your childrens homework for them. Even if it is a thing that gets graded. Support them, sure. But you don't learn by watching other people do, you learn by doing stuff. If you try to help your children, make sure that they are active when you are doing that. Let them do stuff. Let them explain stuff to you. Focus on learning over grades. A lot of people worry more about what grades their children get as opposed to how much they are learning. No one gives a fuck what grade your child had in 5th grade. Also, a lot of small stuff can be extremely beneficial to your children. Having books in your house and setting an example that reading a book is a normal and fun pasttime. You don't need to read educational books for this. The trashiest fantasy novels are totally okay. Have fun educational opportunities available for your children, even if they are not directly related to school stuff. Science kits, programming courses, whatever they are interested in. Also, just critical thinking and building good arguments. Make that a core thing to how discourse works at your home. A lot of people sadly suck at building a coherent argument. Children who learn this early on are way better prepared for education and life. | ||
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gobbledydook
Australia2605 Posts
On April 20 2022 13:18 Simberto wrote: No, it doesn't. It gives broad statements what someone claims it does better. "Ends confusing/crazy math that was a roadblock for parents to help students at home" is not an actual statement of what it does. It is a political claim. To me as a maths educator, that sounds suspiciously like "maths is being taught like in the 80s so conservative parents don't get angry". Which is a bad thing. There is a clear difference between opposing the BEST scheme and opposing the removal of books that do not comply with BEST. You can raise legitimate objections about the first one. To oppose the second one is logically unsound, because now that they have in fact decided to no longer use common core whether you like it or not, it must therefore follow that new textbooks should follow the new scheme. | ||
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gobbledydook
Australia2605 Posts
On April 20 2022 13:44 Simberto wrote: I am not DPB, but i hope you don't mind if i also answer. My short answer would be: Yes, please. One thing that is consistently weird in school is that the parents you tend to have the most contact with in school are those of students that don't need it. Or, put differently, the parents who are engaged enough to regularly check in during parent-teacher conferences and that sort of stuff are the the parents of students who do well, while the parents of students who don't do as well usually don't come to those things. So get involved. Talk to teachers (not constantly, but whenever there is a parent-teacher thing, go there). Ask them what they think your child needs. Ask them how you can support your childs education. But don't do your childrens homework for them. Even if it is a thing that gets graded. Support them, sure. But you don't learn by watching other people do, you learn by doing stuff. If you try to help your children, make sure that they are active when you are doing that. Let them do stuff. Let them explain stuff to you. Focus on learning over grades. A lot of people worry more about what grades their children get as opposed to how much they are learning. No one gives a fuck what grade your child had in 5th grade. Also, a lot of small stuff can be extremely beneficial to your children. Having books in your house and setting an example that reading a book is a normal and fun pasttime. You don't need to read educational books for this. The trashiest fantasy novels are totally okay. Have fun educational opportunities available for your children, even if they are not directly related to school stuff. Science kits, programming courses, whatever they are interested in. Also, just critical thinking and building good arguments. Make that a core thing to how discourse works at your home. A lot of people sadly suck at building a coherent argument. Children who learn this early on are way better prepared for education and life. I totally agree with this. The million dollar question is how to get all parents to understand this, and to support them in achieving this goal. | ||
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greenhousecbdgummie
1 Post
User was banned for this post. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46402 Posts
On April 20 2022 12:51 gobbledydook wrote: The link I provided already describes what BEST does differently. I read the article that lists the highlights of BEST, and I'm telling you that in practice, none of that is different from CC. Edit: It's fair for me to elaborate, so... "B.E.S.T. will have a specific focus on English and math. The new educational standard is touting clear and concise expectations for students, teachers and parents, including an elaborate reading list and when students will be learning specific math topics throughout the year." Common Core already has exactly this ( http://www.corestandards.org/read-the-standards/ ), not to mention that a lot of this ("when students will be learning specific topics") is actually based on class syllabi, anyway. "B.E.S.T. will assess students with short standardized tests." This is also true for Common Core and any movement for assessing math and English skills; they're always assessed through standardized tests. Standardized tests predate CC and BEST, they're used during CC and will be used during BEST, and they'll continue to be used long after BEST is replaced with another program. "Some of its curriculum for high school students is focused on national standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT." Also true of Common Core, especially in regards to the development of problem-solving skills (content has generally always been aligned between course curricula and SATs/ACTs, with a few exceptions like how the Science section of the ACT is really more of a statistics / data analysis section). "The new B.E.S.T. standards for math were based on a practical approach and usefulness of content." This is a generally ambiguous statement that sounds nice, but doesn't change anything. BEST is not some new, magic teaching method that will be clear and unconfusing for all students, nor will students stop asking "When am I ever going to use this in real life" for certain topics, nor will this be the first time that useful applications of math are taught to students. "No more "confusing" math" [from the video clip] This is just a fucking stupid assertion that really damages the overall credibility of BEST. Most of BEST seems fine to me, because nothing is really changing compared to what already exists, but I guarantee you that if someone wanted to demonize BEST and really show that it's a vapid and superficial change, they would absolutely start with the idea that Florida is asserting that their new movement simply *removes all "confusing" math*. The article also has a picture that says one of the new BEST ideas is "Ends "Confusing/Crazy Math"". Not only is that not well-defined, but I'm erring on the side of that being a very alarming statement, because literally any math topic can be confusing for a student or parent or politician. "Reduces standardized tests" [from the video clip] ...Except the article also says that standardized tests will still be used to assess the efficacy of BEST, so at the end of the day, BEST will still be tied to standardized tests (not saying good or bad, just saying - again - that it's not different from Common Core or what we've been doing). The rest of the list - flexibility in problem-solving, focusing on both the method and the solution, balanced emphasis on skills vs. concepts, and including real-world context - are not new to math education, and if any teachers aren't already including these in their lessons, that's a reflection on the teacher. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46402 Posts
On April 20 2022 14:32 gobbledydook wrote: I totally agree with this. The million dollar question is how to get all parents to understand this, and to support them in achieving this goal. I agree with this as well; I think Simberto wrote a great list. A lot of this comes down to communication between parents and teachers, and I absolutely love it whenever a parent reaches out to me to simply check in, or to ask some advice in terms of what can be done at home to reinforce the learning that happens in school. Even if a parent can't attend back-to-school night or parent-teacher conferences, sending a short e-mail goes a long way. Having accountability for all parties involved (students, teachers, and parents) is important, and everyone has a vital role to play in the success of our children. I would note that some of the important things on that list - having books in your house, reading to your child / having your child read on their own, having good educational opportunities outside of school, and practicing critical-thinking and argumentation skills - are often easier said than done, especially for single-parent households or working-class families who may not have the time or money to invest in some of these things. I would hope that communities and schools can help in these situations, so that those families and students aren't left behind. After-school programs, for example, are a great way to make sure that less fortunate students can still have access to these benefits, but they require funding and they require adults (oftentimes educators) to put in a few extra hours of work, every day, after school. Even if a parent can't supply all these supplementary tools at home, I hope that voting for capable, pro-education leaders can be a universal step in the right direction, for helping all children. I also want to reiterate Simberto's emphasis on parents making sure they're not taking over their children's schoolwork, just to get a good grade. Teachers know when a project is being done by a 6th grader vs. when a project is actually being done by the helicopter/tiger parent of a 6th grader. Besides the fact that it's literally cheating, it's missing the point of the project: for students to discover and learn and research and create something that they can be proud of. Just as how parents would be livid if teachers overstepped and undermined certain parental advice in class, teachers are similarly frustrated when parents foil an educational opportunity. I find most parental correspondence to be incredibly useful and productive and a net-good for the student, parent, and teacher. Most parents and most teachers reach out to each other in good faith, especially when realizing that everyone has the common goal of helping the children/students, and I think that 99% of the time, it's not difficult for everyone to get on the same page. | ||
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gobbledydook
Australia2605 Posts
https://www.politico.com/interactives/2022/fda-fails-regulate-food-health-safety-hazards/ Surely this was a good opportunity for the Biden administration to take the initiative and propose a solution and pass it through Congress. At the very least, those Republicans who oppose the bill could be framed as pro baby poisoning. | ||
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Branch.AUT
Austria853 Posts
On April 20 2022 11:37 DarkPlasmaBall wrote: A hundred dollars says that Florida's governor can't point out something that BEST Math does differently - let alone better - than CC Math. It's the same skills and content and teachers, with the same likelihood of finding a math textbook that has a few weird/bad math problems. I will take this action. Im 100% sure, that mr governor will be able to point to the only improvement that matters: he point where he, and his cronies, will be able to earn more $$ from textbooks printed using BEST over CC math. | ||
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DarkPlasmaBall
United States46402 Posts
On April 20 2022 19:32 Branch.AUT wrote: I will take this action. Im 100% sure, that mr governor will be able to point to the only improvement that matters: he point where he, and his cronies, will be able to earn more $$ from textbooks printed using BEST over CC math. Well played. Would you accept a check?  | ||
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JimmiC
Canada22817 Posts
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JimmiC
Canada22817 Posts
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NewSunshine
United States5938 Posts
I can't. I thought to comment on it when it originally surfaced a few days ago, but I can't really make fun of it in a way that adds anything, it speaks for itself. In an attempt to drum up this extremely weird masculine identity, they made probably the gayest thing I've seen all year. And I watch Queer Eye, drag queens, and other assorted queer content. | ||
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Gahlo
United States35174 Posts
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Sadist
United States7328 Posts
On April 20 2022 22:05 JimmiC wrote: But again that only explains 1/3 of the books that were banned, and they do not say why or how even those do not comply. Just because your explanation kind of makes more sense does not make it true when what little information they released says your explanation is not true. They specifically say it is because of CRT in most of the elementary math books. Lets just be real here. When republicans do something like this we all know its for shady political reasons or outright corruption. The republican legislature in most, if not all, states do nothing out of the good of their heart. They dont have the benefit of the doubt anymore. Nothing they do is for the benefit of the citizens of their states or our country. | ||
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Mohdoo
United States15743 Posts
This is some pretty drastic difference. Biden seems to be completely and totally screwed. For everyone like me who is hoping for some kind of major executive action, this is a "good" thing because it means the situation is dire and they are desperate. Unfavorable in both Oregon and Washington is a disaster. | ||
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Deleted User 173346
16169 Posts
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