From: Jan Coffey <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: _Politics,_was_[L3]_Re:_fight_the_evil_of _pricediscrimination Date: Thu, 7 Aug 2003 11:25:53 -0700 (PDT)
--- Jon Gabriel <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> >From: Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Reply-To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >To: Killer Bs Discussion <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> >Subject: Re: _Politics,_was_[L3]_Re:_fight_the_evil_of
> _pricediscrimination
> >Date: Thu, 07 Aug 2003 09:13:49 -0500
> >
> >Jan Coffey wrote:
> > >
> > > --- Doug Pensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > > > Then there is the matter of accidents.
> > >
> > > Simple solution, teach a class in gun safty in school. Replace the 10th
>
> >11th
> > > or 12th year of "english" those clases are a waste.
> >
> >1) I didn't consider any of those classes I took those years to be a
> >"waste", personally.
>
> Neither do I. In fact, the foundation of writing skills and language
> analysis they established probably allow me to do my job effectively.
>
> An observation: Just because a required class may not help you personally
> doesn't mean it's worthless. For example, I may never use the trigonometry
>
> that I learned about in HS in my daily life, but it's essential to
> everything from construction to chemistry.
>
I wasn't saying to do away with all 3 years, just one. Besides no one made
you take 12 years of triginomotry, or 12 years of art history. or 12 years of
colour theory.
Well, a better analogy might be that I had 12 years of Math as well as English. (Trig wasn't the only thing taught just as Jane Eyre wasn't the only book taught.) I'm sure I learned a lot in those math classes that I will never use. I still think it was appropriate to take them. A well-rounded education is better than none.
Why do you think that 12 years of english is necisary? Did you really learn anything in 10th,11th or 12th grade you didn't already know in 9th?
Yes. Definitely. It wasn't all Shakespeare and Beowulf. Sophmore and Junior year a great deal of our workload was increasing vocabulary and reading comprehension skills to help us do well on the SAT's and ACT's. Senior year we concentrated on English lit, book analysis and poetry. We had essays and reports due weekly. I probably learned more about writing and analyzing different literary styles in those three years than during my first two years of college.
It serves me in good stead these days.
Our experiences may be different. I took advanced placement English courses in High School. As a result, the workload was accelerated and the subjects were more varied.
The only difference in these classes was the publisher of the book, and the words on the spelling tests. Granted for me, the spelling tests were like automatic Fs due to my genetics, which I did find teribly unfair.
I can't speak to that, but I did almost flunk art due to my color-blindness. I think they should make exceptions due to disabilities.
But still,
for everyone else the rest of the information was 3 years of re-run. How many
times can you be tought to diagram a sentence before you just don't care
anymore. How many times can you go around a class reading shakespear aloud?
Is it really necisary to subject students to Beowofe 3 years in a row? How
many compare-contrast papers can one write?
The way we teach English in this country is akin to spending a smester a year
teaching 1st 2nd 3ed and 4th graders how to tie shoes.
My experience in the NYC school system was very different.
Jon
Le Blog: http://zarq.livejournal.com
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