sj, yes. Absolutely don't. Something is up there.

Yeah, exactly. I do think it gets taken too far sometimes, but you know what? It's about 23rd on the list of What's Wrong with America's Schools. Is the thing. And she seems like a nice lady, but it just sounded so much like "These kids today got it so damned easy -- we should be whipping their asses! Laura Ingalls Wilder wouldn'a stood for any of this guff!"

And I usually won't grade with red ink. I agree, the color just looks too harsh. I had a teacher in high school who wouldn't use it because she said it looked like someone bled all over the paper, and I liked it.

She's annoying. See also, Who Stole Feminism? and The War Against Boys.

Although, today, I overheard a student complaining because "This class is ridiculous. I'm a good student, and I've been working really hard, and even if I get an A on the final, I'm not going to get any higher than a B in this class, and that really isn't fair. I'm a good student, and I deserve a higher grade than that." This is far from the first time I've heard a student arguing that exact same thing, the "I worked hard, therefore I deserve an A, even though I haven't demonstrated a mastery of the material."

sj, yes. Absolutely don't. Something is up there.

I think he is poisoning Spy Daddy, and making him sicker.

Wasn't The War Against Boys the one which said that our emphasis on raising girls' self-esteem was having a harmful effect on boys?

I thought Stewart was responding well, but it did just seem like a strange guest to book. And "what we need is a return to common sense"? Sounded an awful lot like "the only thing a good teacher really needs is a piece of chalk and a chalkboard."

This is far from the first time I've heard a student arguing that exact same thing, the "I worked hard, therefore I deserve an A, even though I haven't demonstrated a mastery of the material."

Self-esteem run amok! Or however you spell that.

Seriously, I am a good student, but I far more often think I've gotten an A I didn't deserve.

Edit:

Wasn't The War Against Boys the one which said that our emphasis on raising girls' self-esteem was having a harmful effect on boys?

Yes.

The whole thing with getting rid of tag seems dumb, though, especially if they're replacing it with more structured games. Tag is a great game for kids -- not too many rules, but enough that they get some sense of having to follow them; enough leeway to get creative (freeze tag, TV tag, etc.); and enough space to play with the rules so that kids can get some sense of negotiation and compromise (like, figuring out things like "little kids are allowed to stay on base for 1 minute, older kids for 30 seconds; the kid who isn't allowed to watch TV can use movie names for TV tag," stuff like that.)

I think he is poisoning Spy Daddy, and making him sicker.

Yeah, he was pretty dismissive of Jack's having done research into treatments . And what's with pushing Jack to clear his conscience with Syd? I think he's got Jack bugged .