@jgg Please call the help desk. They have directions.
@jgg Fid you submit a help ticket?
@actualham One of my adult children is working in Hawaii until next summer. No gifts for us either! I too sense the joy.
@metaning yeah, this one hit close to home today!
One of my former colleagues and students wrote this. If you are interested in guys playing guitars and singing catchy tunes, give it a listen.
@garyackerman
Hey its is more 'fun' than that. (AKA even more cyclical)
Consider 3 educational institutions, it is entirely plausible (has been observed to occur)
That 'A' is using program 'a', B is using program 'b' and C is using program 'c'
all of these are >>accurately<< observed to be ... failing
They all swap to new 'better' programs...
A is now using program 'b', B is now using program 'c' and C is using program 'a'
and all are again >>accurately<< observed to now be much better than before.
Education is an interpersonal process (not bucket chemistry). How a new and exciting the program is (feels) for the humans implementing the program has substantial effect on how well the program works. And it might be tempting to want to "fix" that but the people implementing the programs are indeed people, and how enthusiastic they are, is TBMK the actual most important factor in how well the programs work.
If they continue to cycle through programs a,b,c for all eternity and it continues to produce "improvements" (followed by inevitable decay/boredom) then there isn't actually a problem with that.
@skanman I think the last decades of No Child Left Behind and the series of "reforms" since provide excellent evidence that status quo is exactly what our political system seeks.
One of the most surprising realizations for adults who begin working in schools is that what is taught is not what they were taught or what they think should be taught. Curriculum is a part of school that is affected by many factors; some are very local (individual teachers are ultimately responsible for what it taught in their classrooms), others are school-wide or district-wide, yet others are state-wide or national. In the United States, there is no nationally mandated curriculum, and concepts like “fourth grade mathematics” are variable and open to interpretation.
@jsmith yeah… when I’m not on my Mac or on Ubuntu.
@skanman Progress bars are random... but they give us something to watch!
Educational reform tends to follow a cycle that is familiar to many:
First, an initiative (supported with little or dubious evidence from the learning sciences) is introduced and implemented (with little or dubious support and rationale).
Second, problems with the initiative appear. These can originate from poor or incomplete implementation or support, discrepancies between the practices and human nature, or other difficulties.
Third, the initiative is recognized as failing, but remains in place (or is replaced with previously used methods under the vocabulary of the initiative).
Fourth, a new initiative replaced the old and the cycle repeats. Frequently the choice of next initiative and the time devoted to any initiative depends on the availability of grants to support the work.
Following this model of reform, educators can appear to be working to improve curriculum and instruction while avoiding implementing any new practices. This also allows educators to abandon any initiatives that force them to resolve any challenges to their existing practice.
Director of Teaching and Learning Innovation at a community college in New England
Retired k-12 science/ math/ technology teacher/ technology integration specialist/ coordinator