MESSAGE
| DATE | 2012-02-13 |
| FROM | Ruben Safir
|
| SUBJECT | Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] It shouldn't happen to a dog
|
From owner-hangout-outgoing-at-mrbrklyn.com Mon Feb 13 21:28:12 2012
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Date: Mon, 13 Feb 2012 21:41:27 -0500
From: Ruben Safir
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To: hangout-at-mrbrklyn.com
CC: Elfen Magix ,
Anne Gordon
Subject: Re: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] It shouldn't happen to a dog
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On 02/13/2012 04:47 PM, Elfen Magix wrote:
> It has never been about education of technology or the technology of ed=
ucation. I wrote the 250 page doctrine that put computers in the classroo=
m in 1984. As I stated then, it was about leveling the playing field for =
children to learn faster than just at their pace. Studies back then showe=
d that the computer being modeled after a TV, and using students how to u=
se the computer, they get it in their mind that they are controlling the =
magic screen that they think is the TV, and in doing so, they learned at =
a quicker pace. My First Alphabet had children as young as 4 reading and =
achieving a high vocabulary!
>
> But when you miss those basic skills of reading, writings and mathemati=
cs; then you have done more harm than good to the child when placing them=
in front of the computer. Let me give the case of the "Child Prodigy Pro=
gram" (the CPP) of mid 1970s. Created and funded by Edward Teller (That E=
ward Teller) certain children who were highly gifted in specific skills w=
ere only taught those skills. If a child excelled in math, then they only=
taught math to that child. It became harder and harder to teach children=
other subjects after two years of this progam. When funding ended, and t=
he City was in a money crisis, Mayor Beame killed the program, pushing fo=
r the IGC (Intelligently Gifted Child) program instead. Nearly all of the=
CPP children went into the ICG program, and they were forced to stay awa=
y from their gifted skills and to learn everything that they should have =
been taught in regular classes from the beginning. Children in the CPP wh=
o were multifacetted
> in their skills, those who had more than one ability did better than =
those with a single ability. A boy named John, was a mechanical genius, a=
nd for the 3 years he was in the program, they gave him small machines to=
figure out and if broken - fix it. With him it got to a point where he r=
epaired a 1600 century clock and a car's transmission. He was labeled Spe=
cial Ed because he was minimal in his regular academic skills. Another ch=
ild who was Math, Music and Science skilled, did well enough to graduate =
from Brooklyn Tech in 1981. He was me.
>
> To present date: I was handed what I was told as a severely retarded gi=
rl. She has a long history of immigration issues even though she and her =
brother were born here in the states making them citizens but their paren=
ts were illegal. She and her family was deported to Mexico when she was 6=
months old. Add a shlock lawyer trying to make a name for himself and 10=
years in the world court, it was decided that the children have to retur=
n to the USA, and her parents brought with them as well. Money money dama=
ges were awarded as well. During these 10 years, the girl never went to s=
chool and worked on a family farm. If she went to any school it was one o=
f those old one room schools with children of many grades in one class. S=
he did speak and write Spanish well, but here in NYC she was tested in En=
glish and from her low score, labeled retarded.
>
> I was given her to teach her one on one to get her to minimal skills. I=
discovered there was nothing wrong with the child other than being a Nat=
ive Spanish speaking person. So I managed to get her back into a normal c=
lassroom setting, translating the work into Spanish for her. At the same =
time I tutored her in English. Apparently she did so well under me that t=
he school board thought that some form of cheating was done - here is a g=
irl labeled as retarded going exceptional on her state wide exams! She wa=
s tested and retested, in front of investigators, translators, special ed=
ucation experts, psychologists - you name it they were there. She passed =
every test threw at her and one so called expert dared to bring finger pr=
int and DNA testing on the girl. When it was explained that I was her tea=
cher, I explained it to them that they fucked up in called her retarded a=
nd has mislabeled her accordingly when she should have been labeled as En=
glish Deficient -
> Native Spanish Language person.
>
> Because of this, it makes me wonder how many children are in this posit=
ion, how many are left to suffer or things they already in another langua=
ge. In working with Arabic kids, I noticed that they do math differently =
but always arrive at the same answer as in the textbook way but they are =
made to suffer relearning it the school's way. Putting these children in =
front of a computer would do nothing for them. Nothing at all. They requi=
re a proper assessment and not pigeon holing them into learning deficient=
categories when they dont belong there.
>
> Sometimes its the school's fault in not providing proper services. Othe=
r times its the school board. In the cases above, its both. It is the sch=
ool's direction under Bloomberg that kids are made to suffer. He dont car=
e how the grades are achieved, as long as they are achieved but while not=
giving the schools the proper materials to do their jobs. Putting the be=
st kids in the so-called best schools, and the worst kids in the worst sc=
hools and expect them to be equal on all terms is a farce. Teachers can o=
nly do what they can with what little they got.
>
>
This is the most well written thing I've ever seen you write. Get me a=20
copy of this for the NYLXs website so i can put it under resources.
Excellent!
Ruben
>
> ________________________________
> From: Ruben Safir
> To: NYLXS
> Sent: Monday, February 13, 2012 9:47 AM
> Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] It shouldn't happen to a dog
>
>
>
> Oh GOD
>
> iBelieve, iCan, iWill,
>
> I'm fucked!!!
>
>
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/education/mooresville-school-district=
-a-laptop-success-story.html?hp=3D&pagewanted=3Dall
>
> February 12, 2012
> Mooresville=E2=80=99s Shining Example (It=E2=80=99s Not Just About the =
Laptops)
> By ALAN SCHWARZ
>
> MOORESVILLE, N.C. =E2=80=94 Sixty educators from across the nation roam=
ed
> the halls and ringed the rooms of East Mooresville Intermediate School,=
> searching for the secret formula. They found it in Erin Holsinger=E2=80=
=99s
> fifth-grade math class.
>
> There, a boy peering into his school-issued MacBook blitzed through
> fractions by himself, determined to reach sixth-grade work by winter.
> Three desks away, a girl was struggling with basic multiplication =E2=80=
=94
> only 29 percent right, her screen said =E2=80=94 and Ms. Holsinger knel=
t
> beside her to assist. Curiosity was fed and embarrassment avoided, as
> teacher connected with student through emotion far more than Wi-Fi.
>
> =E2=80=9CThis is not about the technology,=E2=80=9D Mark Edwards, super=
intendent
> of Mooresville Graded School District, would tell the visitors later
> over lunch. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s not about the box. It=E2=80=99s about=
changing the
> culture of instruction =E2=80=94 preparing students for their future, n=
ot
> our past.=E2=80=9D
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