tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19660187.post1316696321784496679..comments2023-10-18T13:20:16.450+04:00Comments on The Grumpy Goat: Nostalgia ain't what it used to wasGrumpy Goathttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07944514711900089561noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19660187.post-65216922439503509362009-02-21T17:56:00.000+04:002009-02-21T17:56:00.000+04:00Ooh, well put, Mr. Gnomad. A major reason I myself...Ooh, well put, Mr. Gnomad. A major reason I myself teach adults rather than children is that I get to go into the first day of class and announce: "The next ten weeks will be difficult and probably boring. If you want to get out of the program you MUST pass this class. However, if you put up wiht the boredom and put your energies into doing what I tell you to do reasonably well, you should do all right." And then when they whine that it's hard or boring, I just remind them that they had been warned, and they (like the Marines) just need to "suck it up."<BR/><BR/>How you put up with the UK school system is beyond me.Mme Cynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15355953658329997837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19660187.post-65555733617865854872009-02-21T15:03:00.000+04:002009-02-21T15:03:00.000+04:00Tell me about it! We are now being told that, as t...Tell me about it! We are now being told that, as teachers in the UK, we cannot set a task of more than fifteen minutes duration because the little cherubs cannot remain focused on a single task for longer than that.<BR/><BR/>An attention span of only 15 minutes? That's practically piscine! I am sure goldfish can manage better than that.<BR/><BR/>I had a mentoring report to write up recording a discussion with a potentially able child whose progress was "a cause for concern". In this discussion the child admitted to being lazy. I was not allowed to use the word "lazy" even though I was quoting the child directly. I had to substitute "sometimes lacked the proper motivation"<BR/><BR/>What a load of non-gender specific gonads!<BR/><BR/>In the world of English state education, the child is never to blame and therefore never has to take responsibility for their actions. Always it is the fault of the system or of circumstances or, most often, the teacher for not making things "entertaining" enough.<BR/><BR/>These children do all seem to manage to play WoW or Xbox for hours at a time and use their (anti)social networking sites for much longer. <BR/><BR/>It's not an issue of attention span, its an issue of motivation and personal discipline. This is very evident at the lower end of the socio-economic spectrum, The child sees no value in their education, a view often inherited from their unemployed, benefits-dependent parent (usually just the one) which means they can't be bothered to do any work.<BR/><BR/>Its no wonder that these kids "cannot" concentrate for very long on any one thing when they are never made to, a situation made worse by the fact that the law in the UK doesn't allow any effective discipline procedures in schools any more.<BR/><BR/>Attention span is learned, not inherent, If we do not demand it, it will never manifest. <BR/><BR/>There is some concern that "social networking" sites are actually retarding peoples (especially young peoples) social development (see here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7898510.stm and here: http://socialnetworking.lovetoknow.com/Are_Social_Networks_Harmful_to_Society). <BR/><BR/>The basic thrust of these articles seems to be that people who rely solely on social networking sites for their "human contact" end up as obese, dull, social retards with no life, who are nevertheless in contact with a vast support network of other obese, dull, social retards with no life. Now there's a surprise.Gnomadhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00554527372940638254noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19660187.post-22685338666728808802009-02-19T11:15:00.000+04:002009-02-19T11:15:00.000+04:00hear hear.Seriously, I couldn't agree more. But wh...hear hear.<BR/>Seriously, I couldn't agree more. But what to do? Try bring up your children like you were brought up and the 'social services' will come a knocking at your door...huthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09299456569511629114noreply@blogger.com