The Tow Files: The Winter of YOUR Discontent!

[mjr]

Cursive vs block letters : I personally find cursive writing much faster than block. All my notebooks, journals or agendas are in cursive since high school.

I know that a lot of stuff is computerized, and technology has pretty much taken over, but what about teaching the younger generations some form of shorthand? I mean, materials for Pitman 2000 and Gregg shorthand are still around...

I could see shorthand coming in handy...though with the education level of some in this country, I could see people thinking it was Arabic or something...

[Cecily]

A lot of things are learned in school which may never be used in adult life. However, because sutdent A has never any need for algebra or geometry, student B will use it for years and years if student B goes into engineering or architecture. Since it is unknown where all of the kids attending school will end up carreer wise, everyone has to learn the same thing. I don't think it's a waste of time because it exposes kids to something new and who knows, they may end up liking it and continue in that field.

Cursive vs block letters : I personally find cursive writing much faster than block. All my notebooks, journals or agendas are in cursive since high school.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Back in 2nd grade, I was forced to do cursive writing drills... because that was apparently going to be expected of me at some time in "the future" and if I didn't know how to do it, I'd be sorry...

It's been 30 years.

They ever going to test me on that or what? *

Can I file that away with the TI-82 calculator, the apple II, the protractor, the compass and the other stuff they told me I had to know how to use too?

I vaguely recall those in the 3rd grade (around 1977-78 year) where we had to do that.

Only time I use cursive is when I have to sign my name. Seems as if handwriting is becoming a lost art now.

If I'm doodling my to-do lists on my clipboard (this helps me keep everything straight in my head also) I use a combination of print and cursive. I'm strange that way.

But yeah, Algebra, Geometry I have NOT had to use hardly at work. That year of consumer math I took (senior year) has served me far better than figuring up angles and x into y equals z (when I can't even figure out what x, y and z stand for.)

And althought I can't recall how to write a program in BASIC or RPG II, I can figure out how to fix my laptop if there's a software issue or something sneaks in and tries to create havoc. Go figure.

[mathnerd]

My education wasn't exactly normal.

This is my high school:

http://www.uncsa.edu

And my elementary school:

http://www.carrollton.org

We moved out of Florida for a few years, so middle school was a public school in the area we moved to, then high school was the boarding school I linked to.

I think I got an excellent education, with an interesting mix of private and public schools. NCSA is actually run by the state university system, so it's technically public, but has an agreement with the state to run the high school program that's similar to charter schools. I think I got the best of all worlds.

[earl colby pottinger]

Tip

Not meaning to thread-jack, but I have a question. If someone stupidly leaves her headlights on and comes out to a dead car on a dark and stormy night, how much should the nice tow truck driver be tipped? I only had $10 in cash, so that's what I gave him. (He took my card for the $30 fee.) Was that enough? I was very grateful to him and I'm wondering if I should send a check to the towing service for more money for him.

That was a 33% tip for service. I think that is a very good tip indeed.

Mind you I gave a $20 tip to the CAA guy who helped me change my tire in Quebec. Also mind you, one of my lugs was partly stripped and he had to get a special bit to take it off. If I had tried to do it by myself I would had been stuck so the tip was for doing a good job that I could not do myself.

[Argabarga]

Back in 2nd grade, I was forced to do cursive writing drills... because that was apparently going to be expected of me at some time in "the future" and if I didn't know how to do it, I'd be sorry...

It's been 30 years.

They ever going to test me on that or what? *

Can I file that away with the TI-82 calculator, the apple II, the protractor, the compass and the other stuff they told me I had to know how to use too?






* I really shouldn't tempt fate like that, because, now I'm envisioning a nightmare scenario wherein the nurse attending to me in my bed at the nursing home comes in with a tablet and pencil and says "30 T's this morning campers! And remember, I see one loop on the upstroke and you don't get your liver pill!"

[wolfie]

My spelling difficulties can be traced directly to public schooling and the educational fad of "phonetic spelling" that swept through when I was in the first and second grades. I still have to pay close attention to my spelling, or I slip into foolish mistakes.

I remember the "tagline" (BBS equivalent of a message board sig - remember BBSes, when 2400 baud was considered a fast modem?) when a certain "promote literacy" product was popular: "Huked on Fonix wurked for me".

[Slave to the Phone]

Not meaning to thread-jack, but I have a question. If someone stupidly leaves her headlights on and comes out to a dead car on a dark and stormy night, how much should the nice tow truck driver be tipped? I only had $10 in cash, so that's what I gave him. (He took my card for the $30 fee.) Was that enough? I was very grateful to him and I'm wondering if I should send a check to the towing service for more money for him.

[notalwaysright]

I had a few friends I knew in middle school who ended up in a private high school, and they could write some excellent papers, man. However, I noticed as time went by, there was a lack of what I consider "practical" knowledge. This particular private school was exclusively focused on getting the students into the Ivy League. I felt like it stifled any originality or creativity. Not that I'm ragging on private schools, this is just my observations from a specific school. Oh, for perspective, a year of pre-school would cost $18k, high school, $25k.

My public high school did focus on getting students into college, yes, but also on vocational schools, running start (it's like dual enrollment, you would also attend college), and I had some great teachers who really wanted to teach. I also got to take fun hippie classes like glass art, and walking fitness where we learned some simple relaxation techniques.

[Geek King]

Actually from experience, it would likely be private education rather than public. Private schools tend to be notoriously focused on "looking good" and priding themselves on producing the best-looking students, but it takes a lot of hand-holding.

My spelling difficulties can be traced directly to public schooling and the educational fad of "phonetic spelling" that swept through when I was in the first and second grades. I still have to pay close attention to my spelling, or I slip into foolish mistakes.

[fireheart]

I don't know whether (b) is an argument for or against Fireheart's opinion!

I might address this. I have no problem with private schools when parents are genuinely practicing whatever religion the school preaches (a majority of private schools over here are religious, the ones that aren't either have an alternative educational method or are for a specific purpose ie pre-uni*), what I do have an issue with are the number of parents who send their kid there believing that they'll receive a better education than their publicly educated counterparts. And that's ALL I'm going to say.

*A pre-uni school is one where students in years 10-12 opt to complete their high school certificate through said school, but the school runs similar to a university. That is, you are not required to be on campus when you don't have any classes, teachers have an open-door policy or "open tutoring" times, there are no uniforms or bell times and depending on the school, you might have access to university facilities.

[paxillated]

I went to a private school, and left after 8th grade well able to spell and use correct grammar. Of course:

a) It was 50 years ago.

b) The school is still full of politicians' kids, as it was when I attended (on a scholarship).

I don't know whether (b) is an argument for or against Fireheart's opinion!

[fireheart]

Obviously, public education is a FAILURE on many people's part.

My boss tells me he has a fun time laughing his ass off at the job applications from people who are supposedly in college as they claim and still can't spell worth a damn beyond a first-grade level. Yeah...what are they TEACHING in college if it isn't how to make you write or spell better?

Actually from experience, it would likely be private education rather than public. Private schools tend to be notoriously focused on "looking good" and priding themselves on producing the best-looking students, but it takes a lot of hand-holding.

[downforit2008]

Obviously, public education is a FAILURE on many people's part.

My boss tells me he has a fun time laughing his ass off at the job applications from people who are supposedly in college as they claim and still can't spell worth a damn beyond a first-grade level. Yeah...what are they TEACHING in college if it isn't how to make you write or spell better?

[XCashier]

And that, sadly, is usually the total syntax of our weekly sales meetings at work.

Or, as Shakespeare would have put it: Much Ado About Nothing.

Or as Weird Al put it: Mission Statement