The totally off-topic thread

Status
Not open for further replies.
blackcat20 said:
After a few months of declining health, we said good bye to our gorgeous dog Millie last night. She took her last breaths at home, snuggled up on the couch with us....
Click to expand...
Condolences ... really sad when such happens.

I hope the years you and Millie spent as part of each other's lives were joyful and uplifting for all.
 
serfty said:
Condolences ... really sad when such happens.

I hope the years you and Millie spent as part of each other's lives were joyful and uplifting for all.
Click to expand...

Thank you. We had a very good 15 years together.

Rugby said:
Our thoughts are with you blackcat20 - thanks for posting that picture too - a great looking dog.
Click to expand...

She was a pretty little thing, a Jack Russell x mini foxy. Its funny that she started out with a full black face which went brown in the first year. Over the last few years she went quite white. Her life long companion, Jack (yes, another Jack x mini fox) also died this year so it's been a tough run. Fortunately we have the crazy Miss Lola to keep us going.

Lola.jpg
 
blackcat20 said:
After a few months of declining health, we said good bye to our gorgeous dog Millie last night. She took her last breaths at home, snuggled up on the couch with us.
Click to expand...

sadface :(
 
blackcat20 said:
After a few months of declining health, we said good bye to our gorgeous dog Millie last night. She took her last breaths at home, snuggled up on the couch with us.
Click to expand...

That's sad. Having lost many dogs to disease or old age over the past two decades I know how you feel. Current lot - two dogs and two cats - are in fine fettle, touch wood.
 
Cossie said:
I got a few simple ones wrong, not happy! :(

A bit of fun for our 8 cents a day. 1 in 10 student teachers fail this test: Can you pass? - ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Click to expand...

Got full marks, but it did take me a "while". Probably shorter than the time that would be allotted to the kids if these questions came up in an exam, but still, if I were a teacher, you'd be almost expected to come up with the answers to any of those questions almost on the spot, without too much hesitation.

The reading comprehension part was rather difficult. You can get into a couple of debates over the answers to a couple of those questions, even if you were to select the "best" answer. Not to mention that the topic of that passage was really depressing.

10% of teachers can't sufficiently pass that test or show similar skill... is that something we should really be concerned about? There's probably enough readers out there who could not give a flying animal about whether any given adult could sufficiently pass that test. It is hypocritical to criticise the teaching cohort of insufficiency when society as a whole does not hold itself or encourage others to hold themselves (including children) to the same or even similar standard.
 
AMEX Velocity Platinum Card Benefits
Australia's highest-earning Velocity Frequent Flyer credit card: Offer expires: 21 Jan 2025
- Earn 60,000 bonus Velocity Points
- Get unlimited Virgin Australia Lounge access
- Enjoy a complimentary return Virgin Australia domestic flight each year

AFF Supporters can remove this and all advertisements

anat0l said:
Got full marks, but it did take me a "while". Probably shorter than the time that would be allotted to the kids if these questions came up in an exam, but still, if I were a teacher, you'd be almost expected to come up with the answers to any of those questions almost on the spot, without too much hesitation.

The reading comprehension part was rather difficult. You can get into a couple of debates over the answers to a couple of those questions, even if you were to select the "best" answer. Not to mention that the topic of that passage was really depressing.

10% of teachers can't sufficiently pass that test or show similar skill... is that something we should really be concerned about? There's probably enough readers out there who could not give a flying animal about whether any given adult could sufficiently pass that test. It is hypocritical to criticise the teaching cohort of insufficiency when society as a whole does not hold itself or encourage others to hold themselves (including children) to the same or even similar standard.
Click to expand...

Well actually...

When our eldest started Yr 1 she got into VERY big trouble with her teacher because our daughter was honest as it turned out. We got summoned to see the principal because "your daughter is being disrespectful to the teacher in front of all the other children. This has happened for four weeks now."

Like all parents we were:


  1. Shocked, she was 5 (allowed early entry) and had never had any trouble at day care or anywhere for that matter. She had got the award for 'K' the previous year as 'model student'. Her great behaviour made up for the fact that she never slept longer for 45-50 minutes at a time during the night until 11 months old.
  2. Angry that the teacher had not said anything to us when one of us dropped her off to the classroom each morning.

So we went in with one of us prepared for war and the other was borderline.

The principal had the teacher, the two of us and our daughter sitting in her office. After the initial to & fro she got down to the point;
"Ms xx_X has raised a serious issue with me about S repeatedly disrespecting Ms xx_X in front of the class. Ms xx_X has warned her many times but this unacceptable behaviour is still going on and has become a serious matter."

Being the shy retiring type I began;
This is very serious. What is the school policy about such matters? Why hasn't Ms xx_X mentioned this to either my wife or I when we saw her every morning over the past 4 weeks? Why has she allowed it to get to this point?

You get the gist.

Admissions of 'should have been handled better', "Yes this does seem extremely out of character", "I've checked with Mrs ZZZZ and there were no such incidents last year which is why I asked you in today".

So I turned to our daughter and asked "S, what is getting you into trouble with Ms xx_X?"

Her answer floored us and the principal. {We had decided not to talk about it with our daughter over night but to wait until the 8.30am meeting}

"Ms xx_X does not like it when I put my hand up after she has written up the new spelling list."

I asked whether she waited to be asked by Ms xx_X what she wanted or did she call out once her hand was up?

"No, I wait until Ms xx_X asks me what is wrong."

At this point the principal took over (the principal was now somewhat red faced).

"S, what is it you keep asking Ms xx_X?"

"Oh, I am not asking her anything. I just tell her which words she has spelled wrong - I think she does it as a test to see who knows them before we start doing look-cover-say-write-check. But she just gets angry and shouts at me."

At this point the tears started flowing.

The principal turned to Ms xx_X and asked her if this was the extent of 'disrespecting her in front of the whole class'?

Yes was her reply, the principal turned to us (my wife was somewhat restraining me and now the Principal's face was beetroot in colour) and said;

"I want to apologise to you S for the bad behaviour by Ms xx_X. You have done nothing wrong at all. In fact you have behaved perfectly - I could not ask you to do anything better than what you were doing. Mr and Mrs SSSS I am terribly sorry that this has occurred and caused S this unhappiness, I can assure you it will never happen again to any child in the school."

She then turned to Ms xx_X;

"Ms xx_X this morning after lines we will all accompany you into the class room where you are going to apologise to S in front of the class. You will explain to the children what you did wrong, how you should have reacted and how your behaviour was disrespectful to S and entirely unacceptable. There are a number of other actions that I will talk through with you at recess."

Post script:


  • Ms xx_X was in her early 30s and this was in the very early 00s.
  • The spelling list no longer contained errors.
  • The mid-year and year-end reports were full of spelling mistakes and incorrect (more lack of) punctuation or correct grammar (eg: their are several...)
  • Two other parents subsequently (post class apology) approached my wife to say that their child had been having nightmares about what had been going on with S (WHY HAD THEY NOT SAID ANYTHING TO US?).

I am all in favour of these literacy and numeracy tests to weed out such teachers.
 
As everyone does, we have had student teachers teaching at Primary School. When my son was in Year 7, we struck a dud. One of my son's friends had a learning disability. I am not sure of the details but he just didn't catch on as quickly as the other students. This student teacher gave the class the weekly spelling list. They had to learn it for their test. My son showed me the list the student teacher had given them, knowing what the issue was - spelling errors throughout but he didn't know what to do. He was concerned for his friend who would learn the words as provided by the teacher and not the correct spelling. I made an appointment with the Deputy Head and suggested she become a little more involved in the Student Teacher's activities with the class. And for the record, this student teacher did not have English as a second language.
 
RAM said:
I am all in favour of these literacy and numeracy tests to weed out such teachers.
Click to expand...

Seems fair enough - that would at least weed out the sorely insufficient ones. Especially one who teaches grade one students and cannot write out a spelling list correctly.

I can't imagine this is a severe mental impost on any given teacher. If one had prepared a lesson plan properly, then more than likely those words would have been simply copied out rather than written from memory or on the spot. Unless the standards of spelling lists have been upgraded at least 3-4 grade levels since I was in school, and even then.


It's one thing to make teachers have high standards in literacy and numeracy. It's another thing when society largely does not have broad respect for a similar standard. This results in insults such as "grammar naz_", poor journalism with little pride in work, a denigration of mathematics knowledge in favour of the calculator or computer, and so on. One might say that society's expectations are "evolving", viz. it takes the older generation to criticise what is lacking in standards, basing it against the older generation's experiences as the gold standard, which is something that likely happened during that generation as well.

I'd like to think that even if language is evolving, standards of quality of language (and numeracy / mathematics) are consistent. That may be a naive belief.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Become an AFF member!

Join Australian Frequent Flyer (AFF) for free and unlock insider tips, exclusive deals, and global meetups with 65,000+ frequent flyers.

AFF members can also access our Frequent Flyer Training courses, and upgrade to Fast-track your way to expert traveller status and unlock even more exclusive discounts!

AFF forum abbreviations

Wondering about Y, J or any of the other abbreviations used on our forum?

Check out our guide to common AFF acronyms & abbreviations.

Recent Posts

Currently Active Users

... and 23 more.
Total: 410 (members: 73, guests: 337)
Back
Top