The totally off-topic thread

[coco50]

Well, back into that uni coursework frame of mind.

One of my courses hasn't wasted any time. Assessment tasks are up, discussion board is set up (we have to introduce ourselves, including describing why we want to teach maths), we need to read two chapters of the prescribed textbook by Tuesday's workshop, and because the current Maths syllabus requires the kids to provide and use a graphics calculator, we have to get/hire one and know how to use it, too.

To be a good Maths teacher (in fact any type of teacher - since you are dealing with kids) you need to have a heart and compassion. Most of the Maths teachers I either had or have had to deal with professionally did not have either. As one ****hole Maths teacher said to me once: If you needed to have a heart as a Maths teacher, the Department of Education would have issued us with one.

 

[straitman]

Seems I came home from Fiji at a good time as TC Winston is bearing down on the place. Here is the published notice from Fiji Airways:

FLIGHT TRAVEL ALERTS
February 19, 2016
Fiji Airways would like to advise our passengers that due to adverse weather conditions associated with Tropical Cyclone Winston, Fiji Airways and Fiji Link flights will be affected over the next few days.
Current weather models indicate the Fiji Group is expected to receive destructive winds and heavy rain starting early Sunday morning up until early next week.

Sue is due to leave there on VA184 at 1635 tomorrow.

 

[Pushka]

So moved out of a private room into an 8 person mixed ward for a prisoner. Carp.

 

[anat0l]

To be a good Maths teacher (in fact any type of teacher - since you are dealing with kids) you need to have a heart and compassion. Most of the Maths teachers I either had or have had to deal with professionally did not have either. As one ****hole Maths teacher said to me once: If you needed to have a heart as a Maths teacher, the Department of Education would have issued us with one.

The world has changed. The way some of the older people make out education to us, it was the case that a personality wasn't required to be a teacher. You dispensed knowledge. Kids needed to soak it up. The good ones did. The bad ones could go to hell.

The way I'm reading the course profiles and training we're about to go through, it's going to take a lot more than just heart and compassion for kids to pass as a teacher. There is a lot more in our course activities that goes beyond putting together a lesson plan and knowing how to deliver that to a classroom of 30 students. There's even an assessment item where we need to create a mock newsletter appropriate to be sent to parents explaining and promoting maths education, e.g. why it is important, how it relates to the real world, what is being taught and why...

Apparently we will just get out of the compulsory literacy and numeracy tests for teachers this year; as a Graduate Diploma of Education student, this may be one of the last years I can do this degree and still be qualified as a teacher, since the noise is that teachers will be moving a Masters degree model afterwards (so someone in my position will need two years rather than one in order to become a teacher).

 

[Deleted member]

this in the NZ Herald today:

Here are the top first world problems overheard on one recent business class flight to Los Angeles.
1. Why have my pyjamas not arrived yet? When will they bring them out?

2. I wish my massage chair was stronger.

3. If only they had Dom Perignon champagne.

4. The mattress on my fully-reclining chair just isn't thick enough.
5. My TV screen is too far away, I need my glasses.

6. There are too many drinks on my table, I can't get out to go to the toilet.
7. My clothes got wet by the sensor tap in the toilet.
8. My water bottle has fallen down the side of my seat and stopped it from reclining fully flat.
9. Why don't they have smaller pyjamas?

 

[drron]

Well my experience was that teachers of old did have both personalities and heart.I can only think of 1 teacher of mine who wasn't inspirational-but he wasn't a bad teacher.
My maths teacher was a big part of my education-had the same teacher throughout high school.Took us for extra classes after school hours,genuinely cared for his students.Our chemistry teacher did the same.Remember her with great fondness.Our Librarian taught a few of us Bridge and chess-again during the lunch break or after school-so by our final year our school won the inter schools chess-which was against GPS schools as well as public.
One of my primary teachers heard I was having difficulty with English in high school so I had night time tutorials-at least she taught me a love of poetry.

Over the years I have met other very committed teachers-unfortunately many with stress related illness.My 2 sisters were teachers.Our best friend in the Hunter valley ended up a High School Principal-a generous,humble fellow and a very loyal friend.Unfortunately as the years go by it seems the system does not recognise what makes a good teacher.

 

[JohnM]

You mean JohnM howling? His favourite beach just north of Cottosloe isn't listed...

Not howling a couple of hours ago - I'm always happy to bow to the SAS for access to the world's real #1 beach, even when it shortens my run .



This beach always reminds me of a phrase from the guy who had returned from Europe to operate the B&B I stayed at on Easter Island when I asked him why he had done so: "It's tranquilo."

 

[coriander]

Is it meant to represent people behind bars?
With the triangle thing. Was the affair started before or after the marriage breakdown?

You're obviously not a Melbournite !

The crime rate goes down when Collingwood plays a home game!

Collingwood is the team that supporters of the other 17 clubs love to hate. It's also the biggest and arguably the richest AFL club. Club "luminaries" like Dane Swan are seen in the company of organised crime figures, but then have their hotel burned down because of "involvement" or otherwise with MC gangs.

Collingwood was "Carringbush" in Frank Hardy's novel "Power Without Glory".

Triangle - who cares? but either way it's a bit tacky to doof your (former) best friend's (former) wife. Garry Lyon hasn't been sacked - he's taken a leave of absence: I don't see how he and Brownless could appear on the same show in the current circumstances.

However the AFL community is forgiving - spend a couple of years in the (media) wilderness and then come back - all is forgiven: just ask Wayne Carey (who famously got sprung "in flagrante delicto" with his captain's wife during a party at the captain's home).

 

[JohnK]

I mostly don't care any more unless they are being a disturbance, especially making noise in the quiet car. If they just sit there are ride the train like everyone else, then let them be.

You see an array of different dress when you ride trains in Europe, but sometimes it's best not to judge. Sometimes you see a bunch of punk teens seated on the train, then they are the first ones to stand up and proactively offer their seats to the elderly, with most polite conduct. It can surprise you.

Not denying what you're saying but it's human nature to judge. First impressions are important and a lot of times don't change through the years.

 

[penegal]

Rung the bank - The gave me quite a bit of extra money over the phone - not that I am comfortable borrowing that much - wish me luck for tomorrow. With luck I may own a new chateaux.

 

[mrs.dr.ron]

This is unbelievable !! "A mother’s complaint to Woolies when they refused to exchange milk she bought from Coles has gone viral."


A Facebook comment from an angry mother has gone viral after she was told she couldn’t exchange milk at Woolworths that she’d actually bought at Coles.

 

[marki]

Rung the bank - The gave me quite a bit of extra money over the phone - not that I am comfortable borrowing that much - wish me luck for tomorrow. With luck I may own a new chateaux.

Good luck Penegal may the interest rate be in your favor ( negative as in Europe) !!

 

[andye]

Rung the bank - The gave me quite a bit of extra money over the phone - not that I am comfortable borrowing that much - wish me luck for tomorrow. With luck I may own a new chateaux.

Off to the French grammar thread for you

 

[TomVexille]

One thing the USA does best is sticky Cinnamon buns. There is an outlet - Cinnabon. Fabulous.

That used to be my favourite part about flying through certain airports

 

[coriander]

This is unbelievable !! "A mother’s complaint to Woolies when they refused to exchange milk she bought from Coles has gone viral."
A Facebook comment from an angry mother has gone viral after she was told she couldn’t exchange milk at Woolworths that she’d actually bought at Coles.

I call BS on this - it has to be a troll.

 

[TomVexille]

anat0l - make sure you download all the games - so you can understand your students

Absolutely, back in my day we played things like snake, tetris and Doom

 

[anat0l]

Not denying what you're saying but it's human nature to judge. First impressions are important and a lot of times don't change through the years.

It is human nature to judge, and first impressions are rather important (especially for a job interview). That all said and done, it doesn't necessarily mean that our sense of judgement is accurate all the time (even if we were to hold it against our own personal standards rather than another one).

Judgement is part of daily life. Our standards and principles guide how we act on judgement. It may not always be correct.

Rung the bank - The gave me quite a bit of extra money over the phone - not that I am comfortable borrowing that much - wish me luck for tomorrow. With luck I may own a new chateaux.

Off to the French grammar thread for you

Indeed. Un chateau, deux chateux (viz. with the 'x' it is the plural form of the word). :mrgreen:

Of course, maybe penegal is in the market for more than one?

This is unbelievable !! "A mother’s complaint to Woolies when they refused to exchange milk she bought from Coles has gone viral."
...

Kind of sounds like the old Nordstrom tyre legend... except with a much more idiotic ending (or lack thereof).

I call BS on this - it has to be a troll.

I saw this story shared on Facebook and I was prepared to eat it up, but then there was a healthy contingent that did indeed believe that the story may have been fabricated. The complainant's profile didn't seem to have much to it either.

 

[anat0l]

Absolutely, back in my day we played things like snake, tetris and Doom

What fun games could you play on a graphics calculator now? Actually, don't answer that.


Unfortunately, we probably can't quite get away with that. Like trying to get your provisional drivers licence, your conduct is under the gun until you are considered competent to be a teacher. Then, you can drive your class in whatever way you think is fit.

I think that is going to be the toughest thing of all. How do you put on a professional look and conduct but not seem so aloof that you will have no chance of connecting with your students?

 

[TomVexille]

What fun games could you play on a graphics calculator now? Actually, don't answer that.

I'll just leave this here...

 

[JessicaTam]

Australia's Top 25 beaches: This should get the Sandgropers howling. Clearly nobody at TA has ever been to Squeaky Bay at the Prom

And nothing from SA. How dare they. How very dare they!