Four strikes and your out - USM Forum -- Message Board

Date: Apr 19, 2006

Four strikes and your out

Date: Apr 19, 2006

Are you a product of the Hattiesburg public school system?

Date: Apr 19, 2006

Whichever school system it was, it forgot to teach the difference between "your" and "you're" -- and never mind high school. That should be learned in elementary.

Date: Apr 19, 2006

They're out there with their friends while you're inside with yours.

Date: Apr 19, 2006

LVN wrote:

Whichever school system it was, it forgot to teach the difference between "your" and "you're" -- and never mind high school. That should be learned in elementary.

When the facts are against you,argue the grammar.

Date: Apr 19, 2006

What "facts" are against me, and with whom am I "arguing"? I was making an observation. I've taught freshman comp a few times, at other schools as well as USM. The error above is the sort of thing that students should master long before they come to college and it annoys the daylights out of me.
And don't even get me started on "its" and "it's."

Date: Apr 19, 2006

LVN wrote:

What "facts" are against me, and with whom am I "arguing"? I was making an observation. I've taught freshman comp a few times, at other schools as well as USM. The error above is the sort of thing that students should master long before they come to college and it annoys the daylights out of me. And don't even get me started on "its" and "it's."

Its so nice, LVN, that your explain in this to Johnnie so carefullly.

Date: Apr 19, 2006

Ah grammar checking on message boards. Time well spent.

Date: Apr 19, 2006

Ah, pointless sniping at people on message boards. Time also well spent.

Date: Apr 20, 2006

I must concur with LVN. When you get on a message board to complain about public education and your post is filled with mistakes an elementary student shouldn't make, then you are open to ridicule.

Additionally, the poster frequently puts a space before a "," instead of after it, which is very odd. It becomes very clear as to which names this poster is posting under.

Date: Apr 20, 2006

Advocate wrote:

I must concur with LVN. When you get on a message board to complain about public education and your post is filled with mistakes an elementary student shouldn't make, then you are open to ridicule.
Additionally, the poster frequently puts a space before a "," instead of after it, which is very odd. It becomes very clear as to which names this poster is posting under.

There be any comments on the facts of the post?

Date: Apr 20, 2006

I am very disappointed with the current policy of public schools to designate most of the school year to training students for manditory testing instead of actually teaching the students critical skills. I have two children in college (in another state) who bemoan the fact that they spent too much time learning how to pass the tests and not enough time learning how to write a proper paper. They went to a topped ranked public school in our state. I feel that the trends in education in the U.S. are going in the wrong direction.

If a school fails to pass the mandated tests, they are not given more funds to bring their programs up to standards. In fact, they are penalized and funds can be withdrawn. This atmosphere lends itself to spending too much of the school year on testing and not enough on learning. I won't even begin to discuss the problems of teachers and administrators cheating to ensure passing scores.

I do not have children in the Hattiesburg school system, so I cannot comment on their current situation. However, I know that I am dismayed at the spelling, grammar, and basic math skills of students coming out of high schools in general. I certainly understand that we all can make mistakes and typographical errors, but this situation is becoming worse in my opinion.

Date: Apr 20, 2006

Time to put my $.02 in here. I taught in the Dallas ISD in the mid-90s when our current president was governor then. At that time, TX was one of the states that had mandatory state testing, and I cannot tell you how awful it was. There were bonuses given to teachers whose students all made above a certain score (I believe the bonus was $1000...a lot of money to a public school teacher!). I was told by my principal that the test was everything...I was not to teach science or social studies to 4th graders until after April (when we gave the test) as these subjects weren't on the test. I saw other teachers give students answers so that their scores would be high enough to get the $1000. It was crazy, I tell you!

Of course, this was the basis for the No Child Left Behind mess that we have now. I'm all for NCLB if proper resources are given to the states (i.e. more teachers...smaller teacher/student ratios have been shown to be the most effective tool in student success other than parental involvement). But that isn't happening, and now we get word that states are excluding lower test scores so that they can stay in compliance with NCLB. I'm not surprised at all.

I don't have all of the answers when it comes to public school education, but I sure know that mandatory testing that has any teacher incentive tied to it is definitely NOT the way to go. I would much rather see incentives for creativity, for teaching students to write good papers, for helping students to make the transition from school to work (or college)...wouldn't that be great?

Enough of my rant for this morning,

Truth

Date: Apr 20, 2006

I didn't mean for my comment to sound like ridicule, and I apologize for that.

However, the posts which do ridicule the way some people talk are objectionable. People speak according to their environment, and it takes a lot of work and help to change. As a girl from Memphis attending Northwestern in the late 1960's, I found myself the frequent target of jokes and comments about my accent. It seemed that my IQ dropped thirty points every time I opened my mouth, except in classes taught by fellow Southerners. Even friends could be merciless -- one person "worked" an entire year on my pronounciation "wash" -- for some reason, she thought there was no "r" in it.

Date: Apr 20, 2006

Bet she thought "rinse" didn't end in "ch" either.http://www.sparkimg.com/emoticons/smile.gif

Date: Apr 20, 2006

LVN wrote:

I didn't mean for my comment to sound like ridicule, and I apologize for that. However, the posts which do ridicule the way some people talk are objectionable. People speak according to their environment, and it takes a lot of work and help to change. As a girl from Memphis attending Northwestern in the late 1960's, I found myself the frequent target of jokes and comments about my accent. It seemed that my IQ dropped thirty points every time I opened my mouth, except in classes taught by fellow Southerners. Even friends could be merciless -- one person "worked" an entire year on my pronounciation "wash" -- for some reason, she thought there was no "r" in it.

One of my favorite movie lines of all time is from Sweet Home Alabama, "Just because I talk slow doesn't mean I'm stupid."

Date: Apr 20, 2006

I knew I'd lived down here too long when I started calling that little vehicle in the grocery store a buggy. It's a cart, or maybe a basket.

However, people in my end of Tennessee don't say "rinch." But I have heard older people out in the country call a short lady a "little low woman."

Date: Apr 20, 2006

LVN wrote:

As a girl from Memphis attending Northwestern in the late 1960's, I found myself the frequent target of jokes and comments about my accent. It seemed that my IQ dropped thirty points every time I opened my mouth, except in classes taught by fellow Southerners.

Interesting observation, LVN. I, on the other hand, found my Southern accent to be a distinct advantage when I lived in Chicago and other places up Nawth. I never, ever want to lose that accent.

Date: Apr 20, 2006

I wonder if it has to do with time as well as place. After Jimmy Carter became President, we went through a stage of it being somewhat cool to be Southern. When were you in Chicago?

Date: Apr 20, 2006

LVN wrote:

After Jimmy Carter became President, we went through a stage of it being somewhat cool to be Southern. When were you in Chicago?

I was there in the late 50's. Eisenhower was President at the time.

Date: Apr 21, 2006

Barry Bonds'dealer wrote:

Is the Hattiesburg Public School district the worst in existence?If not,it's certainly in the hunt. . . .

You'd think this would be of interest to the folks on this board. Instead, we have artfully tap danced around its content. Sometimes getting people to acknowledge a problem is like trying to get your cat to watch something on the television. But thanks anyway.

Date: Apr 21, 2006

Mr. Wizard wrote:

Sometimes getting people to acknowledge a problem is like trying to get your cat to watch something on the television.

Excellent analogy, Mr. Wizard. At least vis-a-vis this particular problem and this particular venue.

Cat's got more sense than to watch television.

Date: Apr 21, 2006

The Hattiesburg schools have some very good things to offer students. They have some very good teachers and staff, AP classes, strings and other courses you will not find in neighboring schools. Students from the district go to some of the best colleges in the country (e.g., Duke, Harvard). There are still students in the system from many different ethnic and income levels. It is too bad that the schools have become in part re-segregated, due mainly to misinformed white flight. Communities that don’t work together often fail. There are challenges in the Hattiesburg schools, as there are in all schools in this area, but blanket castigation of this school system is certainly undeserved. Instead of complaining, help fix all the schools.

Date: Apr 21, 2006

Will the price of gasoline affect westward flight?

Date: Apr 21, 2006

I no longer live in the area. What about annexing Oak Grove to Hattiesburg and having one large district?

Date: Apr 21, 2006

That will never happen. Oak Grove is the crown jewel of the Lamar County School District -- no way would Lamar County turn loose of it.

Date: Apr 21, 2006

Sorry Eagle, you meant for HB to annex the community of Oak Grove and then combine the schools. That'll never happen either, unless the cost of energy pushes people back east of I59.