tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34178755.post8715974231622416659..comments2023-05-03T04:28:16.339-05:00Comments on <center>Jumping off cliffs</center>: Bad Boys, bad boys, whatchu gonna do . . .Mary O. Paddockhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04097124493453341534noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34178755.post-54304427513934785632011-02-26T08:47:28.355-06:002011-02-26T08:47:28.355-06:00HEM--If I hadn't seen her in action, I'd a...HEM--If I hadn't seen her in action, I'd agree with you, but she isn't bad--just unprepared for the dynamic.<br />And, yes, girls can be merciless.<br /><br />Bander--Thank you for your thoughts on this matter. And I agree with many of them--especially the part about our standards for boys having roots in agendas that suit someone else's purposes. <br /><br />Scotty-I don't think it will either. <br /><br />Ro--I'll be curious to see how she evaluates her next class.Mary O. Paddockhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04097124493453341534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34178755.post-86180424902867435342011-02-22T07:03:58.729-06:002011-02-22T07:03:58.729-06:00I'm with Elf mom - most times I've been to...I'm with Elf mom - most times I've been told about a 'bad class' it's the teacher that's the problem, not the students.<br />It's surprising how the 'bad class' seems to follow the same teacher around every year, even to other schools...!Rohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14864094753113341376noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34178755.post-59637967110728597332011-02-20T15:19:36.298-06:002011-02-20T15:19:36.298-06:00Gender stereotyping; don't ya just hate it? Un...Gender stereotyping; don't ya just hate it? Unfortunately, until there's a major paradigm shift in some peoples' mindsets, I don't think anything will change any time soon.Scottyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10532475769646281689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34178755.post-56023993601185145462011-02-20T12:58:21.632-06:002011-02-20T12:58:21.632-06:00mary, I share your misgivings about labeling - &qu...mary, I share your misgivings about labeling - "give a dog a bad name and he will be a bad dog."<br /><br />In all my years of teaching, I have been leary when told by an administrator or another teacher that a "particular class is a bad class."<br /><br />The distinction of academic success along gender lines may have some truth in fact, but the cause is what is interesting to me. Is it expectations? Is it cultural norming? In prairie farm communities in Alberta many boys show up for school after harvest, sometimes late in October. Even today. They may be behind because they get less schooling than girls.<br /><br />Politically, there has been this push from the government to discourage boys from academics ever since the time of Pericles. The government needed them for war. This has been repeated down the ages. You see it various forms. In the 20C, the draft excluded those with academic deferemnt - which might have been an incentive to study except that it was not previously announced and war was a surprise to the public, but government knew, and they were against promoting studies to boys lest it reduce the numbers available for conscription. Why teach them letters if they are just going into the trenches? It was easy to promote this untruth that boys aren't as good at studies as girls - from the top down. Who existed to dispute this? Only those who had more to gain by supporting it.<br /><br />Commonly, the ethnic minorities were hit the hardest as their young men were typically less schooled and employed in agriculture. If you are cynical you may think that there was a sort of ethnic cleansing was taking place as regiments of southern black men were conscripted for WW II.<br /><br />I believe children are like little sponges and they will absorb anything that their parents & teachers believe is important, be it poetry & chemistry or baseball stats and cosmetics. having teachers with open minds about academic potential is vital in my opinion. I'm not sure that the government agrees with this view. <br /><br />Bernard Mandeville said in the early 18th century, I paraphrase,<br />"To govern effectively, the mass of men must be kept poor and ignorant."Bandersnatchihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10969846391208230082noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34178755.post-70122256210044363372011-02-18T20:09:08.728-06:002011-02-18T20:09:08.728-06:00Knee jerk reaction would be to label the teacher b...Knee jerk reaction would be to label the teacher bad for not being able to do her job well. But really. Girls can be so, so, SO bad. They just do it by being manipulative and/or using words and "looks" to bully. Teachers can just really easily ignore this because they're not being "disruptive," yk?Happy Elf Mom (Christine)https://www.blogger.com/profile/15047347624037697311noreply@blogger.com