Comments on: Sad Summer Laughs from the “Just Kill Me” Files http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/ More learning. Less schooliness. Tue, 16 Mar 2010 05:14:13 -0700 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Cathy http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/comment-page-1/#comment-4686 Cathy Fri, 25 Jul 2008 15:28:21 +0000 http://beyond-school.org/?p=750#comment-4686 What alarmed me was the huge gulf between the genders. I got 10/12. That put me in the 83rd percentile. But women as a whole were in the 39th percentile. 39!!! Men were 56. What the heck?? What alarmed me was the huge gulf between the genders.

I got 10/12. That put me in the 83rd percentile. But women as a whole were in the 39th percentile. 39!!! Men were 56. What the heck??

]]> By: OLDaily ~ by Stephen Downes http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/comment-page-1/#comment-4673 OLDaily ~ by Stephen Downes Thu, 24 Jul 2008 23:11:04 +0000 http://beyond-school.org/?p=750#comment-4673 <!--%kramer-ref-pre%-->[...] malaise, though. Felated: Why history isn't learned. Clay Burell, Beyond School, July 24, 2008 [Link] [Tags: United States, Gaming] [...]<!--%kramer-ref-post%--> [...] malaise, though. Felated: Why history isn’t learned. Clay Burell, Beyond School, July 24, 2008 [Link] [Tags: United States, Gaming] [...]

]]> By: Sarah http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/comment-page-1/#comment-4657 Sarah Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:39:36 +0000 http://beyond-school.org/?p=750#comment-4657 Morgante and Ben, You beat me. I thought I'd be the first to say that my prime mainstream news source is the Daily Show. NPR's Wait Wait is my other mainstream source. Otherwise, I get my news online from all kinds of places. 11/12, but the right answers in multiple choice tests jump out at me--a truly useless skill since I finished school. I tell my students this all the time. Ask me the same questions as fill-in-the blank and who knows. Winawer, you are right about being grounded on the issues being more necessary than name recall. Clay's observation that being well-grounded leads to name recall is probably true for most, though certainly not all, people. I fear that most Americans who can't do the name recognition part wouldn't fare much better on an essay about the issues either. All Kinds of Minds has done some interesting work on specific word recognition and/or recall skills showing that they vary widely from individual to individual. Clay, My ulterior motive for commenting though is to find out how the wiimote in Korean went. My one piece of advice is to get some heat-shrinkable insulation for your wires. I built a few for our school (in English!) and now I'm not sure what to do with them (which I wrote about on my blog, but I'm not trying to generate traffic). My classroom isn't really all about me or anything I'm "doing" on the board, but the inexpensive nature of the wiimote made me think I needed to revisit my dismissal of interactive whiteboards. I'll be interested in what you experience. Just building them was fun. Sarah Morgante and Ben, You beat me. I thought I’d be the first to say that my prime mainstream news source is the Daily Show. NPR’s Wait Wait is my other mainstream source. Otherwise, I get my news online from all kinds of places. 11/12, but the right answers in multiple choice tests jump out at me–a truly useless skill since I finished school. I tell my students this all the time. Ask me the same questions as fill-in-the blank and who knows.

Winawer, you are right about being grounded on the issues being more necessary than name recall. Clay’s observation that being well-grounded leads to name recall is probably true for most, though certainly not all, people. I fear that most Americans who can’t do the name recognition part wouldn’t fare much better on an essay about the issues either. All Kinds of Minds has done some interesting work on specific word recognition and/or recall skills showing that they vary widely from individual to individual.

Clay, My ulterior motive for commenting though is to find out how the wiimote in Korean went. My one piece of advice is to get some heat-shrinkable insulation for your wires. I built a few for our school (in English!) and now I’m not sure what to do with them (which I wrote about on my blog, but I’m not trying to generate traffic). My classroom isn’t really all about me or anything I’m “doing” on the board, but the inexpensive nature of the wiimote made me think I needed to revisit my dismissal of interactive whiteboards. I’ll be interested in what you experience. Just building them was fun.
Sarah

]]> By: Ben http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/comment-page-1/#comment-4656 Ben Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:37:00 +0000 http://beyond-school.org/?p=750#comment-4656 @Morgante I thought the same thing (McCain knowing what he's saying). Maybe he's slyly trying to suggest if elected he'll take military action on Iran. I'm not sure I'd give him that much credit though. ;-) @Morgante I thought the same thing (McCain knowing what he’s saying). Maybe he’s slyly trying to suggest if elected he’ll take military action on Iran. I’m not sure I’d give him that much credit though. ;-)

]]> By: Morgante Pell http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/comment-page-1/#comment-4655 Morgante Pell Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:32:25 +0000 http://beyond-school.org/?p=750#comment-4655 Ben, I'm with you on the Daily Show. It is the only tv "news" program I watch, and I enjoy every minute of it. Of course, I keep up to date throughout the day with feeds. Maybe McCain *does* know what he is saying. After all, there *is* a situation in Iran. Ben, I’m with you on the Daily Show. It is the only tv “news” program I watch, and I enjoy every minute of it. Of course, I keep up to date throughout the day with feeds.

Maybe McCain *does* know what he is saying. After all, there *is* a situation in Iran.

]]> By: Ben http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/comment-page-1/#comment-4654 Ben Thu, 24 Jul 2008 13:24:09 +0000 http://beyond-school.org/?p=750#comment-4654 I'd have to agree that knowing who the Fed Chairman or the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq isn't vital to understanding the issues. However, I'd have to bet that the Pew quiz makers are banking (har-dee-har) on the fact that if you're familiar with U.S. economic policy you'd come across who the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is a few times, and thus remember (as Clay mentioned). I did do surprisingly well (12/12, woot) considering I think the only regular news program I catch is the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. By the way Jon Stewart commented on his show about McCain's geography gaffe, citing McCain as beating Obama to the punch at a gaffe during Obama's trip to Iraq. "McCain: It’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border. Stewart: The Iraq-Pakistan border, otherwise known as… IRAN." I’d have to agree that knowing who the Fed Chairman or the number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq isn’t vital to understanding the issues. However, I’d have to bet that the Pew quiz makers are banking (har-dee-har) on the fact that if you’re familiar with U.S. economic policy you’d come across who the Chairman of the Federal Reserve is a few times, and thus remember (as Clay mentioned).

I did do surprisingly well (12/12, woot) considering I think the only regular news program I catch is the Daily Show with Jon Stewart. By the way Jon Stewart commented on his show about McCain’s geography gaffe, citing McCain as beating Obama to the punch at a gaffe during Obama’s trip to Iraq.

“McCain: It’s a very hard struggle, particularly given the situation on the Iraq-Pakistan border.

Stewart: The Iraq-Pakistan border, otherwise known as… IRAN.”

]]> By: Clay Burell http://beyond-school.org/2008/07/22/just-kill-me/comment-page-1/#comment-4644 Clay Burell Thu, 24 Jul 2008 00:13:54 +0000 http://beyond-school.org/?p=750#comment-4644 Hi Winawer, Good feedback, and I agree to the criticism of the quiz to a degree, but: since all the names mentioned in the quiz are current power-holders shaping policy on all the big issues, from Iraq to global warming to the economy, on a national level, I want to argue that familiarity with the national policies on most issues should breed familiarity with the policy-makers' names. They're embedded in the news about the policies themselves, and should arguably be incidental learning for anyone who stays informed (via the media) about current affairs. So "memorizing" the names wouldn't be necessary (I didn't memorize them), since they're part of the territory of staying informed of the issues. Know what I mean? PS. I read your post about the MN professor and the communion wafer "crisis," and could not believe my eyes. What a country. Hi Winawer,

Good feedback, and I agree to the criticism of the quiz to a degree, but: since all the names mentioned in the quiz are current power-holders shaping policy on all the big issues, from Iraq to global warming to the economy, on a national level, I want to argue that familiarity with the national policies on most issues should breed familiarity with the policy-makers’ names. They’re embedded in the news about the policies themselves, and should arguably be incidental learning for anyone who stays informed (via the media) about current affairs.

So “memorizing” the names wouldn’t be necessary (I didn’t memorize them), since they’re part of the territory of staying informed of the issues. Know what I mean?

PS. I read your post about the MN professor and the communion wafer “crisis,” and could not believe my eyes. What a country.

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