Drastic increase in student absences

[Pancho 44487]

2 hours ago, Neonmoon said:

I agree with this. The structure for higher education is outdated. There is way too much unneeded shit for most degrees. You do not need a language credit for a biology degree. You don’t need a Texas History credit either. Higher education costs too much anyway, it doesn’t need to be weighted down with extra bullshit. 

And attendance requirements are mostly unnecessary. I had an upper level English teacher try and fail me due to attendance requirements. I had an A and was one of 3 people that ever participated in class discussion. I missed 5 classes and the professor wanted to fail me. But as long as you shows up and slept, that was okay. Idiocy. 

The structure of higher ed has changed. I’m not sure if you’re in higher ed or just going by when you were in college. Degree plans have changed to be more streamlined and more Pathway oriented. As I have mentioned not only in reply to you before but on this board in general, this has resulted in some departments having to justify their existence or restructure their degree plans to keep up with what’s happening. 

Also, you’re starting to see more programs implement Capstone Projects and more Service Learning regardless of the discipline/program/major. This is a huge change. This used to be for more Workforce programs, but the For Credit/Academic programs are starting to do this. And yes, the occasional History credit for bio majors or Comm credit for Nursing majors is definitely necessary. 

 

As far as attendance is concerned, there is all sorts of research that shows higher attendance in class equates to more student success. While you personally may not have needed to go to class, that doesn’t apply to everyone. The average student needs to be in class as it allows them to learn in different ways via active learning and get questions answered they normally wouldn’t have. Also, I’ve had students tell me the friends they’ve made in the class helped with with other classes than mine, helped them find jobs, helped them find their best friend, or helped them through encouragement. You also shouldn’t forget—an element of this is also where you grew up, your educational background from the time you were little until high school, your access to study tools/tutors in high school, etc. Most students don’t have that. That could be a big reason why you didn’t need to go to class.

I have way more stories of students who tried the “I don’t need to come to class and will still pass” but ended up with a F in the class than I do for those who didn’t come to class and made an A (and I knew they’d make an A). 

 

[SydneyCarton 47885]

The systems are all broken. Most here agree on that. And by systems, I mean schooling, I mean healthcare, I mean housing cost and shortages, I mean lack of community. All of it. 
 

and those fucked yo systems are creating the despair and apathy n society by kids and adults alike. But I doubt that making kids learn less things, have less exposure to different perspectives, and going to less class, even if they hate it and you’re the bad guy, helps society out of any of those problems long term. 

[MrBig 5290]

We used to tell our friends who worked office assistant in the morning to pick up the attendance sheets and erase our names from the absent list. Kids are just as truant as they’ve ever been but now they cannot get around the technology that counts them absent.

[tx 3 putt 76409]

 

39 minutes ago, F250 said:

Nah, fuck that. People can attend a vocational school or aggy if they want to live in ignorance but still learn a trade.

 

get a cdl or become a welder (with papers)

[pyrohornIII 4809]

7 hours ago, hobbes2702 said:

Kid missed 5 days last year for a trip to Hawaii because he was the ring bearer in a friends wedding. 
Not going to have them miss out on potential once in a lifetime things like that because they need to practice writing their spelling words.

I don't think kids spend as much time learning to actually write vs using a keyboard.   My youngest was never taught cursive and even 3 years into college his handwriting is about like a 4th grader.  But then lots of kids his age are at the same level.  But he can hammer out texts on a phone in record time.

Another thing that is weighing on this generation is actually finding something they can do as a career that isn't destined to be impacted to some degree by AI or robotics.  That also leads to pretty much everyone already in the workforce too.  The old ways of doing things are rapidly changing, and the valuation of what an individual can bring to society will have to change.  Humans have the capacity to produce and that's what has given purpose to our lives for centuries.   But what happens when that production is done more efficiently by robots or AI systems?   Then what do humans do with their time?  What do they have coming in to support themselves and their families?  

Or do we scale back from the efficiency of those systems in order to keep humans viable?   All this plays into the apathy too for a lot of these kids.  A shrinking job market, no company loyalty, unaffordable housing, etc.  

[hobbes2702 12847]

16 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

I don't think kids spend as much time learning to actually write vs using a keyboard.   My youngest was never taught cursive and even 3 years into college his handwriting is about like a 4th grader.  But then lots of kids his age are at the same level.  But he can hammer out texts on a phone in record time.

Another thing that is weighing on this generation is actually finding something they can do as a career that isn't destined to be impacted to some degree by AI or robotics.  That also leads to pretty much everyone already in the workforce too.  The old ways of doing things are rapidly changing, and the valuation of what an individual can bring to society will have to change.  Humans have the capacity to produce and that's what has given purpose to our lives for centuries.   But what happens when that production is done more efficiently by robots or AI systems?   Then what do humans do with their time?  What do they have coming in to support themselves and their families?  

Or do we scale back from the efficiency of those systems in order to keep humans viable?   All this plays into the apathy too for a lot of these kids.  A shrinking job market, no company loyalty, unaffordable housing, etc.  

UBI is going to be a necessity in the relatively near future.

[YChang 3431]

1 minute ago, hobbes2702 said:

UBI is going to be a necessity in the relatively near future.

UBI + AI might be 1 solution to help shore back up the middle class and lift more people out of poverty. That's my hope. I want that Star Trek economy!!

[hobbes2702 12847]

2 minutes ago, YChang said:

UBI + AI might be 1 solution to help shore back up the middle class and lift more people out of poverty. That's my hope. I want that Star Trek economy!!

Too bad it will never happen in this country because a bunch of poor people think they will become billionaires and everyone should just pull themselves up by the bootstraps 

Edited April 4 by hobbes2702

[YChang 3431]

1 minute ago, hobbes2702 said:

Too bad it will never happen in this country because a bunch of poor people think they will become billionaires and everyone should just pull themselves up by the bootstraps 

Well... to be fair, it's already happened and being tried in various cities/communities in the US. So what I'm saying is..

 

[StassneyHorn 6540]

One trick your boss doesn’t want you to know about!!!!!

multiple remote jobs.  Overemployed

[Snake Diggity 4614]

34 minutes ago, pyrohornIII said:

I don't think kids spend as much time learning to actually write vs using a keyboard.   My youngest was never taught cursive and even 3 years into college his handwriting is about like a 4th grader.  But then lots of kids his age are at the same level.  But he can hammer out texts on a phone in record time.

Another thing that is weighing on this generation is actually finding something they can do as a career that isn't destined to be impacted to some degree by AI or robotics.  That also leads to pretty much everyone already in the workforce too.  The old ways of doing things are rapidly changing, and the valuation of what an individual can bring to society will have to change.  Humans have the capacity to produce and that's what has given purpose to our lives for centuries.   But what happens when that production is done more efficiently by robots or AI systems?   Then what do humans do with their time?  What do they have coming in to support themselves and their families?  

Or do we scale back from the efficiency of those systems in order to keep humans viable?   All this plays into the apathy too for a lot of these kids.  A shrinking job market, no company loyalty, unaffordable housing, etc.  

Education, healthcare, and trades careers all should be relatively safe from AI.  Manufacturing, tech, retail, and transportation are doomed.  Rather than UBI, a 30 hour work week is where I would start to mitigate the downside of the societal change, but it has to be paired with universal healthcare and a dramatic increase in minimum wage.

[StassneyHorn 6540]

Also rural schools school districts should absolutely play with Mondays as virtual days. Can’t do Fridays cause High School football rules.

[F250 28692]

2 hours ago, YChang said:

UBI + AI might be 1 solution to help shore back up the middle class and lift more people out of poverty. That's my hope. I want that Star Trek economy!!

We will need replicators to eliminate scarcity, which will create a moneyless society.

[MrBig 5290]

3 hours ago, BeardIP said:

This, but also we had to be savvy and learn how to check in first period and get counted present before sneaking past security guards in parking lots so it didn’t alert anyone. It was all paper based and manual though, now it’s probably automated and the parking lots are harder to escape.

Teachers do attendance online and parents can get texts if their kid misses class. This would have sucked ass when I was in school. 

[UT_OB1 2200]

12 hours ago, BeardIP said:

That said, I still will randomly get nightmares where I am in school and have forgotten I registered for a class and have been missing them. I wake up relieved I'm not failing a random class I took 25+ years ago.

 

11 hours ago, F250 said:

That's one of my most common reoccurring dreams and they are stressful. The other common one is about me needing to get ready for a h.s. football game that is about to start but I realize I am too old to play.

Exact same on both of these. And I wake up feeling terrible and be like I need to be medicated. I don’t think I’ve actually gotten to play a snap in any of my dreams the last 20+ years. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

19 hours ago, hobbes2702 said:

Kid missed 5 days last year for a trip to Hawaii because he was the ring bearer in a friends wedding. 
Not going to have them miss out on potential once in a lifetime things like that because they need to practice writing their spelling words.

Not an attack on you but I don’t see how K-12 grades work if there are always kids out of school for non-emergencies. Or has school become completely worthless and now operate only as babysitters?

[Dahobbs 17449]

Just now, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Not an attack on you but I don’t see how K-12 grades work if there are always kids out of school for non-emergencies. Or has school become completely worthless and now operate only as babysitters?

You think school doesn't work if kids miss 5 days?

[hobbes2702 12847]

12 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Not an attack on you but I don’t see how K-12 grades work if there are always kids out of school for non-emergencies. Or has school become completely worthless and now operate only as babysitters?

Wut?

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

13 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

You think school doesn't work if kids miss 5 days?

If one kid misses 5 days? No. If random kids are out every week? Yes. I don’t see how new lesson plans are taught if the teacher constantly starts over.

 

[Pancho 44487]

They don’t start over if someone is out. 

 

 

[Dahobbs 17449]

49 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

If one kid misses 5 days? No. If random kids are out every week? Yes. I don’t see how new lesson plans are taught if the teacher constantly starts over.

 

 

You think lesson plans start over every time a kid misses a class? You have in fact been to a school before, right? 

 

[Guest]

So if a kid has the ability to miss up to 10% of school days -- 18 day in Texas -- but my kid has missed 3 days, are these like vacation days at work? Can he just cash them in at the end of the year and end it three weeks early?

[MonkeyDoughnut 10145]

1 hour ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

Not an attack on you but I don’t see how K-12 grades work if there are always kids out of school for non-emergencies. Or has school become completely worthless and now operate only as babysitters?

Biggest issue my wife's school faces is lack of substitute teachers. No one wants to sub as pay sucks and kids treat subs like their parents treat school.

Without subs they have to split the class into other classes for the day...so your class of 25 3rd graders just because 30+ for the day even though you only have room for 25 desks.... Etc...

[Your Mom 4797]

If you’re old enough to be a parent, school is very different now than it was when you attended.

It’s not just kids missing school.  Our teachers are so overextended and/or leaving for other careers that my kid at a high school in Austin has a sub in one class or another at least twice a week.  Sometimes it’s a teacher that just had other duties that day, field trip for some club, an event they were coaching, etc.. and the absence was planned ahead with notification. But often it’s a teacher that just got sick of all the shit and up and quit with little or no advance notice and the kids are stuck with rotating subs long term. 

You’d be shocked at the number of times I asked my kid what they did in a certain class that day and the response is something like, ”We had a sub again  and they told us to read some stuff that we had already read last week. So everyone just fucked around on our phones the whole time instead.”   This happens at least once a week usually more across all classes.  

My kid gets good grades, he catches up quickly most of the time when he misses a day, so yeah, given the current environment of underfunded public school and overextended underpaid teachers, I am not sweating pulling him out of school, so we can take a family trip or see the eclipse or whatever. just about every lesson and all the work included for it I s online these days. Usually he can accomplish it the day of the absence on his chrome book without even asking a teacher what he missed.
 
The idea that some teacher is going to back up and re-teach something for absences is just not how it works.  

[gofuckyourself 8122]

14 hours ago, MrBig said:

We used to tell our friends who worked office assistant in the morning to pick up the attendance sheets and erase our names from the absent list. Kids are just as truant as they’ve ever been but now they cannot get around the technology that counts them absent.

[Your Mom 4797]

I don’t think anybody’s really keeping track of excused versus unexcused absences. At least not at our high school. I just write a note that says Please excuse ______ from school for an appointment yesterday.”  I don’t tell anybody what the appointment was for and nobody asks, and we’ve never had an issue with it.  Sometimes it’s a legit doctors appointment. Sometimes it’s an appointment to beat traffic to get out of town easier. 

The flip side is that we don’t budge an inch on his keeping up with the work and getting assignments turned in on time. He screws that up every now and then, and there are consequences for it.  He knows that “I missed that day,” is not a valid excuse for late work. But mostly he gets it all done and turned in on time absent or not.  There’s a good life lesson in that as well.  

Edited April 4 by Your Mom

[usmc0331horn 942]

17 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

If you’re old enough to be a parent, school is very different now than it was when you attended.

It’s not just kids missing school.  Our teachers are so overextended and/or leaving for other careers that my kid at a high school in Austin has a sub in one class or another at least twice a week.  Sometimes it’s a teacher that just had other duties that day, field trip for some club, an event they were coaching, etc.. and the absence was planned ahead with notification. But often it’s a teacher that just got sick of all the shit and up and quit with little or no advance notice and the kids are stuck with rotating subs long term. 

You’d be shocked at the number of times I asked my kid what they did in a certain class that day and the response is something like, ”We had a sub again  and they told us to read some stuff that we had already read last week. So everyone just fucked around on our phones the whole time instead.”   This happens at least once a week usually more across all classes.  

My kid gets good grades, he catches up quickly most of the time when he misses a day, so yeah, given the current environment of underfunded public school and overextended underpaid teachers, I am not sweating pulling him out of school, so we can take a family trip or see the eclipse or whatever. just about every lesson and all the work included for it I s online these days. Usually he can accomplish it the day of the absence on his chrome book without even asking a teacher what he missed.
 
The idea that some teacher is going to back up and re-teach something for absences is just not how it works.  

At the school I teach our two AP Lang teachers both quit in the first semester last year leaving students with long terms subs for a major AP class all year lol. In Social Studies we don't have much of a problem with this but in math and science especially they have teachers randomly quitting all the time. I also have kids who miss literally the entire semester. I have no idea where they are skipping to but they never show up except for maybe the very end of the 9 weeks. The biggest crazy thing I see now is kids constantly skipping test day and expecting to just auto make it up without notifying me even in my AP history classes. It's like kids have zero sense of respect or how to interact with authority anymore since Covid. And the parents don't either. Millennial parents are either completely apathetic or they are overbearing. There is no in between with them. And I honestly don't give a fuck. They pay us shit in Austin area compared to the cost of living and I have basically three different jobs. 

[usmc0331horn 942]

4 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

I don’t think anybody’s really keeping track of excused versus unexcused absences. At least not at our high school. I just write a note that says Please excuse ______ from school for an appointment yesterday.”  I don’t tell anybody what the appointment was for and nobody asks, and we’ve never had an issue with it.  Sometimes it’s a legit doctors appointment. Sometimes it’s an appointment to beat traffic to get out of town easier. 

The flip side is that we don’t budge an inch on his keeping up with the work and getting assignments turned in on time. He screws that up every now and then, and there are consequences for it.  He knows that “I missed that day,” is not a valid excuse for late work. But mostly he gets it all done and turned in on time absent or not.  There’s a good life lesson in that as well.  

Most of our parents for on level kids don't seem to hardly care how their kids are doing in school. I rarely get an email from them.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

50 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

 

You think lesson plans start over every time a kid misses a class? You have in fact been to a school before, right? 

 

you really butt hurt that I called out your Hawaii vacation?

In fact I wasn't even calling you out, but there must be some underlying emotion that you're feeling about the trip and your kid missing school. You should have that checked out. 

Edited April 4 by Nice Guy Eddie

[Incredulity 11555]

7 hours ago, BeardIP said:

Oh man, the football dream. Weird how we have similar reoccurring brain activity.

I have the one where I can't find my cleats so I am forced to start the game barefoot.  Which I then realize in my sleep can't be real so I wake up.

Probably took my subconscious 20 years to stop getting anxiety when the peak summer heat is raging in late July/ early August because doubles are starting soon.

[gofuckyourself 8122]

35 minutes ago, Your Mom said:

If you’re old enough to be a parent, school is very different now than it was when you attended.

It’s not just kids missing school.  Our teachers are so overextended and/or leaving for other careers that my kid at a high school in Austin has a sub in one class or another at least twice a week.  Sometimes it’s a teacher that just had other duties that day, field trip for some club, an event they were coaching, etc.. and the absence was planned ahead with notification. But often it’s a teacher that just got sick of all the shit and up and quit with little or no advance notice and the kids are stuck with rotating subs long term. 

You’d be shocked at the number of times I asked my kid what they did in a certain class that day and the response is something like, ”We had a sub again  and they told us to read some stuff that we had already read last week. So everyone just fucked around on our phones the whole time instead.”   This happens at least once a week usually more across all classes.  

My kid gets good grades, he catches up quickly most of the time when he misses a day, so yeah, given the current environment of underfunded public school and overextended underpaid teachers, I am not sweating pulling him out of school, so we can take a family trip or see the eclipse or whatever. just about every lesson and all the work included for it I s online these days. Usually he can accomplish it the day of the absence on his chrome book without even asking a teacher what he missed.
 
The idea that some teacher is going to back up and re-teach something for absences is just not how it works.  

Similar to this is I've noticed everything is online already.

Lessons are online in the "school portal" so if they miss something they log in and can do it anyway. At home or wherever, and seemingly whenever.

At my kids' schools if they've missed something, or even forgotten to turn things in -- which I jump on them for -- the teacher lets them make it up or even turn it in weeks later. Really helps me to teach them about planning, preparation and a good work ethic.

[Francisco 2.0 32343]

9 hours ago, MrBig said:

Teachers do attendance online and parents can get texts if their kid misses class. This would have sucked ass when I was in school. 

 

Was thinking of this thread today, and how it related to the (very) small K12 that I and my siblings attended.

Dad had a small business in town, and it was a block or so from the HS principal's home.  The principal would drive to his house each day for lunch (he lived a mile or so from the school) and back.

If I fucked up or skipped in the morning, he'd stop by dad's business and tell him about it.  If I fucked up or skipped in the afternoon, he'd stop by dad's business and tell him about it.  I never had a chance.  And neither did my sister.

He retired after my sister graduated, and the new principal didn't live close to the school, or drive anywhere for lunch.  The new principal did things differently. When my brother fucked up, he would send home a notice.  Dad didn't like getting the notices in the mail; he wanted to deal with whatever it was that day.

One day, dad received a notice (my brother fucked up a lot) and that was enough.  He gathered up the small pile of notices, drove to the high school and asked to meet with the principal.  He explained he was tired of getting the notices in the mail, and asked how this could stop.   The principal told him that he had to do this because my brother was a fuckup.

Dad agreed that my brother was a fuckup, but he said he didn't want to see the notices any longer.  When the principal started to protest; dad simply told him to do whatever he wanted to my brother and not to bother letting him know what he did.  The principal smiled, said he understood and that was that.

For the rest of my brother's sophomore year and his remaining years, we have no idea what the principal did to my brother.  My brother has said life was hell on him at times, however.

 

 

[hobbes2702 12847]

29 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

you really butt hurt that I called out your Hawaii vacation?

In fact I wasn't even calling you out, but there must be some underlying emotion that you're feeling about the trip and your kid missing school. You should have that checked out. 

Actually you were calling me out.

But no I don’t have an issue with a 1st grader missing 5 days of school lol. He completed all assignments before he left and we coordinated with the teacher so he was doing his work in Hawaii. 
Somehow he managed to get all A’s…in 1st grade, despite that miss.

I also think life experiences are important. Particularly things that he is already interested in learning more about. There’s a lot more to Hawaii than sitting on the beach.

[Dahobbs 17449]

40 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

you really butt hurt that I called out your Hawaii vacation?

In fact I wasn't even calling you out, but there must be some underlying emotion that you're feeling about the trip and your kid missing school. You should have that checked out. 

Your statement is just very perplexing. Were you homeschooled? And I don't mean that in a negative way. I just have to assume that someone that thinks a kid missing class means the teacher starts the lesson plan over lacks some common life experience and perspective on how schools actually work. 

[Texas Jeff 1932]

2 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

You think school doesn't work if kids miss 5 days?

I'm sure you know this but I wanted to remind everyone that the way the school gets money is to have students in class.

The school has to pay for the teacher, the building, the admin, the custodians ... everyone who keeps the school open.  If you miss five class days to go to Hawaii, the school does not make revenue for those days to pay everyone who works there.  Each family taking a few days off across the district adds up to a ton of lost revenue.

Lots of us donate to our schools above and beyond what is asked, but if you are going to go on vacation and miss school, you might consider asking them what their daily revenue per student is and cutting them a check, just to make up for not being there.

[hobbes2702 12847]

2 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

I'm sure you know this but I wanted to remind everyone that the way the school gets money is to have students in class.

The school has to pay for the teacher, the building, the admin, the custodians ... everyone who keeps the school open.  If you miss five class days to go to Hawaii, the school does not make revenue for those days to pay everyone who works there.  Each family taking a few days off across the district adds up to a ton of lost revenue.

Lots of us donate to our schools above and beyond what is asked, but if you are going to go on vacation and miss school, you might consider asking them what their daily revenue per student is and cutting them a check, just to make up for not being there.

This is just completely missing the actual problem. Our schools are underfunded and it ain’t because kids aren’t attending.

[Pancho 44487]

6 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

I'm sure you know this but I wanted to remind everyone that the way the school gets money is to have students in class.

The school has to pay for the teacher, the building, the admin, the custodians ... everyone who keeps the school open.  If you miss five class days to go to Hawaii, the school does not make revenue for those days to pay everyone who works there.  Each family taking a few days off across the district adds up to a ton of lost revenue.

Lots of us donate to our schools above and beyond what is asked, but if you are going to go on vacation and miss school, you might consider asking them what their daily revenue per student is and cutting them a check, just to make up for not being there.

 

Well, let me be clear—yet again:

K-12 is underfunded and college tuition is out of control because of 1 main, huge, giant reason—their state governments are purposely underfunding them and have been for decades. This has been happening in *certain* states for a long, long time. 

[Da Fino 2740]

53 minutes ago, Incredulity said:

I have the one where I can't find my cleats so I am forced to start the game barefoot.  Which I then realize in my sleep can't be real so I wake up.

Probably took my subconscious 20 years to stop getting anxiety when the peak summer heat is raging in late July/ early August because doubles are starting soon.

I always have the missing cleats dream as well, but the rest of the gear is the real primo stuff. 

[Dahobbs 17449]

13 minutes ago, Texas Jeff said:

I'm sure you know this but I wanted to remind everyone that the way the school gets money is to have students in class.

The school has to pay for the teacher, the building, the admin, the custodians ... everyone who keeps the school open.  If you miss five class days to go to Hawaii, the school does not make revenue for those days to pay everyone who works there.  Each family taking a few days off across the district adds up to a ton of lost revenue.

Lots of us donate to our schools above and beyond what is asked, but if you are going to go on vacation and miss school, you might consider asking them what their daily revenue per student is and cutting them a check, just to make up for not being there.

We give plenty to our school that I'm sure more than makes up for the lost revenue from the missed days. But no, I'm not taking responsibility for the shit poor way our state funds our schools. I will however continue to advocate and vote for proper funding.

Edited April 4 by Dahobbs

[Jive Turkey 12568]

this hits home for 2 reasons.

1.  i have a 14 month old so these issues will become my issues sooner than later.

2.  i'm rewatching The Wire and i'm on Season 4.  i think Season 4 should be mandatory viewing for anybody who wants to know about the state of public education in America.  it's probably not as dire as Baltimore in every major ISD, but i bet it's way closer than you think.

 

[fattyflattie 4636]

2 hours ago, Dahobbs said:

You think lesson plans start over every time a kid misses a class? You have in fact been to a school before, right? 

 

1 hour ago, Your Mom said:

The idea that some teacher is going to back up and re-teach something for absences is just not how it works.  

The woman that was reporting all of this on the radio the other day specifically spoke to this. It’s not because of one child.  But she specifically said that the curriculum is slowed for everyone because of the kids that can’t keep up, and they are covering incrementally less material each year.  

[SimonBolivar 10932]

16 hours ago, ztejas said:

I skipped class in HS for important reasons - like smoking weed and fucking my girlfriend when our parents weren't home.

God bless my high school and our hour lunch breaks. 

[Dahobbs 17449]

2 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

 

The woman that was reporting all of this on the radio the other day specifically spoke to this. It’s not because of one child.  But she specifically said that the curriculum is slowed for everyone because of the kids that can’t keep up, and they are covering incrementally less material each year.  

This is sort of a separate issue. I think you're talking about the reporting on the kids missing 10% of school year. I'm talking about taking a child out of school here and there for a handful of days a year.

[High Plains Drifter 10979]

21 hours ago, Goredho said:

Today's generation of students are simply apt pupils.

• Many of the adults around them view public schools as fatally flawed guvment bullshit
• Those adults elect other adults who view public schools similarly
• Those elected officials hire other adults to administer schools from a pool of people who view public schools similarly
• Those administrators ensure the school lives up to their expectation of being fatally flawed guvment bullshit

How are kids supposed to take school seriously when the adults around them don't?

 

My daughter (8th grade, no pics) is in band and sports. She misses school all the fucking time for band concerts, track meets, volleyball games, whatever. 

I realize that is all extracurricular, but if schools are that worried about kids missing school, then maybe some of that shit should be on saturdays. 

The message is "don't miss school, but actually its ok to miss school for (all these relatively unimportant reasons)." Wtf do the schools expect? If its ok to miss two days for a volleyball tournament, and a day for a band recital all in one week, then why isn't it ok to miss for a family vacation, or a wedding, or whatever?

 

 

[High Plains Drifter 10979]

21 hours ago, Saint Tacky said:

My oldest receives two days of excused absences from her high school for college visits. We had to cut a college visit short yesterday and haul ass home because her softball coach replied to her email that if she missed practice Tuesday afternoon he couldn't guarantee that she'd start or play this Friday - on Senior Night.

 

If schools had this same attitude for English and Math class as for softball, maybe kids wouldn't miss so much school. 

 

 

[High Plains Drifter 10979]

22 hours ago, Foosters said:

In college I stopped showing up to a class after about the second week. Walked in to take the final months later and after I sat down the professor looked at me and, in front of everyone, said "what are you doing here?" Then informed me that I was welcome to take the exam but I'd be getting an F in the class regardless. Put my pens back in my pocket and walked out the room. Parents were pretty thrilled with that one.

 

I did this also. I would check the syllabus and show up for the exams. One time I randomly showed for class and the professor started passing out an exam. I was like shit, I didn't know there was an exam today. 

When I got the exam, I realized it was for a class that I was not registered for. I was in the wrong room, exactly one floor off. I waited until someone else turned in their exam first, then turned in my blank exam, and left. 

In my defense, I was probably high as fuck. 

 

[Captainant 27468]

30 minutes ago, fattyflattie said:

The woman that was reporting all of this on the radio the other day specifically spoke to this. It’s not because of one child.  But she specifically said that the curriculum is slowed for everyone because of the kids that can’t keep up, and they are covering incrementally less material each year.  

[laughs in No Child Left Behind]

[Nice Guy Eddie 13414]

1 hour ago, Dahobbs said:

Your statement is just very perplexing. Were you homeschooled? And I don't mean that in a negative way. I just have to assume that someone that thinks a kid missing class means the teacher starts the lesson plan over lacks some common life experience and perspective on how schools actually work. 

ohh burn. Nope to the homeschool. Unlike most UT students (at the time), I went to a small, poor Texas ISD with a single high school. 

FYI, the term homeschool didn't exist when I was in junior/high school. Those were called dropouts and in my town, they went to work. For elementary kids, the only alternative that I was aware of was a few religious based private schools. The main one being an hour away. 

[hobbes2702 12847]

7 minutes ago, Nice Guy Eddie said:

ohh burn. Nope to the homeschool. Unlike most UT students (at the time), I went to a small, poor Texas ISD with a single high school. 

FYI, the term homeschool didn't exist when I was in junior/high school. Those were called dropouts and in my town, they went to work. For elementary kids, the only alternative that I was aware of was a few religious based private schools. The main one being an hour away. 

I don’t think he’s trying to burn you. He’s just asking because you seem to think the teachers start over because a kid is out of school.

[fattyflattie 4636]

27 minutes ago, Dahobbs said:

This is sort of a separate issue. I think you're talking about the reporting on the kids missing 10% of school year. I'm talking about taking a child out of school here and there for a handful of days a year.

Yes, I don’t have an issue with what Hobbes or yourself, or what I sometimes do.  I’m just relaying what was reported by the woman on the show. I listened to the entire segment a day or two before this thread started.   They were phrasing it as all kids are out more, which I wouldn’t necessarily believe is true.  But the kids that are missing 20-25% of the year, and in larger numbers, are apparently causing issues as they are trying to “keep them up” with the rest of the class.   I’ve got several kids in elementary and middle school, but haven’t really noticed any of this (granted oldest is in all honors/advanced courses).  What I have noticed with one of our elementary students, is that both of her teachers seemed to “check out” within the first month or so.  My daughter reports one of her classes (split day) is very unruly, and the other is fine.  We have to work with her considerably more in the subjects where the class is unruly.   It was an interesting segment, as they went into the demographics (income, race, area, etc) pretty well and while there were subtle differences, there’s a common issue somewhere. Didn’t like how they picked on the “rich kids” that go skiing etc  or the “poor kids” who have to work a factory job or whatever they were selling for a bit, but overall a well done segment.