So very agreed, hatin. That's the problem with budget cuts- arts are the first to go, or get the shaft. The students that are really dedicated to their art suffer the most. It's pretty depressing when one of the things you love most about school is always pushed around or out of the way. It's frustrating as an arts…

I know that in my school, unless they are given a sports waiver, they have to take PE. When I was in HS, we had to take PE pretty much up until senior year, when we could opt out.

No, you didn't. It's my fault for being ultra-touchy on the subject, but hey it's my field so I have to fight people who actually DO think that.

It has nothing to do with fear. It does have something to do with taking responsibility for your child's education and making sure they are active in it, rather than let the TV do all the work for you.

I agree it would be difficult to quantify teaching common sense, so we shouldn't get rid of testing in general. I'm just saying that the way we're trying to teach material now- based on a set standardized test- isn't working to create thinking individuals.

Art and music are more than teaching the history or theory of the subject. How do you grade a student who has tried his or her hardest to draw, or play the clarinet, or sing in pitch, but just can't? Do you fail them for their effort? What about the student who can do all that very well, but doesn't try and is a…

Carnivorous-

Just to be clear, I do agree with you on that point. I can assign little Johnny homework, even stay after school and hour or so to help him with that (which we don't get paid for), but if his parents aren't going to encourage him to work at home and instead are content with him lounging on the couch or playing video…

I can only hazard a guess, but the Spanish teacher probably doesn't have a set standard of procedures and routines in place, and consequences for not following them. Sure, he might have "rules" in the room, but if the students aren't following them it's because they know they can get away with murder.

It's funny, for all the horrid shit NCLB has done, one positive was it classified Fine Arts as as a necessary subject for students to learn, which has saved some band, choir, and art programs. Unfortunately, schools can get by with just one of those, so you might see a band cut from the school, or a very poorly funded…

Saying parents are part of the problem is a broad accusation, BUT it can be true depending on the school district. I teach in a small, rural school, so most of the students are sons and daughters of former students. Those that are having trouble academically (and, usually, getting in trouble every day) are descendants…

I'm in the camp of we need to teach students to think critically instead of just filling their heads with facts. I'm not saying don't teach American history, far from it. But we should teach students to be able to read a fact or statement and go "I wonder how this person got to this conclusion," and be able to learn…

Paying teachers more money is a pretty obvious way to get better candidates to want to join the education field. However, in this economy (and really, in a "good" economy) it would be hard to find the funding to pay teachers that much since we need so many for larger school districts, or communities with a small…

Speak for yourself, Don. I just ate at Subway!

The Slaughter Continues…
Now we just need to ax Outsourced, and get Parks and Rec going again.

Can't you just send naked postcards like the rest of us?

Thanks for the info… but one question. I noticed in one of the films he is in, he's between two lions. Did he actually get set-up with two tamed, live lions? If so, then that's awesome. Tamed or not, being between two large predators takes some guts (of course, they could have been sedated, which takes the danger…

I still love this movie. When I saw it was available on Instant Queue, I immediately added and watched it. It is still just as good as it was back then, even if you do start to notice some of the problems Keith alludes to.

I was first introduced to that movie in the lone film class I took in college, and it blew me away. I just watched the Director's Cut not too long ago. This is one of the few films where I like the original cut better than the Director's Cut.

I too enjoyed the 6th book, although you can tell that Eoin Colfer was trying to write in Adams's style. That said, the scene with the interview of Cthulhu was pretty danged funny.