Quote (Blah58 @ Apr 30 2017 03:03am)
Yeah guys let's focus on a single segment of a single episode of an entire show instead of the other glaring issues.
A majority of the stuff he talks about is not news, most of it is taught here in grades 4-7, maybe some of it is 8 but it is all definitely pre-highschool stuff. Is the American school system actually so bad that most adults don't understand or know the stuff on his show? Or is he unable to break out of his 90s kids show mentality?
What country are you from? I guess I just assumed you were from the US, but yes, our education system is a fucking train wreck.
I never learned anything in a classroom during my 12 years. Freshmen year a buddy of mine and me were both in the lowest math class you could be in (algebra basics). We had gotten expelled in 8th grade and you automatically start in the lowest tier if you didn't actually finish a course in 8th grade. He was taking classes at the local community college (SPSCC) and was at the time, already doing advanced calculus courses (He was wayyyy smarter than me, still is ofc). The teacher who taught the class was also the advanced calculus teacher for the school and she fucking HATED being shown up by him. So much so, that rather than allowing him to help other students, or allowing him to provide more easily understood methods for solving equations, that she kicked him out of the class multiple times. We never disrupted her while she was teaching, but following a horrible lesson, we'd go around and try to help the other kids who were all in that class because they belonged in that class. Eventually, him and I were both forced to sit in the quad for the the remainder of the year. She stopped making us turn in homework, or participate in class discussions, group assignments etc... We had to sit there and read or do w/e, and then she'd bring us quizzes or tests to do, but we weren't actually allowed in the classroom. He dropped out his junior year when he finished up his AA, I got expelled the same year and went and got my GED. Was advised that I would need to take a study course and do a couple of classes before I could possibly pass because of how difficult the test was. Passed it on the first try, didn't study, it was a complete fucking joke and it made me feel bad knowing that something like 85% of the people who take the test (at that time), fail at least one portion and have to retake that to complete their GED.
The worst part of it all, was that this was in Washington State, one of the states that at the time (no idea where it ranks now, but I'd imagine it's still top 15-20, being a largely progressive state, especially the Western side), was one of the top 10 states in the country for public education.
This was a reoccurring theme for both of us throughout school, and for a few of my other friends who were intelligent and like me, incapable of being taught by teachers who couldn't adapt or alter their lesson plan at all to cater to where their students were at and what they already knew. Teachers would rather teach a course that taught nothing to an entire class, rather than even try to push themselves to come up with something challenging or at least new for students who had learned on their own. It was frustrating. I loved the social aspects of school, had lots of friends, lots of parties, but I loathed the teachers and probably only had 1-2 during my entire 12 years that I actually respected.
My friend who was in that math class is incredibly successful, he's making 6 figures already and lives in an insane apartment in downtown Seattle. I'm not nearly as successful, but even being a HS dropout with a GED, I've managed to work my way up through multiple jobs, build a decently impressive resume, and even after moving across the country, retain a job working remotely where I make a significantly more than any of my teachers who told me I'd never amount to anything do/did. This isn't to brag or anything, I'm still underachieving for what I should be doing, and I still do plan on going back to school and getting a degree (hoping to return in September and begin working part-time on my job), and actually pushing myself towards a career that I enjoy, rather than doing something that's challenging, but inevitably, not something that I want to turn into a life-long career. I always wondered how far I could have gone, or what I could have achieved academically if I'd had teachers or even a single teacher who actually cared, or who wanted me to succeed.
Another example of how horrible my teachers were is this little story from 6th grade. I had this bitch of a teacher named Mrs. McGee, she's now the principal of the high-school I attended, and if I stay in the state, she will most likely be the principal for my son. All through Elementary I attended after-school programs, studied hard at home (not things that were going on in class, but things to prepare me for advanced classes or w/e), and I was an avid reader. I was a straight A student leading into this class, and then I became a D student. The class had no testing, it was all based off homework assignments and the grading system didn't make any sense to me. Regardless of how hard I tried, the highest grade I could ever get on anything was a C-, and I almost always got Ds or Fs, and even one time an F+ (which my parents thought was hilarious and they put it on the fridge and showed all their friends whenever they came over. My parents were livid when my first report card arrived and they saw how horribly I was doing. I explained that it didn't matter and no matter what I turned on, regardless of how perfect, I wouldn't get a good grade. My mom of course thought I was full of shit and I told her that on my next assignment, she could help me with it or even do it herself and we could see what kind of grade I got. I took advantage of the situation and wanted her to see how bad it really was. This assignment accounted for 60% of the grade for this term, and I let my mom do 95% of the work on it. I showed her the guidelines my teacher had printed out for everyone, told her what I wanted to do and let her run with it.
The assignment was to plan a trip to a foreign country. Minimum of one week. My mom outlined a two week trip where every tiny detail was covered. What I'd be doing on a daily basis (local events/site-seeing etc.), where I'd be staying, taking into account that I was a student and researching local hostels etc... and other things to keep cost down. Calculating a per Diem for food and travel (renting a bike, or taxis etc..), and plotting out a course for me to visit the majority of the country within the two weeks. Giant poster board assignment, which had a huge map, and pictures of all the major spots I'd be going, the course I'd be taking, a legend for where i'd be staying every night/eating etc... It had everything. Sure enough, I got a C- on the assignment and finished with a D for the term. I took pictures of some of the assignments that received As in the class. Almost every single one of them were half the size of mine, didn't bother calculating for food/travel expenses, and simply had a single hotel price they looked up online for the entire 1 week they were going to be in the country, not accounting for actually moving around the country and visiting anywhere else etc... It was fucking hilarious. I went back and showed my mom, who of course then believed me and lost her fucking shit. That was one of the best days of my life, her coming into my classroom and ripping my teacher the fuck apart. Didn't make a bit of difference though, I still finished with a D, and then got a D the next trimester. My mom took it to the principal and everything, who sided with the teacher and said the teacher could grade however she wanted to etc... My mom/dad were cool about it though, told me I didn't have to do anything in the class since it was pointless. Made some good friends that year and fucked around A LOT that last trimester.
This was my first experience with a teacher who just fucking loathed me and was obviously against me. I had lots of these throughout middle-school and high-school, and I of course got more and more defiant, I stopped respecting teachers entirely and challenged them at every turn. I felt slighted and I didn't hold back when teachers would say something incorrect or I'd be a total ass to teachers who could ONLY read directly out of the textbook without actually understanding any of the material or being able to answer any questions that weren't in the textbook (I had 2 teachers like that, one in MS and one in HS).
The US education system is a complete joke. Teachers want students to just stfu and do what they're told without thinking. It's not how I do things, and it really crushed me the older I got and the more I noticed how dead inside all the intelligent teachers were, and how fucking horribly stupid the rest were. I'm hoping my son has a better experience than me, and I'm going to do my best to provide him with w/e he needs to not lose that fire that I lost at such a young age. It really was unfortunate and I wish I wouldn't have developed a loathing for teachers and authority figures in general because of my inability to move on from being treated like an idiot.
Quote (D_urRRR @ Apr 30 2017 01:55pm)
Bill Nye, is not an icon and isn't good at what he does lol. He's an idiot.
He is certainly an icon, him and Neil Degrasse Tyson are the most well known names in the scientific community. He's not an idiot either. While he's not outrageously intelligent or anything, he's informed, he's able to dumb down simple, mid-level, and complicated scientific information into lessons that even young children can understand. I enjoyed watching his videos as a kid, and while known of it was groundbreaking stuff or anything, it was interesting enough and a lot of people learned more from him, than they did from their science teachers in Elementary/Middle-school.
Saying he's not an icon and that he's stupid is stupid though.... Yes, he's an opinionated liberal, and he's starting to get on my nerves with how fucking politically correct he's trying to be, but he's nowhere near stupid and he's a name that most people know.
This post was edited by jadeoshbogosh on May 1 2017 06:19pm