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TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Thu Dec 14, 2017 9:14 pm
by blackturtle.us
TJUSD INFO PAGE: http://www.blackturtle.us/TTA/
The meeting this evening lasted about an hour. There were several people present at the beginning of the meeting, but many left after awards and student reports. The highlights are as follows:

1) Board Re-organization - The school board elected new officers. Samantha MacLean was elected as school board president. Deana Garrison served as president during this last year. Meeting day and time will remain the same: Second Thursday of each month with regular meeting beginning at 6:00 pm.
2) California School Board Association Conference - A couple school board members and the superintendent attended a conference in San Diego. The superintendent talked a little about social media "branding" and a conference session he attended on that topic.
3) School Dashboard - The state posts information about school districts and provides a "dashboard" summarizing various aspects of the performance of each district. The superintendent will report on what the TJUSD dashboard says about the district next month.
4) Science Presentation - The high school science teacher presented information about science curriculum options to the school board. She talked about the advantages and disadvantages of various options. Science curriculum is divided into four general subject areas: Earth/Space, Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Curriculum can be presented in an integrated fashion or in a discipline-specific fashion. The approach adopted by the district could affect students wishing to enter the UC or CSU systems here in California.
5) Energy Saving Lighting Upgrades - The district will spend $269K in prop 39 funds plus $34K in general funds to upgrade lighting throughout the district. A company called Indoor Environmental Services will install the new lights.
6) Student Tutors/Mentors - High performing students in grades 11 and 12 will be hired to work with younger students to help these students to develop habits and strategies to be more academically successful. These students will work four to ten hours a week and will be paid minimum wage.
7) OTHER: A board member mentioned a Christmas event to be held on Saturday (DEC 16) just north of Trails and the Pioneer Point Market. It will feature Christmas lights, a "sleigh ride" and other fun events and goodies. Also a substitute computer tech assistant was hired at a pay rate of $15/hour.

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Fri Dec 15, 2017 7:25 pm
by shadylady
Private School vs Public School - How Do The Students Compare?
The key difference between a public and private school is the students. Average IQs are higher, level of motivation is higher, and parent support for education is greater. In fact, public schools in affluent neighborhoods (where no students from outside the neighborhood are bused in) perform every bit as well as private schools. It's not an issue of private versus public, it's an issue of the type of student in the school. Imagine a school where teachers deal with minimal behavioral disruptions, where students are all at grade level, and where parents expect their children to cooperate fully. A lot more learning goes on in that environment, than in the typical public school classroom because conditions are conducive to learning.

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 9:41 am
by wildrose
Why robots could replace teachers as soon as 2027 :roll2:
The title of the article makes a bold claim, but then it hedges considerably. Well, actually, it tells about one guy who believes one thing and other people who believe another thing pertaining to robots and artificial intelligence. Back in the 1960s there was talk of technology making teachers obsolete in the near future and yet things haven't changed all that much in the last fifty years. Bold predictions have repeatedly been made, but changes have been only slight. Ultimately, who knows what the future will bring!
UNESCO claims, and today’s robots simply can’t match human teachers in the quality of education they provide to students. In fact, they won’t be able to for at least the next decade... However, it is possible that no robot will ever be good enough to replace teachers completely. (It is unlikely) that any robot (will ever) fulfill the wide range of tasks that a human teacher completes on a daily basis, nor (is it likely) that any robot will develop the vast repertoire of skills and abilities that a human teacher possesses...

LINK:
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2017/12/why-robots-could-replace-teachers-as-soon-as-2027

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Sat Dec 16, 2017 1:16 pm
by pcslim
America Should be Ashamed
Why Isn’t HIDDEN FIGURES About “Nazi Scientist” Arthur Rudolph?
Hollywood likes to rewrite history to give it a spin which appeals to social justice warrior types. Their stories may be historically inaccurate, but that is not what is important. What they care about is empowering members of various minority groups at the expense of the truth. The movie "Hidden Figures" presents a fictionalized version of the first moon landing and pretends that a black woman saved the day when in reality nothing even remotely like that occurred. The injustice is that it robs the true heroes of the credit they deserve.
LINKS:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Rudolph
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Figures
http://www.unz.com/article/america-should-be-ashamed/

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Sun Dec 17, 2017 7:56 am
by cactuspete
pcslim: So, the question you imply is Will public school teachers who show this movie to their classes point out the historical inaccuracies or not? My guess is that the teachers who are white knights and social justice warriors will stay silent regarding the inaccuracies and the teachers who have intellectual integrity will be rather thorough and merciless when it comes to criticizing the makers of the movie. How often the movie actually gets shown in schools is hard to say, but I know there are plenty of teachers who like to show movies and then discuss the movies. If talking about historical revisionism or changing history to suit a current political agenda, then this movie would be a perfect example.

Re: Robots, AI, and Education

PostPosted: Wed Dec 20, 2017 9:31 am
by panamint_patty
wildrose: I think there is a lot of room for automation in education and that the biggest advantage would be individualized learning. However, there will always be a need for some human oversight. Also face-to-face interaction with other humans will always be important. How soon will there be major changes? I'd say less soon and more later, but change will progress incrementally one way or the other and there will be plenty of mistakes along the way!

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Thu Dec 21, 2017 7:34 pm
by blackturtle.us
How to Make High School More Like Kindergarten
I read this book a month ago and enjoyed it, but found it to be possibly not practical given the constraints placed on public schools by the state and federal government. However, being a long-time fan of Resnick and MIT's Scratch programming environment, I wholeheartedly recommend the book. BTW, I shared info about the book with the superintendent and a technology teacher here in Trona.
Resnick acknowledges that even the most dedicated parent or teacher can’t dismantle the “isolated pillars” structure of the typical school day by herself. But if you are active in curriculum development at your school, he suggests taking a cue from Google, which used to allow their employees 20% of their time to work on projects that were personally meaningful to them. If you can restructure the students’ day so that, for example, 20% of their time is dedicated to projects rather than traditional class time, that’s a step in the right direction.

ARTICLE: https://offspring.lifehacker.com/how-to-make-high-school-more-like-kindergarten-1819642465
RESNICK INFO: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitchel_Resnick
BOOK INFO: https://www.amazon.com/Lifelong-Kindergarten-Cultivating-Creativity-Projects/dp/0262037297

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 9:39 am
by wildrose
blackturtle.us: It's all well and fine that the likes of Google allow employees twenty percent of their work time to work on projects of personal interest, BUT there's a huge difference between the typical Google employee and the average student. Google employees are the best of the best of the best and not the type to waste time on purely entertainment pursuits. What works for intellectually elite Google employees does not apply to typical public school students. Sorry, but it's reality. I read enough of the Resnick book through Amazon preview to know that he falls into the same trap. People like him are surrounded by intellectually superior people all the time and so they assume that the motivation patterns of highly intelligent people are the same for everyone. I wish it were so, but it just ain't! Sorry to burst anyone's bubble who might have been intrigued by this little pipe dream... as sweet and alluring as it might be!

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Fri Dec 22, 2017 5:59 pm
by twister
Elementary Christmas Program - A friend attended the Christmas program this year and she said it was pretty good, but she observed something funny in the audience. She said she saw three middle-aged and overweight men wearing sagging jeans. She said they looked pretty pathetic, but sometimes middle-aged men going through mid-life crisis do some pretty silly things in a vain attempt to seem young and cool again. So is this some kind of trend or fad or are these guys just completely clueless?

Re: TJUSD Board Meeting - December 14, 2017

PostPosted: Sat Dec 23, 2017 7:29 am
by panamint_patty
Family's gift to son's teachers go viral
Funny joke and unique gift!