Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with highschool

Inner City to Inner Hippie

sadtomato — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 16:32:59 -0800

I currently teach high school in a low income area in a large suburb of Vancouver, BC. I am considering a move to a small community and am wondering what to expect. My school has been designated Inner City, because of the low income area, high student transient rate, and students in some form of government care (read: foster care, social worker supervision, social assistance dependent). While I deal with a lot of the problems of a low income school, the kids are really great, friendly kids. Teachers that come to our school from higher income areas always comment on how nice our kids are, and that their former students seem to have a sense of entitlement that is absent at my school. A lot of our students have such crappy lives that any kindness at all is very well received.

One thing that I really like about where I live and teach is that the two places are far apart. I rarely bump into a student when out doing personal errands, or at a restaurant, for example.

What is it like to be a much tighter part of the community with students and parents? What can I expect to be different, the same? What are some issues that I may not be considering at all?

Then, we actually have to /go/ to college.

R a c h e l — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:51:27 -0800

Pressure on high schoolers about getting into college: how to deal? I'm asking on behalf of a friend, who told me most of this in confidence, so I have changed a few details but kept the gist of it.

We are both juniors in high school, but our parents have radically different views toward college. Background: my parents: Northeastern(mom), Stanford/MIT. Her parents: Yale, Berkely. While my dad (stanford) was super-genuis and got in everywhere he applied (including several ivies), he's encouraging me not to stress to much about school reputations, make sure to seek out lesser-known schools, and just find a really good fit. A philosophy which I agree with 100%. For this reason, I've done a bit of SAT studying, but mostly I just try my reasonable best in school and make time for really meaningful extracurriculars and such.

Her parents (specifically her mom), on the other hand, are putting an intense amount of pressure on her. Every single day this summer, she had to put in a minimum of two hours (that ends up being so much) on SAT prep. Her grades are probably in the 3.8ish range, lower than most at her (and my former) hyper-competitive school (it is a public school, but attracts a highly motivated group of students). The reasoning of "because it's junior year [so this is the most important year for college apps]" is used to justify leaving her at home during a 2-week trip to Italy for her mom, dad, and younger sister, her not being allowed to pursue any extracurriculars rather than the 'right' ones, etc.

She's had an increasing number of fights with her mother, mostly due to this pressure. In addition to using various four-letter words during these fights, her mother says things like "you'll only be able to go to community college" and similar things, and treats them as if they were the end of the world.

These fights are so frequent that she doesn't want to bring it up in the rare good (or at least better) moments they share. I think they impact my friend pretty harshly. She comes out saying "she's probably right" and those sorts of things, but I think there's also a deeper impact with this sole emphasis on the 'right' school and the traditional take.

I'm not sure how to help her. I tried to suggest therapy, for her or the two of them. Her mom is, apparently, extremely averse to therapy, and quite literally threatened divorce when her dad suggested family therapy a few years back. My friend already tried (and hated) the school person (what I've heard from everyone else about this lines up with that). She's not willing to pay for a sliding-scale therapist or anything of the sort.

Re-reading what I wrote, her mom comes across as a much different person than she is. She's a really interesting, well-traveled (especially interesting places like remote Tibet, where the entire family journeyed to a few years ago), smart woman in a very stressful, high-powered, well-paid lawyer career. When I speak to her, she's nice but not saccharine, and a really great person.

I don't know how to help her. Besides talking to her, and telling her stories (like my aunt, who got terrible grades in high school, dropped out of college, didn't do much for a few years, then started as a vet office secretary and worked her way up into being a rather famous veterinarian) of how things don't depend on this one thing, I can't help. I would love her to be able to spend a semester or year abroad during the heavy college season, just to give her some space from her parents while she handles the crunch time on her own, which I have no doubt she could do just fine, but her parents would never agree to that.

Her dad jsut kind of backs up her mother. My personal suspicion is that he disagrees with a lot of it, but doesn't dare do so publicly. From what I can see of his career, (went to Berkely, started as a public defender, but eventually got his own high-paid private job), he was probably not the kind of guy to focus to heavily on the exact right school.

I suspect this is all misguided 'help' from her mom, wants her to have all the advantages that she did, etc., but it really doesn't.

Ugh, sorry for the long post. I have a lot to say. It's kind of a fault.

Looking for a retirement song.

crios — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:44:45 -0800

Musicfilter: Looking for a song for a friends retirement. She's retiring from high school English teaching after 34 years. We're looking for something along the lines of: upbeat, rock and roll genre, has a positive message, sad to leave friends but happy to not grade any more papers, hoping she left a positive influence. She is considering a couple of songs, one by the Association, one by the Eagles and one by Daughtry (she can't remember the titles of the songs). All clever and fun recommendations are appreciated.

Playing good mentor/bad mentor

Admiral Haddock — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:56:49 -0800

Tutoring a 14 year old. How to be supportive of dreams and yet practical? I'm tutoring a fantastic 14 year old as part of a program focused on getting inner-city kids into good high schools (and from there, on to college). My student is very interested in acting, and wants to apply to an arts-oriented high school and then go to college and get into the movie business and be a famous actor. Hooray!

I've never seen him act--I take on faith that he's good, but I know he's got a great personality and is very funny and bright. But acting is a tough row to hoe, and I'd like to make sure that he keeps his options open.

We haven't talked at all about how hard it can be to make a living as an actor. Is this something we should do? He's very interested in school--but primarily, it seems, as a means to getting to be an actor--and I don't want to stifle that enthusiasm. The tutoring program is really geared towards nuts and bolts (and we don't have much time with the kids), so I don't have a lot of visibility into the rest of his life, though I do know that few people in his family finished high school.

Any advice?

Bonus question: he's asked me to pull together some materials on colleges that have good programs in film/theatre. I was thinking USC and NYU, but this is not my area. What should he have on his radar?

Taking high schoolers to Broadway?

airguitar2 — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:52:46 -0800

How can I bring my low-income high school students to an off-Broadway show? I teach creative writing at a public high school in NYC where most/all of the students are low-income. We're studying drama in creative writing, and I'd like to find a way to bring them to a real play-- maybe Our Town, or Broke-ology, or A Boy And His Soul. I'm wondering: are there programs for which my students would qualify? We obviously can't afford to pay full price for tickets. Do any shows have rehearsals we might simply be able to sit in on? Are there shows that allow students to attend special performances?

Does anyone have experience doing this? Thanks!

Questions to keep my students thinking.

CrazyLemonade — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:58:23 -0800

I want to show my students Randy Pausch's "Last Lecture" video. I would also like to have them answer some questions about it, but I'm stuck. Some help? I teach a high school Human Relations course. This month we're going to be talking about topics like freedom, different ideas about the meaning of life and happiness, resilience, etc.

The lecture is so good that just watching it will probably get them thinking, but I'd like to give my students some critical thinking or discussion questions to answer after watching.

I'd be grateful for any ideas.

You're only seventeen

DeltaForce — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:50:15 -0800

How would one (hypothetically) go back to high school? Let's say you're a couple years out of high school, still look young enough to pass as 17, and want to re-live senior year, Never-Been-Kissed-style.

What documents would one need to register in a public school, and could these documents be forged?

Also, how illegal would this be?

Just wondering :)

I had to put up these posters in my own classroom; they were so expensive I had to sell my house!

lhude sing cuccu — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 16:39:52 -0800

Why did my elementary/high school teachers complain so much about how they don't make enough money? I looked at the Department of Labor's website, and they make just as much as they would in certain postsecondary subjects (about $53,000). I always thought they made $25,000 a year or something, but this has changed everything! Am I missing something? ...Or are they just bitter they're stuck in the public school system?

The Friday Night Lights experience?

ganseki — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 15:22:59 -0800

I'm a foreigner who wants to go to a US high school football game in the South West, but needs some advice I'm going to be in the South West in the next few weeks and I'd like to go to a high school football game for the whole Hollywood cliche experience (cheerleaders, marching band, big crowds). Does anything like this actually exist? If so, can anyone recommend a good team to go and watch?

I'll be in Flagstaff, AZ on Friday 25 September and Santa Fe, NM on Friday 2 October.

Help me be the first to buy Photoshop

lukemeister — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 13:21:48 -0800

Is there a legitimate way to buy discount software for a high-school student? My son, a sophomore in high school, is enjoying a class that makes heavy use of Photoshop CS4. We'd like to get him CS4 for the computer he uses at home (Vista, 4 GB memory), but it's very expensive. I know there are discounts for college students. We'd rather not use 'warez' sites. Thanks!

Need Moar Advice on Being a Competent Para

TheClonusHorror — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 20:19:17 -0800

I'm looking for your thoughts on how to be a good paraprofessional (a.k.a. teacher's aide, teaching assistant) at a high school. I'm starting a new job as an ESL paraprofessional and have never done it before. Just looking for thoughts/advice from other paras, teachers, administrators, other school employees, parents, students, or whoever on good or bad experiences with paras.

Teaching Computer "Stuff" to High Schoolers

TurquoiseZebra — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 12:38:59 -0800

What computer programs and tips/tricks/hints should high school kids learn? So it looks like I'm going to be teaching an elective computer class at a small private school for grades 7-12. It'll be broken up into two classes, grades 7-9 & 10-12.

Here is where you come in. What basic programs or tips/tricks/shortcuts do you wish you'd learned in school using the computer? I know that some things I just won't be able to teach these kids (programming, scripting, etc), but the everyday programs or other computer-related stuff is what I want to teach them.

I know the school would like them to learn the basic MS Office stuff, but I want to take it a step or two further. These days pretty much every kid has access to a computer and is relatively computer-savvy.

As a point of reference, I'm proficient in all MS Office programs & Adobe Photoshop & Illustrator.

Any tips, ideas, advice, etc would be helpful.

Recent trends in high school marketing and education methods?

zaebiz — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:32:19 -0800

What are the trends around the world underlying the most successful (I guess I am talking financially mostly) high schools around the world these days? What are the marketing buzzwords driving the race for students? My old high school is in trouble and I'd like to help if I can. After a recent visit to my old high school, I discovered it was in serious financial difficulty. It had been a traditionally strong sporting school but could hold its own academically until recently. It's not clear that the substantial drop in academic results are tied to its financial difficulty. There may be other factors. In response they have decided to focus on their traditional strengths as a sporting school and have cut all academic scholarships so as to boost sporting scholarships. I found this somewhat disturbing. I would be interested to know any thoughts people had about this move, especially stories from experience about trends in the area.

How could a combination of inconsistent grades and early graduation affect university admissions, and, consequently, my future? (long post)

csjc — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 16:08:01 -0800

I could have exceptional grades, but instead I've spent all of my time on academic pursuits that have, if anything, had a negative affect on my grades. How could all of this impact my future? I can't help but think that I've already screwed it all up. I'm 15, and according to the normal schedule I should be going into 11th grade this September, but instead I decided to structure my schedule so that I completed half of 11th grade last year (in addition to all 10th grade courses + electives) and I'm in the process of completing the other half over this summer.

Here's my dilemma: Taking into account all the time I spend on my personal academic pursuits (I'll explain in a minute), I still haven't done as well as I should in my courses. My average is in the low 80s, with marks ranging from just over 50% to 99% (the better marks are in my preferred subjects, especially languages). Even though my schedule is rigorous, it's still no excuse. If I had any kind of work ethic when it comes to my classes, I'd have an average in the mid-90s, no question. I spend all my time agonising over my lack of work ethic, and the stress has become hard to handle. The real problem, however, is just how much time I do spend on academic pursuits in my not-really spare time. Spending 6 hours a day working on language skills and linguistic knowledge is normal for a school day (I do some of it in class), and 10+ hours is not unheard of on weekends. It's not that I don't have a life, because I *do*, I just choose to ignore it most of the time. I can't seem to befriend people in my age group, and that is partially why I chose the accelerated schedule. If it helps to give you an idea, I have mild-Aspergers and NLD (Non-verbal Learning Disorder). Anyway, that may be irrelevant.

I sacrificed this summer (well, the potential of 12-16 hours of language study per day) for school, and it has gone much worse than expected- I ended up with a 70 in English after a major bout of procrastination (did the whole course in one day), and failed math. I'm not even sure that I'd be able to apply to American universities (I'm Canadian) with an F on my 11th grade transcript, especially for a course that's usually required for admission (I'd be taking it again next year, but I haven't talked to my school counsellor yet). Most of what I'm going to apply with is finalised at this point, and I really can't bare the fact that my future is so dependent on a set of numbers that couldn't reflect the past few years any worse. Most people I know my age have already gotten into their groove when it comes to school. I haven't, and have no reason to think I will before I have the opportunity to study what I want.

Of course, I've had to show a great deal of ambition for my teachers and counsellor to allow me to take on such a workload, and I've already disappointed them. I'm not quite sure what my recommendations are going to look like, and how I should justify my grades in my personal statement. As for SATs, I'm taking them in October, and to be honest, I'm not really worried- 2100+ is most likely, but I shouldn't get arrogant. My extra-curriculars aren't that impressive, but I'll have to supplement that with various language certificates to prove the levels I've achieved on my own, in addition to tutoring languages. I should also mention that I intend to major in linguistics and/or a modern language, and I see graduate school as an integral part of my future, likely in Indo-European studies. My job goal is ideally to be a professor/"scholar" but after graduation I'd like to teach English around the world and foreign languages to high school students back home. Maybe do a bit of translation to. That's probably irrelevant but I'm just throwing everything out there.

If I do manage to graduate the year early, as intended, what advice could you offer? What are my chances for admission into "top-tier" universities? Is there anything I can do to improve my chances? Am I entirely out of the running for any scholarship money? I should also mention that, next year, I intend to do my best and make sure my 12th grade marks are good enough for Canadian universities (UBC and McGill, for example), as I can't rely on SAT scores there. And lastly, could anyone recommend schools that would be suitable for me (where I can actually get in!)? I'm open to any suggestions. Personality-wise, I'm better suited to a smaller school. At least from what I've been told.

I know it's a lot of questions, but any help is appreciated!

Best language for highschool bioinformatics course?

bergeycm — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 11:22:31 -0800

I'm teaching a course on bioinformatic programming for high schoolers. Which language should I teach it in? And do you have any nifty ideas for easy projects that fall under the bioinformatics header? It's a six-week, twice-weekly internship for highschoolers with absolutely no programming experience. The catch is, it has to be a bioinformatics course. What language would be best? I think the two contenders are Perl and Python, though I'm open to other options.

Possible Perl Advantages:

- I know Perl, so I won't need to pick up another language and I'd be better at debugging it.
- If the kids go on to AP Comp Sci or a 101 course in college, the language is often Java. Both Perl and Java use C-style syntax.
- The bioinformatics online support for Perl seems better than for Python.
- Long-string manipulation and speed seem much better in Perl.
- Though complex Perl is scary-looking, well-writen basic perl doesn't seem that intimidating.

Possible Python Advantages:

- Less steep learning curve.
- Possibly more resources for beginner programmers.
- The whitespace-is-important thing and there-is-only-one-best-way-of-doing-something thing may be better for teaching good programming techniques.

Also, any basic bioinformatics projects you can think of are much appreciated. The goal is really to teach programming, but the internship requires that it be done through bioinformatic applications.

I need an ethics book that's interesting

CrazyLemonade — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 08:44:11 -0800

As a [high school] teacher, I'm being encouraged to include a little bit of ethics into my courses. Can anyone recommend a book about ethics that's not boring or difficult to understand, and can that can help me with this? I'm currently taking an ethics course myself, but most of the required reading leaves me thinking "wtf? I didn't understand a word that said!", and is not very practical.

I'm not asking for a high school level book, just something that I can understand, if I've never had much studies in ethics or philosophy.

A "top" school district-- how important?

Bardolph — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 19:11:26 -0800

Public education filter: if you went to school in a good district, a not-so-great district, or an in-between district, how did it affect the quality of your education and your success later in life? The husband and I have been having a debate (not entirely academic, since we're in the process of moving) about the importance of school quality in producing a well-educated and successful child.

He was educated in one of the top-rated districts in the state, with lots of money and mostly professional families; I went to school in a middling-to-slightly-subpar semi-rural district, with mostly blue-collar families. We both excelled in school and got into the same Ivy League university, both did well there, and I consider us approximately equally well-equipped by our respective educations. Naturally, he places a lot of stock in the importance of "good" schools, while I'm more skeptical, assuming we're not talking about absolutely abysmal schools (violence, rampant crime, etc).

He feels that since good school districts are better funded, can afford better teachers, more enrichment activities, more varied coursework, and better facilities, that must make a difference in kids' education.

I contend that a bright kid with involved parents will do most of his/her learning outside the classroom anyway-- if you're reading interesting books and having intelligent family discussions and taking the odd university class, then why does it matter whether your classroom has a SmartBoard or your school sponsors field trips to Europe? In addition, I worry about the small-fish/big-pond effect of attending a district where all the students are super-successful and motivated; I knew a professor, for instance, whose daughter got into no top colleges despite having an awesome GPA and activities at one of the most prestigious private schools in the nation, simply because all her classmates were equally successful and there wasn't any way to distinguish herself from the pack.

Finally, maybe I've just watched too many showings of Traffic and My Super-sweet 16, but I wonder about the character issues associated with wealthier, high-achieving communities. Poor communities have their problems too, but it seems as though it'd be easier for a nice middle-class kid to get sucked into materialism/cliquishness/shallow hypersexuality/whitecollar drugs than meth use or cow-tipping, or whatever.

By way of broadening our knowledge-base, I'd love some additional perspectives on this (some useful answers here, but that question focused on private v. public school). Did you love or hate your good (or bad) public-school experience? What factors really do make a difference in the quality of education a public school district provides?

Wordpress theme for a highschool website

Danniman — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 13:40:44 -0800

Help me find a free or premium wordpress theme for a school website I am looking for a wordpress theme ( free or premium (within $50) ) that would be suitable for a high school website.

I have been browsing themes for about a week now and there are simply too many out there to chose from. Furthermore, I don't know if I should be going with a "business" style or a "magazine" style theme.

Help me be a teacher

mikelly — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 22:14:51 -0800

Help me make a career move. Do I want to be a high school or college teacher? My BA is in English and philosophy. I've been out of school for about two years, long enough to realize that my liberal arts education doesn't make me a precious commodity in the business world. But, hey, that's okay because I want to be the stereotypical English major turned teacher. From experience as a K-12 tutor and ESL teacher, I've concluded that I prefer working with older students and more stimulating material, but I'm torn between paths.

Should I pursue a Masters in Teaching or a PhD? On the one hand, I would like to further my own education (in philosophy) and teach engaging material (in community college), but the path to a doctorate is daunting and the job market dismal, or so I've been forever told. On the other hand, I think there are high school classes I'd enjoy teaching (literature, humanities, philosophy(?), or maybe even world history), but playing disciplinarian to an unruly freshman class doesn't sound appealing. I feel I connect pretty well with high school students I tutor, but they are usually respectful and friendly kids.

So, MeFite teachers, how do high school and community college teaching lives compare? What's the job market like for each? How hard is it to land teaching the class of your preference? Are all the desired classes always taken by those with seniority? How do expectations, workload, and bureaucracy compare? What's the career for me?

How do I differentiate instruction?

Elagabalus — Sun, 31 May 2009 20:46:37 -0800

Can you recommend a good book (or journal, or webpage) on differentiated instruction? Without going into too many specifics and writing 5 pages, I'm going to have to teach several "levels" of high school US history in the same room at the same time. Imagine regulars, honors, and mega-double-secret-honors in the same classroom, but with 3 separate (but at least fairly similar) classes going on, getting ready for 3 separate sets of exams at the end of the year.

So...what can I do to address my teaching to each individual's specific needs and target instruction at their "level", rather than have everyone do the same activity or same discussion, when they are not going to benefit from the same things? I mean, some stuff certainly benefits all students, such as analyzing primary source materials or interpreting charts and graphs, but some stuff is only going to be relevant to 1/3 of the class, like a particular essay that only 1/3 of them have to learn how to do...

Good books to recommend? I want to do right by my students and give them what they NEED, not just what is easiest for me.

Help me develop topics for a high school course on problem solving.

etc. — Tue, 12 May 2009 14:29:00 -0800

Help me develop topics for a high school course on problem solving. I am a high school teacher (previously) with hopes of creating a problem-solving course. I've not found good materials online for a course like the one I am conceiving, nor have I taken one of this sort (except for a small-group excercise I participated in in 5th grade), but here's what I have in mind:

1) Break students into groups of 4 or 5 students of mixed ability (my school has a fairly broad range of students, but they are mostly centered at a bit below grade-level expectations).

2) Assign a problem that is fairly specific though also fairly open ended.

3) Then, my role as teacher is to guide the groups over the course of, say, 2 to 3 weeks toward a creative, collaborative and somewhat viable answer by asking students to refine and challenge their own group work. Meanwhile, I will provide materials (mainly related readings) that guide students to these viable answers.

4) Ultimately, students will present their findings/solutions to a panel (probably a group of teachers and students, though maybe invited experts).

5) Move on to next problem...

I've wanted to post this question for a while, but didn't quite have my head wrapped around a good sample topic, but now that I think I have one, let me show you what I mean:

Problem: Devise a one-time, one-way communique to be transmitted to an extraterrestrial intelligence.

I would then pass out markers and paper and ask students to put together their message, which would probably consist of a paragraph written in English saying, "Hi. We're from Earth and we would love to meet you. When you get here we'll take you to McDonalds. Love, Earthlings."

We would then critique our messages and begin the formal study of the problem and look at related readings:

--Aliens won't understand our writing (readings on hieroglyphics, the Rosetta Stone and/or cryptography)
--How has this problem been approached before? (Pioneer, Voyager, Arecibo)
--Problems associated with previous attempts (like this)

In other words, assign a tough problem that requires creative solutions to which a constructivist, pursuit-based approach is manageable for the teacher. With the alien message example above, I could provide lots of support materials and be a gadfly to students while letting students invent their own solutions.

What I don't want are things like the you-are-stuck-on-an-island-with-these-20-things-now-rank-them-in-order-of-importance-and-we'll-see how-well-you-did-against-a-predefined-correct-answer sort. And I want the project to have lots of paths and dead ends (which I think the alien message does). Another idea I was considering was a nuclear war scenario in which groups are given, say, $2000 to stock a bomb shelter--what do you buy?--but I'm afraid I would have trouble finding useful resources for my gadfly-ing, and I don't feel like the answer is open ended enough (you know: "water, food, guns, two-way radio, etc.").

I am also interested in a problem-solving framework that we would study at the beginning of the term and use throughout, though there are some AskMes on similar topics, but what I really want here is your good idea of a problem and links to a bunch of related readings that would provide the basis for student inquiry, like the example above.

How do we plan a high school reunion without having to put large amounts of our own money into the budget?

bristolcat — Tue, 12 May 2009 08:34:40 -0800

How do we plan a high school reunion without having to put large amounts of our own money into the budget? A classmate and myself recently agreed to plan our 10-year high school reunion. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We're both enthusiastic and have lots of good ideas, but our plans stalled out when it hit us that this isn't the kind of event that has a budget that we can just draw from.

There is no money, no alumni foundation to support us and the school can't offer anything except use of the gym. Neither of us feel comfortable fronting large amounts of money, but we don't exactly know what kind of plans can be made without dropping large deposits ahead of time. What to do?

A few reunion details:
-We live in a small city in a rural area. There is not a lot to choose from as far as dining and recreation options. Our ideal event weekend would include a Friday night adults-only "social hour" event with party food, adult beverages, a presentation and mingling. For Saturday, we would book a city park, provide lunch and have activities for both kids and adults.
-Our class is very small. We graduated with approximately 34 people, and after counting who all would probably arrive as couples and singles, we estimate about 60 people attending.
-This will be a late summer event, so we need to make solid plans as soon as possible.
-When we checked with classes that graduated a few years prior to us, we learned that none of them had actually had reunions, so no help there.

My co-planner is very budget-minded, good with money and has lots of great ideas on how we can make this event as reasonably-priced as possible. The park would be free and we found ways to ensure that the Saturday lunch would cost very little. It's the more formal event on Friday night that is problematic, as well as some of the side items that will cost money - invitations, programs, decorations, etc.

So, have you ever planned a high school reunion? How did you do it? Should we just suck it up, eat the deposits and costs ahead of time and then sell tickets as early as is reasonable? Is it reasonable to ask banquet halls or party rooms about having our attendees pay at the door?

I can't help but think that we're not the only people who have been caught in this situation before, so hopefully AskMe can come to our aid! Any tips on how we can best do this would be very helpful, as well as any reunion planning tips you might have. Thanks in advance!

How do you make money when you arne't allowed to leave the house?

logic vs love — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 16:19:16 -0800

How can my 18-year-old sister make enough money to move out on her own when she has no car or license, no job experience, and unsupportive parents? My sister will be graduating from high school soon and really needs to move out, but it seems impossible for her to get a job and save money. She'd be willing to work just about any job, but she has no way of getting around. She can't get her driver's license because she needs glasses and our parents won't take her to get any... and even if she had her license, they wouldn't let her drive any of their cars. Their house is about a 20-minute drive to civilization so walking isn't an option, and public transportation is basically non-existent.

She's feeling pretty miserable and hopeless, and as much as I want to help, I can't think of a way out for her either. I don't live close to her at all and I've offered to let her come live with me, but she doesn't want to leave her boyfriend (who graduates next year).

She is (theoretically) planning on going to college next year to be a graphic designer and is especially interested in t-shirt designs, so she's been considering submitting designs to threadless or something, but she needs more practice, computer time at home is very limited, and that's not going to provide a steady income anyway.

So... what can she do to make money and move out and stop being miserable? What can I do to help her?

Please help me understand people's objections to year-round public school.

cheapskatebay — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 10:20:57 -0800

Please help me understand people's objections to year-round public school. I'll confess right up front that my grasp on this issue is not as firm as it could or should be, but, based on what I've seen, the pros of year-round schooling seem to have the cons considerably outweighed. I live in a part of the U.S. that does not seem to have much in the way of year-round schooling and I’d be interested in learning more about this, whether anecdotally, with links to discussions online, or what have you. Nayre has been an interesting, albeit partial, source of information.

As I see it:

Pros:

1. Year-round schooling seems to improve students’ retention of subject material, so that more classroom time can be spent learning new material.
2. The boredom some students experience over a lengthy summer vacation can be ameliorated.
3. Multiple tracks – i.e., having students stagger their vacations – can be used in school districts with burgeoning student populations, reducing the need for additional buildings (which advantage may be partially offset by higher year-round costs of staffing the buildings, utilities, etc).
4. Families can vacation during the summer break (however much shorter it may be) and during breaks in the traditional “school year” as well.
5. For the most part, we’re not an agrarian society, so that traditional rationale for summer vacations has diminished considerably.
6. Other industrial nations have moved to this type of schedule with positive results.
7. Year-round schooling would seem to be a natural gateway toward lengthening the school year and/or school day. (That’s a pro for me; I know others might disagree.)
8. I’ve read that year-round schooling can allow more time and resources to be spent with children who are struggling – I’m not exactly sure how that works, although I think retention would be a significant issue for kids with learning disabilities or who otherwise simply would benefit from having shorter breaks.

Cons:

1. I can see how this could be a nightmare for families with kids in different schools, with differing schedules. Arranging after-school care or “vacation” care for kids on a year-round schedule could definitely be tough for many.
2. Finding time for summer jobs and interscholastic athletics for older children (I’m guessing high school age?) would be tough with year-round school; although I’d personally want to see more emphasis placed on academic achievement, I know these are important to many older kids and their families. That doesn’t present much of an objection for the K-8 crowd, though.
3. There’s inertia, the tradition of lengthy summer vacations, and fear of the unknown, of course, and I imagine they play a very large role in debates around this issue.
4. One possible disadvantage might be for teachers – I’ve known many public school teachers who paint houses or otherwise work separate jobs in the summers to earn more money, and year-round schooling would cut into that.
5. Is there any evidence that year-round schooling is “better,” however that may be defined (test scores, “happier” or well-adjusted kids, socially, etc.)?

On balance, year-round schooling seems to have the much better argument. Which pros and cons am I missing? As the title of the question indicates, I’m more interested in an argument that might favor the traditional schedule – not out of ideology, but out of genuine curiosity that I’m somehow giving the traditional schedule short shrift in my admittedly simplistic comparison.

I know there are many hot-button issues currently being discussed that concern education and educational policy - such as charter schools, the possibility of paying higher-performing teachers (however that's measured) more than their peers, and debates over No Child Left Behind - but I'd prefer comments focused on the relative merits of the traditional schedule versus the year-round schedule.

I'm mostly interested in this question as it pertains to the United States, but international perspectives would also be interesting to read.

Thanks!

Can I have teaching cake and eat it too?

StrikeTheViol — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 04:30:21 -0800

Planning on a master's in teaching, but professors keep pushing me in the direction of a PhD. I'd like to get a doctorate one day, I'm just not so sure it's a good idea right now. Am I missing something? Almost done with my Political Science/History undergrad. I've always loved history, but I enjoy presenting it much more than writing papers and doing research. I also feel scared about stories of adjuncts living in virtual squalor...my initial idea was actually to go into teaching, save up money, and then return to grad school later on. Am I way off base with this idea?