HAHAHAHA "Ken Starks has talked with the teacher, who has received a crash education in technology over the last few days — Starks is installing Linux on her computer tomorrow."
Awesome! Update: http://news.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F12%2F1758205&from=rss On Thu, Dec 11, 2008 at 9:29 AM, Joel Witherspoon <[email protected]> wrote: > I think we agree that her reaction was over the top. Her ignorance was > showing to an extreme. Now that we've agreed, let's break it down in order > for you to see what a teacher sees. Teachers are required to report unusual > classroom activities or conditions. If a kid walks in with a bruise on > his/her face, the teacher is required to report it. If the kids are passing > suggestive notes, the teacher is required to report it -though most do not. > Everything in the classroom is the teachers responsibility and she is held > accountable. > > In this case, the kids were gathering around another kid who was passing out > "mysterious Linux" (hey, that would be a cool distro name) CDs. She may have > believed they were viral CDs or pirated software CDs initially, so she stops > the activity as it is her job to do. She is not required to learn the tenets > of F-L/OSS or read the Cathedral and the Bazaar. She's required to teach > and in order to do that well, she needs to minimize the distruption. The > disruption was handing out Linux disks. You only have one-shot to keep > students attention per day; six if you teach in a secondary school. > > > On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 4:36 PM, Chris Penn <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Handing out Linux disks is not a disturbance. The teacher should have >> figured that out before taking everyones' disk. Far more then 1% of >> the people in our education system are stupid. The fact that >> educators have a fear that their kids will know better when it comes >> to computers and humiliate them at every turn is a ridiculous fear. I >> am not suggesting that this fear does not exist, just that the fear is >> mostly without merit since humiliation from a high school student >> should really be your last concern. >> >> What Karen NEEDED to do was to learn that when we say free we mean >> freedom, not free stuff. I believe there is far more then 1% of the >> teachers that have her handicap when it comes to reasoning. >> Furthermore, if avoiding humiliation was such a high priority for >> Karen, you would think that she would have learned something about the >> disks before she confiscated them so as to not look like an idiot for >> taking something that helps everyone. Once the disks were taken from >> the students her humiliation was solidified and she can only blame >> herself. >> >> Chris... >> >> >> >> On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 6:03 PM, Dante Lanznaster <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > I think it's appropriate for the teacher to curb activities that will >> > cause >> > disturbances, but this teacher went overboard in terms of ignorance. >> > First, >> > she can't confiscate items from students beyond the class period, only >> > during the class, and second, she clearly has been scared somehow >> > regarding >> > F/OSS. No matter how separate the "classroom domain" is, this kind of >> > behavior from a teacher is really disturbing. >> > >> > On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 3:54 PM, Joel Witherspoon >> > <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> >> >> You haven't worked in education. :D >> >> >> >> I currently work for a school district. There is an adage that teachers >> >> teach, they don't learn. To be fair, only a small (<1%) are this >> >> idiotic. >> >> Most understand that they will need to use computers, but they have a >> >> fear >> >> of them. Not the same Futureshock fear that the computer will take >> >> their >> >> job, but a fear that their kids will know better how to work the >> >> computer >> >> and humiliate them at every turn. It's a legitimate fear. The first >> >> rule in >> >> classroom management is "Do not be humiliated!" As a result, many don't >> >> use >> >> the computer for instruction, and instead use it to surf the web, buy >> >> tickets, shop Amazon, etc. (I see the logs). >> >> >> >> Second, teachers are pirates the likes of which you have never seen. >> >> They >> >> will pass around software illegally whenever they can and feign >> >> ignorance. >> >> Most are ignorant of EULAs to the extreme. I think "Karen" probably got >> >> reprimanded a time or two for these types of violations. Either that or >> >> someone scared the crap out of her about illegal software. >> >> >> >> Third, there is one thing that everyone must know about schools and >> >> teachers. The classroom appears to be a separate soverign state that >> >> belongs >> >> to that teacher. Not the school, nor the district. He/she is >> >> responsible for >> >> EVERYTHING that goes on in that classroom. If a kid touches another kid >> >> in >> >> that classroom, the teacher is liable. This isn't to excuse her >> >> ignorance, >> >> but if she was in the classroom and a kid is passing around CDs at his >> >> laptop causing a disturbance (no matter how small), that is a cause for >> >> concern. Her first instinct is to protect the students - and herself - >> >> and >> >> unfortunately she went on the attack rather than assessment. Just a >> >> different perspective to consider in regards to her behavior. Also, I >> >> think >> >> the author will make little headway in the meeting with the >> >> Superintendent >> >> and the teacher. The extent of her discipline will be that meeting. >> >> >> >> >> >> On Wed, Dec 10, 2008 at 1:59 PM, Dante Lanznaster <[email protected]> >> >> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> http://linuxlock.blogspot.com/2008/12/linux-stop-holding-our-kids-back.html >> >>> >> >>> Unbelievable that people can be so stupid. >> >>> >> >>> _______________________________________________ >> >>> LinuxUsers mailing list >> >>> [email protected] >> >>> http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers >> >>> >> >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> >> LinuxUsers mailing list >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers >> >> >> > >> > >> > _______________________________________________ >> > LinuxUsers mailing list >> > [email protected] >> > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers >> > >> > >> >> >> >> -- >> "As we open our newspapers or watch our television screens, we seem to >> be continually assaulted by the fruits of Mankind's stupidity." >> -Roger Penrose >> _______________________________________________ >> LinuxUsers mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers > > > _______________________________________________ > LinuxUsers mailing list > [email protected] > http://socallinux.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/linuxusers > > -- "As we open our newspapers or watch our television screens, we seem to be continually assaulted by the fruits of Mankind's stupidity." -Roger Penrose
