major
- Thread starter OUnabomber
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Eh, just another player to go college and not play school. He musta been really bad at school to fall through the cracks.
No excuse for these guys to not make it academically given the resources they have at their disposal. If they don't cut it in the classroom, it's because they don't give a @#$%. Major couldn't see the longer view of the million dollar educational opportunity that was sitting in his lap. You can't fix stupid.
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So true. One of my good friends when I was in grad school was Tommie Harris' "tutor." I have firsthand knowledge that tutoring means doing their homework.
I'm a former teacher and have others in my family that are currently employed in the public school system. Trust me when I say that there are tons of kids that can barely read and write. Geometry? Trig? Biology? No freaking way these kids can even begin to do that. I've often wondered how in the world do they pass college classes. I was in the library every night in college studying my butt off just to make it. I can't see a lot of these kids today doing that. I'm guessing the standards have been so dumbed down that its practically impossible to fail? I say there is no other way they could make it when many of them had no business graduating high school.
When at OU, one of my history professors let slip a player that dropped our class was writing maybe on a 5th grade level. I look at college athletics as a double-edge sword. It can be a gateway out of poverty for some but they rarely get the true education they need to succeed in life.
You think OU hired Major for his smarts?
There has to be tons of Dexter Manleys out there at all levels of college athletics. These colleges are about making money and a lot of them will take basically anyone with a financial aid package. Just stick them in zero level classes and somehow get them to graduate so they can make themselves look good. Its a giant sham these days.
Remember Wonderlic and Vince Young? His scoring of 6, out of a possible 50, was made an example of because he was a Premier Player. Imagine all of the 'Others' who also couldn't pass the tests but were Micro-Tutored...Difference being, they weren't in the spotlight. The Bar, it has been lowered!
With the recruiting of full scholarship student athletes having little to do with being educated by the colleges that recruit them to win games and attract TV money, stories like this are neither shocking to the public or shameful to the colleges.
It all starts before they even get to college. I’d really like to know what percentage of high school graduates truly qualify for more educational opportunities much less be allowed to play college sports. It’s been that way for decades but it seems that it gets a little worse every year. Whenever a college student is reading at a 5th grade level the system has failed more so than the student. It’s embarrassing.
I have a bit of sympathy here. Maybe.
It is likely he's struggled with school his entire life and they continued to move him forward without truly helping him. This happens now even if you're not an athletic star.
It is likely he's struggled with school his entire life and they continued to move him forward without truly helping him. This happens now even if you're not an athletic star.
Its been my experience that it works both ways. Too many kids screw around in class, cause trouble, etc. and then want to blame the teacher when they don't get their education. By the way, its not just an athlete issue. Standards have been lowered for EVERY student. Many get passed on and graduate when they shouldn't.
That was my point. Our education system is failing kids, period.
My point is the kids and families are failing themselves. Too many act like idiots all during their school years and then want to complain that they graduated without an education. Personal responsibility comes into play at some point
The school system is flawed. It was put on display during this whole COVID fiasco. Teachers' Unions holding too much power and fighting to maintain the system... the status quo.
Govt funding should go straight to the families and allow them to choose the education system of their choice. 99.99% of people, regardless of education and social status, would make a better school choice for their children than the govt will.
Oh I'm not saying the school system is all that great. Especially these days when it seems like half the teachers aren't even certified. We gave them a raise that would supposedly improve education and it hasn't (no surprise). However, society is flawed as well. You try and keep a student out of the football game because of grades and see what happens. You will have the parents, principal, and coach in your room asking you to give little Johnny a bunch of extra credit fluff to get his grade up so he can play. Our priorities are all screwed up
Another sign of the decline in our educational system are the people we put in government. These people rarely reflect the "best and brightest" of our culture and none are what I consider having statesman-like qualities. It's a circus and it is given credibility by a news media that only spews propaganda and divisiveness. And most of us are drinking the Kool-Aid.
We've made habitual lying a financially ludicrous profession.
American politics brother.
I'm a public school teacher at a high school that takes sports (especially football) pretty seriously and I can honestly say that I've never been pressured in any way to give an athlete a grade he or she hadn't earned. I can also say that the parents with whom I communicate are supportive of teachers. I occasionally have an enabling parent who tries to pass the blame for the student's failure back to the teacher. However, for me those cases have definitely been the exception rather than the rule.
The problem is there are just too many poorly educated parents who cannot or will not help their children nor hold them accountable. It's extremely rare for me to have a poor student whose parents are actively engaged with their kids' academic progress, track their grades and ensure that they do their work.
Most of the criticisms of our public education system (many of which have been cited in this thread) are legitimate. However, if there were an easy answer it'd already have been implemented. In the meantime, I'll just continue to bust my rear end and do the best I can.
The problem is there are just too many poorly educated parents who cannot or will not help their children nor hold them accountable. It's extremely rare for me to have a poor student whose parents are actively engaged with their kids' academic progress, track their grades and ensure that they do their work.
Most of the criticisms of our public education system (many of which have been cited in this thread) are legitimate. However, if there were an easy answer it'd already have been implemented. In the meantime, I'll just continue to bust my rear end and do the best I can.
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WP just curious if you are a cert. teacher? My wife and I have been for over 20 years. Our little school keeps hiring people from DHS, etc. that have never taught before and are certainly not certified. Whats the issue? Not enough teachers out there? Lowered standards? I don't get it. I can think of no other profession that goes out and deliberately tries to hire people that aren't even licensed in that profession.
As far as being pressured I can tell you that teachers are hired and fired based on whether or not they can find a football coach. Schools will hold out for a coach that can teach math rather than hire a good certified and experienced math teacher. They can talk all they want to about academics being first but when push comes to shove its football and everything else is secondary. Their reasoning is that a kid might get a scholarship and make something of himself if we can just get him out there on the field. They seem to be much less concerned about him actually being able to read and write. He goes to college and the cycle continues and we end up graduating people that are no prepared.
I'm alternative certified in math. My bachelors and master's degrees are in civil engineering. I passed the engineering certification as well as all certifications required by the state of Oklahoma in mathematics. Based on that, I don't think there's any high school math subject that's much of a mystery to me. I started teaching eight years ago (after 30 years in the Army) because I read that American kids are something like 18th in the world rankings in math. I figured I had two choices: I could whine about it or try to do something about it. That's where I got to where I am. That said (and if it sounds arrogant so be it) I've only known one or two tradionally certified teachers who I consider to be better at it than I am.
Impressive. That says a lot about you.
WP76, I appreciate your dedication but I have a question for you. Based on your comments about poor students and the lack of parental support, why do they ever graduate? Just so they have a diploma? That makes no sense to me.
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I am a major supporter of doing anything we can to raise the salary levels of teachers. There is a direct line between teachers salaries and their efforts in the classroom. I saw the superior level of teachers in my international travels for over 30 years. International or Americans schools pay their teachers very well and as a consequence the students attained a higher standard of education.
Couldnt disagree more with you. You think paying someone 10k more a year is going to make them teach harder? It won't. Just like paying a basketball player an extra mil isn't going to make them all of the sudden start playing harder.
NIce. My wife has been a math teacher for over 20 years now. I'm not saying someone who is alternatively certified can't be a good teacher, but I'm afraid this type of cert. is becoming way too common. Being a teacher has way more to do with discipline, classroom management, paperwork, etc. than just knowing the subject. That is why teachers must do many hours of observation, practicums, and student teaching.
There are exceptions to every rule. I doubt anyone believes 100% of schools are horrible. There's just more bad schools and bad teachers than there are good ones.
My military experience left me with considerable practical knowledge of discipline, classroom management, organization, and paperwork. The core skill of military leadership (officer or NCO) is teaching. There are countless similarities between leading Soldiers and dealing with students (and bureaucracy). I've done it previously on a much larger scale than most teachers have--regardless of whether they're certified conventionally or alternatively. With students, like the Army, at the end of the day you get what you demand.
Commanding the military is not the same as commanding 5th graders. I've always found that former military are much better at being superintendents that teachers. Of course there are exceptions.
Given a choice I would personally rather have someone that went to college to become a teacher than someone who decided to take a test and start teaching later in life. Not saying it can't be done or that some of those people can't be good teachers, but I believe we have student teaching, etc. for a reason. You can't even become a plumber by just taking a test. You have to put in several years as an apprentice so you can learn the trade. When it comes to my child I have a hard to putting much faith in someone that has to take a few years to learn on the job.
Given a choice I would personally rather have someone that went to college to become a teacher than someone who decided to take a test and start teaching later in life. Not saying it can't be done or that some of those people can't be good teachers, but I believe we have student teaching, etc. for a reason. You can't even become a plumber by just taking a test. You have to put in several years as an apprentice so you can learn the trade. When it comes to my child I have a hard to putting much faith in someone that has to take a few years to learn on the job.
The honest to goodness truth (and this is absolutely no surprise to anyone) is that the system is geared towards getting kids to graduation whether or not they can read above a fifth grade level, construct a coherent sentence, or perform basic mathematical operations. At the high school level, I (and I'm hardly alone) get an astounding number of students who lack skills I learned in grade school to include working with fractions, basic interest calculations, cross multiplication, etc. Like most teachers, I live for the "a-ha moments" when the light comes on in a student's head indicating he understands something of which he didn't previously think he/she was capable.
You know what, I can do both (supervise or teach)--at least at the high school level. I want no part of fifth graders LOL. I would put my constructive credit/apprenticeship/trade learning phase up against pretty much any teacher I've encountered. However, I do give a great deal of credit to those educators who have helped, taught and mentored me. I would never diminish their contributions to education or my continued development. Clearly their wealth of applicable knowledge has shown me a lot of things about teaching that I wouldn't otherwise know. Conversely, I'd venture to say they've learned a thing or two from me--at least that's what they've told me.
Please don't misunderstand. I'm in no way undermining the value of those who came up through the traditional route. It's "traditional" with good reason and God bless those folks because they're the bedrock upon which we "non-traditional" types must rely.
Teaching may be granted or bestowed on individuals in many different ways but the true skill of transferring knowledge is in one's core personality. Capturing one's attention and curiosity and successfully transferring knowledge over an extended period of time is god's gift not given to many. In my uneducated opinion, this gift radiates whether the teacher is addressing grade schoolers or combat ready soldiers. I have met and known a few and the one common trait they all seemed to share was that they wanted to be teachers for as long as they could remember.