Thanksgiving

Any holidays are always strange in a college town with over 2/3's of the population gone it feels like a ghost town. Last night, as I was meeting some friends at the bars, deer came down from the woods and walked around campus, which is neat until you realize mountain lions will be right behind them. The bars were dead with the bartenders were playing pool inbetween serving drinks.

Last night drinkfest was the first time it was just the guys drinking. I am in a major where there are eight to nine women to every guy. So yea, we talked about chicks last night.

Actually, most of our conversation was women and comparing teacher's teaching styles we've observed.

The various teaching styles have been interesting to compare. Some teachers are a bit too strict, but we've realized that a lot of teachers really aren't strict enough. When a new school year starts a teacher need to spend the first two weeks setting the ground rules for young students (6th grade or younger), and then you can launch into your various lesson plans. However, some teachers think by "telling" students what to do as problems arise is a better system (and really, in any job, is that a good idea?). I'm all for kids learning in ways that are easier for them, but they need to have some structure because...well...they are kids and don't know any better.

This all comes back to the arguement on why people shouldn't teach kids that aren't qualified. One of the guys I was drinking with is going to start his own charter school in a few years (He's going into the Peace Corps first), which I guess is the best way to have complete control of your classroom, and you can have an open door so parents can (and should!) visit their children anytime they wish to. It's a good idea.

Happy Thanksgiving