Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What grade? I teach kindergarten and so many kids are brain damaged from too much technology. Their eyes can barely focus on a picture in a book or on words. They haven't been able to watch a short animated movie for many years.

It was a college course.

I don’t know, OP. I teach at a medical school, and teaching is very different than it was in 2010. Students aren’t going to listen to you just present the facts anymore. No matter how good you are at distilling down complex information and making it digestible, there is someone on YouTube doing it better.
You will have better luck if you make the class more interactive and expect they will get the fact-based data somewhere else.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at a nightclub last weekend, my first time in years. The DJ wouldn't play full songs. He'd play 30-60 seconds of a song, then move to another, then revisit another part of that song later that evening. All I can guess is this is for the Tiktok generation that has a short attention span.

Also notice most songs these days start into the lyrics in the first 10 seconds, again I think due to attention spans. A song like U2's With or Without You would never be a hit today.

They would never play a long intro in a nightclub. And djs have been mixing songs like that for decades.

Don't you remember the extended intros that would dial things up and up and up and up until the release of the actual song? My gosh, that was the best. The whole place would erupt when it got to the actual song.

Until the beat drop. The beat drop. That's the phrase you're looking for.

In music theory, tension and release. You're both right, just in different ways. Regardless, it's very common in different genres of music.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at a nightclub last weekend, my first time in years. The DJ wouldn't play full songs. He'd play 30-60 seconds of a song, then move to another, then revisit another part of that song later that evening. All I can guess is this is for the Tiktok generation that has a short attention span.

Also notice most songs these days start into the lyrics in the first 10 seconds, again I think due to attention spans. A song like U2's With or Without You would never be a hit today.

They would never play a long intro in a nightclub. And djs have been mixing songs like that for decades.

Don't you remember the extended intros that would dial things up and up and up and up until the release of the actual song? My gosh, that was the best. The whole place would erupt when it got to the actual song.

Until the beat drop. The beat drop. That's the phrase you're looking for.

Student reading comprehension is abysmal. If the excerpt they are supposed to read is too long, they start skimming to get the gist of it, except, and I hate to say this, they're too ill-equipped to do that properly.

I've had some of the most absurd responses turned in as answers to simple assignments such as provide a 150+ word summary of this passage.

We do a unit every year where we translate Romeo and Juliet into modern-speak as a way to show them how to internally translate and understand Shakespeare while reading. We did not use to do the whole play, just the prologue and Act I. We had to start doing the whole play in 2021 because so many students couldn't "get it" and bombed all assignments for the parts we did not translate.

Parents need to do reading check-ins with their kids regardless of age. I am serious. Ask your kid to read a page or two of a book out loud to you. See if they are struggling with reading. We no longer do reading out loud in class in my district because it was deemed unfair, but that is how those who needed additional support were quickly recognized in lower grades. They are slipping through the cracks with this change. When I have a high school student struggling with comprehension, I ask them to come before or after school so they are alone or mostly alone. I then have them read the problem passage out loud and nine times out of 10, that kid will struggle to read. Just this year I had a 17 year old who didn't know the words chaos, monotonous, or egregious. And even though they have their phones right there, they don't put two-and-two together to look up the words to see how they are pronounced or their meaning.

This kid instantly understood the meaning of the passage once he knew the word chaos was kay-ahs and not cha-hos. "How did you think chaos was spelled?" I asked and he said, "Like, c-a-y-o-s or maybe with a k." Teens also apparently have their phones set to not auto-correct or auto-suggest/predict text. So if he wanted to tell his friend about a fight and texted 'bro it was cayos,' his phone would send that. I showed him how he could type a word he didn't know into his Notes app, hold to highlight it, select Look Up and get the meaning and hear a pronunciation. He had no idea. Or you know, GOOGLE it, ha. The notes app trick was cool to him. Googling it? Lame.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at a nightclub last weekend, my first time in years. The DJ wouldn't play full songs. He'd play 30-60 seconds of a song, then move to another, then revisit another part of that song later that evening. All I can guess is this is for the Tiktok generation that has a short attention span.

Also notice most songs these days start into the lyrics in the first 10 seconds, again I think due to attention spans. A song like U2's With or Without You would never be a hit today.

They would never play a long intro in a nightclub. And djs have been mixing songs like that for decades.

Don't you remember the extended intros that would dial things up and up and up and up until the release of the actual song? My gosh, that was the best. The whole place would erupt when it got to the actual song.

Anonymous wrote:It sounds like your lecture sucks honestly.

And here is the problem. How dare anyone suggest Junior wasn't behaving appropriately. It must be the professional in front of them who didn't perform.

I think educators adapted to doing shorter lessons and projects years ago because of this. One young employee told me that didn't read entire books in English class. They read excerpts. I'm not saying I loved every book I had to read in school and everyone should have to struggle through them all, but to not read full-length novels and instead read a few pages? Yikes.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My siblings a college professor. He says it’s really bad for years and gotten worse. Critical thought is dead and there is no interest in reviving it. It’s bad news

That's because we no longer teach kids in a way that makes sense to teach them critical thinking. First stuff their heads with facts in elementary (so they have a basis from which to even begin to think), then teach them logic in middle, then teach the persuasion in high school. Dorothy Sayers was right.

They're now being taught persuasive writing in elementary school. That's one of the things that is leading to all these unintended consequences. Research is no longer about gathering general information that then gets analayzed. Research nowadays is entirely about finding support for the argument they come up with first.

And typically, their feelings are used as evidence...

In my kids' public school district at least, kids are taught to use research sources far sooner than they ever were in decades before. And in addition to persuasive writing they are taught analysis of sources. I think all the complainers need to actually look at the evidence in the curriculum before making unsupported blanket statements.

We used research sources just as early back in the day. The two differences, besides the practical one of internet versus books, is that there is now an emphasis on citations and the writing is persuasive instead of analytical.

The issue is that persuasive writing utilizes citations, and research, differently than analytical writing since by its very nature it is viewpoint biased. Starting with persuasive writing promotes cherry picking sources. Those of us that have written a lot know that that is the unspoken norm but like many things, eating or not eating vegetables for example, it is something we should be hoping to avoid for as long as possible. The issue therefore isn't the intent but the practical inculcation of bad habits brought about by starting with persuasive writing.

As a secondary issue we are promoting the formation of opinions before any analysis is done. That is one of the biggest problems with social media, instant reaction and hot takes. The encouragement of opinions without any issue specific understanding. It creates bad habits by teaching it early.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My siblings a college professor. He says it’s really bad for years and gotten worse. Critical thought is dead and there is no interest in reviving it. It’s bad news

That's because we no longer teach kids in a way that makes sense to teach them critical thinking. First stuff their heads with facts in elementary (so they have a basis from which to even begin to think), then teach them logic in middle, then teach the persuasion in high school. Dorothy Sayers was right.

They're now being taught persuasive writing in elementary school. That's one of the things that is leading to all these unintended consequences. Research is no longer about gathering general information that then gets analayzed. Research nowadays is entirely about finding support for the argument they come up with first.

And typically, their feelings are used as evidence...

In my kids' public school district at least, kids are taught to use research sources far sooner than they ever were in decades before. And in addition to persuasive writing they are taught analysis of sources. I think all the complainers need to actually look at the evidence in the curriculum before making unsupported blanket statements.

Not PP.

Kids are told to pull in sources, sure. They're given some black and white standards for a "good" source - Wikipedia bad (true!), Encyclopedia Brittanica Online good (maybe true!). But do they really have a solid basis from which to think and analyze? Do they have a lot of knowledge? Do they understand logic and reasoning? No. My kid was doing a research essay without ever having been taught how to connect every paragraph to her thesis sentence. Just because the school calls it "research" doesn't make it positive. And yes, the classmates she was working with on the project absolutely used flimsy evidence, because they don't know what good evidence is or how to gather it from a good source and include it in their own argument.

I'd rather they get the research sources later, after they know how to write a five paragraph essay.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My siblings a college professor. He says it’s really bad for years and gotten worse. Critical thought is dead and there is no interest in reviving it. It’s bad news

That's because we no longer teach kids in a way that makes sense to teach them critical thinking. First stuff their heads with facts in elementary (so they have a basis from which to even begin to think), then teach them logic in middle, then teach the persuasion in high school. Dorothy Sayers was right.

They're now being taught persuasive writing in elementary school. That's one of the things that is leading to all these unintended consequences. Research is no longer about gathering general information that then gets analayzed. Research nowadays is entirely about finding support for the argument they come up with first.

And typically, their feelings are used as evidence...

In my kids' public school district at least, kids are taught to use research sources far sooner than they ever were in decades before. And in addition to persuasive writing they are taught analysis of sources. I think all the complainers need to actually look at the evidence in the curriculum before making unsupported blanket statements.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My siblings a college professor. He says it’s really bad for years and gotten worse. Critical thought is dead and there is no interest in reviving it. It’s bad news

That's because we no longer teach kids in a way that makes sense to teach them critical thinking. First stuff their heads with facts in elementary (so they have a basis from which to even begin to think), then teach them logic in middle, then teach the persuasion in high school. Dorothy Sayers was right.

They're now being taught persuasive writing in elementary school. That's one of the things that is leading to all these unintended consequences. Research is no longer about gathering general information that then gets analayzed. Research nowadays is entirely about finding support for the argument they come up with first.

And typically, their feelings are used as evidence...

Let's bring back cursive.

Did Socrates students tell him to
Fukith Ofith

Anonymous wrote:What grade? I teach kindergarten and so many kids are brain damaged from too much technology. Their eyes can barely focus on a picture in a book or on words. They haven't been able to watch a short animated movie for many years.

I'm an EL teacher who works with multiple ES grades and I see exactly the same thing. These kids can't focus on $hit. Its a real problem.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Every generation writes this about the subsequence going back to ancient Greece. There's never any truth to it.

It's true that older generations always complain about the youths, but pay attention to what veteran teachers and professors are saying. Pay attention to teacher shortages. Pay attention to how many empty teacher preparation programs are. There is a problem, regardless of what was going on in the distant past.

It also can't be denied that major changes were made to our education philosophy a decade or so ago. English Lit and History were downgraded in favor of writing and computer sciences.

At the same time there have been major changes to how basic research is conducted, which are only getting exacerbated by AI. For instance, the Google algorithm is no longer pure boolean based, it now tries to guess what you are looking for.

Those changes, while well meaning, has had major consequences when it comes to critical thinking and research.

We see the impact on adults. It is not a stretch to say that those impacts are manifesting themselves in children as well.

Anonymous wrote:Every generation writes this about the subsequence going back to ancient Greece. There's never any truth to it.

It's true that older generations always complain about the youths, but pay attention to what veteran teachers and professors are saying. Pay attention to teacher shortages. Pay attention to how many empty teacher preparation programs are. There is a problem, regardless of what was going on in the distant past.