I'm definitely going to take a stab at the 12,000 words over the holidays. I know I'll enjoy writing it.
I haven't decided whether to submit 500 word queries first. I know it makes sense to run ideas by you but trying to write the longer piece might help me resolve potential problems as I write.
The homepage of the Oerth Journal appears to have been hacked (at the time of the posting of this message). Does anyone know if the message that the hacker left identifies them as the same hacker that has attacked Sinister?
Edit:
Checking some of the old threads it seems someone claiming to be FatiH from Turkey hacked Sinister on one of the occasions Sinister was hacked, but I find no references to who was responsible on other occasions.
Whoever it is who has hacked the Oerth Journal has left some sort of message in a script I am not familiar with and (in English) the claim that they are called 'LOphtiran' and are an 'Iranian Hacker'.
The script is Arabic and the language is Persian. It seems to be a poem.
Thanks, Robby STOP
Borg will pwn z0mb n00b @ss STOP EXCLAMATION POINT EXCLAMATION POINT ONE ONE ONE EXCLAMATION POINT ONE ONE SPACE EXCLAMATION POINT ONE
... but shouldn't the first question be 'Why schooling?'. Convince me they are worth saving.
While there are all kinds of statistics going around about how great homeschooling is, I really think that a lot of these results take some things for granted. I'd be curious to find out what the average IQ of the parents are that are doing the homeschooling. I have a rather strong suspicion that it is considerably higher than average. Which tells me that as many people that are out there that can homeschool, there are many more that either can't or shouldn't.
In your opinion, what do you think would happen to the majority of kids out there if there wasn't a public school system? Sure there are problems -- especially with each individual district/school -- but that doesn't necessarily mean you should throw out the baby with the bathwater.
It's part of the me first approach that many take when it comes to the question of public funding. "I can take care of my kids, the rest can go hang." While some may homeschool thier own kids successfully, the kids that fall through the gaps become long term problems and burdens among society. I can definitely tell you from my personal experience that neither of my parents had neither the resources nor the proper inclination to be homeschoolers. Then again, practically the only thing that qualified them as parents was biology.
What we're lacking these days is more enlightenment in our self-interest, the recognition of the fact that our neighbor's problems are our own as well.
It shouldn't have to be a choice between schools as they now exist and homeschooling. We should be able to reimagine public education. C'mon, we're gamers -- more intelligent than the norm (apparently) and quite imaginative people. What would your better learning environment look like?
I'm not bashing teachers, Moff. I think schools are underfunded and students get put into classes that are much too large. I think teachers are overworked and are forced to teach towards the middle. I think students are taught to not be intellectually curious by curriculum that is often not targetting their needs and interests but those of the state. I'm not bashing teachers; I'm questioning schooling.
Moff Rimmer wrote:
I taught for two years.
I've taught for thirteen (but only two was in a middle or high school exclusively).
Moff Rimmer wrote:
Regardless of how you feel, teaching happens in the home. If it doesn't happen in the home, teachers spend more time actually combating that lack than actually teaching.
Agreed, kind of, in principle. Learning happens in the home. A lot of that learning doesn't involve anything that looks like teaching. If, as you've said, that learning is so very important, maybe schools/teaching should look a little more like that informal learning environment.
Moff Rimmer wrote:
The way I see it, the main difference between homeschool and more "traditional" school is that with homeschool the child is FAR less influenced by others and will also not influence others as much. But in either case, if you are not teaching your children at home first, the child will take that as a cue as to how much effort they should put into it.
I'm not really arguing for home schools. I'm asking if mainstream schools as they exist today in almost all industrialized countries are really a model worth defending. Maybe we need to rethink them?
Moff Rimmer wrote:
I still kind of feel like you think that you are the "majority". My experience seems to show that gamers (especially pen & paper gamers) are much more intelligent than the "norm".
I don't think I'm in the majority. I do think that a large part of what we see as intelligence has to do with environment and am suggesting schools are not the best environment for learning.
Moff Rimmer wrote:
You could have done your scenario. Your kids could. My kids could. But there is a whole world out there where it wouldn't work at all.
I want my kids to have that chance but I can't afford to pay a dollar more for their education. I offer up to the state two children who enter kindergarten doing basic math, speaking two or more languages, reading three years above their age level, ... I just ask that the state not punish them for this by making them sit in classes that ask them to colour in the letter A and circle the picture with "more apples". I'm not saying that colouring the letter A and circling the picture with "more apples" is a bad thing. I just wanted differentiated instruction for my kids and I've been asking for it for years. Other parents on this thread have children with learning disabilities and want the same thing for their kids -- differentiated instruction. I agree with them. If schools can't hack it, schools need to be rethought.
Moff Rimmer wrote:
Teachers get a bad rap. I taught 180 different kids a day. 6 classes of around 30 kids each.
I spend my life with teachers. I'm not attacking teachers.
Moff Rimmer wrote:
How do you motivate someone who has spent the last 8 years figuring out how not to do work? Do you really think that the above scenario would have helped?
Yes. Look at biographies of troubled kids who went on to become successful learners. They may have been surrounded by caring and talented teachers but it was quite often outside of the school that the love for learning was sparked -- in prison, in the library, in the workplace. I think surrounding kids with stimulating learning environments and letting them explore their interests would be better than schooling as it looks today. Schools are very, very slowly being dragged BACK towards this way of teaching/learning.
Moff Rimmer wrote:
One class was so bad and I was at my wits end. Nothing I did had any effect. Then I tried to time them on a worksheet -- "You have 5 minutes to complete this worksheet. Go." It was great -- 5 minutes of silence as they worked to do it -- why?
Level appropriate challenge? A clear goal? A well-designed task? Hands-on, engaged learning? Sounds like the kind of thing that a stimulating learning environment should contain.
Moff Rimmer wrote:
Sorry, I'm rambling. I just have strong feelings about this. The teacher's job (as impossible as it is) is made easier or harder based on what happens in the kids' homes.
Agreed. But, what if we do stuff right in the homes? I'm not a perfect parent but I turn out good product. Why do I have to go around kicking myself for putting my children into a school system that is clearly not meeting their needs? It could! It could meet their needs! It wouldn't be hard. First, though, we have to kick our heads in gear and reimagine schooling.
... but shouldn't the first question be 'Why schooling?'. Convince me they are worth saving.
In your opinion, what do you think would happen to the majority of kids out there if there wasn't a public school system? Sure there are problems -- especially with each individual district/school -- but that doesn't necessarily mean you should throw out the baby with the bathwater.
So, our defence of schooling is that we wouldn't know what to do with our kids if they didn't go to school? That's weak.
Children do better in school if parents read with them, talk with them, eat with them, and play with them on a daily basis. That's the best thing we could do with our kids.
As far as educating children, I bet that if we replaced schools with adult supervision in spaces full of interesting play opportunities that provided age and level appropriate challenges, places to read, study rooms, and regular assessment, you'd get better results for less money.
It may be though that there is something seriously wrong with schooling. The assumption that the best place for children to learn is in a crowded room with 20 to 30 other children of similar ages is still suspicious.
But that's not really the case. The assumption these days, certainly here in south central Wisconsin, is that a class with a smaller size is a much bettter place for young children to learn. Any school district saying the opposite is probably ignorant of studies into the effects of class size or is putting a good spin on a less-than-ideal situation.
I think public schools can be good places to educate kids on a whole range of topics not necessarily limited to the 3-Rs. But it really does take a major commitment to do it. Some local districts and states are more likely to make that commitment than others, hence our larger tax burdens but also comparatively better academic performance in the public schools.
Okay, let me rephrase: the assumption that schools are the best place to learn is suspicious. People can talk about how schools could be improved, that class sizes could be made smaller, that more resources could be made available, that the curriculum could be updated, etc. but shouldn't the first question be 'Why schooling?'. Convince me they are worth saving.
My situation is similar to David's. If the school just says, "We have nothing to teach him because he's too far above his grade level. Have you considered private tutoring?" then there's something seriously wrong with the school.
Well, what do you expect? The school has limited resources because people don't want to pay the taxes to provide more and it has to put up with everybody's kids. So it does what it can but it's a question of triage. Who gets the focus and concern when resources are limited? The people who need it more to get to the point where the district isn't getting penalized as "failing" because too many of its kids are under par.
It's the middle class dilema. You don't get attention because someone else needs it more or can afford more of it on their own. It sucks but it's not necessarily because there's something seriously wrong with the school. It's a far greater systematic problem that can't be separated from broader political priorities.
It may be though that there is something seriously wrong with schooling. The assumption that the best place for children to learn is in a crowded room with 20 to 30 other children of similar ages is still suspicious.
But, yes, schools do have limited resources. They should be better funded. Teachers and resources should be made available so that all students are able to be intellectually and emotionally engaged and benefit from schooling.
P.S. My four year old just started reading your response. I didn't know she could read. Am I going to have another kindergarten teacher looking at me like I'm just trying to make her life difficult?
Cavalier Dragon Skills "adds his Cha modifier to ... Intimidate in addition to his Wis modifier as normal." I think this is backwards? Cha is normal, does this allow Wis also?
PRPG SRD wrote:
The DC of this check is equal to 10 + the target's Hit Dice + the target's Wisdom modifier.
Charisma is added to skill checks to intimidate normally. Wisdom is added to the DC to resist intimidation. The Cavalier gets his charisma modifier there as well. (He loves himself so much, no one else matters.)
Ummm, during the time you were here, was the weather like 20 degrees Celsius? Did you just get an unnaturally easy introduction to November in Canada?
Heh-heh. I shore did. I was hot almost the whole time I was in Canada. Canadians seems to be like old Texans who run their heaters at about 80 all winter long. :-P
Just so you know, that nice weather has kind of freaked us out. It certainly wasn't a normal week in November. ;-D
TD, did you make it to the Sheraton?
Hehe, Yes. Just was looking for this thread!
Hilarious and thank you. I actually predicted the Texas longhorn postcard but the bullhorned mini came as a surprise. (I think the bellboys looked in the envelope because they gave me the funniest of looks.)
Thanks for the kick. I will treasure the mini. I'm thinking of doing up an Oracle with a Bones foci to represent him.
Wish the neighbours didn't keep stealing my gas (before the apocalypse). Been stuck here for days in this fuel-less car.
Old stereofoam containers from Greek takeout are not subsitutes for toilets.
Strange ... some zombie is marching around carrying the House for Sale sign from my neighbour's lawn as if it were a picket sign. More evidence that zombies are motivated by some kind of trace memories.
Keaton Bloodfang wrote:
Runs out of house, clearing path through the zombies, and signals for Tarren to run for it.
Wish the neighbours didn't keep stealing my gas (before the apocalypse). Been stuck here for days in this fuel-less car.
Old stereofoam containers from Greek takeout are not subsitutes for toilets.
Strange ... some zombie is marching around carrying the House for Sale sign from my neighbour's lawn as if it were a picket sign. More evidence that zombies are motivated by some kind of trace memories.
Ummm, during the time you were here, was the weather like 20 degrees Celsius? Did you just get an unnaturally easy introduction to November in Canada?
Heh-heh. I shore did. I was hot almost the whole time I was in Canada. Canadians seems to be like old Texans who run their heaters at about 80 all winter long. :-P
Just so you know, that nice weather has kind of freaked us out. It certainly wasn't a normal week in November. ;-D
Okay, was just a bit confused. I met a guy from Shebrooke in the Religion dept. Marc somebody. Hon-hon-hon! (I know, but I'm having a good time with the francophones.)
Haven't asked the desk yet if they will hold something for you, but I assume they will.
Kind of hoping I can find time to go to the Waterhouse exhibit, but by the time I got back today, the museum had already been closed for an hour.
Waterhouse exhibit?
There's a lot of Marcs in Sherbrooke. ;-)
What, you don't instantly know him? It doesn't help that Marc was not hyphenated with anything? Well, let's see...he was kind of an old dude with glasses and a scarf, silver-grey hair...maybe balding? ;P
Yeah, awesome Waterhouse exhibit. No reproductions I have ever seen come close to giving you the glory of Waterhouse, especially when it comes to Circe Invidiosa. At the Musee des Beaux-Arts, called Jardin de Waterhouse or something like that.
** spoiler omitted **
Ummm, during the time you were here, was the weather like 20 degrees Celsius? Did you just get an unnaturally easy introduction to November in Canada?
Speaking of engaged children, we're trying something different (for us) in our house. We're designating one day a month as a "No TV Day". That was today. (Pssst, don't tell Nerrat it ends when he goes to bed.) We've had a great day with lots of reading, board games, piano practice, talking, hugging, cooking, ... Best Day Ever.
Oh, Lord. I can't believe I'm talking to the zombies now. I must be losing my mind. I know they just make incoherent zombie noises but I swear I was just having a conversation about religious observances with some of them.
My situation is similar to David's. If the school just says, "We have nothing to teach him because he's too far above his grade level. Have you considered private tutoring?" then there's something seriously wrong with the school.
I am more than willing to teach your son, for money. :)
He avidly read the notes you sent him on the history of communism's decline. (He's become a really anti-communist since he heard how his Korean great-grandfather died.)
He also loved the chance to write something for the first Wayfinder (thanks Lilith) and the chance to enter the RPG Superstar contest.
Playing in PbPs gets him writing dialogues.
Seriously, when is his teacher going to send him home with classwork that presents the same level of challenge as the things the Paizo community has given him?
My situation is similar to David's. If the school just says, "We have nothing to teach him because he's too far above his grade level. Have you considered private tutoring?" then there's something seriously wrong with the school.
Homeschooling appeals to me but my wife worries about the lack of broader social interaction.
I point out to my wife that she always complains about 1 month into the school year because the boy that comes home from school is less polite, less academically oriented, less interested, less happy, etc. than the boy we sent to school a month before but she isn't sold on homeschooling yet.
Maybe its the parent advisory council's way of saying that schools are underfunded and that relying on donations and fundraising from parents or advertising from corporations is the socially acceptable equivalent of selling test scores. Maybe the Rosewood Middle School Parent Advisor Council (RMSPAC (anagram Scam PR) are a bunch of left-leaning rebels with a strong sense of irony.
I'm really looking forward to this year's contest. Last year, it was less easy to cheer for all of the wonderful contestants. This year, it should be easier.
Well, the playtest is coming for Cavalier, Oracle, Summoner, Witch, Alchemist and Inquisitor. What criteria will you be using when you evaluate them? What do you want to be able to seem them do?
Tarren Dei
(RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8),
