Artdog Educator

So true! Vigorously nodding my head in agreement!

2011-09-29T18:37:59.765-06:00

So true! Vigorously nodding my head in agreement!

Sorry about the lack of an "Edit" option...

2011-07-05T15:11:40.518-06:00

Sorry about the lack of an "Edit" option, once you had posted your comment--this is not the first complaint I've received about the Blogger interface. Please note that there is one on the "Preview" function.

I also apologize that I didn't see your comment until now!

I regret that you do not seem to be too much in harmony with my message of respect, but you do provide an excellent illustration for the perceptive. Thank you for leaving a comment.

I think they're all idiots. I'm an equal-o...

2011-04-29T22:53:21.976-06:00

I think they're all idiots. I'm an equal-opportunity Misanthrope.

NOTE: I deleted my previous (nearly identical) comment because there's no "edit option; I misspelled "Misanthrope"; and I didn't care to give some sub-genius the opportunity to declare me a(n) (insert perjorative relating to my alleged political/religious/racial beliefs here) because of it.

Man, this Blogger interface must just be a horribl...

2011-04-29T09:34:35.772-06:00

Man, this Blogger interface must just be a horrible ordeal. I am sorry you've had so much trouble commenting.

Tygepc, I have to say your clarifications would be...

2011-04-28T23:36:47.158-06:00

Tygepc, I have to say your clarifications would be clearer if your earlier post were still there.

The last section might be a little counter to what...

2011-04-28T23:01:41.096-06:00

The last section might be a little counter to what I started out with, but it does fall under respecting the student enough to teach them what they need to know before testing them over it. (What I really fear is that the example teacher is on the college curriculum development board while she is looking for another teaching job elsewhere.)

The example for the first section came from high school where those poor people had no control over what they taught to the students, just how it was taught.

Just thought I might clarify how things shifted from beginning to end.

Darn it! I'd like to have seen your thoughts!...

2011-04-15T09:33:58.012-06:00

Darn it! I'd like to have seen your thoughts! Apparently your foremost thought is that you hate the Blogger interface??

Wasn't the CAPCTHA, so I've got no idea.

2011-04-13T15:10:27.563-06:00

Wasn't the CAPCTHA, so I've got no idea.

I lost another long reply, so I'm giving up. I...

2011-04-13T15:09:50.122-06:00

I lost another long reply, so I'm giving up. It's telling me that a Required field must not be blank, but I don't see what it is. My guess is that it's the CAPCTHA, but it's not visible and wasn't, so I'm giving up on this.

I appreciate your comments, Dale. Thank you for c...

2011-04-12T15:17:03.068-06:00

I appreciate your comments, Dale. Thank you for caring enough to do battle with the interface and post them here!

I agree that many unrelated contexts bear superficial similarities to each other. Indeed, any human-frequented and -designed space will have common elements. It also is true that none of these settings is necessarily something that should automatically inspire dread or negative feelings.

Basically, you seem to agree that children should be just as controlled and regimented in schools as people are in factory or prison (or other institutional) settings.

On Facebook, several readers also have expressed doubts, essentially asking, "If we don't control children in school, aren't we courting disaster?"

My point is not that it is bad to exert judicious control over children, or that factories or prisons are bad to have. All of these things are pretty much essential, in our culture.

I simply believe that there are much better models upon which to build a context for educational experiences than those of a factory or a prison. In my next post I will begin to expand on what I'd rather see us do.

I hope you'll continue to explore these ideas with me!

First set of pictures reminded me of 20th century ...

2011-04-07T20:57:55.646-06:00

First set of pictures reminded me of 20th century telephone operators, or 21st century calldesk/help desk setups, used for cost considerations and efficiency of operation and supervision.

In the second, the child laborers look very little like the classroom pictures. I see no correlation.

While in the third set, there is some correlation, I'll go back to the first about space and supervision. In a classroom, you don't want the kids spread out too much or you have little control and they're too far away to see well enough to pay attention.

4th set of hallways also looks like some of the expensive office buildings I've been in, including the Ranger's Ballpark in Arlington. Somewhat surprisingly, though because we have an interior atrium, the Police HQ building that I work in doesn't look like that. I think I'd just conclude that a hallway is a hallway.

Metal detectors have become a way of life. We have them where I work (for the public entrance), at courthouses, federal buildings, airports, and other public buildings. The kid spread-eagle may not feel safe, but some of his classmates may have suddenly felt safer.

Uniforms are uniforms. "Barracks" style military uniforms are also very similar. Show me some uniforms that aren't...well...uniform?

Reminds me of the K9 Health & Welfare inspections we'd do in the barracks in the Army, or what the Canadians did at the border the last time I drove into Canada.

The classrooms look like classrooms, or adult training rooms, and will probably always look something like that. Trying to fit something else into these isn't quite working for me. An acquaintance who just came back from visiting churches and schools in India said that in the schools, the kids sat on long benches behind long tables, so this seems an improvement.

In general, I could take pictures at Dallas City Hall that would compare to any of these, so isolating schools vs prisons or factories isn't working well for me.

Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it would ...

2011-04-07T20:56:31.623-06:00

Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't know it would do that. I guess one must be prepared with a strategy?

One, we have a problem in that if I go to enlarge ...

2011-04-07T20:26:54.518-06:00

One, we have a problem in that if I go to enlarge pictures, I lose what I just wrote, so this isn't going to work well for anything very thoughtful where I go back to re-look at the pictures. I just lost about 3 paragraphs of thoughts and am annoyed enough at the moment that I don't want to go back and try to recreate them. Maybe later.