Regarding the Dog and Pony show entry and Jenny D.'s comment:
I guess I didn't make it very clear - the extra crap is in variations of how technologically savy the user needs to be. For example "drag and drop" vs. "click three buttons, while simultaneous praying that the computer doesn't crash." types of features.
I am little confused about this worry Jenny D. has about "bad teachers" and how a textbook will protect a child from the bad teaching. Obviously, there are bad teachers - just like every profession. But the concern of a good textbook being a saftey net makes it seem like every school has dozens lining up outside the staff lounge to a smoke break every chance they get. I don't really think there are so many "bad teachers" out there. Besides the fact that are several more interesting ways to be educated in the humanities that a textbook. If Maria Montessori is right, the student will gravitate to those areas long before reading the textbook.
I believe there are a lot of frustrated, tired, pissed, soon-to-be-driven-insane teachers who talk a lot of shite about how horrible their students, the administration, the state, etc. are... because if they didn't, their heads would explode. It's like the cops who make jokes over a dead body. Ever read that book The Nanny Diaries? Every Nanny (actual ones - not teens from Iowa looking for some quick cash) in the country read it, laughed their butts off and then went back to work the next morning. They all empathized, saw themselves in various bits and knew that while it was funny as heck, it doesn't tell the story of these jobs. Same thing with teachers.
I believe that almost all teachers want to be good teachers - even the ones you think don't. Maybe we shouldn't worrying about finding the perfect textbook. Maybe we should be worrying about helping everyone to be a good teacher.
I guess I didn't make it very clear - the extra crap is in variations of how technologically savy the user needs to be. For example "drag and drop" vs. "click three buttons, while simultaneous praying that the computer doesn't crash." types of features.
I am little confused about this worry Jenny D. has about "bad teachers" and how a textbook will protect a child from the bad teaching. Obviously, there are bad teachers - just like every profession. But the concern of a good textbook being a saftey net makes it seem like every school has dozens lining up outside the staff lounge to a smoke break every chance they get. I don't really think there are so many "bad teachers" out there. Besides the fact that are several more interesting ways to be educated in the humanities that a textbook. If Maria Montessori is right, the student will gravitate to those areas long before reading the textbook.
I believe there are a lot of frustrated, tired, pissed, soon-to-be-driven-insane teachers who talk a lot of shite about how horrible their students, the administration, the state, etc. are... because if they didn't, their heads would explode. It's like the cops who make jokes over a dead body. Ever read that book The Nanny Diaries? Every Nanny (actual ones - not teens from Iowa looking for some quick cash) in the country read it, laughed their butts off and then went back to work the next morning. They all empathized, saw themselves in various bits and knew that while it was funny as heck, it doesn't tell the story of these jobs. Same thing with teachers.
I believe that almost all teachers want to be good teachers - even the ones you think don't. Maybe we shouldn't worrying about finding the perfect textbook. Maybe we should be worrying about helping everyone to be a good teacher.
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