Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

My wife had a big falling out with her sisters who ostracised their mother for not being "educated" enough for them. The estrangement was long lasting.

What education MIL did have was from "the nuns" who it seems used to spend more time rapping her knuckles for writing left handed than teaching her things. :(

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

That's really sad, but I suppose not rare in some settings and times. In high school I was lucky to have a history teacher with such a passion for the subject that even delinquents that were failing their other classes paid attention in hers. Thank you Miss Liske, wherever you are!

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I think it must have been around 1952 when she left school in Montreal about 14.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

My Mum also has memories of the nuns, apparently they hit knuckles with the narrow edge of the ruler rather than the flat bit. Irish in her case though, she still claims to only have learnt maths in Gaelic.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Yep. :(
She says her dad went there and threatened one of them for doing it.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

My high school we had:

1 year of U.S. History in grade 12.

1 year of world history in grade 9 which focused on history outside of North America.

2 years of Mexican-American history in grade 10 and 11.

Canada had no historical relevance with So. California so the focus was on the countries that did such as Mexico and Spain.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Michigan police thinking outside the box.. (the video shows nothing graphic, nor does it show the individual who was not harmed and taken to hospital.)

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

My husband went to a Catholic school with nuns as teachers. He recalls that they used to twist the skin on your arm as punishment. That's sadistic.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I've met Canadians who haven't heard of The Underground Railroad

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I think at some point the educational system began to deteriorate. When my mother was secretary to the provincial minister of education around 1971 give or take a year he was getting letters from teachers around the province and she remarked that some of them weren't particularly good at spelling or writing letters, which mystified her.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I had a Spanish teacher in high school who was not fluent in Spanish, in fact barely spoke it.

Budget cuts in the 90's meant teachers were teaching subjects they had little education/knowledge in.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

when I left my last teaching position there were no physics teachers left in the science department.

Not a single person with a physics degree. 8 people with biology or some pseudo science qualification

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

My niece was a physics teacher...she left teaching a few months ago.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Unless in the AP or IB program physics wasn't offered for us regular students, only science offered was basic biology.

The IB & AP teachers were top notch, but only the smart students got those teachers.

My high school was really 2 schools in one, IB/AP and then regular students.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

And I’ve met Brits who haven’t heard of the Luddite Movement. I don’t understand the point of your post.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Maybe your education is to blame for that lack of understanding

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Finally caught who is believed to be the Golden State Killer.

Crimes took place in the 1970's and 80's.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...=.1fa6836407a8

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Yes, I just read the story on CBC, they have him linked to 175 crimes, that's incredible!

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

LMAO!!!

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Huge fire across the street from our building.

I somehow slept through it all.

Surprise to wake up to.

Building still had the hall vents on so hallways were smokey.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4636100

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Disgraceful. Stories like this reinforce my belief that we are widening whetever educational gaps exist in society.

Unless you understand some fundamental principles from an early age you're destined to become one of an ever expanding class imprisoned by it's ignorance. The unlucky will become those who can't subordinated to those who can.

An ability to understand basic mathematical principles allows you to assess different variations to simple problems and this gives you the ability to make reasoned judgements.

Understanding basic principles of physics explains how events happen in the real life in simple terms and this generates an awareness of how the world works. For example if drivers understood a little bit more about inertia then perhaps they wouldn't drive so close behind me.

Society, and it's political decision makers, do themselves no good by refusing to pay teachers, expecially 'science' and maths teachers, the rate for the job. It's an investment in the future in it's purest sense since by definition they won't see the benefits for many years, so perhaps that's why it doesn't rate a serious political discussion.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Personally I never had an issue with what I was paid as a teacher. That wasn't what led to me turfing it in as a career.
The endless "planning" paperwork and other bullshit did not help.

The situation when I left was basically that there was a shortage of physics teachers, so physics was taught badly. Thus no one gained an interest in it to want to teach it.

The answer to this, as far as I could tell was to systematically remove any trace of what I would consider to be actual physics from the curriculum.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Bad experiences with teachers can lead to a phobia of school and further education.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

So can bad experiences with other pupils! I was school phobic at a very young age due to bullying.

:)

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Very true. I was bullied from 1st grade to 10th, by 11th grade the bullies had lost interest, but its certainly not something I have ever gotten over, and that along with bad teachers and math, all 3 created phobia for schools.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I hear you. I had a dreadful Maths teacher in primary school too, useless! I used to lose myself in books, that was my escape...

I was bullied dreadfully in primary school, when I got to secondary school (from age 11) it was even worse and I got very badly beaten up at age 13 by a girl who didn't like me - then threatened if I 'told'. The police were involved and I was too scared to return to the school; I changed school but was threatened by the girl's cousin. I went to a different school for a year (secretarial) and left when I was 15 to start working in London.

When I was well above 35, I took my English Literature, English Language exams - where I scored an A* (one of only 8 in the country for that year). I shook every time I entered the school to attend the classes - so I agree, it never leaves you.

:o

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I still hate going down the street my school was in.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

And they say schooldays are the happiest of your life. :blink:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Those who say that have never been bullied most likely.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I loved school and I loved pretty much all my subjects, except one - History.

Even after years of reflection I'm still not sure if that was down to bad teachers (they were dreadful), a bad curriculum (it wasn't very interesting) or just youthful indifference to history.

Nowadays I love history and wish I was better educated about it.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

No need to wish, there are infinite resources on the web. You Tube is a good place to start, many introductory videos. BBC's In Our Time podcast often covers historical topics, and podcasts in general are an easy way to fill in gaps. My own knowledge of history is fairly patchy, but gradually using the above I've filled in a few gaps. Obviously it's all fairly superficial knowledge, compared to focused study, but interesting nonetheless.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I can't speak for jings but wishing one had something doesn't mean wanting to do it. :sneaky:

I wish I could speak another language but I don't want to learn one. :rofl:

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I very much do enjoy watching docs on Youtube and reading history/historical books, but I feel like I'm a spectator rather than an informed participant. When I watch engineering videos I feel connected to those, there's an almost innate depth of understanding, but I feel like I've missed out on that with history.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

There's always the option of history with a little bit of an engineering skew, Jings. Have you, for example, tried some of the social-history series presented by Ruth Goodman, Peter Ginn and others? There were a succession of "such-and-such Farm" titles (Tudor, Victorian, Edwardian, Wartime) which looked at the development of domestic and agricultural technology, among other topics. And then (in a series unimaginatively titled "Secret of the Castle") they spent some time working and filming at Guédelon Castle, an experimental archaeology project in France where a team is recreating a mediaeval castle using only tools and techniques that were in use at the time. I found that really absorbing.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

History is quite different from engineering, it's far more interpretive, and interdisciplinary. If your career has been in engineering, obviously you will be far more informed on those subjects, but that doesn't mean you can't nurture a interest and expertise in a new field. The more you read and watch, the more informed you will become, and be able to evaluate critically what is presented to you. It's such a vast field, and historians themselves tend to specialise; find a niche you are interested in and focus on that for a time. Get a good history dictionary (something like the Oxford Dictionary of World History) and that will give you a quick reference to important aspects which you might encounter when watching or reading. Given that you're getting on a bit ;) it seems like a very good interest to develop.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

I made limoncello

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

Never heard of that, so I googled.

I might like it in a cake.

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

🍸🍸🍸🍸🍸 is better

Re: Random stuff - the anything else thread
 

:thumbup: My sis-in-law makes it from time to time, also does an orange version.