From the Inbox:
Thought you might be interested in this letter that we received today from the EUSD. I already had the following objections to iPads in the school:And here's the letter from the district psychologist to parents whose children were exposed to porn during class.
1. Gadgets that will be obsolete in 2 years purchased with 30 year bond money;
2. No evidence that these devices actually improve learning; lots of evidence that they are a distraction and detract from learning;
3. Privacy issues (facial recognition software)
4. Kids losing them all the time; parents have to stress about paying to replace something that they did not want their kids to have in the first place
5. Porn being shown in the class room
These iPads, like many of the other expensive useless projects of Baird, are designed to earn Baird and the district honors and awards that pad their resumes leading to bigger and better jobs in the future. And we are stuck with the costs.
This is not the first time EUSD schoolchildren have been caught using their iPads for porn.
Incompetence in the public sector has no consequence - it is seen as routine and something to be rewarded.
ReplyDeleteIronic that the school psychologist's name is Chasity. OPE is falling short on ChasTity in the classroom.
ReplyDeleteBaird will put a spin on it as sex education..
DeleteWhen will the first parent sue for psychological damage to their kid? Worked for adults in the Filner case. Call the iPad electronic Filners!
ReplyDeleteWhitelist filtering solves this. Only domains specifically listed in the filter are allowed to be accessed. For an elementary school iPad, this should be dozens, to a couple hundred domains max. It should take a few hours to setup the filter.
ReplyDeleteTouch tablets are tools for most of our future jobs. I have no problem integrating them into education. Also, they give tremendous insights and data to teachers about how each individual kid is progressing, how fast, accurate, and efficient they are (not just whether they are getting the right answers or not). Lessons done on iPads also give teachers more granular data on where exactly each kid is making mistakes that need to be worked on.
The technology is good. But like any new technology, there is a learning curve. Fix it and move ahead.
When I was in elementary school, More than a few of us discovered hidden stashes of dirty magazines. We saw naked bodies, and somehow survived the trauma without intervention from mental health professionals.
--FP.
Exactly.
Delete"and somehow survived the trauma without intervention from mental health professionals" let me tell you gramps, today's porn is a little different than the smut of yesteryear. With DP 'double-penetration' and ATM 'ass-to-mouth' being common "genres" all it takes is one look from a curious young man and the addiction has started. What is the most efficient media for sneaking into a bathroom in order to see degrading sexual images? Smart phone or iPad...each should be heavily scrutinized by parents as being allowed at all.
Delete12:58,
DeleteIf you think there are any recent inventions in the field of kink, you are sadly mistaken.
There are only so many ways the human body can be tickled, and all of them were discovered and perfected long before either of us was born.
Should we do our best to keep kids away from porn? Of course. Should we teach them that curiosity is normal, but that there is disturbing fringe stuff out there that does not represent a typical, healthy or loving experience? I think so.
But let's also not assume our children are irrevocably damaged the moment they see the wedding vegetables.
--FP.
"earn Baird and the district honors and awards that pad their resumes leading to bigger and better jobs in the future. And we are stuck with the costs."
ReplyDeleteSo you would prefer that the district not win awards, and we hire people that aren't worth of promotions?
http://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/intelligencer/2013/07/17/17-simpsons-old-man.o.jpg/a_560x375.jpg
The awards are for being "green" and "innovative" and are all fluff. They have nothing to do with the quality of the education. So yes, I do not care about the district earning meaningless, feel-good, self-congratulatory awards paid for by us long after those who profit from the awards (the admin, not our kids) are gone.
Delete@3:33 so... you want to go quantitative instead? Strap in and open your eyes, because from the data it seems like EUSD has somehow managed to survive and thrive even in the face of serial budget rapes by the "I've got mine" crowd.:
DeleteAcademic Performance Index (API) Report (average scores from 2011, 2012, 2013. Results are one of the main components of the Public Schools Accountability Act passed by the California legislature in 1999. API scores ranges from a low of 200 to a high of 1000. 3 year average API raw data are here:
http://api.cde.ca.gov/reports/API/APISearchName.asp?TheYear=&cTopic=API&cLevel=District&cName=encinitas&cCounty=&cTimeFrame=S
Note: since hyperlinks and three significant digits may be a bit much for you, here's a dumbed down version. Scale is 1-10, 10 being highest ranking.
http://www.school-ratings.com/counties/San_Diego.html
El Camino Creek Elementary rank: 10
La Costa Heights Elementary rank: 10
Mission Estancia Elementary rank: 10
Olivenhain Pioneer Elementary rank: 10
Capri Elementary rank: 9
Flora Vista Elementary rank: 10
Ocean Knoll Elementary rank: 9
Park Dale Lane Elementary rank: 7
Paul Ecke-Central Elementary rank: 8
Diegueno Middle rank: 10
La Costa Canyon High rank: 9
North Coast Alternative High rank: none
Oak Crest Middle rank: 10
San Dieguito High Academy rank: 9
Continuation Sunset High rank: none
("This site provides school ratings information for 9823 California Schools. The ratings information comes from California's 2013 API Growth data.")
So what's up next, the "No True Scotsman" defense? The "science is flawed/data are premature" defense?
The "measuring the wrong endpoint/thode statistics are junk " defense?
Maybe a bit more time on an iPAD and less time reading the Coast News and watching Fox on cable TV would help?
oh, and before you get all huffy that I included the local high schools, pleaser note that they are the most common educational destination for Baird's EUSD students, and their performance can reasonably be considered another indicator of EUSD success..
DeleteOH PLEASE! We all know very well that these scores reflect genes, family culture and demographics NOT "teaching methodology" or anything that some 'hyper-credentialed bureaucrat like Beard can crete?! GUARANTEED that the author of this post is a union-paid teacher or administrator with some complete garbage 'masters' or 'PhD' as they are a dime a dozen these days and financially bleeding cities left and right. Successful people breed with successful people. If you can afford to live in Encinitas (on your own - not like Blakespear who was given a 'free job and free beach house') you are likely producing offspring that score higher than the average Joe. If you live in a school area with a high proportion of Parent Teacher Involvement, this dramatically helps raise the bar. So take Bairds "miraculous methodology" out to northcentral Escondido and how will things turn out at a school with the highest amount of "free lunch" kids and zero Parent Teacher involvement? Yeah it's all about Baird and his 'miracle crew' good grief!
DeleteWhoops forgot to include Tony Kranz in the "free house" section, he lives with his wife's mom and dad in their home that doubles as a "glass blowing retail shop" BTW is that legal?
Delete1:29, Agree FP. It would be like banning books because a kid suddenly acquired Myra Breckinridge.
ReplyDeleteThese are pre Baird scores. Ex.asst supt David Myrashiro spring boarded those scores to a suprerintendants position. He was working at EUSD for one year. The parents are the reason for those scores. Next time your driving, you will notice Sylvan, Tutors plus, etc....what happened when they opened the time capsule at Mission Estancia, children said they couldn't read the 20 year old scrap book. The writing was in cursive. These were sixth graders. I pad raised children in this district can't read the Declaration of Independance. Take the 300k salaries going to the farm, and teach our kids.
ReplyDeleteCardiff has the exact same scores. And We don't have a fancy expensive farm.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Delete@9:43 Baird was made superintendent in 2009. Care to take another shot?
ReplyDelete@10:03, this proves what, exactly?
@9:43 Maybe next time you could try "pre-Baird," "springboard," "you're," and" "iPad" instead? Also, even badly constructed queries like that in your third "sentence" generally benefit from question marks and other proper punctuation.
ReplyDeleteGiven that you can read 18th century cursive, I'd think you'd know that.
I'm now going to go make sure my daughter's EUSD iPAD got returned. Your educational critiques will therefore be duly ignored.
11:16 Go run around the world and get out your obvious frustrations.
DeleteWhere are the kids going to get their porn during the summertime?
Deletefricken Baird… what a piece of shit. Clueless about education. Any parent knows iPads should not be a school function.
ReplyDeleteHe needs to be fired.
"More porn...." ????
ReplyDeleteBan all computers and attack all who support them.
Stop change. Throw away calculators. Bring back the slide rule.
Schools are no place for computers.
I agree with you.
DeleteDid you know that you can spell out "boobies" on an upside-down calculator with the numbers 5318008?
We need to protect our children from stuff like that.
iPods are not the crucial link to the technological future - they are gimmicks and haven't been proven to enhance the educational experience. The basic educational skills have been taught effectively without them for centuries - I think that trend will continue, if properly utilized. The Google glasses generation needs constant stimuli to keep their ADD from kicking in.
Delete9:42,
DeleteTotally agree, but they aren't using iPods.
10:28 AM iPod, IPad, Maxi-Pad - whatever.....
ReplyDelete7:18, You're such a 8008.
ReplyDelete3:21 PM best comment EVER!
ReplyDelete9:11, No. "I did not have sex with that woman" was the best comment ever.
ReplyDeletehttps://youtu.be/KiIP_KDQmXs
DeleteAnyone look at EUSD agenda for their June 9 meeting?
ReplyDeleteBoard agenda item 10.g - "declare district personal property as obsolete and surplus and to dispose: 3500 iPads
YES that three and half THOUSAND obsolete iPads.
Yep, already obsolete - and the Encinitas tax payers will still be paying for them 20 years from now.
[Quote from the agenda - "At this time, the items listed are no longer needed by the District or no longer usable due to age and disrepair."]
Thanks Dr. Baird
Agreed. Like the town of Springfield, we should only put our trust and money into truly durable educational tools:
Deletehttp://1.bp.blogspot.com/_xdN0QQwsP1A/TH0KrkEDGpI/AAAAAAAAKb0/sVIDcgyUYR0/s400/In+Rod+We+Trust.jpg
http://simpsons.wikia.com/wiki/Inanimate_carbon_rod
5:37, absolutely incredible.
DeleteKids watch porn at Ada Harris. A kid was caught in my child's class in 5th grade. Ipads in the classroom are needed as much as common core.
ReplyDelete