I respect your right to your opinions. Like everyone here, I'm basing my views on the sliver of my own experience.

The real problem, and it most always is with government, is spending more money than it has, and more money than it has the ability to take in without becoming tyrannical.

I'm not singling out teachers for blame, except they're the latest to make the news. The idiots at Government Motors with their unsustainable union-runs-the-business model is another example. They should've declared bankruptcy and restructured or died off.

Idiot politicians can't be counted on, as they're focused only on the HERE and NOW of getting elected. How to pay for it all is the next guy's problem...or raither, it's OUR problem.

I hear many people start off the discusion of unions with something like this: "Once Upon a Time, unions were necessary." Fair enough.

However, these modern unions aren't asking for things taken for granted today. They aren't "asking", period. They're demanding, with threats in case their demands aren't met. They're as comical to me as the entertainment unions. During awards shows those H-wood dopes are all in one auditorium that can barely hold their egos; they really think if that building vanished into the ether, there would be no one to take their places. That no one would become an actor or director because there was no union???

We the People have too many other options to put up with such decadence, particularly in matters of education. There's homeschooling, tutors and private schools.

The real losers of these unions besides taxpayers are GOOD teachers. They will never be rewarded in a system that ignores merit and makes the System itself and money-hungry educrats the star players.

I understand I'm the minority opinion here and you may not agree, but the real problem remains: how are you going to pay for all of the decadent demands of the union, which in turn doesn't fulfill its basic responsibilities of educating kids? You can only tax the the "evil rich" so much before they pack up and leave.

>> ^Seric:

I wonder how good he would be if he'd spent that time learning real drums


Its simular how to how the top sim racers could probably beat allot of the profesoinal drivers out there.

its gr8 to have a game thats relitavly cheep and fun and delivers a simular exsperance to its real world equivelent.

playing on rock band will teach you far far faster than if u were to play real drums reeding sheet music and boring tutoreals , when you engage the competative parts of the brain or make something enjoyable the brain will learn things far faster than if its a choir or the lerning process is bady structured.

as for the technkees that you dont use when playing a game like rock band im pritty sure you could pick them up and develop your own stile in a short amount of time on a real drum kit if that was something you wanted to persue.

>> ^blankfist:
@<A rel="nofollow" class=profilelink title="member since May 3rd, 2010" href="http://videosift.com/member/Lawdeedaw">Lawdeedaw, but that's my point. Your take on public schools sounds like a monolithic one-size-fits-all system. That's what it means, it seems, when people say "it takes a society" to raise the kids. But does it? I thought it took the parents. They decided to have the children; I didn't. No other person was responsible for them having their kids. On that point, I don't have children, so don't you think I should have ZERO say in how a school system is structured?
You want "good, fair and harsh" discipline for those who fail, but what about parents (or teenager students for that matter) who don't want that type of discipline? Certainly we should have individual choice how our kids are disciplined, let alone how and what we teach them. Some parents believe in corporal punishment while others do not. Should one group's wishes outweigh the next?
But a public school system is a one-size-fits-all system where the larger group's wishes outweighs the smaller group's wishes. It's always been that way. When I was in school at an early age, teachers were allowed to paddle us, and the parents had no say in the matter. Was it fair that parents and children had to accept public school paddling without any recourse at all? What if a teacher had a grudge against a kid? What if a teacher got off on spanking children? What if the teacher left bruises and welts?
The reason I believe we should get rid of public school is because it's a terrible failure. And it doesn't address the individual needs of parents and children. What if a kid knew what they wanted to be, or at least had a strong interest in some field or industry (medicine, filmmaking, etc.), wouldn't it be cool if there were schools (or tutors) that catered to that without having to teach the horrible 'no kid left behind' one-size-fits-all curriculum passed down by the Dept. of Education? I think so.


Let me give a recent example of no-responsibility members of society fucking things up for parents. My brother does not want children nor can he even stand them. I have three children, all girls 3 and under. Well, my mom got remarried and her dictate was for all the children to have fun during the reception. Fine and well.

They were having a blast. They were screaming and running as kids do, and my brother got furious. Mom was cool with it, even if her wedding had been very formal. My brother said, "If I wanted fucking screaming, I would have went to god damn Jumberee." I said, bro, calm down and watch your tounge when you speak about my kids. "No, I fucking hate kids."

Now, knowing my brother was speaking directly about all children, including my own, I almost punched his face off his chin. That would have had me in cuffs and would have certainly affected how I raise my children and how my children would have saw me. His responsibility was to not attend the wedding if he had a problem with children---or he could have shut up. Period. But since he has a responsibility-free mindset, that it is not his problem but he can interject his opinion where it is not wanted or relevant, I have to suffer.

His mindset is, “Why should I not attend my mother’s wedding because of your kids? And why should I have to put up with their screaming?” Well, you don’t raise my kids, don’t love them or care for them, so stfu bro. Mom invited me and my kids, so put up with them. If you demand they change bro, then put in some fucking effort and teach them! You cannot have it both ways.

@Lawdeedaw, but that's my point. Your take on public schools sounds like a monolithic one-size-fits-all system. That's what it means, it seems, when people say "it takes a society" to raise the kids. But does it? I thought it took the parents. They decided to have the children; I didn't. No other person was responsible for them having their kids. On that point, I don't have children, so don't you think I should have ZERO say in how a school system is structured?

You want "good, fair and harsh" discipline for those who fail, but what about parents (or teenager students for that matter) who don't want that type of discipline? Certainly we should have individual choice how our kids are disciplined, let alone how and what we teach them. Some parents believe in corporal punishment while others do not. Should one group's wishes outweigh the next?

But a public school system is a one-size-fits-all system where the larger group's wishes outweighs the smaller group's wishes. It's always been that way. When I was in school at an early age, teachers were allowed to paddle us, and the parents had no say in the matter. Was it fair that parents and children had to accept public school paddling without any recourse at all? What if a teacher had a grudge against a kid? What if a teacher got off on spanking children? What if the teacher left bruises and welts?

The reason I believe we should get rid of public school is because it's a terrible failure. And it doesn't address the individual needs of parents and children. What if a kid knew what they wanted to be, or at least had a strong interest in some field or industry (medicine, filmmaking, etc.), wouldn't it be cool if there were schools (or tutors) that catered to that without having to teach the horrible 'no kid left behind' one-size-fits-all curriculum passed down by the Dept. of Education? I think so.

I think the difference between a teacher and a good teacher is that a good teacher gives a shit about their students' futures. I had the misfortune of having teachers (not all, but most) who treated it like a job instead of an honour or responsibility. I make a point of meeting with teachers (my brother's, my nephews/nieces, and my kids teachers) as much as I can. I usually won't go off on them if I disagree, but it does help me understand what role they will assume with their students, and if it will be necessary for me to supplement the kids education.

A young persons outlook on life is more often than not cemented into permanence by the time they graduate from high school. Some will change and blossom into more open-minded folks later in life, but not too many.

If there is one thing that bothers me even more than complacent teachers, it's complacent parents. I really don't like it when parents don't push their kids, but where I come from it happens far too often.

One thing I want to teach my kids (that I learned from my parents) is that as young people they will have the opportunity to push their peers if they think it's merited. I was able to help some peers who had hardscrabble upbringings in their childhood, and it can make a difference.

In reply to this comment by enoch:
In reply to this comment by Throbbin:
Enoch - bravo!


We need more teachers like Enoch. The robots might as well go work in a factory somewhere.


thanks man!
i am not the smartest man nor the most educated,in fact i was a horrible student.i fell into teaching late in life and found a genuine passion for it.
i taught comparative religions for two years but as i have told others,this was an elective class for adults.
when the alternative school for teens lost funding i went into the public school system at the behest of dr carlos.
i loved it the first day.
to teach adults is one thing but to have so many young minds ready to be jump started is a whole new arena and i was excited!
i lasted 6 maybe 7 weeks in that school.
not due to the kids..they were GREAT.
it was the other teachers and the administrators who had a problem with me.
not with my kids test scores,nor their assignments.
it was due to the fact that i was not following the precise dictates of NCLB and how i was expected to deliver that curriculum.
my argument was that if my students were doing well on the mandatory quizzes,which is a crucial to federal funding,who CARES how i taught them?
the school board took issue with,what they called "my attitude".
i was told i needed to grade my kids notebooks...i refused,because it has no bearing on what they have learned and is irrelevant.
i was told i could not grade them on participation...i argued that is crucially more vital than a notebook.
i was written up three times for supposed "prejudicial teaching practices",which was only my strategy in getting a lazy thinker to stop being lazy.
what i was doing is the first 20 minutes of the period i would have the class discuss how a historical event could be related to a current event.(my way of interjecting civics).
if a student regurgitated a textbook answer i knew he/she was trying to slip by with only rudimentary understanding of what we were covering.
so i would hammer that student the entire period and make an example of that student.
embarrassing? maybe
uncomfortable?most likely
will they come to my class ill prepared again?
never in a million years.
i also got into trouble for adding three bonus questions on every quiz that were worth 10%.
they were essay questions that i wanted in the students own words.
this was more for the kids that maybe didnt take tests well and i gave an opportunity to reveal that they did have a nominal understanding of the material and hence could bolster their grade a tad.
i also graded on participation.
if you did well on tests but didnt interact with the class i counted that against you.
that got me into some hot water also.
the school system was not looking for a teacher but a warm body to take attendance.
not for that kind of money or any amount of money.
now i tutor my friends kids when they need it.
of course i dont get paid but thats not what is important.
what IS important is to get these kids excited and curious.to become passionate about learning.
that, in itself, is a pretty big bonus in my book.
till next time.
namaste.

In reply to this comment by Throbbin:
Enoch - bravo!


We need more teachers like Enoch. The robots might as well go work in a factory somewhere.


thanks man!
i am not the smartest man nor the most educated,in fact i was a horrible student.i fell into teaching late in life and found a genuine passion for it.
i taught comparative religions for two years but as i have told others,this was an elective class for adults.
when the alternative school for teens lost funding i went into the public school system at the behest of dr carlos.
i loved it the first day.
to teach adults is one thing but to have so many young minds ready to be jump started is a whole new arena and i was excited!
i lasted 6 maybe 7 weeks in that school.
not due to the kids..they were GREAT.
it was the other teachers and the administrators who had a problem with me.
not with my kids test scores,nor their assignments.
it was due to the fact that i was not following the precise dictates of NCLB and how i was expected to deliver that curriculum.
my argument was that if my students were doing well on the mandatory quizzes,which is a crucial to federal funding,who CARES how i taught them?
the school board took issue with,what they called "my attitude".
i was told i needed to grade my kids notebooks...i refused,because it has no bearing on what they have learned and is irrelevant.
i was told i could not grade them on participation...i argued that is crucially more vital than a notebook.
i was written up three times for supposed "prejudicial teaching practices",which was only my strategy in getting a lazy thinker to stop being lazy.
what i was doing is the first 20 minutes of the period i would have the class discuss how a historical event could be related to a current event.(my way of interjecting civics).
if a student regurgitated a textbook answer i knew he/she was trying to slip by with only rudimentary understanding of what we were covering.
so i would hammer that student the entire period and make an example of that student.
embarrassing? maybe
uncomfortable?most likely
will they come to my class ill prepared again?
never in a million years.
i also got into trouble for adding three bonus questions on every quiz that were worth 10%.
they were essay questions that i wanted in the students own words.
this was more for the kids that maybe didnt take tests well and i gave an opportunity to reveal that they did have a nominal understanding of the material and hence could bolster their grade a tad.
i also graded on participation.
if you did well on tests but didnt interact with the class i counted that against you.
that got me into some hot water also.
the school system was not looking for a teacher but a warm body to take attendance.
not for that kind of money or any amount of money.
now i tutor my friends kids when they need it.
of course i dont get paid but thats not what is important.
what IS important is to get these kids excited and curious.to become passionate about learning.
that, in itself, is a pretty big bonus in my book.
till next time.
namaste.

>> ^raverman:
To be honest... (and i hate myself for saying this)
In a public health system as existing in other countries he probably would be forced to move to a care facility for 24/7 nursing. The taxpayer wouldn't be asked to pay for such high intensive at home care.
He has the right to care, but he doesn't have the right to unlimited care at home with his own luxuries.
Not a good example for health care reform since: he probably would be reviewed by a panel of doctors and assessed as needing to move to a nursing facility. He currently has a blank cheque for unlimited care. The situation managed badly... but insurance is not an unlimited golden ticket.


I dont know exactly how the law is written in all cases but I do know that in schools there are "integration" laws (quoted because I dont believe that's the exact term, maybe "inclusion" laws). Those laws basically state that accommodations need to, by law, be made in every possible situation.

If your child were confined at home, for example, and needed private tutoring every-single-schoolday you would the accommodations would have to be made. Those accommodations could potentially include private tutoring but only as a last resort. As it is, they will do anything and everything to bring you into the actual classroom; and staying at home would be like a last resort.

I'm not sure how the laws would work in a government health care system but I imagine it would be something similar where accommodations of disabled individuals would be outstretched to the point of inclusion but not at the cost of personal freedom.

I dont know exactly how the law is written in all cases but I do know that in schools there are "integration" laws (quoted because I dont believe that's the exact term, maybe "inclusion" laws). Those laws basically state that accommodations need to, by law, be made in every possible situation.

If your child were confined at home, for example, and needed private tutoring every-single-schoolday you would the accommodations would have to be made. Those accommodations could potentially include private tutoring but only as a last resort. As it is, they will do anything and everything to bring you into the actual classroom; and staying at home would be like a last resort.

I'm not sure how the laws would work in a government health care system but I imagine it would be something similar where accommodations of disabled individuals would be outstretched to the point of inclusion but not at the cost of personal freedom.

In reply to this comment by raverman:
To be honest... (and i hate myself for saying this)

In a public health system as existing in other countries he probably would be forced to move to a care facility for 24/7 nursing. The taxpayer wouldn't be asked to pay for such high intensive at home care.

He has the right to care, but he doesn't have the right to unlimited care at home with his own luxuries.

Not a good example for health care reform since: he probably would be reviewed by a panel of doctors and assessed as needing to move to a nursing facility. He currently has a blank cheque for unlimited care. The situation managed badly... but insurance is not an unlimited golden ticket.

>> ^campionidelmondo:
I think Transformers was about space robots defeating other space robots.

Yes. Robots aided by Americans. I also seem to recall our FBI or CIA or something being involved, as well as our military. Some scenes took place on Air Force One...

As for the other movies, they're all pre-Bush. The international perception of american patriotism has taken a turn for the worse thanks to Dubya.

Ah, people can still handle American patriotism. The hatred isn't as intense or as widespread as some people seem to think. Of course it's there, but not to the point where G.I. Joe would be largely unwelcome. I don't know for sure, of course, but because I'm an ESL tutor at my university, I know many international students (South Korean, Mexican, Canadian, British, German, Vietnamese, Haitian, Bulgarian, South African, Romanian, and more). I've also had a Mexican roommate and a Canadian roommate. I've talked to several of these close friends about the international opinion of the U.S. (not just their own opinions), and it doesn't seem all THAT bleak. I'm not basing my opinion solely on this, but it helps.

Also, while some movies might seem very american to you, they sell well abroad because they have an easily relateable theme. Matrix told the story of man vs. machine, Independence Day man vs. aliens, Armageddon man vs. giant rock etc...

Don't be silly. Almost ALL movies have an easily relatable theme. My point is that all of these movies happen to feature American Man vs. Global Threat. What is more annoyingly ethnocentric and American than that?

When I watched this scene for the first time, it proved to me how utterly useless my screenwriting tutor was. Getting a first at university in writing/screenwriting felt so hollow because of how utterly brilliant Robert McKee is, how much he has since taught me about the craft.

First sign of an idiot tutor: Sitting on his desk

hooters, cooters, tutors, computers... computers?

Tags for this video have been changed from 'chtv, shamwow, jail, prison, infomercial, hooters, cooters, tutors' to 'chtv, shamwow, jail, prison, infomercial, hooters, cooters, tutors, boring knife' - edited by calvados

Tags for this video have been changed from 'chtv, shamwow, jail, prison, infomercial' to 'chtv, shamwow, jail, prison, infomercial, hooters, cooters, tutors' - edited by calvados

About the Speaker
Walter Lewin

Professor of Physics

Walter H. G. Lewin is well-known at MIT for his lectures on both Newtonian mechanics and electricity and magnetism. Videos of his lectures can be viewed on the web via the Open CourseWare and Pivot links below.

Lewin received his Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics in 1965 at the Technical University of Delft, The Netherlands, and has been a member of the MIT Physics faculty since 1966. During his MIT career, Lewin's investigations in astrophysics have included satellite and high-altitude balloon X-ray observations, world-wide coordinated observations of optical and X-ray bursts, and international collaborations observing X-ray sources. In addition, Lewin has collaborated over the years with various artists on sky art events. From 1998 to 2000, Lewin worked with MIT's Center for Advanced Educational Services on creating the Physics Interactive Video Tutor project -- video help sessions for freshman physics students.