I hate spreadsheets.

Incentives. How to they farking work?

Meanwhile, kids in Africa are having a heaping serving of Nothing for dinner. They could eat these marshmallows.

Was the Florida tag getting splattered with food when this headline was written?

Sock Ruh Tease: Meanwhile, kids in Africa are having a heaping serving of Nothing for dinner. They could eat these marshmallows.

books have more fiber

RexTalionis: Way to teach students how not to waste food. This is stupid. Doesn't the school have an Accelerated Reader program? When I went to Jr. High, we had a program where the library had books with point values and after you read the book, you can take a 20 minute computer quiz and get points. The points can be exchanged for prizes later on. I taught myself speed reading and managed to snag all of the Calvin and Hobbes collections that were out at that point (this was the late 90s). Score!

My elementary school library prevented you from taking out certain books if you were too young. Not because of anything lewd or explicit, but because they didn't think you were smart enough to comprehend the book yet.

/Then again it was one of the TekWar books, so maybe she was right...

Whatevs. At my old skul we useta run dat place. R gang wuz da sheit. If we wanna trow food at da principle we jest doit. Most tym he not show up n e wayz. He a skuurred betchass.

IMMA COMIN!!

Ugh, sure let's just start reinforcing that even the simplest, basic things you need to be able to do in society shouldn't come without a reward system. Maybe they can give out coupons to Red Lobster whenever a kid manages to stay awake all day in class.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Ugh, sure let's just start reinforcing that even the simplest, basic things you need to be able to do in society shouldn't come without a reward system. Maybe they can give out coupons to Red Lobster whenever a kid manages to stay awake all day in class.

Why would you want to turn our kids into white trash?

Sock Ruh Tease: Meanwhile, kids in Africa are having a heaping serving of Nothing for dinner. They could eat these marshmallows.

Nobodies stopping them from swimming over and eating them off the floor

Some farkers need a shot of sense of humour, stat!

This looks like a good incentive for elementary school students and a good way for the principal to establish empathy with them.

As for the "waste of food", it's a few bags of marshmallows!! A molecule in the ocean of food our society wastes day after day because it's "past the sell by date", even though it's still edible (but the stores refuse to let the homeless eat) or in restaurant and domestic "left overs" or in million of other ways.

I used to let my students throw shiat at me all the time.

My favorite was the "junk words" activity where I made each student identify a dumb word that they overused, such as "good," "bad," "very," etc. They'd write it on a piece of paper and decorate it. Then, one by one, they'd stand, tell the class their word, crumble it up in a ball and promise never to use it in a paper again. I stood in the front of the classroom holding a trash can, and they "tried" to make a basket with it. And by "tried to make a basket," I mean pelted me in the face.

It was awesome.

That's awesome. Way to go Marshmallow Man.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Ugh, sure let's just start reinforcing that even the simplest, basic things you need to be able to do in society shouldn't come without a reward system. Maybe they can give out coupons to Red Lobster whenever a kid manages to stay awake all day in class.



Um... yeah.

When they get to highschool they're allowed to throw insults and swearwords at the principal.
Hot dog!

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Ugh, sure let's just start reinforcing that even the simplest, basic things you need to be able to do in society shouldn't come without a reward system. Maybe they can give out coupons to Red Lobster whenever a kid manages to stay awake all day in class.

Dont we already have a reward system for doing the basic stuff we need to do in society... Its called grades in school or money at work. Thats the reward system for you. You do well in school, you get a good grade for it. You do bad in school, you get a bad one. You do well at work, you get money for it and advancement (if possible). And if your horrible at it, you get no money and loose your job. Reward systems work.

Hell, when I was in school, you did well enough and got straight A's. You got a free pizza lunch and ice cream with your fellow A students. If you were a B student, you just got a pizza party with your group of A/B students. It made us want to learn more and push our understandings.

You're the principal, not their friend.

Time Traveling Bunnies: RexTalionis: Way to teach students how not to waste food. This is stupid. Doesn't the school have an Accelerated Reader program? When I went to Jr. High, we had a program where the library had books with point values and after you read the book, you can take a 20 minute computer quiz and get points. The points can be exchanged for prizes later on. I taught myself speed reading and managed to snag all of the Calvin and Hobbes collections that were out at that point (this was the late 90s). Score!

We had AR but it didn't help. It was mandated every 6-weeks. I could either read "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" and take one test or breeze through 20 Bearenstein Bears books in 20 minutes and be done with it.

I was actually the first person to read LOTR in my school so I had to create test questions for it. It would be cool if it wasn't so sad.

Some sort of competitive angle might help. I can still remember trying very hard to read more pages than anyone else in my elementary school class every year, and I think I received some sort of grade for going past a certain amount. I don't remember what the reward was, though. Lord of the Rings helped, but when I discovered the Redwall books, I ended up covering hundreds of pages every week.

To this day, I think that stumbling across Lord of the Rings was probably the best thing to happen to me in elementary school. It was a slow read at the time, but I loved it, and finishing something like that solves the problem of larger books being intimidating just because of their size. Once you know how much fun reading something long and involving can be (and you know from experience!), you're more likely to seek out more of the same sort of pleasure.

Possibly the worst way to get kids to read has to be forcing them to go through the "classics" of juvenile literature. Somehow, I was unable to relate to stories about rural kids and their pets, and those seemed to be the sorts of books that lacked any sort of appeal for those who could not immediately empathize with the main characters. I don't think I have every enjoyed a book with either a dog or a shotgun on the cover.

Why do kids need rewards like this? Give the kid a gold star sticker on their paper and call it a day.

When my kids are in school, there is no way I am putting a "my kid is an honor student blah blah blah" sticker on my car. My kids are SUPPOSED to be on the honor roll. I am not going to drive around bragging to everyone else on the road. Why should anyone else care what my kids did? People are such a-holes.

Got a niece who runs a charter school in Chicago. Her deal was she'd get a mohawk if they improved there ISAT score by X amount. They went from 51% to 71% in Meets or Exceeds in one year.

SuburbanCowboy: Why do kids need rewards like this? Give the kid a gold star sticker on their paper and call it a day.

When my kids are in school, there is no way I am putting a "my kid is an honor student blah blah blah" sticker on my car. My kids are SUPPOSED to be on the honor roll. I am not going to drive around bragging to everyone else on the road. Why should anyone else care what my kids did? People are such a-holes.

But the problem is, parents are doing their jobs at home. And schools are having to make up for it in creative ways. A parent would make their kids do their homework when they get home. But most dont and actually arent even active in their schooling. My brother, sister-in-laws and mother are all teachers and know how it is. I hear horror stories about it. I was also, at one point, involved with the teaching end of school and know the hell it can be with certain students.

In used to get into trouble in elementary school because I was reading LOTR during class. My mother asked how I was doing on tests, when they told her my marks were all great she told them to STFU about me reading unless I had problems with the material.

/my mom rocks

Egoy3k: In used to get into trouble in elementary school because I was reading LOTR during class. My mother asked how I was doing on tests, when they told her my marks were all great she told them to STFU about me reading unless I had problems with the material.

/my mom rocks

My high school science / math teacher made the worse deal possible with my class. The deal was: "If you have at least a 100% test average in my class. You can sleep in my class." Little back ground info, her tests were usually 53 to 55 questions long but were graded on a scale of 2 points per question. So a total of 110% on average per test. I usually aced them with 1 or 2 questions wrong per test. Giving me a test average well above 100%. So I got to sleep in her class. Plus, I demonstrated my knowledge of the subjects in question by answering all her questions before she could finish asking them. She got so annoyed, she would tell me to go to sleep. Loved my old teacher. Still see her every once in a while when I visit my mom at work.

SockMonkeyHolocaust: Ugh, sure let's just start reinforcing that even the simplest, basic things you need to be able to do in society shouldn't come without a reward system. Maybe they can give out coupons to Red Lobster whenever a kid manages to stay awake all day in class.

In fairness, if this were real, I would not have slept in class as much.

Huck Chaser: RexTalionis: NetOwl: Some sort of competitive angle might help. I can still remember trying very hard to read more pages than anyone else in my elementary school class every year, and I think I received some sort of grade for going past a certain amount. I don't remember what the reward was, though. Lord of the Rings helped, but when I discovered the Redwall books, I ended up covering hundreds of pages every week.

It helped that my best friend at the time was also a voracious reader himself, so we competed pretty early on in a friendly reading competition in Jr. High. Of course, after a while, I taught myself speed reading (I did one of those self-timed tests, I think I was reading something like 1200 words a minute with pretty good comprehension and retention at one point), I really started to go through books. In the end, I beat my friend by a 2 to 1 margin on points.

Is speed reading really something you can teach yourself? I'm a pretty slow reader naturally, and I'd LOVE to be able to read faster. I just can't keep up with my must-read list, since I keep adding books faster than I can finish them.

Force yourself to read Fark threads without skimming. Some posts are so idiotic you'll find yourself trying to read "away" from them as fast as you can. Granted it's sort of like using the Running of the Bulls to practice the 100m dash, but it'll get the job done.

yves0010: My high school science / math teacher made the worse deal possible with my class. The deal was: "If you have at least a 100% test average in my class. You can sleep in my class." Little back ground info, her tests were usually 53 to 55 questions long but were graded on a scale of 2 points per question. So a total of 110% on average per test. I usually aced them with 1 or 2 questions wrong per test. Giving me a test average well above 100%. So I got to sleep in her class. Plus, I demonstrated my knowledge of the subjects in question by answering all her questions before she could finish asking them. She got so annoyed, she would tell me to go to sleep. Loved my old teacher. Still see her every once in a while when I visit my mom at work.

You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?

We had an administrator once who tried to provoke kids into reading by promising he would dunk himself in a pool. Then, when they achieved it, he showed up in full scuba gear and splashed around in a kiddie pool for a few minutes.

/yes, he was an asshole
//scuba suit revealed he was basically dickless anyway
///worst boss I ever had

Sock Ruh Tease: Meanwhile, kids in Africa are having a heaping serving of Nothing for dinner. They could eat these marshmallows.

Africa has some of the most fertile land and ideal weather for growing food. Us wasting it here does not take it away from them. If they can't figure out how to feed themselves and behave as a part of civilized society, that's their fault.

My kids school did something similar for "Pi Day" (March 14th). They had all kinds of contests to remember Pi and the winners got to throw a Pie at the principal. The kids thought it was great and got really involved, and this is middle school, when it starts to be cool not to be involved.

/CSB, I know.

IkonOlator: yves0010: My high school science / math teacher made the worse deal possible with my class. The deal was: "If you have at least a 100% test average in my class. You can sleep in my class." Little back ground info, her tests were usually 53 to 55 questions long but were graded on a scale of 2 points per question. So a total of 110% on average per test. I usually aced them with 1 or 2 questions wrong per test. Giving me a test average well above 100%. So I got to sleep in her class. Plus, I demonstrated my knowledge of the subjects in question by answering all her questions before she could finish asking them. She got so annoyed, she would tell me to go to sleep. Loved my old teacher. Still see her every once in a while when I visit my mom at work.

You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?

I said on average... Some test were large tests (roughly 10 or more questions) still graded on a 2 point per question. And it only takes 5 questions to reach 10 points. But usually she made them around 53 to 55. And mind you, this isnt just science, she taught math and did the same thing. So we are talking about a good amount of numbers to average from.

yves0010: IkonOlator: yves0010: My high school science / math teacher made the worse deal possible with my class. The deal was: "If you have at least a 100% test average in my class. You can sleep in my class." Little back ground info, her tests were usually 53 to 55 questions long but were graded on a scale of 2 points per question. So a total of 110% on average per test. I usually aced them with 1 or 2 questions wrong per test. Giving me a test average well above 100%. So I got to sleep in her class. Plus, I demonstrated my knowledge of the subjects in question by answering all her questions before she could finish asking them. She got so annoyed, she would tell me to go to sleep. Loved my old teacher. Still see her every once in a while when I visit my mom at work.

You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?

I said on average... Some test were large tests (roughly 10 or more questions) still graded on a 2 point per question. And it only takes 5 questions to reach 10 points. But usually she made them around 53 to 55. And mind you, this isnt just science, she taught math and did the same thing. So we are talking about a good amount of numbers to average from.

Getting 51 questions correct on a 53-question test, where each question is worth 2 points, may be 102 points but it is 96%.

The number of points you received may well have usually been over 100, but your percentage correct was not.

/Like I said, "You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?"
//Oh, and one does not have a "good amount of numbers;" one has a good number of numbers. That, though, is an English grammar question, not pertinent here.

IkonOlator: yves0010: IkonOlator: yves0010: My high school science / math teacher made the worse deal possible with my class. The deal was: "If you have at least a 100% test average in my class. You can sleep in my class." Little back ground info, her tests were usually 53 to 55 questions long but were graded on a scale of 2 points per question. So a total of 110% on average per test. I usually aced them with 1 or 2 questions wrong per test. Giving me a test average well above 100%. So I got to sleep in her class. Plus, I demonstrated my knowledge of the subjects in question by answering all her questions before she could finish asking them. She got so annoyed, she would tell me to go to sleep. Loved my old teacher. Still see her every once in a while when I visit my mom at work.

You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?

I said on average... Some test were large tests (roughly 10 or more questions) still graded on a 2 point per question. And it only takes 5 questions to reach 10 points. But usually she made them around 53 to 55. And mind you, this isnt just science, she taught math and did the same thing. So we are talking about a good amount of numbers to average from.

Getting 51 questions correct on a 53-question test, where each question is worth 2 points, may be 102 points but it is 96%.

The number of points you received may well have usually been over 100, but your percentage correct was not.

/Like I said, "You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?"
//Oh, and one does not have a "good amount of numbers;" one has a good number of numbers. That, though, is an English grammar question, not pertinent here.

110/100 is 110%. Just the same way that something doubling is 2/1=200/100 = 200% of the original value. No one's talking about probabilities, there is no ceiling of 1. They're obviously talking about percentage out of the points "possible" (with there being 10 extra credit points), not the percentage of questions answered correctly.

/You were that kid who believed improper fractions were impossible, aren't you?
//Wait until someone tells you about "imaginary" numbers
///I don't mind pedantry, but you could at least be right

IkonOlator: yves0010: IkonOlator: yves0010: My high school science / math teacher made the worse deal possible with my class. The deal was: "If you have at least a 100% test average in my class. You can sleep in my class." Little back ground info, her tests were usually 53 to 55 questions long but were graded on a scale of 2 points per question. So a total of 110% on average per test. I usually aced them with 1 or 2 questions wrong per test. Giving me a test average well above 100%. So I got to sleep in her class. Plus, I demonstrated my knowledge of the subjects in question by answering all her questions before she could finish asking them. She got so annoyed, she would tell me to go to sleep. Loved my old teacher. Still see her every once in a while when I visit my mom at work.

You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?

I said on average... Some test were large tests (roughly 10 or more questions) still graded on a 2 point per question. And it only takes 5 questions to reach 10 points. But usually she made them around 53 to 55. And mind you, this isnt just science, she taught math and did the same thing. So we are talking about a good amount of numbers to average from.

Getting 51 questions correct on a 53-question test, where each question is worth 2 points, may be 102 points but it is 96%.

The number of points you received may well have usually been over 100, but your percentage correct was not.

/Like I said, "You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?"
//Oh, and one does not have a "good amount of numbers;" one has a good number of numbers. That, though, is an English grammar question, not pertinent here.

Let me put it in a simple format. a 50 question test is worth 2 points per question, right? So if my teacher graded on a 2 point per question test and there were 53 questions, That means its 53X2=106. That means on a test with just 53 questions, the total would be 106%. You all are just simply misunderstanding what 2 points per question means.

ProfessorOhki: IkonOlator: yves0010: IkonOlator: yves0010: My high school science / math teacher made the worse deal possible with my class. The deal was: "If you have at least a 100% test average in my class. You can sleep in my class." Little back ground info, her tests were usually 53 to 55 questions long but were graded on a scale of 2 points per question. So a total of 110% on average per test. I usually aced them with 1 or 2 questions wrong per test. Giving me a test average well above 100%. So I got to sleep in her class. Plus, I demonstrated my knowledge of the subjects in question by answering all her questions before she could finish asking them. She got so annoyed, she would tell me to go to sleep. Loved my old teacher. Still see her every once in a while when I visit my mom at work.

You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?

I said on average... Some test were large tests (roughly 10 or more questions) still graded on a 2 point per question. And it only takes 5 questions to reach 10 points. But usually she made them around 53 to 55. And mind you, this isnt just science, she taught math and did the same thing. So we are talking about a good amount of numbers to average from.

Getting 51 questions correct on a 53-question test, where each question is worth 2 points, may be 102 points but it is 96%.

The number of points you received may well have usually been over 100, but your percentage correct was not.

/Like I said, "You didn't pay much attention in class when they taught percentages, did you?"
//Oh, and one does not have a "good amount of numbers;" one has a good number of numbers. That, though, is an English grammar question, not pertinent here.

110/100 is 110%. Just the same way that something doubling is 2/1=200/100 = 200% of the original value. No one's talking about probabilities, there is no ceiling of 1. They're obviously talking about percentage out of the points "possible" (with there being 10 extra credit points), ...

Nope, She always graded on a higher then 100% scale. But her tests were hard. And it is completely possible to grade someone on a scale higher then 100% when it comes to schooling. And there were no extra credit questions.

Hate to break it to you, but I am very well versed in math. I know imaginary numbers, improper fractions and everything else.

But I guess you failed Reading Comprehension though...

Forget that - pieing the principle is better. Not to brag or nothin', but I got to throw two pies at him.

This was before I moved to Kentucky and started the Accelerated Reader program, which made me hate reading.
"You have to get 100 points!"
"Then what?"
"You don't drop a letter grade! Have fun!"