Thursday morning links

The comments to the IQ article were disappointing, a lot of people worried about the ill effects of putting kids on a gifted track: they'll get lazy and complacent, etc. The big advantage of gifted tracks is to be able to give kids appropriately paced challenging material. My university was fairly demanding. I saw a lot of kids get in trouble with the transition from high school, because they'd never had to work hard, never been surrounded by other equally talented kids. My high school AP classes weren't as difficult as my college classes, but at least they'd given me a glimmer. They'd also made me a bit more ambitious about choosing a demanding college instead of the place "all my friends were going to." Without a strong family tradition of college excellence, I could easily have been derailed.

#1 Texan99 on 2017-10-26 09:40 (Reply)

"IQ and gifted students".

Our schools should be able to provide all students a good and appropriate education. Of course the better/smarter students should have the option to take more challenging and advanced classes but every student deserves a good education. My concern is that they will create a "have and have not" situation where students are divided into a caste based on tests and parental demands where these things rarely prove to identify future life success.

#2 GoneWithTheWind on 2017-10-26 10:15 (Reply)

Well, right now we have a system that stinks for 'gifted' students. Why can't these students work at their own pace? Why divided by 'grades'? This would only be a handful who can do work on their own, enjoy the learning experience, and only need minimal instruction (most gifted kids catch on to simple concepts with one explanation, not repeated, boring stuff).

Instead we are told it is 'mean' if we don't put everyone in same classroom at all different abilities. That those who aren't 'smart' will feel 'dumb.'

Well, what about those kids who are smart who are bored out of their minds? My 1st grader son became a trouble maker b/c he was so bored. He rolled his eyes when no one knew the answer. Would correct his fellow students b/c he was too young to know any better.

Funny how 2nd grade teacher got it and gave him his own work to do while she taught the rest of the class her repetitive, boring lessons.

This can work well for elementary school where the first few years the focus is really just on reading, writing and math.

Maybe some day...sigh.

#2.1 MissT on 2017-10-26 17:03 (Reply)

Our nephew's elementary teacher had a fairly difficult jigsaw puzzle at the back of the room. Those who finished their work - and our nephew was one - got to try to solve the puzzle. It worked; the quick ones enjoyed the challenge and the slow ones could work in peace.

#2.1.1 Frances on 2017-10-26 19:31 (Reply)

One way that bright kids get shortchanged is group work. Guess who ends up doing most of the work? Come to think of it the less bright kids also get shortchanged, because instead of making an effort, they let the bright kids do all the work, so end up learning nothing.

#2.1.2 Gringo on 2017-10-26 22:19 (Reply)

Actually, I think the Weinstein revelations and the Wash post actually reporting on the Clinton-Russia ties are part of an effort to let Hillary know that she is not the presumptive Democratic nominee in 2020. The timing coming on the heels of her releasing her book and going on a press tour to redeem her reputation just seems too handy.

#3 another guy named Dan on 2017-10-26 10:29 (Reply)

"[P]art of an effort to let Hillary know that she is not the presumptive Democratic nominee in 2020..."

Dear God. Surely in a country of 323 million people there are some other options out there?

I cannot believe there are no politically-savvy young female Democrats in the wings ready and willing to take a shot at the presidency.

#3.1 JJM on 2017-10-26 12:16 (Reply)

I think that is the point: to signal to Hillary that she should retire from seeking the office of POTUS and to let all those aspiring young(er) Democrat women know they are welcome to run.

#3.1.1 steve walsh on 2017-10-26 12:36 (Reply)

What I'm saying is that Weinstein's was the proverbial horse's head in the bed after Hillary made noises about not ruling out a run in 2020 in interviews during her book tour. The dossier reporting is the mysterious electrical fire in the warehouse.

Somebody isn't happy about her continuing to pull focus and not let these other alternative candidates seek the spotlight. None of this came to light when she was up on Long Island baking cookies for her grandson.

#3.1.2 another guy named Dan on 2017-10-26 12:42 (Reply)

There's the DNC to get past. I'm sure there's a line already formed,

#3.1.3 Sam L. on 2017-10-26 12:48 (Reply)

My response to people who complain about how businesses are run (unions, lefties, etc) is that they should open a business and show us how it should be done. Kudos to the "Fair Wage" pizza shop for their effort. Unfortunately they don't seem to have learned anything because "nobody is looking at it as a failure." The fact that they had to close is the definition of failure and not acknowledging that deprives them, and others who are also confused about the concept of failure, an opportunity to learn something.

I'd say it was a bigger failure than just the loss of a pizza shop to them.

#4 mudbug on 2017-10-26 11:13 (Reply)

A local business owner had a grand plan to open a drive up espresso shop for the express purpose of supporting the school extra curricular clubs. All the "profit" would go to the programs.
Kids were going to help staff it. Job creation!
Fair location without close competition.
Took almost 2 years to get it built, between permitting and inspections.
Then they found out the limited time kids CAN work it really wasn't much to be an ongoing concern.
Less than a year it closed. Building removed, probably because he now had a taxable feature on the property. I'm guessing the rules wouldn't just let him take it back to be a purely commercial business.
Or he just enjoyed the tax write offs.

#5 Jerry on 2017-10-26 11:20 (Reply)

"Daimler One-Ups Elon Again; Reveals Electric Semi-Truck Weeks Before Tesla"

This is brilliant. The truck (not a semi) can get from Walmart HQ all the way to...Oklahoma city and everybody in California can just starve while the entire supply chain loses money during the hours long recharge. I love it. Where can I get one?

#6 Fred on 2017-10-26 12:07 (Reply)

I don't think they made this move in a vacuum. I suspect that there was plenty of "hint, hint, nudge, nudge" that IF there were a non-polluting delivery truck that cities (mostly in California) would pass laws to make them mandatory within the city limits. Strangely I find myself not really objecting to these electric trucks. However if, as is likely, the taxpayer has to subsidize these trucks then my support of the concept is gone.

#6.1 IdahoBob on 2017-10-26 16:22 (Reply)

Points well made. I'm against almost nothing that is viable of itself on the open market. Musk is charlatan, a flim flam man. We (government) pays for all of his R&D and production capacity and he pockets the company's profits.

#6.1.1 Fred on 2017-10-26 17:21 (Reply)

Use it to tow a trailer between the factory and an intermodal ramp. Put the trailer on a train. Reverse the process at the end of the trip. Plenty of time to recharge the trucks during off hours.

#6.2 Christopher B on 2017-10-26 17:23 (Reply)

"Reckless" is a subjective assessment. Trump is provocative in his public communications, and largely ignores the long held norms of foreign diplomacy and traditional approach to interactions with Congress. I would only call it reckless if the behavior results in undesirable outcomes, and was done without regard to the consequences. But I think he takes this approach on purpose, or I should say with a purpose. He is taking risks to accomplish an objective, and in many cases it is working.

#7 steve walsh on 2017-10-26 12:32 (Reply)

It appears that the only person in D.C. who hasn't been compromised at this point is PDT.
Give me more "reckless".

#7.1 drowningpuppies on 2017-10-26 13:40 (Reply)

Used to be I'd with trepidation peruse the comments on these potpourri posts. Seems that ol' #Zboti algorithms would always conclude that some item would be a rich vein of comment plunder, 'n try 'n lord it over us biologics with his mad search and index skillz. *xZe don't come 'round here much any more. I reckon the emerging news of the day is orthogonally dissonant to #%u's selection filters. Those rich veins of proggro plunder turned out to be thin seams that soon play out. Looks like even algos don't like getting laughed at when zey connect their natspeech facilities to xirs event analytics engines and remove all doubt.

#8 John A. Fleming on 2017-10-27 04:22 (Reply)

It's when the drums stop that we should worry...

#8.1 Assistant Village Idiot (Link) on 2017-10-28 00:18 (Reply)

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Thursday, October 26. 2017

Thursday morning links