Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
October 21, 2015
Image of 1986 Chevy Celebrity courtesy of: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Mr.choppers
I once owned a 1988 Chevy Celebrity. It started to develop problems after a while. The problems could always be fixed by spending more money on the car. If I had been able to increase my funding to a level sufficient for continuing to repair each new problem, I could still be driving a 1988 Chevy Celebrity today.
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
October 19, 2015
Disclaimer: This blog post will not solve problems. I apologize for any false hope that the attention-grabbing title may have caused.
About the Problem:
There are a lot of underemployed college graduates out there who are buried in debt. Every year, the odds that they will land their dream jobs grow longer as hoards of fresh graduates are ceremoniously dumped into already hypercompetitive job markets. There doesn’t appear to be much hope that things will turn around anytime soon.
This problem has not gone unnoticed by our politicians who have spied an opportunity to win voters by promising to fix this education-debt cycle crisis. The two leading proposed solutions are: 1.) free college 2.) debt forgiveness.
There was a time when I believed that politicians were stupid or naïve. They aren’t. They are cunning rascals who are fully aware that they will never be burdened by the negative consequences of their decisions. Continue reading Just a Quick Thought #5: Fixing College 101
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
OCTOBER 18, 2015
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don’t criticize
What you can’t understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin’
Please get out of the new one if you can’t lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin’
-Bob Dylan
During the Vietnam War, many young people enrolled in college to avoid getting drafted. The logic that they followed was that they were less likely to die if they stayed out of a war.
In recent years, more young Americans have died in college than in war. The government’s figures for college-related deaths can be found here. The government’s figures for military deaths can be found here (scroll to pages 11 and 12 for details.)
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
October 11, 2015
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, individuals aged 15-19 spend an average of less than six minutes a day engaged in private thought.
Observation: I’ve never heard anyone worry about how American teens rank internationally in self-reflection.
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
October 9, 2015
Every year I enter a talent show. I never practice my routine, but I try my hardest on the day of the competition. I never come close to winning. I guess I’m just not very talented.
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
October 8, 2015
According to the CIA, the United States ranked 45th in the world in adult literacy in 2003. (That sounds alarming.) At the same time, 99% of American adults were deemed literate by the same intelligence experts. (That sounds reassuring.)
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 14% of American adults were below basic readers (that’s a euphemism for illiterate) in 2003. (That sounds alarming, and it’s also confusing because it seems to contradict the CIA’s figures.) To make matters worse, the National Center for Education Statistics claims that only 13% of American adults were/are (gosh, it’s old data) proficient readers. That means that 87% of American adults do not have strong reading skills. Those numbers would be scary if American adults preferred reading books to watching movies about superheroes or their childhood toys.
#here’sagoodexampleofwhyyoushouldn’talwaystruststatistics #whichgovernmentagencyiscorrect?
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
September 20, 2015
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
September 19, 2015
Getting very, very tired of grit as a topic of discussion.
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
September 4, 2015
Backwards Dictionary Challenge was designed to help students navigate encounters with unfamiliar word patterns and phrasing. The increased uniformity in education has narrowed students’ exposure to the English language and has helped to condition children to seek the comfort of the know. This isn’t a habit that most people are naturally inclined to try to break.
Backwards Dictionary Challenge
Originally published by AMERICANSCAPEGOAT.COM
August 8, 2015
The No Passage Reading Review was designed to help students better understand high stakes test-style questions. As the title says, this product series does not require students to read any text passages.
No Passage Reading Practice Intro Free Sample (PowerPoint)
