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glossolalia's comments:

on Finding Solutions: What Works and Why for Student Achievement

Well, here's my two cents:

I come from a low income neighborhood in Central New Jersey, and I graduated from the biggest high school in the East Coast. It was one of those schools where wearing a bookbag was considered uncool. Yeah, it was that bad.

You weren't expected to do much with your life, but a select few of us did. Many went to rutgers, some to NYU, others even reached the Ivies. What separated those who excelled from those who lagged behind was a kind of forward-thinking. I'm sure this is instilled in the home but I'm sure schools have a way of instilling it, too. What we need are creative teachers, above all. Once you have a teacher who understands the student mentality, especially in a lower income city, you have something golden.

So how do I measure success? Desire to learn. Not grades--those are easily inflated. Not attendance, not any of the regular metrics. If children desire to learn, they don't need a push from anyone.

Of course, easier said than done.

I'm so happy to see all this enthusiasm in this thread. Reminds me that there are still people out there who care.

Brandon

CEO, How To Become A Ticket Broker

posted 2 years, 7 months ago
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on Water: From the Bottle or the Tap?

Water is a basic human right, but BOTTLED water is a different story. When you buy bottled water, it's more accurate to say you're buying a bottle than to say you're buying water.

Why should water be a natural human right, yet food is not? You can't live without either of them.

It's the same concept. Food is a natural right, but the PRODUCTION, DELIVERY, AND HANDLING of food is not a natural right. That's business.

Anti-water-bottle activists are expecting companies like Dasani and Poland Spring to purify and bottle their water for them without having to pay a dime for it. I don't understand. It's a service.

Just my 2 cents.