#students complained about math in year books from 100 years ago

[fourth-dimensional-thinker]

A collage for 1955 Lorraine. All images came from 50s-era Cosmopolitan magazine scans from this collection.

[joshslater]

The Reformatory

A rewrite of jd07201990′s swimmer story. Similar stories and bonus material on my Patreon.

T -1

Dear diary or however you are supposed to start.

So tomorrow is the big day. Dad and I are sleeping at a Holiday Inn at the other side of the state. Well, I'm obviously not sleeping. How could I? So I thought I should start a journal of some sort to document this experience.

Some background. Two months ago I was in a fight with Mark Samberg on the football team. It had gotten pretty bad between the football schmucks and us swimmers. The jockheads were constantly harassing us, calling us fags and prissy boys. It happened often and was getting boring. As the captain of the swim team I asked Mark to knock it off and get his players in line. Idiot as he is he tried to knock me out instead, and I lost it. In our scramble I managed to knock him down and was about to kick him in the shin when he shifted and instead I connected with his knee. Apparently it fractured. He'll be able to walk and even run, but he'll not be able to play again for years, so he lost his Scholarship.

His family sued everyone they could. Me, the school, the swim coach. In the end all the lawyers sat down in a room with a local judge and came up with something they all could agree to. Mark gets some study assistance to get his grades up, the school had this quickly brushed under the carpet, and could pretend I was never student there. Me not graduating wasn’t really a blow, as my college fund now went to pay for Mark’s education, as compensation. They were rich enough to afford it anyway, but they wanted to see punishment. I get the honor to spend the next 180 days at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center, where I will "participate in all scheduled exercises, activities, therapies, meals and medication programs". They can tack on some extra days for bad behavior without going back to the judge, but essentially I get 6 months at bad boy camp for standing up to bullies.

What will I do there? No idea. The website talks a lot about work ethics and responsibility and working together with the local community. Sounds like labor camp to me. I'll guess we'll know tomorrow. But first we have to visit the hospital for a check up. My first day in prison will mostly not be in prison!

Day 1, Monday

We started with a checkup at the hospital, and man did they do a thorough job. Our appointment was at 10, but before that I had to fill out a form with 100 questions. The doctor spent more than 30 minutes doing the most extensive check I've ever had. Not only that, but after the check we had to go to the sample lab to draw blood, and finally I had a CT scan at noon. After that, and a quick lunch, we drove to the actual reformation center, which was in a smaller town 2 hours away.

It's an old boarding school building that they've turned into this "Reformation Center", and it clearly looks more like a prison than a school. Just a heap of two story brick and concrete buildings out in nowhere. Not much of security, but then everyone was there "voluntarily", meaning that we all had a proper punishment waiting for us if we left. I hugged dad goodbye and was shown to Mr. Kerwin’s office by the entrance guard.

Mr. Kerwin was a lean, ripped man in his forties that oozed military discipline. He explained that he was responsible for my rehabilitation and that he wouldn't start soft. He would give me a packed schedule, and if I didn't pull my weight he would add more days for "noncompliance". If I didn't like it I could run back to judge Stephenson and ask to start over in juvie.

Perhaps that would be better, because the schedule he showed me was totally insane.

4:30-5:00  Breakfast 5:00-8:00  Exercise pass 1 8:00-12:00 Work pass 1 12:00-12:30 Lunch 12:30-14:30 School 14:30-17:30 Work pass 2 17:30-18:00 Dinner 18:00-21:00 Exercise pass 2 21:30       Lights out

He explained that my breakfast, lunch and dinner would be pre-portioned and I was required to eat all of it. The exercise passes would be lead by himself or one of the assistants. Again, I would have to follow every instruction. The work passes were done at local businesses that wanted an extra hand, and changed depending on demand. The school passes were done as a group on whatever subject Mr. Reed selected.

Next he ordered me to get naked and place all my clothes on top of my bag and move to the other side of the room. Having done so he pointed at a stack of clothes on the table and told me to pick my size and get dressed. I quickly dressed in one of the track suits from the table. There was a baseball cap also, which confused me, but was told that it was instead of sunglasses when working outdoor.

With that I was given a rule book to study and was led by an assistant to my room where a dinner was waiting. Turkey, rice, water. I was reminded of lights out at 21:30 and wake up at 4:30. The assistant left and locked the door. 10 minutes later he came back with my journal book and pen, and told me that they'll keep the rest for now.

Having eaten the dinner and having three hours (I'm almost sure 21:30 is 9:30 PM) to kill before the lights go out I'm now summarizing the day. I'm sitting in something very similar to a prison cell. Bed, toilet, sink. Everything is clean, though somewhat worn. Looking into the mirror is kind of depressing though. I look like some jailed gang member.

It's kind of weird that I haven't met any of the other inmates, sorry students, here. I saw some of them while coming in, but perhaps this is their kind of hazing, or they do an official presentation tomorrow. Anyway, I should study the rule book and go to bed, since I didn't sleep much last night.

Day 2, Tuesday

So much to write about, so little time. I might have to split this into several entries since lights out is in 20 minutes.

I was awaken at 4:30 and given a tray with a large bowl of porridge and berries and some chalky smoothie or shake or whatever to drink. After that an assistant lead me to the gym room where we went over various machines, mainly for cardio. Elliptical, bike, treadmill. Weird thing was that it was only us two in the room during all three hours.

Sweaty and a bit tired I was then taken outside to a bus where some of the other boys where chilling. Apparently everyone else had breakfast between 7 and 8. They had no idea why I didn't join them there. The bus then drove around town and the driver announced who should exit where. My group of four people exited at a farm before town, only about 5 minutes away. I don't know exactly since I haven't been given my watch back.

There we spent hours just moving hay. Don't they know about tractors? Sweaty, itchy, tired and hungry we were then picked up and driven back. At lunch was the first time I saw the real common area. To my surprise there were more boys there than had been on the bus.

Everyone else could pick what they wanted from what was served, but I was given a ready tray with an heap of salmon and pasta. I was starving though, so it wasn't a problem to eat it all. I didn't have much time to talk, but the guys at my table were nice. Somewhat rough, as could be expected. Apparently you were chosen for the different work assignments, and if you were not picked you stayed at the center for sports or craft or similar things.

After Lunch followed a session with Mr. Reed. The first boring hour was on English grammar and the second boring hour on US geography. I aced the quizz getting all 50 states and state capitols right, so I didn't learn anything new after that. Then Mr. Reed announced who had work assignments, and I was again selected.

This time I and Troy were dropped off at a different farm where we spent almost three hours helping with fencing. Mainly carry posts and sawing them to length.

For dinner I had some meatballs with roasted sweet potatoes while everyone else had meatballs with tomato sauce. Mr. Kerwin picked me up and led me to the gym. Unlike the morning session this was all about weight training. Most of it was on finding my limits for different exercises while Mr. Kerwin pointed out how I could improve my form. You could tell that this was what he liked to do, and encouraged me to push a bit further. Once we were done I had a bottle of post workout mix of some sort and a very quick shower before rushing back to my room.

Here's the thing. My room is on a different floor than the other guys. Also, my schedule appears to be different and much more rigid than the rest of the guys. I also

Day 3, Wednesday

I couldn't finish the last entry before they cut the light. My entire body is in pain right now. I woke up like that, and it didn't go away all day. Same schedule as yesterday, but different tasks and different dishes. The assistant really pushed today during the morning session, so I was exhausted already at the bus. Planting bushes at the city park all morning didn't help. I got some rest during Reeds rehash of elementary math. Then back to doing fences, and top it all off with weight training. I asked Mr. Kerwin about the schedule and why it was so different from everyone else’s. He said that everyone's schedule is individual and that he'll adjust mine as needed.

One more weird thing before I fall to sleep. Everyone else is using their normal clothes. I haven't gotten mine back yet.

Day 4, Thursday

FUCK! I was back on moving hay today again, with Sam, Trevor and Rick. I'm still hurting like hell and Rick is one lazy motherfucker, so old fart Farmer Joe decided to complain. The end result is that I am getting 2 days added for noncompliance. Sam, Trevor and Rick got nothing. WTF!

Day 5, Friday

We were carrying merchandise all morning and Troy heckled me on how I got more days because of the piece of shit Rick. But he then said that it was a weird coincidence that every work shift I've been on has been the toughest one.

Instead of going to class I met with the doctor from the hospital who made a visit. He asked me about how I felt, where I was sore etc. Then he gave me an injection which he said would ease things for me. I didn't feel much different, but I was getting really sleepy getting back to Mr. Reeds class, but it might just be that everything he did was too simple and boring.

Apparently while I had a check up Troy had shared his theory about me being a work magnet, so there were some groans from the guys placed in my group. God damn fence work again.

Man, I'm tired. I was tired even before Mr. Kerwin gave me the toughest weight pass ever. Fuck, I'm tired.

Day 6, Saturday

So the weekend schedule is different. There is still a morning work pass, basically only used by the local farmers. But the afternoon is free both on Saturdays and Sundays. Conditions and terms applies, apparently. Since I haven't done any cleaning or dishes all week (how could I?), I'm assigned washing clothes, sheets etc. Man, how much better it is to carry laundry than hay. Best job assignment all week. Lots of downtime. Only real drawback is all the humidity. It’s steamy AF here.

Still fucking 3h workout pass in the morning and evening. The other boys were pretty vocal in mocking me on my way to the gym.

Day 7, Sunday

So the day started out as any other so far. Woke up sore. Breakfast alone and 3 hour gym session. There are no work passes outside LARC on Sundays, so I was hit with cleaning, together with Kyle G. and Rick. Rick ghosted after like three minutes, but KG did a solid work. It took us all the time til lunch though to finish it.

Then my first free couple of hours all week. It’s insane. The other guys were low key avoiding me, so I did what Mr. Kerwin had suggested and had a walk in the forest. It was actually kind of nice, and for some weird reason I didn’t feel like sitting still.

Day 8, Monday

Same shit again. Mr. Kerwin gave me a shot in the arm this evening. Apparently I’ll have one each Monday from now on. Whatever.

Also I found out today that the others don’t have formal lights out. I’m on my own floor so they can lock me up and cut the power. What the fuck?

Day 9, Tuesday

That fucker Rick slacked off again, taunting me about another two days. Ha! I got 10. Mostly for kicking him in the teeth. They locked me in my room, so I had lunch there and sat in this boring ass cell during class and work. Fuck, I don’t know what’s worse. I had to do some body weight exercises to keep sane. Fuck this shit.

Back again. I still got to have my evening workout. Kerwin was pushing harder than ever. The order of exercises was different too. Apparently to make the major muscles tired so smaller muscle groups then get to work. Or something. I don’t give a shit.

Day 11, Thursday

They fucking work now, don’t they the little shits. They know I ruined someones career to get here and another one for slacking off. They better pull there weight

Day 14, Sunday

I think I’ll stick to just write on Sundays. There is only half an hour from evening gym to lights out, so there isn’t much time for writing. I’ve even skipped shower a few times. It’s not like it matters when you start every fucking day getting soaked with cardio. Not like there are any girls around to impress either. Sunday has a different vibe tho. Cleaning, running in the forest and taking a long shower.

Starts and ends with fucking gym time though.

Day 21, Sunday

I really fucking like the forest runs. Its like you don’t have to think and can just run wherever and grab whatever and smash whatever. Fucking love it

Day 28, Sunday

Yay! A full fucking month!

It’s crazy though how much stronger I’m. I have gone up one size larger track suite and 2 sizes larger sneakers. Working hard to make me the best I guess.

Day 42, Sunday

guess i forgot about writing last week. i think the monday shots make me angry or something because last week fucked up someone else on tuesday. at least they all give me fucking respect at least.

Day 92, Monday

i dont give a shit abot reeds borin ass lessons and they fuckin repeat on a loop or some shit. today he was back on gramr and the states. i most time dont fill out his shit but wanted to do it again today. fucking aced most of the states. not so good on the capitols tho

Day 203, Sunday

only 2 weeks left tomorrow lol then im gonna yeet the fuck outta here !!!! adios motherfuckas

Mr. Kerwin enters the room, carrying a folder, and walks behind his desk, not even looking at me. I am sitting in his precious fucking antique chair I pulled from the corner. He’s sitting his ass down, rifles through the papers in the folder and starts to read from one of them.

“John Hamlin agrees to 180 days of rehabilitation training at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center, where he will participate in all scheduled exercises, activities, therapies, meals and medication programs, with a possible extension of 30 days for noncompliance and a possible extension of 60 days for infractions as described by the Juvenile Rehabilitation Act (JuRA), section 1103 (b).”

He looks up at me. It sounded like easy shit when I said yes to it. I thought half a year in a bad boy summer camp, or worst case something like prison, but that would have been miles better than this fucking non-stop hard labor shit. And 180 days was a fucking joke. They never fucking intended that to be the actual time. Have someone else slack off and the slap another 2 days to the time. Kick a chair to pieces, 5 days. Punch a guy for being a cunt, 10 days. I’m close to having another fucking outburst again. It must be all that fucking shit they put in the food or shakes or whatever. I fight it. I don’t want to show any emotion in front of him. I don’t think he buys my shit.

“There is another document in the agreement that you haven’t heard. This one between Mark and judge Andrews.”

He pulls out another paper from the folder and read it.

“The state hereby directs Mark Samberg, or person(s) by him so designated, to design and oversee the rehabilitation program of John Hamlin to be administrated at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center. This includes physical exercises, physical therapy, education, consoling, dietary plan and medication, as long as it fulfills the positive development criteria (Appendix D), is within the available services at the Lepinski Adolescence Reformation Center (Appendix A) and within the given budget (Appendix C). Additional services require external financing and approval from the Reformation Center management (Appendix B).”

That doesn’t make any fucking sense. Why the hell had the judge put Mark in charge of my schedule? I understand why he’d want to make the experience suck as much as fucking possible for me, by why had everyone agreed to it? Kerwin looks at me as if he can read an open book.

“You are wondering what has happened to you. What was the meaning of all this? Stand up.”

I jump to my feet. There are still weeks he can add to my time here, and I don’t want to give him any fucking reason to add some shit.

“Stand with your feet as close together as you can.”

He’s never asked me to do that before. I can easily tap me feet together, but I can’t really stand still with my feet right next to each other for long. What the fuck is this bullshit? My thighs are too massive for that.

“Sit down again.”

He leans back and watches me with a bemused smirk.

“Imagine that you’d been away from swimming half a year. Even if you kept in shape it would take you months to be back in good enough technique to clear the swim team tryouts. But you have not kept in shape, have you? You have a completely new shape.”

The blood is draining from my face. I understand where this is going.

“With your upper body build you can physically really only do butterfly strokes properly, but if you can’t bring your feet together the leg kick will just be a wild thrashing of water. You swimming medley would be a hilarious joke. We haven’t even talked about you almost doubling in weight, and how much more oxygen you would need to swim. Sure, you are much stronger now, but old you would swim circles around new you. And that is of course the point. If Mark couldn’t have his sports career, he didn’t want you to have yours either. And the judge agreed.”

I’m surprised that the chair doesn’t break, as hard as I’m squeezing it. I’m boiling with fucking rage. I have to really focus to not to act on it.

“Now the judge specifically set out that this transformation couldn’t be punishment in itself, but rather that you were trained in a way that just wasn’t optimal for swimming. We may have gone a bit overboard with the body building to leave you many options though. You’ll obviously never be competitive in anything with speed or agility, like football or boxing. The metabolic conditioning, hormone treatment and gene therapy have far to long lasting effects to change you back from where you are now. You could try wrestling or weight lifting though, unless you mind showing your erection through spandex.”

“What the fuck?”, I said, as much as a general question to all the things he’d said. What does metabolic conditioning mean? Gene therapy? Erections?

“The medical regimen that Marks family found for you kind of put the feet on both the gas and the break at the same time. It forces the body to grow a lot at the same time as we try to stop it, so it has to try even harder. By injecting stem cells with the right CRISPR-modified DNA we could get rapid, major and long lasting changes. Well, I say we, but all I did was to make sure you kept to the exercise regimen, for a little cash on the side… Surely you didn’t think you got larger feet and dick from eating much and working hard?”

I don’t understand exactly what they done to me, but the result is pretty fucking clear. There was no way I would swim competitively ever again, if I could even fucking swim at all now. I would come out of here looking like a fucking balloon animal muscle jock, and shedding the muscles back to where I were would take shitloads of years.

“The hormone treatment finished two weeks ago and last blood sample shows that your natural hormone levels will keep you muscled and pumped probably well into your forties. So this morning I also cut you off from all suppressive medication as well. That is going to spike your hormone levels and mess quite a bit with you, so we need to see just how badly fucked up you are before we can release you.”

“The good doctor say that you’ll be more irritable and have more excess energy than before. Both something you can work on with regular, hard exercise. But I want to see where you really are at now, so starting today you’ll have no required gym time and labor passes. You can wake up when you want, eat what you want and do what you want.”

“You said erections?”, I asked.

“Yeah, the suppression medication should have kept you limp. You haven’t jacked off while here, have you? Well, you heard what I said about gas and break and compensation. Your body has been pumping massive amounts of hormones into your blood, and will continue to do so. But now that you don’t have the suppressives anymore you should expect to be horny for the next decade or two. You’ll be nothing but a lumbering muscle dildo.”

There’s a crack somewhere inside the wood of the armrest. Fucking fourteen more days, I have to remind myself. Don’t fuck any shit up before then. If I let go of the chair I’m quite positive I will knock him the fuck out. Fourteen fucking more shit days.

[all-hail-the-witcher]

every book i had to read for english and why i didn't like any of them

i woke up thinking about this and decided to make this post. for context, i went to public school and was on the honors/ap track for english. i am a firm believer that english teachers ruin books for their students inadvertently. this is my experience:

6th grade language arts

we read three books during 6th grade, bridge to terabithia, the cay, and where the red fern grows. and i had to read a wrinkle in time over the summer which i didn't understand like at all so I'm just gonna skip that one honors english was not a thing until 8th grade where i went to middle school so this was a regular english class and i hated it. it was also a double period class for some reason, so i had an hour and a half of language arts every day. 

it took us half the year to read bridge to terabithia. i am not kidding. that book is like maybe 100 pages and it took us a good 4-5 months. this is because our teacher stopped us every time we got to a pice of figurative language and made us analyze it. every. single. piece. i got so bored that i read ahead and then got in trouble for reading ahead. needless to say, i absolutely detested bridge to terabithia and would not touch it to this day if my life depended on it. 

after bridge to terabithia we read the cay. this took us the rest of the year. the cay is a relatively short book as well so i got bored with this one quickly as well. i really dont remember much about the discussions, but i remember a long one about how the cover was “inaccurate,” which, yes, it was but i dont know if a bunch of 11 and 12 year olds need to spend a week debating that. i think i hated it mostly because, again, we read it for 5 months. 

the last three weeks of the school year, our teacher gave us a book and said “here read this before school ends because we have to read three books a year and we only read 2″ (for context, the other language arts class had read about 5-7 books that year and found it insane that we were “still reading bridge to terabithia”) so i read where the red fern grows. all in all it wasn't a bad book, i did kind of enjoy it, but since i was rushed reading it on top of all my other homework and because it was definitely ahead of my reading comprehension level, it wasn't my favorite.

7th grade language arts

now, a bit of a disclaimer here, this was the year that i was in language arts with the guy i had a crush on and one of my close friends at the time. so, i didn't really pay that much attention to begin with. we read quite a few books in this class, but I'm not sure if i remember all of them. again, this was a double period. 

i think the first book we read was freak the mighty. i remember not liking this book because i felt like i was missing something. there was definitely some kind of metaphor or something in there that i was supposed to get but because i was literally twelve i didn't get it and i didn't find the meaning in it. theres nothing more frustrating than reading a book that you dont understand.

after that I'm pretty sure we read the wave. it was explained to us that the wave is supposed to symbolize how the n*zis came to power and all that stuff, and while we all knew this, i dont think we really Understood it. (probably because we were 12). we all kinda saw it as a joke and thought it was funny. i think that if i read it now i would be like. “well shit this is really interesting” but 12 year old me wanted to make fun of it with the rest of my class. 

i think we read seed folks next. this was another book that just went over all of our heads. its about how a garden changes a whole bunch of peoples lives which is like, super interesting. but none of us got it and were like “lol this is stupid” so much so that we actually stopped reading it. like my teacher stopped having us read it.

I'm fairly certain the last book we read was the miracle worker. a lot of us had had to read parts of it before that class so we were all kinda familiar with it already. i vaguely remember some kind of obnoxious class joke about the book that was probably rude. i remember finding it interesting, but there were so many activities we did about the book that i lost interest. 

8th grade honors reading

this class was A Trip. i liked the teacher, but she was a little out there. its unclear whether she got fired or just didn't come back after that year. i had a lot of fun in her class but it was usually because we all bonded over hating the assigned reading.

i dont remember what order we read the books in and i dont remember if this was all of them, but to the best of my recollection this is what we read

we definitely read romeo and juliet. by the time you're in 8th grade, everyone knows the story of romeo and juliet, so it wasn't like that suspenseful or a surprise or anything. but we had to act the reading out. yes we had to act out romeo and juliet. with burger king crowns. and wrapping paper swords. clearly the teacher was trying to have fun with us, and it was fun fun for awhile but it got old. especially when you got participation points taken off your grade if you didn't read for once of the characters (which is massively unfair because not everyone wants to get up in front of a class in a paper crown holding a wrapping paper tube and read in old english when you're 13 but whatever). 

we also definitely read animal farm. it was another book that went right over our heads (or, mine at least). i didn't actually really understand it until i had to read the communist manifesto for ap euro senior year. and our teacher talked in a bad russain accent the entire time? i could barely keep the characters straight, let alone analyze the underlying message and all that. now i might actually like it since I'm a history major and have a decent background on the russian revolution, but at 13? no thanks.

the one book that everyone hated (including the teacher herself) was farewell to manzanar. it was a memoir about a young girl growing up in the japanese internment camps and looking back on her life and stuff like that. the story itself was very interesting and we all learned a lot from it. but the person who wrote it did not know how to write. it was confusing, some chapters made no sense, and none of us generally knew what was going on. we had to finish the book because we were the honors class, but the regular class got to stop after chapter 6. 

i think we only read 4 books that year and the fourth one was the outsiders. this was one of two books that i actually liked the entirely of my public school education. i kinda vibed with it when we were reading it and then i vibes with it more once i got to high school and rediscovered it. it was just a good book, pretty solid, good themes, fantastic. 

9th grade honors english

i absolutely hated this class. hands down the worst teacher i ever had. she was one of those that should have retired 20 years ago but was still teaching for some reason. and she hated kids. legitimately. that was the first time i got a c and it took my parents a long time to realize that it wasn't because of me, it was because the teacher was absolute shit. the only thing that made that class bearable was the fact that my friend was in there and so was this guy that totally like her so he would flirt with her pretty incessantly and it was Hilarious. 

we read so many books that year and i hated all of them. a lot of them were like greek dramas and plays? like we read oedipus rex and julius caesar and antigone. and i hated all of them because the teacher made me hate reading and made it seem like a chore. 

by far the worst was the old man and the sea. i hated that book, hemingway was terrible. i struggled to find any kind of meaning in it and connected all of my responses to the bible because my teacher loved it when people did that.

we read inherit the wind and to kill a mockingbird and all quiet on the western front which were the only books i found remotely interesting. but i still hated them because i knew that we would have to do her reading quizzes which were impossible so it was pointless to read the book anyway. 

and we also read a raisin in the sun. i dont remember what this was even about except that there was some kind of insurance money involved. but by this point we were all really done with our teachers shit and my one friend legitimately said during class “but, ms. [name] if you put a raisin in the sun, doesn't it just get more raisiny?”

10th grade ap english language and composition (american lit)

i loved this class and the teacher but i hated all the assigned reading because we read it for the ap test. everything you read was in the context of having to find themes and shit to write about on the ap. so i didn't really get any of the books for that reason. i think we only read three and they were the scarlet letter, the crucible, and the great gatsby. i kind wish i paid more attention to gatsby and i think i would like it more now but at the time i detested it. we also had to read grapes of wrath over the summer and i hated that. i wanna read books to read them, not to come into school and write essays on them. also the ending was weird and i hated it.

11th grade honors (british lit)

another bad year of english, not quite as bad as freshman year, but still bad. still hated it. i outlined many fics in that class. the teacher did not like me and i did not like her. she also talked in this weird fake almost british but not quite accent that sometimes still haunts my nightmares. she was also one of those backwards feminists who claims they're a feminist but still was sexist in her favorites and the way that she treated people in the class?? after english i had math and my friend (the same girl who said the thing about raisins freshman year) and some others would complain to our math teacher about our english teacher. math was essentially a support group for english where we would discuss answers to reading checks. 

over the summer we read 1984, which, cool concept (esp right now) but i hated knowing that i had to find some kind of deep meaning in it because i was going to have to write an essay on it as soon as i came back to school.

from there i think we read beowulf which was interesting. i dont know if we actually read the whole thing or just excerpts but again, i hated looking for meaning.

we read a tale of two cities which was like the one book i actually wanted to read because i am a huge fan of the shadow hunters book serieses and will and tessa quote that book all the time. i think if i had read it to read it it would have been better but first, dickens is wordy and weird and second i dont really wanna have to search out symbolism while I'm reading because its required.

we read macbeth, which i just didn't like. idk why. i just kinda thought it was stupid. i dont really have an explanation for this one. i think it was because we read it in the old english and that confused me a lot of the time.

and we read jane eyre. the only thing i remember from jane eyre was “pathetic fallacy” which is where the mood of the scene is reflected in the weather. i dont wanna dissect a book like that. and also my teacher referred to the book as “jane” but she said it “jAAYYneeE” which was annoying. 

12th grade ap lit

dear god. this class. i had issues with this class. our teacher was something. everyone was afraid of him. e v e r y o n e. he ran detention and didn't know how to match his clothes and wore skinny ties. he had three swell bottles the he would bring with him to school every day. people claimed he used to be in a rock band and that was why his voice was so high pitched and weird. some said his wife left him, others said he had a kid. we were genuinely confused by him. he didn't teach, he yelled at you for doing things wrong without giving any instructions on how he actually wanted it done. he made college out to be some big scary thing where we would all be trampled. but mostly, he was an existentialist. 

we had to read song of solomon over the summer. i hated it. i didn't hate it because of the messages and all that stuff, no the book itself was good and toni morrison is a great author. i just hated the fact that there was graphic description of incest, necrophilia, or sex at least once every 5-10 pages. i didn't wanna read that. and it turned me off the book. so when he asked us if we liked the book when the year started i said no and i argued with him about it. and he hated me for the entire year. 

next i think we read waiting for godot. which was absolutely terrible. its literally a play where nothing happens. it would have been funny except that i knew i was gonna have to write an essay on it. how do you write an essay on a play where nothing happens? literally all of our discussions about it were about existentialism and it was terrible. 

we read the metamorphosis, which everyone hated cause it could have been written in like 4 sentences. and our teacher thought he was So Clever for assigning it to us. he thought it was the biggest joke. and he went on and on about how its about existentialism and blah blah. the book would have been funny had he not only discussed it in regards to existentialism. 

i think next was hamlet. i would have like hamlet had we not discussed it only through the lens of existentialism. its a good play, but i hated it because of the way he talked about it. even now, i only like it to make fun of the way he liked it. my friend and i send hamlet memes to each other all the time but only cause they remind us of our teacher.

one flew over the cuckoos nest. the second and final book that i actually liked my entirety of school. i dont know why i liked it, but it was just a good book. our teacher also had some kind of weird cowboy trope thing that he thought mcmurphy fell under which i thought was hilarious. the essay i wrote on that book was the only one he wrote “nice job” on and i still have it somewhere

my friend claims that we also read the stranger. i dont really remember what that book was about except some guy shot some people. there was definitely something in it that i didnt get. 

anyway in conclusion required reading ruins books. when i told my creative writing advisor that i out of all the books i read for school i only like the outsiders and one flew over the cuckoos nest she was like “yeah, english teachers really ruin books for students”

[insomnia-productions]

modern mdzs: tumblr styles

Wei WuXian:

basically gaud

WWX would be the biggest-gaudiest-patronuses of the mdzs world

Confusing, abstract posts that are both funny and vaguely ominous??

shitposting for days

“this is an uwu safe space”

But he also dispenses really good advice to his followers and genuinely makes them feel better about themselves

also he would 100% eat a whole-ass box of crayons on livestream

This is while he’s sharing a flat with Jiang Cheng in college so JC is just sat on the couch with him, staring into the void as his brother eats crayons

He tags JC in e v e r y t h i n g

*photo of a rock* this is you *anatomical drawing of a bird* ha you *description of lichen* you on mondays lmao

After he starts dating Lan WangJi, endless posts about how much he loves his bae

102% refers to LWJ as “bae” and “boo” exclusively

Posts beautiful drawings of LWJ

Isn’t as active in adulthood but still pops in to antagonize the kids once they get tumblr

Lan WangJi:

Gorgeous calligraphy

Has thousands of followers and 53% of them are WWX on different accounts (he keeps getting blocked)

Not a single reblog to be found

No text, no tags, nothing but photo posts with calligraphy and the occasional painting

Eventually branches out a little and posts audios of himself playing the guqin

“Jiang Cheng listen to this I can’t beLIEVE” “stfu Wei Ying it’s 3am get off tumblr”

When he starts dating WWX he posts a duet of them playing music together. It’s his first video and the first time he tags a post: ‘wangxian’

His followers connect the dots pretty quickly and there is mass hysteria

WWX reblogs it and now his fanbase is screaming too

Each of them gains several thousand followers that day

meanwhile jiang cheng is sitting with his much smaller list of followers watching this and internally screaming

Jiang Cheng:

Everything is purple

Tried to delete his account 13 years ago but couldn’t bring himself to

He didn’t even want to get tumblr in the first place but WWX talked him into it and then he got addicted

His username is sandu-shengshou and WWX teases him about it constantly

“Wow, so edgy~” “it’S CULTURALLY RELEVANT”

Started out as an anti-WWX blog

“this is an uwu free zone”

His header has been “wei ying sucks” since he was 12 and will remain that way until he dies

Eventually he started including general complaints about life along with his many complaints about WWX

Known for his sarcasm and saltiness

Has a infinitely long queue filled with posts about “that one asshole from maths” and “this douchecanoe I met at the supermarket today”

Individual tags dedicated to WWX and JZX (he always saves the most creative insults for WWX)

He barely uses his blog now but the queue is still going

From time to time he still adds to it

Has exactly 714 followers and 1/4 of them are porn bots

Now he mostly uses tumblr to stalk Jin Ling

Jin Ling:

Archery and horses

Picture a hybrid of Student Athlete and Horse Girl

idk i just think if jin ling ever met a horse he would love them

Half of his posts are chain arguments with JingYi

Posts tips on archery and sword fighting techniques

Reblogs other blogs’ advice and corrects everything that’s wrong with it

Gets blocked by all other archery blogs

Works part-time at a centre for horse riding lessons and posts stories about the horses there

He didn’t have any followers at first because the blogs that he corrected made a big fuss about him, but some curious people went to check him about and realized that he actually really knows his shit

Then they read his posts about horses and realized that he’s actually very sweet under the prickly and snobbish exterior, and now he’s got a fanbase

One time he accidentally reblogged from JC and then hid at JingYi’s house for three days out of pure embarrassment

He inherited a sword from his father’s family and named his blog after it

He knows that JC stalks his blog to keep tabs on him but he doesn’t say anything because sometimes people send him asks about how his advice really helped them and he lowkey wants JC to see that and be proud of him

Lan JingYi:

Reblogging memes, all day every day

You get to his blog, the icon is screaming seagull, the header is a collage of spongebob memes, the first post is related to the simpsons probably

A few wacky conspiracy theories sprinkled into the mix, no one can tell whether he really believes them

But if you scroll for a while, you’ll start to notice breaks in the pattern

Little aesthetic collages and edits made by JingYi himself

Stuff like the various seasons of Gusu, the mood of a night hunt with SiZhui, Jin Ling, and Zizhen, the atmosphere of Lotus Pier and Koi Tower and all the other sects he gets to visit

Aesthetic boards for his friends, his mentors - there’s even one for Lan Qiren and it’s full out mountains, calligraphy pens, grey clouds, and that lemon guy who says “uNAcEPTtABLe”

And if you look really, really closely, you’ll find that amongst the collages and the edits and even the memes… he’s managed to hide every. single. lan sect rule.

All 4000 of them. Hidden amongst memes, shitposts, and mood boards.

Lan Qiren finds out and doesn’t know whether to facepalm or be impressed

Ouyang ZiZhen:

Book reviews and recommendations

Header is an edit of books against a rainy window (JingYi made it for him)

Tags the other kids in all the most wholesome posts

People discover him from reblogs on the other kids’ blogs and then follow him because of his tags

ZiZhen is That Person who chats in the tags

Half of his posts are in the tags, almost like he’s shy to have all of it out on display

He gives recommendations for books based on specific seasons, moods, themes, etc

Someone sends him an ask one day to ask for a themed rec list and he screams, he’s buzzing about it for weeks, he goes all out and researches the shit out of his library to give the anon the best book list possible

After that he gets lots more asks and it makes him happy to provide other people with good books

Is a mutual with every single one of his followers and loves all of them

Lan SiZhui:

Everything is soft and blue

He was raised by WWX and later on by LWJ as well so the day he joined tumblr was a Historic Moment for the wangxian fanbase

There are bets down about whether he’ll be a shitposting blog like his Meme Dad or an art blog like his Mature Dad (or both??)

In the end he turns out to be an advice/suggestions blog

Every day he posts a wholesome suggestion and responds to anyone looking for advice

His followers: came for the wangxian lovechild stayed for the emotional healing

A lot of his advice asks are just JingYi and Jin Ling complaining about each other on anon

Sometimes he posts a short audio or video for a message he feels should be spoken

Now people keep requesting him to do asmr (JingYi laughs hysterically and tells him to do it) (he doesn’t)

Always promotes his friends’ blogs and encourages his followers to visit their blogs

His whole blog is just super wholesome and nice. WWX and LWJ are so proud.

[zoe-stewart-blog1]

November 2, 2018: old lol

It’s been a while since I made a substantial post, so here’s a long one :)

Social

Because I was born March 13, 2000, I’m the second oldest exchange student out of the 48 in my host district.

Plenty of other students are here on gap years as well (most of them are Americans interestingly), so although I’m not alone in being 18, the people that I interact with on a daily basis are at least 2-3 years younger than me...

I figured I would make a blog post about this, because I’ve noticed the homesickness stage hit some fellow exchange students, and thought that this would be a good chance to explain my own experience.

I included this photo of marshmallows found in a Taipei grocery store because I definitely miss my Rocky Mountains.

My friends and I graduated high school, so the biggest reason why I’m not homesick is because we all left together. Each person is having their own unique experience away from home, and it’s difficult to feel left out because everything is new regardless of where they are.

I’m not invincible though, and definitely have my moments of irritation with some small and insignificant action from either my host family or exchange friends...

I communicate with my “natural” family (rotary uses this term which technically means biological parents... doesn’t exactly apply to me, but it helps to differentiate) once a week at the most, and once every two weeks on average.

School

Recently I went on a 2-day field trip with my class to Yilan. Although I didn’t understand much of the educational side, the views were beautiful and the English museum translations were good enough. The best part of the trip though, was all the time I was able to spend with my classmates outside of the classroom climate. We were able to bond better, and a week later the effects are evident as my classmates shyness has dissolved more, and they actually asked me many questions after this week’s presentation.

I know it’s different for every country and even every school, but for me I don’t have to worry about anything except learning Chinese. I haven’t had to take any tests, and if I take the occasional nap or read an English book during class, no one bats an eye. Honestly it’s pretty nice to not have to stress about typical school things, but I know that this means university next year is going to have a steep adjustment back to serious learning...

I am trying to study (via Khan Academy) so that I can more or less sustain my math skills. I’ve mostly struggled with the whole motivation thing, and time. Despite not having to worry about a lot, I haven’t actually had much free time other than the weekends. School and transportation to/from school takes about 9 hours of my day, and the rest of my time is spent eating dinner and practicing Chinese with my host mom, because they ask that I don’t go out on weeknights (other exchange students go out frequently).

Language

well it’s going. I’m in the highest Chinese class, but I am not the best despite what my appearance says.

Listening and understanding is going smoothly, as I’m able to memorize the meaning of new words easily, because they’re said around me every day. I’m speaking more intentionally, and try to talk to people in Chinese if I can.

Writing is not too difficult to remember the characters, again because I see them every day... However the incredibly simple grammar knocked some points off of the presentation I gave yesterday. When I write in Chinese I still have to mentally translate from English first. The most difficult rule for me to remember is that the time of the sentence goes first.

“When I was buying candy I forgot to take pictures.”

vs.

“I forgot to take pictures when I was buying candy.”

Our presentation prompt was to talk about something we bought, and to show pictures. I translated the second sentence exactly as it’s read, aaaand my Chinese teacher asked if I just Google Translated my presentation... I’m trying hard, so no I did not, nevertheless I was a bit offended.

I studied Spanish for a lot of years and made it all the way through AP Spanish. This means that now my brain has flipped into “foreign language” mode, and both Chinese and Spanish are becoming thoroughly mixed.

Unfortunately though, I still can’t understand enough of the Spanish-speaking exchange students because they speak way too fast and use a lot of slang. As I type this though, I’m listening to a podcast in Spanish to try and jog my memory a bit. Podcasts in Chinese are difficult to listen to because I don’t know quite enough, and honestly their voices are not nearly as relaxing as the rhythmic flow of Spanish.

Back to Chinese though. I am absolutely noticing significant improvements. I actually noticed that when I hear Chinese, I don’t really need to translate it into English because it immediately becomes an image in my head. I translate it anyways and realize that I had already understood more than I initially thought. I’m really excited about this observation, and I’m constantly working to expand my vocabulary and thus my level of understanding.

Miscellaneous

There’s a couple more things I want to mention regarding the fact that I am an Asian... in Asia.

There are two American exchange students who are half-asian-- Filipino and Japanese. While all three of us are frequently asked for directions at bus stops, my experience is still a bit unique because I am and look 100% Asian.

Recently we had a Rotary-organized Halloween party, and it was a lot of fun, but afterwards I felt myself wishing I had dressed more dramatically than just a simple tourist... I almost felt like the event would have been more fun if I were also a white, or more foreign-looking exchange student.

When we were gathering, Rotex from previous years were sorting us into groups, and it took me forever to find mine because they had no idea that I was an exchange student, despite meeting me at orientation ( I don’t blame them; orientation was a while ago).

Later we did a scavenger hunt type activity where we walked around the streets to find people that fit a description (wearing a hat, man with long hair, etc.) and take a photo with them. Everyone we approached was so excited to take photos with all the dressed up foreigners, and asked to use their phone as well. It was definitely all in my head, but I felt a bit like I was a rude passerby photobombing the fun picture because I wasn’t dressed like anything incredibly funny, and I looked like a random person you could find on the street...

My self-isolation was not helped when we went “trick-or-treating,” and the rotarians with the bag of candy stared at me when it was my turn to say “trick or treat,’ and in Chinese told me “no you’re taiwanese. we can’t give you candy.”

Although I’ve made many good friends among exchange students, I sometimes feel the most isolated when I hang out with them. I’m always seen as the translator or the taiwanese friend acting as a tour guide...

Meh I’ll get over it though. Hopefully I’ll be good enough at Chinese that I will be able to more or less translate... we’ll see.

Overall

Despite these challenges, my time has been mostly spent in happiness, as I feel very settled and comfortable here. I am a little bit tired of always eating rice and noodles, but I can’t really complain about that.

I will continue to study hard and do everything I can to learn as much as my brain can handle.

As usual, if there are any questions, just ask!

[kaelee1340]

Let's Talk About School, Shall We?

Hi, my name is Kaelee. I am a teenager who is a freshman in high school. My school is known for its very good education, including the district itself! It’s a very nice school. But, I have something to say. It’s not just about my school and it’s district. It’s about schools in the United States in general.

I’ve been very stressed. Those of you adults who have graduated high school might say suck it up, but please hear me out before you complain.

I’ve been stressed because of my grades, and how much I cannot do in so little time. It is not just myself I’m speaking about. My friend Vanessa is someone else in a very very similar situation. You could say the same if you don’t think about the situation completely.

Most schools (especially mine and Vanessa’s) in the U.S give a LOT of homework to do. 8 or 9 classes. Math will probably give you a bunch of equations to do, do it right, know it, know what things are. English and or any other language gives you vocabulary words to memorize, sentences to right down using those words, maybe even read something. In Civics, read a chapter about the country and it’s history, memorize it, take a quiz. In Science know your vocabulary, understand what it looks like, works like, and what it is. Those are the main courses in high school, and most likely the way the homework works. However if you have to do it all at once it can get overwhelming.

Us students only have 24 hours in a day, and 7 or 8 hours of that day is in school. 2 to 3, to even 4 hours are spent through sports for some students like me. That leaves around 11 hours left. Some students have chores to do at home for an hour or two, or jobs. That leaves around 8 or 9 hours. Let’s say maybe 3 hours more to do homework from more than one class. That leaves around 6 hours. Now 1 more hour for dinner. 5 hours. 1 more hour for spending time with your family. 4 hours. Go to bed. Most schools start at around 7:45 in the morning in Colorado. That gives the student about 10 to 11 hours to sleep. However, most teenagers decide to spend their time on their technology and go to bed at a late time like 11. That leaves only 7 or 8 hours to sleep. It is scientifically recommended that a teenager gets at least 8 hours of sleep for school. However most get the average of 6.

Here’s how my day goes. I wake up at 7 in the morning and leave for school at 7:30, as it starts at 7:45. My days along with Vanessa’s are divided in school colors. For me it is Gold days and Blue days. On Gold days my schedule goes Choir, Biology, Study Hall, and Civics. On Blue days, my schedule goes Algebra, English, Health, Spanish. I have Lacrosse after school for 2 hours on both days. School ends at 2:45. Lacrosse practice ends at 5. So 9 hours of my day is lost from school and sports. Before that, 7 hours are taken from sleep. That’s 16 hours of the day so far. I have 8 hours left. I spend 2 of those hours doing homework. 1 of those hours eating dinner, 2 of those hours doing chores. That is now 3 hours left. I go to bed at 9:30 after taking a shower. But I am on my phone talking with friends until late. Around 10:30 to 11 pm do I actually sleep. So that gives me about 8 hours of sleep.

So that’s one student’s average day in high school. But it doesn’t always go that way. Sometimes I go to bed much later because I have a project to do, or I simply had too much homework.

School doesn’t seem to realize that they overwork students. An average teacher will say “Why didn’t you complete your homework?” or, “Why are you sleeping class?” or even, “Why didn’t you study for the test?”. I know it’s not 100% the teachers’ fault for giving so much work, but most of it is. They can teach without so much to do. Eventually a student will need to speak up and say, (for example) “Ma'am/Sir, I didn’t do this, because I have other things to do as well. I had a math test to study for, a project to do in Science, a book report in this class, football practice, and to top it off, I had to memorize a song in choir. I’m sorry, but I did not have enough time to get this done.”

Even if they did have the time to get it done, it would eventually stress them out, and boil up inside them until they pop, and can’t take it. They wouldn’t be able to think, understand, or even sometimes sleep or eat.

I read an article a year or so ago that said that the United States gives far too much homework. Countries other than the U.S at most probably say to rest, relax, and maybe study a little. As the U.S has book reports, projects, studying, reading, writing, etc.

So my conclusion to this long post is to say, please share this if you agree, that schools in the United States should slow down with their assignments to their students. If you disagree, that is perfectly okay, but please no hate comments.

Thank you!

[northcarolinaprelawland-blog]

Students Argue That Poor Conditions In Schools Interfere With Constitutional Rights

By Jessa Goldman, University of North Carolina Class of 2021

November 18, 2019

Gary B. et al v. Whitmer, a case that comes from a school district in Detroit, is not the first of its kind but may be significant for how education is viewed under the constitution. In this case, students from a Detroit public school district argue that the appalling conditions in their schools are interfering with their basic rights as citizens. [1]

The situation in these schools, such as in Detroit Osborne High School, involved conditions such as long-term substitute teachers showing films instead of teaching, and 11th and 12th grade English classes using materials that were originally intended for 3rd and 4th graders. Schools in the district also had rodents, crumbling infrastructures, and no new textbooks. (CNN) Conditions across all the schools involved in the Detroit case seem to be extremely poor. At one school, an 8th grader taught math to his peers for a month after their teacher quit. At another school students were reported to have vocabularies of only a few hundred words, while others did not know how to sound out letters. Many schools involved in the case are said to have extremely under qualified staff and overcrowded classrooms. One charter school is said to have had temperatures over 100 degrees inside, broken and dangerous playground equipment covered in trash, and moldy lunch meals. [2]

The main question involved in this case is if these students’ school experiences were so insufficient that their constitutional rights were violated. The students are arguing that because they have not received a basic education, issues like illiteracy are interfering with their rights as citizens such as the right to free speech or the right to vote. [1]

The defendants in the Detroit case include the newly elected governor of Michigan, Governor Whitmer, as well as members of the school district’s elected board of education. The defense has not disputed the poor conditions in the schools, but argues that there is a difference between having problems with conditions in schools and and actually violating students’ rights. Gary B. et al v. Whitmer was originally thrown out of district court a year ago as the judge found that even though the students faced terrible school conditions, this did not constitute a violation of their rights. Governor Whitmer argues that the state has returned the school district to the school board and has spent millions to create a new district free from debt, unlike the old one. The new district has a curriculum and higher teacher salaries, but students in the Detroit case feel that even thought the schools have seen small improvements, they have already faced long-term harm from their inadequate education. [1]

The argument that poor conditions can be a violation of constitutional rights may be difficult for the students to make, as the Constitution does not mention education and the Supreme Court has confirmed in the past that having equally funded schools is not a constitutional right. (CNN) In 1973, in the case San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez, the court held in a 5-4 decision that student’s rights were not being violated after students complained that their property-tax based funding system led to more funding for students from affluent areas. The students argued that this violated equal protection requirements, but the Court ruled that the state’s system could not be examined under a strict-scrutiny judicial test, and when applying only intermediate scrutiny found that the system in Texas did not violated the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause. [3]

However, the recent cases in Detroit and Rhode Island may differ from the San Antonio case because the students in Detroit and Rhode Island are instead arguing that the schools are not meeting their basic needs and as a result of their extremely inadequate education they are unable to exercise other constitutional rights. Courts have acknowledged in the past that to vote or participate in a democracy you do need some form of basic education. [1]

A similar lawsuit exists in Rhode Island. The federal appeals court has heard arguments for the Detroit case, which was argued in Cincinnati before three-judge panel of 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. If either the Detroit or Rhode Island Casa were to make it to the Supreme Court, with a ruling in favor of the students, it would have massive implications for the way in which public schools are funded by establishing that students have a “fundamental right to education that meets minimal standards of quality.” [1]

The recent similar case in Rhode Island also argues that students deserve access to an education that will prepare them to exercise their rights as citizens. This case is a class action lawsuit on behalf of tens of thousands of students in the state, and the defendants include Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo, the Rhode Island Department of Education, and the state’s General Assembly. Part of the larger concern behind this case involves decreasing civic knowledge of the general public, and Rhode Island is a state that has looser civic education requirements. [4]

The former dean of Harvard Law Martha Minow, who wrote a book about the legacy of Brown v. Board, says that the situation does violate constitutional rights because it is discriminatory for the students. This is because some school districts in the state are failing to even provide a minimal education, while other wealthy district such as those in affluent Detroit suburbs, provide a much higher quality education. She argues these conditions are working to create a “class caste system, a group of students who have no chance of having entree to good jobs and to be effective citizens and to be able to govern their lives.” [1]

The attorney who is a part of the team arguing on behalf of the Detroit students has said that “You’re taking a discrete set of innocent children and saying to them, ‘We’re not going to provide you with access to the basic tools, books and everything that will allow you to read…. We’re saying to you: You are now stigmatized for all time. The fact that you went to Osborn High School will stigmatize you for the rest of your life because you never had an opportunity to be in a position to read and that will affect everything that goes on in that human’s life henceforth.” [1]

If the student were to win this case in the 6th Circuit Court or if the case should go to the Supreme Court, the way the public education system is funded would be significantly impacted. States such as Rhode Island, Michigan, Florida, and Illinois would potentially see the largest changes from a successful ruling for this case, as these are the states in which courts have previously thrown out claims to a right to education. [1]

________________________________________________________________

[1]  Einhorn, Erin. “How a Lawsuit Over Detroit Schools Could Have An ‘Earth-Shattering’ Impact.” NBC News, NBC Universal, 28 Oct. 2019, www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/how-lawsuit-over-detroit-schools-could-have-earth-shattering-impact-n1072721.

[2]  Einhorn, Erin. “An Eighth-Grader Taught his Classmates and Other Horrifying Allegations in Federal Suit on Detroit Schools.” Chalkbeat, 14 Sept. 2016,

www.chalkbeat.org/posts/detroit/2016/09/14/an-eighth-grader-taught-his-classmates-and-other-horrifying-allegations-in-federal-suit-on-detroit-schools/.

[3]  “San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez Holds No Constitutional Right to Equal Education.” Constitutional Law Reporter, Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC., constitutionallawreporter.com/2017/11/23/san-antonio-independent-school-district-v-rodriguez-1973/.

[4]  Borg, Linda. “Federal Lawsuit Says R.I. Fails to Prepare Students to be Informed Citizens.”

Providence Journal, GateHouse Media LLC., 28 Nov. 2018,

www.providencejournal.com/news/20181129/federal-lawsuit-says-ri-fails-to-prepare-students-to-be-informed-citizens

Photo Credit : Pverdonk

[jayisabells]

Sorry, once again, I've come here to rant.

My mom was getting on to me about my grades. I told her my grades in art and bio are really bad, but its early into this quarter. She tells me shes alright with anything above a B, but gets on to me for having an 80 in math studies, the 80 is because I got an 80 on the test which is not bad. Shes upset because an 80 is close to a C and I'll be in trouble if I get an assignment with a lower grade brings it down. Then she gets upset that I got a D on a stats quiz and I "always gets Ds on stats quizzes;" however, my stats grade is a B so I don't know what the problem is. I understand why she's upset about the bio grade, but theres only 2 fucking grades so far in the quarter, both which happen to be a 55. One of them is a hw assignment, which I checked before turning in, so I don't know why I got a 55. I was expecting a low grade on the quiz, but I didn't expect that low of a grade. I got a 70 last quarter in bio, so I need to get at least a B this quarter. The school sends and email to all parents/guardians about how "your student has the opportunity for grade recovery," so my mom got on to me about that. My F in art was because the teacher still needed to see something else before putting one of my grades in so she put a zero, but I showed it to her today. Also I have a great art teacher this year.

Also another note. People keep complaining about how some teachers are unclear and unfair, our bio and english teachers. I understand why the english teacher is unclear a bit, but not to the extent people are complaining about it. I usually understand her well. Then the bio teacher. People complain about how she keeps changing things, which I think she changed how she wanted an assignment she had us all redo from when she originally graded (note: she never put the grade in), now it was due today and everyone was complaining about gow she had stuff different on the original paper and the stuff she told us in class. I followed what she told us in class. I don't understand everyone's problem. Then there's this girl who always complains about the bio teacher and saying how the bio teacher does rediculous things, for example "I heard if you go talk to her about your grade she lowers them." This girl is I always saying "I heard," but if the bio teacher actually did this, she would have been fired ages ago. I mean I understand why she might get upset about you coming to her because you got a bad grade but you didn't try.

Now I am gonna talk about a friend of mine, no offense to her. She moved here from another country, but at her old school teachers would give students extra credit assignments if they asked so they can bring their grades up. Since middle school I've been taught, get it right the first time because the teacher is not gonna make an extra credit assignment just for people with low grades. And I agree with that. If the teacher is going to make an ec assignment they have to assign it to everyone, because then parents will complain, and there are so smart kids who don't need the ec and will do it and get a 100 in the class. My friend says thats ridiculous because you are making a student fail. As I said before I disagree. Now she complains/worried the bio teacher would be mad at her (the bio teacher was) for not having an assignment today. My friend was absent when the teacher gave us back the assignment to be redone, but she got it back on Friday and didn't ask the teacher when its due. Since middle school I was told it was nit the teacher's responsibility to give you make up work and when its due, you have to go to them and ask them. And I guess my friend was upset that the bio teacher was angry at her for not having it. My friend would have had two extra days to do it, but her absence was unexcused, so technically the teacher doesn't even have to give her the make up worm and just give her a zero. My friend moved here last year, so i guess she wasn't used to it. But the reason she was gone was because she is moving soon and her family, unexpectedly went to see it, so her mom didn't have time to call the school ahead. Then she said that she can't do anything about the unexcused absence unless she has a doctor's note, which is not true. I guess someone told her that, but all you need to do is get an explanation (a valid one) on why you were absent, written and signed by your parent. But i guess my friend didnt know that.

I'm just tired of people complaining about amazing teachers just because they hace a bad grade in that class. The reason I have bad grades is because I don't ask questions, I admit sometimes I just can't and don't study. The reason i get bad grades is because of me.

Now finally I would like to finish this rant about complaining about the stuck-up top of class jerks that are the smart boys. I'm in IB and at least dor my school, its a bit competitive. The top of the class boys are jerks to everyone they think are dumber than them and treat us like we are complete idiots who don't understand anything (and they treat non-ib students even worse). Just because I was slow, doesn't mean I'm dumb, there was no need to groan and complain ***** (this happened in 9th grade). Then there was **** who didn't do an assignment in Spanish, since I was his partner, he took my paper from my desk when the teacher was coming around to grade them and tried to copy it. And I was like nope and snatched it back on my desk, but then I noticed him looking over and copying answers so i dhoved it under my book. I ignored him during partner after that and the teacher noticed we weren't talking together and I got a new partner (she noticed i had a problem with him). Before he was my partner he was my friends partner, who told the teacher about him. He hit her and told her to pick up his pencil when he dropped it. He didn't say please he literally said "pick it up." Back to ***** apparently whenever my friend answered questions he would complain to his friends, and my friend heard him, that "she was so dumb and why is she answering the question." My friend is smart and amazing and honestly he can eff off. I believe people like him should be kicked out of this program. And the same guy also groans and complains when anither one og my friends asks questions (he probably thinks the questions are stupid, but they're not). I am proud of my friend because i could never be that brave to ask questions, i always think my questions are stupid and that why I'm failing bio. To my friend who asks questions, dont let this jerk change you. I will fight all the jerks for my friends. Also apparently some of the jerks made fun of my group presentation, while we were presenting. I didn't notice because I was focused on remembering what to say. I will fight these people

However not literally. I will not fight these people literally because i will get in trouble. I will fight them with my words

Thanks for listening tumblr, i needed to rant a bit.

[eminperu]

On the Value of Being Challenged: Defining my ideals through one million rhetorical questions (sorry)

“We’re afraid she’s not being challenged enough.” I think the first time this phrase was applied to me, an examiner pulled it out of a very standard toolbox for talking about kids like me, at a conference regarding my placement exam results for entrance into the gifted program. To be fair, it was also a sugar-coated explanation of why Mrs. Meyer couldn’t stand my arrogant first grade ass (in my defense, she refused to call on me in class anymore because I KNEW THE ANSWERS. Yeah, Mrs. Meyer, let’s not go to Applebee’s when we’re hungry BECAUSE THERE IS FOOD THERE). It’s also the justification I learned to rely on when I didn’t do stuff because I didn’t want to do stuff, like the time I tested out of Mrs. Whitsell’s math class because she played too much Enya and favored the boys, or got sent out into the hallway in fifth grade for working ahead in the book during the lesson (that was a terrible punishment, I finished my work in a cool ten and chatted with people passing by). Let me be clear, I know I’m not anything special—Berkeley made sure I knew that. But even though I’m no Cindy Crawford (guys, she studied chemical engineering at Northwestern with a reported IQ of 154, check your biases), being “smart” has been arguably the most central and defining characteristic I have. While I’m not sure I’ve always felt adequately academically “challenged” in all my pursuits, I’ve also never worried that I was not developing myself in some way. [Warning: I’m not going to try to be modest in this post. I’m trying to honestly reflect, so just deal with it.]

This week (and by this week I mean the week I started writing this post a month ago…eek), I’ve had two coworkers from my last school tell me about a few students who have said really nice things about how much they missed me. Both of the students are absolute rascals, the kind who really hated school until the year I had them in my class. I love those kids. I love knowing that I excel at forming relationships and reaching “behavior” kids. I remember when Jason finally got an 89% on one of my science tests last year and bought in. I remember how excited Deon would get to do a job for me (run a note that said “Mr. Fields please make Deon do something physical for the next eight minutes then send him back”) as a reward for sitting through a whole guided reading. I know I’m a good teacher. I use my creativity and my intelligence every second of every day, topped maybe only by empathy and ability to connect with people. For the last four years, I’ve also clung to the self-righteous smug cloud I get from saying I am a teacher in low-income schools. Teachers work hard, plus I get an element of altruism when I drop the zipcode of the schools I teach in. Apparently, “teacher” has burrowed its way into my identity in a pretty significant way. Is teaching my thing? Is helping people my thing?

I know work ethic isn’t my thing. I know that. I’ve never been one to happily do things for sake of doing them—generally speaking, I’m about the destination and the journey can go fuck itself (is it starting to become apparent what Mrs. Meyers was on about?). But I do like to do things that matter. And I do like for people to think I am smart and capable. Does that mean I need to be challenged to feel successful? Do I find intrinsic value in completing tasks that I deem worthy?

It seems fair to say I couldn’t really know if I valued being challenged until I felt I wasn’t anymore. Teaching used every single bit of my mental and emotional energy and drew on all of my skills (threw a lot of my weaknesses in my face as well, to be honest). Now, my VIP Kid lessons don’t even require me to view them before teaching them and, while I think bartending definitely draws on a a lot of my strengths, it also isn’t exactly a high cognitive workload. I find myself jumping to grasp those little moments—when my manager says I can do my job better than him, when my teaching boss jokes that my half-sarcastic corrections of him will either get me fired or promoted on my first day, when my 15-year-old tutee loses his shit over finding out that I went to Berkeley—this self-satisfaction at proving my intelligence to others seems a little new and a lot douchey.

Working from home rocks, but it also kind of sucks. I wake up, I teach online, then it’s 9 am and I have the rest of my day ahead of me. My fingers seem to automatically begin to take me to Netflix or Facebook after my grueling three hour workday. I enjoy watching Friends. I like laying out in the park. But why would I feel so much more accomplished if I had reorganized all my clothes? Or painted a picture? If I had completed a full day’s work (not just a few hours), I think I’d feel totally justified in not accomplishing anything “productive” afterwards. I didn’t anticipate that how I chose to spend this precious free time I dreamed about, talked about, moved 6,000 miles away for, would ever affect that drastically how I see myself. And let’s be clear that 6pm-on-a-Thursday-still-at-school-Emily would backhand me for even THINKING of complaining.

Don’t get me wrong; I’m pretty happy here. I have made a lot of friends and my time is 100% my own. With that, though, comes a lot of time to think. I want to make sure my time here is balanced and I leave feeling like I got something out of it. I got a couple in-person teaching jobs because, for fuck’s sake, I need to put on pants and leave the house before 7pm–also, they hand teaching jobs out like candy here if you look like you speak English. And I feel really satisfied after those lessons, although I’m teaching people with loads of money that want to use their English to make more money. However, I have to limit myself. I started working 10-11 hour days just because I could. I partially came here to write, and I did a whole lot more of that in Europe than I seem to be getting done here. I also applied for a really simple writing job and didn’t get it, which sucked. There could have been a million reasons why, but I had to submit a short writing sample so I’m guessing I’ve subconsciously swallowed this pass as a failure and am letting it sit heavy in my stomach (and confidence). I’ve started a book, but I also found that any grant applications I can submit won’t be due for quite a while (and would commence the following year). I’m scared I don’t have the self-motivation to pursue the things I love with the vigor they require. I could see myself easily falling into a pretty content life of teach, nap, cook, bartend, repeat. Is that enough? Before this year, I would have said yes. Here I am in this bratty millennial dilemma: wanting to be recognized for being exceptional; but lounging in the comfort of not putting myself out there for something I’m sure someone smarter/more diligent will get. Another factor at play: if I were able to live this lifestyle in San Francisco around all my best friends and the all-around greatest people in the world, I may feel differently. I’ve always thought that relationship-based—not not achievement-based success—appealed to me. As long as the people I love are happy and involved in my life, I’m happy. Of course, I say say that while also having always pretty much achieved things in a linear, predictable, and temporally-appropriate manner.

The flip side of this is that it’s kind of cool to be working just for money now. Before, I was teaching and the factor stopping me from blowing all my money was being too tired, not not having it. I saved a bit, and it really wasn’t a concern, priority, or consideration (especially not when deciding what line of work to go into, obviously). Now, I measure how many activities I should do based on what I made that day. “Nah, I don’t wanna buy those jeans, that’s three VIP KID classes!”

Basically, in summary, I take issue with the phrase “Find your passion and you’ll never work a day in your life.” My last job was fulfilling beyond measure, but it necessitated that I work my ASS OFF each and every day. I think I may have placed myself in a paradox—doing what I love makes it so I can’t enjoy my life, but if I don’t do it I won’t feel fulfilled.

This is dumb. I came here to bartend, be a barista, sherpa some alpacas, sleep in and workout. Fuck feeling fulfilled, right? Ugh, what’s that whole thing with the grass being green, again? Anyway, back to Neflix.

Goals: CARVE OUT MY WRITING TIME AND HOLD MYSELF TO IT. Make a plan for what will make me feel productive during my week at home. Keep eating healthy and working out (I have made time for that, and that feels good).

Updates: My friend Feras visited and I finally go to travel around Peru! Cusco was absolutely beautiful, a quaint history-rich town splayed up and down the Andes mountains. The architecture, the air, the size—it was a welcome break from Lima. I was also taking on A LOT of classes and shifts at the bar, so it was similarly a welcome break from working. Machu Picchu was absolutely incredible as was our dinner at Maido; I’ll post about those soon.

I’m headed back to Kansas for about three weeks to see my (whole!!) family and I’m so excited. I think the reset will be really nice. I’m going to hold myself accountable to reflecting on my experience so far and channeling that into a productive life plan for the next few months (even if that plan means staying largely unproductive).

[guidetoahappylife]

Why American Students Need Chinese Schools

REVIEW --- Why American Students Need Chinese Schools --- After putting her son in an elite state-run school in Shanghai, an American mother finds that the U.S. education system could learn a few things from China -- most of all that teacher knows bestThe Wall Street Journal

By Lenora Chu9 September 2017, 2352 words, English, C1Copyright 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

When my little boy was 3, his Chinese teacher forced a bite of fried egg into his mouth. At school. Without permission.

"She put it there," my firstborn told me, lips forming an "O," finger pointing past his teeth.

"Then what happened?" I prodded my son, who despises eggs.

"I cried and spit it out," he said.

"And?" I pressed.

"She did it again," he said. In all, Teacher Chen pushed egg into my son's mouth four times, and the last time, he swallowed.

We are Americans raising a family in Shanghai -- China's megacity of 26 million people -- and the Chinese are known to pump out some of the world's best students. When we realized that a few blocks from our new home was one of the best state-run schools, as far as elite urbanites are concerned, we decided to enroll our son. He would learn the world's most spoken language. What was not to like?

Plenty, as it turned out. And it was only the first week of kindergarten.

The next day, I marched off to school to confront Teacher Chen about the egg episode, brash in my conviction about individual choice.

"We don't use such methods of force in America," I blurted in Mandarin, my son clutching my hand. (I was born and raised in America but grew up speaking Chinese at home.)

"Oh? How do you do it?" Teacher Chen challenged.

"We explain that egg eating is good for them, that the nutrients help build strong bones and teeth and helps with eyesight," I said, trying to sound authoritative. "We motivate them to choose . . . we trust them with the decision."

"Does it work?" Teacher Chen challenged.

In truth, no. I'd never been able to get my son to eat eggs. He's a picky eater. Later, Teacher Chen pulled me aside for a lecture. "In front of the children, you should say, 'Teacher is right, and Mom will do things the same way,' OK?"

I nodded, slightly stunned. It was the voice of Confucius, who had staked his entire philosophy on the concept of top-down authority and bottom-up obedience, giving direction to our lives.

Many studies support the Chinese way of education. Researchers have found that 6-year-old Chinesechildren trounce their American peers in early math skills, including geometry and logic. In the past decade, Shanghai teens twice took No. 1 in the world on a test called PISA, which assesses problem-solving skills, while American students landed in the middle of the pack.

When young Chinese head abroad, the results are impressive. They are earning more spots at the world's top universities. The Ivy League enrolls eight times more Chinese undergraduates than a decade ago, according to the Institute of International Education, and the Chinese are helping to launch Silicon Valley startups in disproportionate numbers.

Yet, from my perch in Shanghai, I started out with some major objections to Chinese education. Force-feeding would get a teacher dragged into court in the U.S., the land of infant choice, free-form play and individualized everything. In China, children are also subjected to high-stakes testing at every turn, which keeps them bent over books from toddlerhood on.

I began to wonder: What price do the Chinese pay to produce their "smart" kids? And do we really have something to learn from this rigid, authoritarian form of schooling?

For five years now, I've parented a child inside China's school system and interviewed Chinese teachers, parents and students at all stages of education. I've discovered that there are indeed some Chinese"secrets" that work and are worth emulating. Most have to do with attitudes about education.

There are real upsides to a mentality of "teacher knows best." As I worked through my anxieties about submitting to this kind of system, I began to observe that when parents fall in line with teachers, so do their children. This deference gives the teacher near-absolute command of her classroom. My son became so afraid of being late for class, missing school or otherwise disappointing his teacher, that he once raised a stink when I broached the possibility of missing a few school days for a family trip. He was 5.

Having the teacher as an unquestioned authority in the classroom gives students a leg up in subjects such as geometry and computer programming, which are more effectively taught through direct instruction (versus student-led discovery), according to a 2004 study of 112 third- and fourth-graders published in the journal Psychological Science. A 2014 study of more than 13,000 students in the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis found that math-challenged first-graders learned more effectively when teachers demonstrated problem-solving procedures and followed up with repeated practice.

By contrast, Western teachers spend lots of time managing classroom behavior and crushing mini-revolts by students and parents alike. A Chinese teacher who arrived in the U.S. two decades ago recalled to me her surprise the first year she taught American kids. "I started out very controlling, but it didn't work at all. My students talked back!" says Sheen Zhang, who teaches Mandarin at a Minnesota high school. Parents sometimes complained when she assigned too much homework. A mother once asked her to change the way she talked to her classwork-skipping daughter. "She wanted me to say, 'You can do better!' instead of 'You didn't finish this!'" exclaimed Ms. Zhang.

The Chinese parent knows that her kid deserves whatever the teacher metes out, no questions asked. In other words, let the teacher do his or her job. As a result, educators in China enjoy an esteem that's tops in the world: Half of Chinese would encourage their kids to become teachers, while less than a third of Americans and Brits would do the same, according to a 2013 study by the Varkey Foundation. Chinese society grants teachers a social status on par with doctors.

There are also educational advantages to the Chinese insistence on elevating the group over the needs of any individual child. The reason is simple: Classroom goals are better served if everyone charges forward at the same pace. No exceptions, no diversions.

My son suffered from asthma during the winter, but Teacher Chen denied my request to keep his rescue inhaler near the classroom -- its use might be a distraction to his classmates. When I loudly protested, I was told I could transfer my son out of the school. In other words, no kid gets special treatment, and if I didn't like it, I could get out. (Ultimately, I found a solution: a preventive steroid inhaler that I could administer at home.)

The school's attitude is draconian. But Americans have arguably gone too far in the other direction, elevating the needs of individual students to the detriment of the group. Some parents think nothing of sending an unvaccinated child to school -- ignoring community health -- or petitioning to move school start times to accommodate sports schedules. Meanwhile, teacher friends tell me that they are spending more time dealing with "problem" students, often through intervention programs that whittle away teachers' time with the rest of the class. Where should we draw the line?

Another bracing Chinese belief is that hard work trumps innate talent when it comes to academics. Equipped with flashcards and ready to practice, my son's Chinese language teacher knows that he is capable of learning the 3,500 characters required for literacy. His primary school math teacher gives no child a free pass on triple-digit arithmetic and, in fact, stays after school to help laggards. China's school system breeds a Chinese-style grit, which delivers the daily message that perseverance -- not intelligence or ability -- is key to success.

Studies show that this attitude gets kids farther in the classroom. Ethnic Asian youth are higher academic achievers in part because they believe in the connection between effort and achievement, while "white Americans tend to view cognitive abilities as . . . inborn," according to a longitudinal study of more than 5,000 students published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2014. Chinese kids are used to struggling through difficult content, and they believe that success is within reach of anyone willing to work for it. This attitude gives policy makers in China great latitude when it comes to setting out and enforcing higher standards.

In the U.S., parents have often revolted as policy makers try to push through similar measures. In part, we are afraid that Johnny will feel bad about himself if he can't make the grade. What if, instead, Johnny's parents -- and his teacher, too -- believed that the boy could learn challenging math with enough dedicated effort?

Americans aren't afraid to push their children when it comes to athletics. Here we believe that hard work and practice pay off, so we accept scores and rankings. Eyes glued to scoreboards at a meet, we embrace numbers as a way to measure progress. A ninth-place finish in the 100-meter dash suggests to us that a plodding Johnny needs to train harder. It doesn't mean that he's inferior, nor do we worry much about his self-esteem.

My son has been in the Chinese school system now for five years. During that time, he has morphed into a proper little pupil who faithfully greets his teacher each morning -- "Laoshi Zao! Good morning, teacher!" -- and has developed an unbending respect for education. In primary school, I watched, a bit dazed, as he prepared his own backpack for school at 6 years old, slotting his English, Chinese and math books into his bag each morning along with six pencils that he sharpened himself.

When his homework books come home -- parents in China are required to sign them daily to prove involvement -- he brings them to us immediately. He began teaching his younger brother Mandarin, two small heads huddled over a picture book, naming animals. A little older now, he expertly performs timed drills in arithmetic, his pencil traveling down the page, and he gains confidence from his success. He also eats eggs of his own free will.

When I tell the story of my son's Chinese educational experience to American friends, they gasp. When they spend time with him, they are surprised that he doesn't cower in the corner or obey commands like a Labrador retriever. My son is imaginative when he draws, and has a great sense of humor and a mean forehand in tennis. None of these qualities has slipped away, and I now share the Chinese belief that even very young kids are capable of developing a range of demanding talents.

Still, I must confess that I have been paralyzed by anxiety at times over the Chinese way, which demands fealty. Teacher Chen wasn't just authoritarian; she sometimes delivered very harsh punishments. Once, she isolated my young son and several classmates in an empty classroom and threatened to demote them after they failed to follow in "one-two" step during a physical exercise.

Her power was even more worrisome when coupled with the Communist Party's political agenda. At 4, my son learned the lyrics to "The East Is Red," extolling Chairman Mao. The following year, his teachers began running mock elections for class monitor, part of the grooming process to identify star students for eventual Party membership.

At the same time, China's education landscape is littered with dropouts in a system that perpetuates an underclass: Children who fail to test into regular high schools would populate a city the size of London each year. Because of the high stakes, families sometimes take extreme measures, including cheating and bribery.

And there is no denying that the traditional Chinese classroom discourages the expression of new and original thought. I observed an art class where 28 toddlers were instructed to sketch exactly the same way, with errant drawings tacked to the wall to shame the deviants. "Rain falls from the sky to the ground and comes in little dots," bellowed the teacher, as the children dutifully populated their pages. In this classroom, rain did not blow sideways or hurtle to the ground in sheets. There was no figurative rain, such as purple rain, nor did it rain tears or frogs, much less cats and dogs.

There are clear downsides to China's desire to cultivate a nation of obedient patriots, and Americansnaturally resist. We harbor a healthy mistrust of authority, and our freedom to raise a fuss is a right we should celebrate. It's foundational to our national character.

But the skepticism we freely apply to our political leaders can be destructive when transferred to the men and women who stand at the front of our classrooms. Educational progress in the U.S. is hobbled by parental entitlement and by attitudes that detract from learning: We demand privileges for our children that have little to do with education and ask for report-card mercy when they can't make the grade. As a society, we're expecting more from our teachers while shouldering less responsibility at home.

From my years living in a very different country, I've learned that wonderful things can happen when we give our educators the respect and autonomy they deserve.

Sometimes, it is best when parents -- and children -- are simply obliged to do as they're told.

---

This essay is adapted from Ms. Chu's "Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve," to be published on Sept. 19 by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins (which, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp).

[hollywoodjuliorivas]

IDEAS THE SATURDAY ESSAY Why American Students Need Chinese Schools After putting her son in an elite state-run school in Shanghai, an American mother finds that the U.S. education system could learn a few things from China—most of all that teacher knows best The author, Lenora Chu, with her husband, Rob Schmitz, and sons Landon, age 5, and Rainer, age 8. PHOTO: PATRICK WACK FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL By Lenora Chu Sept. 8, 2017 10:54 a.m. ET 407 COMMENTS When my little boy was 3, his Chinese teacher forced a bite of fried egg into his mouth. At school. Without permission. “She put it there,” my firstborn told me, lips forming an “O,” finger pointing past his teeth. “Then what happened?” I prodded my son, who despises eggs. “I cried and spit it out,” he said. “And?” I pressed. “She did it again,” he said. In all, Teacher Chen pushed egg into my son’s mouth four times, and the last time, he swallowed. We are Americans raising a family in Shanghai—China’s megacity of 26 million people—and the Chinese are known to pump out some of the world’s best students. When we realized that a few blocks from our new home was one of the best state-run schools, as far as elite urbanites are concerned, we decided to enroll our son. He would learn the world’s most spoken language. What was not to like? Plenty, as it turned out. And it was only the first week of kindergarten. The next day, I marched off to school to confront Teacher Chen about the egg episode, brash in my conviction about individual choice. “We don’t use such methods of force in America,” I blurted in Mandarin, my son clutching my hand. (I was born and raised in America but grew up speaking Chinese at home.) “Oh? How do you do it?” Teacher Chen challenged. “We explain that egg eating is good for them, that the nutrients help build strong bones and teeth and helps with eyesight,” I said, trying to sound authoritative. “We motivate them to choose…we trust them with the decision.” “Does it work?” Teacher Chen challenged. In truth, no. I’d never been able to get my son to eat eggs. He’s a picky eater. Later, Teacher Chen pulled me aside for a lecture. “In front of the children, you should say, ‘Teacher is right, and Mom will do things the same way,’ OK?” ‘Many studies support the Chinese way of education.’ I nodded, slightly stunned. It was the voice of Confucius, who had staked his entire philosophy on the concept of top-down authority and bottom-up obedience, giving direction to our lives. Many studies support the Chinese way of education. Researchers have found that 6-year-old Chinese children trounce their American peers in early math skills, including geometry and logic. In the past decade, Shanghai teens twice took No. 1 in the world on a test called PISA, which assesses problem-solving skills, while American students landed in the middle of the pack. When young Chinese head abroad, the results are impressive. They are earning more spots at the world’s top universities. The Ivy League enrolls eight times more Chinese undergraduates than a decade ago, according to the Institute of International Education, and the Chinese are helping to launch Silicon Valley startups in disproportionate numbers. Yet, from my perch in Shanghai, I started out with some major objections to Chinese education. Force-feeding would get a teacher dragged into court in the U.S., the land of infant choice, free-form play and individualized everything. In China, children are also subjected to high-stakes testing at every turn, which keeps them bent over books from toddlerhood on. I began to wonder: What price do the Chinese pay to produce their “smart” kids? And do we really have something to learn from this rigid, authoritarian form of schooling? Students at Jinqao Center Primary School in Shanghai. PHOTO: JOHANNES EISELE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES For five years now, I’ve parented a child inside China’s school system and interviewed Chinese teachers, parents and students at all stages of education. I’ve discovered that there are indeed some Chinese “secrets” that work and are worth emulating. Most have to do with attitudes about education. There are real upsides to a mentality of “teacher knows best.” As I worked through my anxieties about submitting to this kind of system, I began to observe that when parents fall in line with teachers, so do their children. This deference gives the teacher near-absolute command of her classroom. My son became so afraid of being late for class, missing school or otherwise disappointing his teacher, that he once raised a stink when I broached the possibility of missing a few school days for a family trip. He was 5. Having the teacher as an unquestioned authority in the classroom gives students a leg up in subjects such as geometry and computer programming, which are more effectively taught through direct instruction (versus student-led discovery), according to a 2004 study of 112 third- and fourth-graders published in the journal Psychological Science. A 2014 study of more than 13,000 students in the journal Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis found that math-challenged first-graders learned more effectively when teachers demonstrated problem-solving procedures and followed up with repeated practice. By contrast, Western teachers spend lots of time managing classroom behavior and crushing mini-revolts by students and parents alike. A Chinese teacher who arrived in the U.S. two decades ago recalled to me her surprise the first year she taught American kids. “I started out very controlling, but it didn’t work at all. My students talked back!” says Sheen Zhang, who teaches Mandarin at a Minnesota high school. Parents sometimes complained when she assigned too much homework. A mother once asked her to change the way she talked to her classwork-skipping daughter. “She wanted me to say, ‘You can do better!’ instead of ‘You didn’t finish this!’ ” exclaimed Ms. Zhang. ‘Chinese society grants teachers a social status on par with doctors.’ The Chinese parent knows that her kid deserves whatever the teacher metes out, no questions asked. In other words, let the teacher do his or her job. As a result, educators in China enjoy an esteem that’s tops in the world: Half of Chinese would encourage their kids to become teachers, while less than a third of Americans and Brits would do the same, according to a 2013 study by the Varkey Foundation. Chinese society grants teachers a social status on par with doctors. There are also educational advantages to the Chinese insistence on elevating the group over the needs of any individual child. The reason is simple: Classroom goals are better served if everyone charges forward at the same pace. No exceptions, no diversions. My son suffered from asthma during the winter, but Teacher Chen denied my request to keep his rescue inhaler near the classroom—its use might be a distraction to his classmates. When I loudly protested, I was told I could transfer my son out of the school. In other words, no kid gets special treatment, and if I didn’t like it, I could get out. (Ultimately, I found a solution: a preventive steroid inhaler that I could administer at home.) The school’s attitude is draconian. But Americans have arguably gone too far in the other direction, elevating the needs of individual students to the detriment of the group. Some parents think nothing of sending an unvaccinated child to school—ignoring community health—or petitioning to move school start times to accommodate sports schedules. Meanwhile, teacher friends tell me that they are spending more time dealing with “problem” students, often through intervention programs that whittle away teachers’ time with the rest of the class. Where should we draw the line? Another bracing Chinese belief is that hard work trumps innate talent when it comes to academics. Equipped with flashcards and ready to practice, my son’s Chinese language teacher knows that he is capable of learning the 3,500 characters required for literacy. His primary school math teacher gives no child a free pass on triple-digit arithmetic and, in fact, stays after school to help laggards. China’s school system breeds a Chinese-style grit, which delivers the daily message that perseverance—not intelligence or ability—is key to success. Studies show that this attitude gets kids farther in the classroom. Ethnic Asian youth are higher academic achievers in part because they believe in the connection between effort and achievement, while “white Americans tend to view cognitive abilities as…inborn,” according to a longitudinal study of more than 5,000 students published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in 2014. Chinese kids are used to struggling through difficult content, and they believe that success is within reach of anyone willing to work for it. This attitude gives policy makers in China great latitude when it comes to setting out and enforcing higher standards. In the U.S., parents have often revolted as policy makers try to push through similar measures. In part, we are afraid that Johnny will feel bad about himself if he can’t make the grade. What if, instead, Johnny’s parents—and his teacher, too—believed that the boy could learn challenging math with enough dedicated effort? Americans aren’t afraid to push their children when it comes to athletics. Here we believe that hard work and practice pay off, so we accept scores and rankings. Eyes glued to scoreboards at a meet, we embrace numbers as a way to measure progress. A ninth-place finish in the 100-meter dash suggests to us that a plodding Johnny needs to train harder. It doesn’t mean that he’s inferior, nor do we worry much about his self-esteem. My son has been in the Chinese school system now for five years. During that time, he has morphed into a proper little pupil who faithfully greets his teacher each morning—“Laoshi Zao! Good morning, teacher!”—and has developed an unbending respect for education. In primary school, I watched, a bit dazed, as he prepared his own backpack for school at 6 years old, slotting his English, Chinese and math books into his bag each morning along with six pencils that he sharpened himself. When his homework books come home—parents in China are required to sign them daily to prove involvement—he brings them to us immediately. He began teaching his younger brother Mandarin, two small heads huddled over a picture book, naming animals. A little older now, he expertly performs timed drills in arithmetic, his pencil traveling down the page, and he gains confidence from his success. He also eats eggs of his own free will. MORE SATURDAY ESSAYS The Romance of the American Road Trip September 1, 2017 In Defense of the Dismal Science August 25, 2017 Stop Giving College Athletes Million-Dollar Locker Rooms. Start Paying Them August 18, 2017 The Liberal Crackup August 11, 2017 The Grown-Up Joys of Reading Children’s Books August 9, 2017 When I tell the story of my son’s Chinese educational experience to American friends, they gasp. When they spend time with him, they are surprised that he doesn’t cower in the corner or obey commands like a Labrador retriever. My son is imaginative when he draws, and has a great sense of humor and a mean forehand in tennis. None of these qualities has slipped away, and I now share the Chinese belief that even very young kids are capable of developing a range of demanding talents. ‘I have been paralyzed by anxiety at times over the Chinese way.’ Still, I must confess that I have been paralyzed by anxiety at times over the Chinese way, which demands fealty. Teacher Chen wasn’t just authoritarian; she sometimes delivered very harsh punishments. Once, she isolated my young son and several classmates in an empty classroom and threatened to demote them after they failed to follow in “one-two” step during a physical exercise. Her power was even more worrisome when coupled with the Communist Party’s political agenda. At 4, my son learned the lyrics to “The East Is Red,” extolling Chairman Mao. The following year, his teachers began running mock elections for class monitor, part of the grooming process to identify star students for eventual Party membership. At the same time, China’s education landscape is littered with dropouts in a system that perpetuates an underclass: Children who fail to test into regular high schools would populate a city the size of London each year. Because of the high stakes, families sometimes take extreme measures, including cheating and bribery. And there is no denying that the traditional Chinese classroom discourages the expression of new and original thought. I observed an art class where 28 toddlers were instructed to sketch exactly the same way, with errant drawings tacked to the wall to shame the deviants. “Rain falls from the sky to the ground and comes in little dots,” bellowed the teacher, as the children dutifully populated their pages. In this classroom, rain did not blow sideways or hurtle to the ground in sheets. There was no figurative rain, such as purple rain, nor did it rain tears or frogs, much less cats and dogs. There are clear downsides to China’s desire to cultivate a nation of obedient patriots, and Americans naturally resist. We harbor a healthy mistrust of authority, and our freedom to raise a fuss is a right we should celebrate. It’s foundational to our national character. But the skepticism we freely apply to our political leaders can be destructive when transferred to the men and women who stand at the front of our classrooms. Educational progress in the U.S. is hobbled by parental entitlement and by attitudes that detract from learning: We demand privileges for our children that have little to do with education and ask for report-card mercy when they can’t make the grade. As a society, we’re expecting more from our teachers while shouldering less responsibility at home. From my years living in a very different country, I’ve learned that wonderful things can happen when we give our educators the respect and autonomy they deserve. Sometimes, it is best when parents—and children—are simply obliged to do as they’re told. This essay is adapted from Ms. Chu’s “Little Soldiers: An American Boy, a Chinese School, and the Global Race to Achieve,” to be published on Sept. 19 by Harper, an imprint of HarperCollins (which, like The Wall Street Journal, is owned by News Corp). Appeared in the September 9, 2017, print edition.