After the usual morning routine I got cleaned up and went to Helen's to play duplicate bridge.
She had daffodils on all the tables from her garden.
Lunch was beef and barley stew with homemade bread.
My partner and I had a few good hands, but most were blah.
Back to the farm a little before 5 and started on dinner.
Had to cut back my flowers one more time. They are 3 weeks old and have been reduced to a jelly jar.
Served the sweet potato salad I made for last nights dinner....
along with a quick cucumber salad....
leftover cauliflower and grilled pork.
Chores at 6:45. It really cooled down.
Tucked the girls in with rain on the way.
Night all.
PS
Does anyone out there have an opinion regarding opting out of exams? 38% of the students in our district did not take them. Do you know what happened where you live?
4 comments:
Liked all your pictures. Isn't it nice to not have the blankets to deal with.
I have no idea what happened with the exams around here. The schools are all closed for Spring Break.
Ahhhh warm weather is finally here! Would love the sweet potato salad sounds like something I could make for us during hubby's treatment.
Sweet potato salad...that is very interesting! I'll bet it's very good. I always thought exams were such a waste of time because it was just a reflection of the work I'd already learned/done or usually not learned/not done. The classes I did well in, I did well on the exams. The rest of the classes, I did very poorly on the exams because I usually hadn't paid attention. I suppose they are good for C and B students to push up their grade if they're in a position to do so. Since I was an A or F student, they never had much value for me. Though I did end up with like a 107% in German which was kind of cool. That same year I had literally a 14% in algebra! Haha I usually didn't bother going so I didn't even get attendance points! So I think the ability to opt out is wise. I have nothing but good things to say about my district but there is way too much focus on AP classes and standardized testing. I routinely failed curriculum classes but performed well on the yearly tests and that's all the district cared about so they used those results to put me in AP classes. Which is fine as I enjoyed them, but my best friend in high school was a terrible test taker but strong student who worked very hard yet she was often barred from AP classes due to her standardized test scores. Despite really wanting to be in AP and belonging there. So I thought that was pretty foolish and exclusionary because they knew I wouldn't do the work and it was clear to see she would have.
38% Wow! That's huge! And, the data that the district will end up with is probably going to be so skewed, it won't tell them anything about how they are doing. But, maybe the district(s) will wake up and look at the message from their 'constituents'. I'm all for a change in the current system.
I HATE the way tests have come to dominate our educational system and dictate to the classroom. As a teacher I wanted to teach in a manner that provided enduring lessons that kids would remember forever. I wanted them to discover the learning, and own it... and sometimes that doesn't come out in tests.
As for what do I think about parents opting out? Hooray for their making a statement, and hopefully kick-starting change. It won't change the education their children are receiving right now. It won't give 3-5 days (or more) of education back to their children, because during testing, those kids that opt out will either be asked to stay home, or they will be given 'busy work' to keep them busy while the "important stuff" takes place in hushed tones down the hall.
....you asked!!
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