I found the video disturbing in so many ways. Let me briefly touch on some.
1) Class size - sounds like a whine to me. I went to a school where we had mostly small classes, however a large class is a lesson in independent thought, ambition, self discipline etc. You will have to work HARDER in a large class, to be heard, to ask questions and get in the conversation. READ THE MATERIALS, make time to speak to the professor, create what you need! In my opinion, college is a lesson in making happen what you WANT to happen. I developed relationships with professors, not just in my major, by going to their offices during their posted hours and talking, asking questions and asking to be challenged. Once again, Americans lack PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY/ACCOUNTABILITY. If I am paying 20k for ANYTHING, I will me VERY sure to get what I want out of it, as much as possible and that comes from self determination.
2) WHO CARES IF THE PROFESSOR KNOWS YOUR NAME? If students expect college experience to be like high school in this country, where people are spoon fed and coddled, they're going to be REALLY disappointed. It does not matter. What matters is the quality of your work and what you are learning.
3) Students NOT completing reading - well that's just stupid. You bought the books and they are assigned for a reason - SO READ THEM. Its a matter of time management and again, self discipline. Isn't that the challenge of college? To learn how to get the job done in the midst of new found freedoms? My particular university only let us take 2 courses a trimester, 10 weeks, three trimesters a year. If I guesstimate, at least 10 books a class x 3 classes, x3 trimesters, I read about 80-90 books a year for a 4 yr total of at least 300 books. And yes, I read all of them. Students not reading in favor of facebook is a matter of personal priorities and how our country is in the WC. Seriously, it gets my angry just thinking about it. And to speak to the girl who said she only wrote 42 pages this year, she must go to a pretty dumpy college. Again, with the average of only 35 classes in 4 yrs, I can estimate that I wrote close to 150 pages a year, with my Senior Seminar paper topping off at 15 pages, in French.
My best friend got his masters in Library Science and we talk about all these techno changes all the time. Yes, a shift is being made and perhaps libraries as we know them today are changing. Ok. HOWEVER, as a culture, the importance our culture/society (Americans) puts on learning, knowledge and its acquisition, academic success - that is the REAL paradigm shift. We let kids think its ok to be stupid.
See the posts here from a recent comment I made on my Facebook page:
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If you passed the THIRD grade, please make a mental note of this grammatical FACT:
YOUR = a possessive. Example, is that YOUR coat? Its YOUR turn etc.
YOU'RE = You are. Example, YOU'RE HIGHLY IGNORANT. A possessive.
You have no idea how epically STUPID this makes you look. REALLY, SERIOUSLY DUMB.
*It's * ??
*seriously...it is amazing how many on facebook have no clue how to differentiate between these...and they have graduated from high school, some college grads too! scary...
*don't forget about there, their, and they're.
*Sarah, bad spelling gets on my bad side! Never thought I'd be such a nit picker about grammar but come on! Especially when I see my STUDENTS posting it!!
*I agree, but keep in mind that sometimes, especially when typing on a telephone, that punctuation and spelling are overlooked in favor of expediency. I do agree, however that more often than not, the idiots prevail. It is a sad testament.
*effect and affect
to, too, two
So many ways to misuse the English language...
*See? I skipped a comma on the last sentence of my previous comment and I can assure you that i am not an idiot. :... But yes, ignorance is very annoying, especially from your students. It would piss me off too.
*Seriously does it really matter. Language evolves and changes.
*Yes, it DOES matter.
*your rong!!
*It depends on how valuable the substitute is. From all indications the substitute (i.e. evolution) is crap. The evolution you refer to is primarily driven by bad parenting, ignorant teachers and entitled dysfunctionals. (yes I've created a noun) The atomization of the language indicates a serious threat to rational thought...PERIOD.
*Tomorrow's lesson; yore.
*I think your onto something their.
*Whut U mean?!
*I'm going to have to disagree, the bastardization of a language will not lead to the end of rational thought. Language is communication. If its understood its served its purpose. There need not be some value police to deem whether the change has value or not. If its understood its legit.PERIOD
*BAstardization of a language DOES change the culture in strange ways - look at Tejano Spanish! how many of my students grew up speaking Spanish but can't read or write it - it DOES change their perception of things and really makes them look dumb in the eyes of people who were educated in Spanish - ask anyone who has gone ... See Moreto grammar school in a Spanish speaking nation. Cultures guard their language for a reason, because what we say to each other, HOW we say things to each other, DOES matter. How many times a day do Americans say like or know what I mean, when in fact, one may not? It causes lots of misunderstandings and mess ups....it does have an effect. We're such a melting pot, yet we refuse to have an official language or, even use the common unofficial one properly. It makes us look really retarded on the world stage. Across the board@! Most foreign educated fifth graders know more about English than the graduating senior in an American hs!
*Being unable to read or write is frown upon in any culture. The improper use of a word is not a sign of ignorance, laziness perhaps but should that discredit the meaning. I'm just suggesting that the meaning is more important than the vehicle to get there. You know what I mean?
*Bien dit. Et j'ajoute que ça marche aussi en français : TES = possessif ; T'ES = Tu es.
*What is being suggested by some is that the relativistic nature of the process being celebrated justifies itself. This notion radiates from the multicultural mantra pounded into the minds of young people every day by the media, schools and burn outs from the 60's. The entire program has been bankrupt from the beginning. While addressing the real ... See More dysfunctions, and shall I say EVILS, of the first half of the 20th century, the relativistic notion has spawned a lack of ability to express an interesting thought. In the long run, the only individuals who are really hurt are those that can not express such a thought. This is because the power rests with those that can control the narrative. At some point coherence seizes the initiative, primarily because organisms demand order.Get a variable rate mortgage if you like...pay 15% interest rates on CC's if you like...live off of welfare if you like...use stupid speak if you like...be satisfied with good enough if you like...find yourself broke if you like. The process has consequences.
*Thank you for pointing this out. I think people have just stopped caring as they got older. Just because we're out of school doesn't mean we're off the hook.
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