Post Av3EnZXcsiXz8JIaTA by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) More posts by futurebird@sauropods.win
(DIR) Post #Av3D1oWblnJxkXUBc0 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-12T10:02:34Z
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I spent an hour yesterday working with one student. She was scared of the soldering iron. "Do your parents let you use the stove at home? It could burn you too, right? But we understand how to be safe and it's not a problem."She did a beautiful job on her project and learned the names of many parts and learned that she can be scared to do something but still be extremely successful. This is only really possible because my classes are small. If I need to work with a student I can do it.
(DIR) Post #Av3EMMU5JsKQonfREe by plinth@infosec.exchange
2025-06-12T10:17:28Z
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@futurebird When I was teaching, I had a student with an independent study lay out a circuit to flash an LED with a 555 timer and we had a company manufacture 30 PCBs based on his work. I then taught 7th graders how to assemble them. My prideful moment was when two girls in the class were fighting about whose turn it was to solder (I only had 2 irons). Those are exactly the kind of disagreements that you really want to have.Also, because of the fact that we only had 2 irons, I had the class problem solve how we were going to make 30 circuit boards with wires when we only had two soldering irons. They decided on two parallel assembly lines with no cues from me.
(DIR) Post #Av3EgLwz0wdWxDiVnM by Phosphenes@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T10:21:03Z
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@futurebird What are your students soldiering?I've been thinking about showing a kid how to join stained glass with a soldering iron. The safety part has to be just the right amount of scary but not too much.
(DIR) Post #Av3EnZXcsiXz8JIaTA by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-12T10:22:25Z
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"HoW dO We IMprOVe EdUcaTIoN??"People act like it's a big mystery but it's not?1. Better educated teachers.2. More experienced teachers. (as in a ratio to new teachers)3. Limit class size to 20 students aim for an average of 14.4. Equip schools with sufficient materials eg: buildings that are safe and functional, internet that works, computers for students, you know the materials. Most "educations innovations" are trying to skip this stuff and use something else instead to save money.
(DIR) Post #Av3EuGfnQofUdpJTJw by zl2tod@mastodon.online
2025-06-12T10:23:35Z
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@futurebird She'll only pick up a soldering iron by the wrong end once.
(DIR) Post #Av3ExYDUf5F3v7dkWm by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-12T10:24:13Z
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And it might work if you, say, cheat. If you, for example, select a population of students with parents who can buy materials for them, and only let in students who have already learned how to do self-guided instruction you can have a class of 90 students and lecture them on calculus and they will learn a lot. But at some point SOMEONE had to put in the real time to get them ready to do that.
(DIR) Post #Av3EzDtDCyoVSKx1M0 by capnthommo@c.im
2025-06-12T10:24:29Z
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@futurebird I thought at first you were going to say now she can't use the stove eitherđ
(DIR) Post #Av3F0A8SeRTS6QX1Au by Uair@autistics.life
2025-06-12T10:24:34Z
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@futurebird How to improve education? I can sum up the answer in one statement.Pay what it costs.Stop trying to do it on the cheap. Pull the money out of the war budget if you have to.
(DIR) Post #Av3H7RtLEU1d6k3siu by IcooIey@mastodon.green
2025-06-12T10:48:22Z
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@futurebird You are 100% right. And, this kind of practical, hands on work involving problem solving is extraordinarily valuable and translates across mediums for real world life skills. I work with scouts and have taught at the college level and done workshops at elementary and middle school level. In scouting they call it EDGE teaching: Explain, Demonstrate, Guide, Enable and teach kids with it and how TO teach with it. Paced to the individual with knowledgeable teachers.
(DIR) Post #Av3HVbmO7aY4iyKTrM by shaknais@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T10:52:45Z
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@futurebird Some of our classroom sizes over here are in the 50s, in primary school, due to so many teachers recently retiring. (No secret there why...)
(DIR) Post #Av3IGYskiAIxLghAQa by Nocta_Senestra@eldritch.cafe
2025-06-12T11:01:12Z
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@futurebird Point 3 is the biggest one I think personally, point 1 and 2 can be mitigated with having a rotation or something, but teaching a class of 34 highschool students without leaving anyone behind is not realistic at all
(DIR) Post #Av3IrTnaZdG4IWsrfk by Theorem_Poem@mstdn.social
2025-06-12T11:07:53Z
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@futurebird also:Pay the teachersBring back competent lab techniciansBring back teaching assistants Worry less about the stuff in labs breaking and more about students actually using them to learn
(DIR) Post #Av3IvWRGhTXldzN5EG by chemoelectric@masto.ai
2025-06-12T11:08:37Z
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@futurebird It would help also if we (a) didn't rate students against each other (VERY difficult to achieve in our society), and (b) taught a lot less nonsense.Our current society VERY often promotes to the top those who rate highest in repeating complete nonsense. This is a big reason why we are headed towards things like climate disaster.BTW I was soldering when I was like 8 years old but that was the 1960s. Parents had me using plastic solvent to make a model battleship when I was 6. :)
(DIR) Post #Av3Izph73BreWRq0Ui by eris
2025-06-12T11:09:32.665117Z
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@chemoelectric @futurebird there is no climate disaster
(DIR) Post #Av3JjtpM15RSf3euqu by dtwx@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T11:17:44Z
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@futurebird fond memories of burning myself on the soldering iron. The smell of MDF friction heated to smoking point, hot glue... great days.
(DIR) Post #Av3K2dFNsx6qjzlb72 by phryk@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T11:21:07Z
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@futurebird Back when I was in elementary school, we had someone who was basically doing an internship as part of their formal training to become a teacher.They were still highly motivated and we talked a bunch about the education system. She told me a lot about studies and pilot projects giving amazing results by increasing student autonomy.Back then, I was still naive and thought schools would improve â but since then student autonomy has only been clamped down more and more.
(DIR) Post #Av3KA0Ra2TPGi9zI4O by temptoetiam@eldritch.cafe
2025-06-12T11:22:27Z
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@futurebird Point 3 would be mind bending.
(DIR) Post #Av3Kcd2o7JGSXL34O8 by Brendan@zenarca.de
2025-06-12T11:27:07Z
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@futurebird yes. I always say, "just look what the rich people are buying for their kids and do that." Instead they just pretend that tests and union busing are going to work
(DIR) Post #Av3LNHGyscygclvDzU by jhavok@mstdn.party
2025-06-12T11:36:04Z
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@futurebird Wasn't there a study that showed that money spent on education was four Tim's as effective as money spent on prisons to reduce crime?
(DIR) Post #Av3MPW8Ai3YnErQvjs by Kierkegaanks@beige.party
2025-06-12T11:47:41Z
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@futurebird ok, so we use chatGPT
(DIR) Post #Av3NK9AMlQUSWOSl6m by debcha@saturation.social
2025-06-12T11:57:48Z
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@futurebird âBut our innovation can scale and reach more people!â So can this â youâre leaving out the part about prioritizing spending as little money as possible over actually improving education.
(DIR) Post #Av3NRvQJk7e6DRdItE by steve@discuss.systems
2025-06-12T11:59:19Z
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@futurebird if we give all kids the same advantages we give kids at the best rich suburban schools, they can succeed? Never would have occurred to anyone! đ
(DIR) Post #Av3NnXxHg6DjnjMYJU by imp3tuz@mastodon.gamedev.place
2025-06-12T12:03:12Z
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@futurebird used to work for a creative academy sorts. They got new computers for the animation lab- then they were moved to one of the heads offices (very spiteful white lady) for a bit, and the students or staff ever saw them again :)
(DIR) Post #Av3O4PScVvCuNX3pjs by monarchist@na.social
2025-06-12T12:06:21Z
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@futurebird Send home any students under 100 IQ
(DIR) Post #Av3OKRzcrmE4rk9EBc by debcha@saturation.social
2025-06-12T12:09:06Z
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@futurebird Ed-tech âinnovationsâ almost always remind me of that old joke, âwell, we lose money on every one we sell, but we make it up in volume!â â âitâs an ineffective learning experience, but we can make it scale!â
(DIR) Post #Av3OQjvB7eOqCt4BOq by atlovato@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T12:10:18Z
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@futurebird - Good for you. Im proud of your accomplishment.
(DIR) Post #Av3OcXQfOSw0wEQ9T6 by suetanvil@freeradical.zone
2025-06-12T12:12:25Z
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@futurebird This feels like one of those guy-thrown-out-the-window comic strip memes.
(DIR) Post #Av3Oi1PLMRtlMaPtbs by ahltorp@mastodon.nu
2025-06-12T12:13:25Z
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@futurebird This is how private schools do it in Sweden. They get the same amount of money per student as the municipal ones, but donât have the same costs, because they advertise to âeasierâ students, they can choose how many students to admit (I.e. no costs for small classes).Handing off the âdifficultâ students to the municipality also increases the municipalityâs costs and thereby the money the private schools receive, so itâs a double benefit!And thatâs only the legal ways they cheat.
(DIR) Post #Av3QMIyLZkbpNOYt1M by sbourne@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T12:31:50Z
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@futurebird If I could only have one, I'd go with class size. So much of learning is access to someone who knows more, and the less diluted the better.
(DIR) Post #Av3SWisqIE7gXi5AUS by vyodaiken@discuss.systems
2025-06-12T12:56:12Z
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@futurebird Good AC/Heat and breakfast/lunch are also important.
(DIR) Post #Av3SgssbywH0RQosb2 by funnymonkey@freeradical.zone
2025-06-12T12:58:02Z
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@futurebird This, this, this. If all the money spent on tech that didn't work was put into implementing what you describe our educational system would be stellar.
(DIR) Post #Av3SsdzDBJiBj0Vwau by jhooper@techhub.social
2025-06-12T13:00:08Z
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@futurebird Tell the kids that they don't need to fear the tool if they respect it. Respect the danger it can pose, but also how you can use it.Or, if that fails, use the quote from Scrubs: "Fear is good. It keeps you from becoming a crappy doctor. Trick is, you just can't let it paralyze you." Just replace the word doctor with whatever.
(DIR) Post #Av3UiQx0zYucJCkJ9M by impactology@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T13:20:42Z
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@futurebird End written paper tests that emphasize purely memorization and recall. That alone would help massively
(DIR) Post #Av3VXlx4fdF6D8Fnea by JaxxAI@floss.social
2025-06-12T13:30:00Z
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@futurebird You're right but its impossible: To get that kind of class ratio, 14 kids to 1 teacher, you'd need to double the school size where I live. I think average is 30 kids in a class right now according to my daughter and the school is full so all classrooms are in use at any time. So, to half the ratio you'll need to double the classrooms and double the size of the building. I highly doubt the money is there to build thousands of new schools or double capacity.
(DIR) Post #Av3XYKhreYwnuPXCfQ by crazyeddie@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T13:52:27Z
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@futurebird Stove hurts way worse. I'm a clumsy person.
(DIR) Post #Av3YdPPZggWRu3xp4a by falcennial@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T14:04:39Z
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@futurebird perfection. proper teacher pay. proper system design. it is the ticket to a better world. it cannot be overstated how valuable and essential and urgent what you said is to every nation on this earth, and every problem we face. I really appreciate you saying it. this obvious megasolution. the single change we can ever make that will yield the highest economic ROI of any human system ever devised.
(DIR) Post #Av3Yfwev2r5Db7LnHs by i_give_u_worms@mastodon.cloud
2025-06-12T14:05:07Z
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@futurebird The money is short due to "poor performance in hiring" and that is also the reason the students don't have their basic needs met including food
(DIR) Post #Av3ZS7axghjzPpTJJo by BatsInLavender@hcommons.social
2025-06-12T14:13:48Z
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@futurebird NGL I was once scared of the soldering iron many years ago. Thankfully I had someone like you show me how to use it. â¤ď¸
(DIR) Post #Av3dfHeM11SQBHaecS by somcak@beige.party
2025-06-12T15:00:58Z
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@futurebird Education should cost us lots of money. It's an investment in our future!
(DIR) Post #Av3edbDkNePuFnuDOC by Beachbum@mastodon.sdf.org
2025-06-12T15:11:52Z
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@futurebird Sweet!
(DIR) Post #Av3fZj1dWMABFtxQsC by lemgandi@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T15:22:25Z
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@futurebird Hurray! I don't teach woodworking, but I do tell people, "If you're working with the table saw and you're not a little scared, you're STUPID"Power tools are always hungry for human flesh, useful as they are.
(DIR) Post #Av3g7jlbGrSzOtfuBE by ianto_jones@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T15:28:33Z
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@futurebird I'm afraid that the real question in the US is becoming, "how do we *define* education?"
(DIR) Post #Av3gyUXsat3vXZPdQG by antdude@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T15:38:05Z
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@futurebird do u teach myrmecology?
(DIR) Post #Av3hxsRQMdMDJhfDlY by liliedubh@medievalist.masto.host
2025-06-12T15:49:10Z
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@futurebird Limiting class sizes is a good thing - only 15 students though. Hubby is a high school math teacher in the Bronx. The big thing that he sees is just getting students into the classroom, which means tackling what's keeping them out of it.
(DIR) Post #Av3ihD4wTucYLzlSUK by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-06-12T15:57:25Z
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@Kierkegaanks **sustained screaming**
(DIR) Post #Av3jQ1iLa4mQ8fZ9ai by lexLohr@chaos.social
2025-06-12T16:05:28Z
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@futurebird Accept that children learn at different speed and excel in different learning methods.Don't try to cram digitalization into something that works best with pen and paper.
(DIR) Post #Av3jxtsvCH1PhafFcu by freequaybuoy@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T16:11:34Z
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@futurebird This is so beautiful!
(DIR) Post #Av3kH6co3OnoiVHhMO by jmax@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T16:15:04Z
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@futurebird (complete tangent on soldering iron fears of a different sort)One of the funniest work interactions I've been part of:I sometimes write embedded software professionally. During the early days at one job, a connection popped loose from a development board I was working with.No big deal; I walked next door to the hardware lab with intent to tack the connection back down.Dead silence when the new software guy asked to borrow a soldering iron.
(DIR) Post #Av3kTQsqYfaZ1UfIQq by SilverArrows@autistics.life
2025-06-12T16:17:17Z
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@futurebird I wish I had a teacher like you when I was in school! I was a total scaredy cat (partly because my parents were so overprotective) and I never used the power tools during D&T. I was actually relieved when someone stole my project, because it meant I wouldn't have to use the power jig (? the electric blade thingy for cutting shapes).
(DIR) Post #Av3p07XdtMBYPLab1U by alper@rls.social
2025-06-12T17:08:00Z
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@futurebird @isotopp Hey! Our schools in Berlin donât have functioning toilets most of the time. So yeah, this sounds about right.
(DIR) Post #Av3xUlGFZzWJusZl9E by kigelia@mastodon.online
2025-06-12T18:43:12Z
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@futurebird I would also add free school meals for all children.
(DIR) Post #Av46cSN0bBgnEOTtXE by barrygoldman1@sauropods.win
2025-06-12T20:25:26Z
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@futurebird my last attempt at taching was a long term sub in 7th grade science. the 'honors' class was 29 kids. not very honorable either. nor were there often enough chairs. don't even ask about soldering irons. i don't think i was even allowed to use microscopes. everything was locked up.
(DIR) Post #Av47vLDrUtCKWHlu2C by barrygoldman1@sauropods.win
2025-06-12T20:40:06Z
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@futurebird avg of 14 students?????? where are you dreaming? r you talking about pre-k?
(DIR) Post #Av4P0Nnb2nnzB9TZcu by TheZeldaZone@mastodon.social
2025-06-12T23:51:24Z
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@futurebird class size is so incredibly important. Learning is personal. And hard. We need to pay teachers so much more too
(DIR) Post #Av4R1ymnDF3s5dzNyq by beeoproblem@mastodon.gamedev.place
2025-06-13T00:14:09Z
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@futurebird 1000% thisThe other big ones from what I've seen: make sure kids are well fed, make sure kids are well rested.It's very difficult to learn if one is either distracted by hunger or not functioning mentally due to fatigue. I hate how common it is to shame kids that can't afford food. Or how sleepy kids are treated as bad students instead of needing support.
(DIR) Post #Av4ubkkllCQbfFS9Vg by Su_G@aus.social
2025-06-13T05:45:33Z
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@futurebird I love your posts: this whole thread - that you drew out - is a great read & makes me smile & feel better. đ An antidote to all the awful news created by people who have never met a soldering iron or used it for any of the useful things it contributes to.
(DIR) Post #Av6VRlPaLgOqGwbWT2 by peteriskrisjanis@toot.lv
2025-06-14T00:13:03Z
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@futurebird they don't want to pay for it, because kids are not tax payers and that is not maximum RoI for reelection. It is simple as that.
(DIR) Post #AvAUOERN9hyRp722Xw by AnnyJoe@mastodon.world
2025-06-15T22:20:03Z
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@futurebird > I spent an hour yesterday working with one student. She was scared of the soldering iron.These are the heroes we need.
(DIR) Post #AvjYuPupLrUeAOBftY by f800gecko@mastodon.online
2025-07-02T20:25:35Z
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@futurebird That's a fantastic mini-story of true empowerment.
(DIR) Post #AvjfJZTFYuaGlYfLZw by collette@mastodon.social
2025-07-02T21:37:22Z
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@futurebird wait but that means you'll need to hire a teacher for every 14 kids which more than doubles current costs, right? You're asking people to invest heavily in a future that isn't even theirs
(DIR) Post #Avk7lJEgJXyXEsrmjY by Lana@beige.party
2025-07-03T02:56:06Z
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@futurebird Step 1) Pay teachers. Step 2) see step 1
(DIR) Post #AvkDV4c3VvYWyiROwi by Simplicator@federate.social
2025-07-03T04:00:24Z
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@futurebird 0. Pay teachers!
(DIR) Post #AvkR7IDMgqVRZVRlLs by pawsplay@dice.camp
2025-07-03T06:32:59Z
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@futurebird The Us is 20 years behind Europe, and Europe is 20 years behind readily available, clear, and digestible research.