Non Sequitur by Wiley Miller for May 06, 2024

If all the students do poorly, that is an indicator that the teacher is bad

If a single student (cough Danae cough) does poorly, that’s an indicator that the student is bad.

Pop goes the weasel.

i really think Danae and Calvin (from Calvin & Hobbes) should meet.

President Danae in 2040! She’s perfect politician material. Assuming we still have a functional Democracy by then that is…

This is a reprint, originally on May 11, 2009.

Sorry, teach…Danae accepts personal responsibility like Trump accepts the 2020 elections.

Why is it called a pop quiz? Surely there’s nothing popular about it.

Paddy, It’s called a pop quiz, because that is what happens to pupils’ delusions of knowledge once it’s done.

They, can be brutal, our teachers could, and did, ask questions on anything that had been taught that year.

The problem isn’t the kids. It’s administrators who pressure teachers to give their students only good grades so they look better so they get more funding. I know enough teachers who’ve faced this pressure. That’s one reason (of many) so many are leaving the profession.

Fascinating – I’ve had the same thought myself. Is it’s the student’s inability, or the teacher’s? As a Baby Boomer (yes we had ‘em in Australia, too), they had to haul in 80-year olds well retired ex-teachers to fill up the lack in the profession. We had classes of 60 and more – nowadays if it’s more than 20 they complain that there are too many!

As a child, a certain ex-president should have had that talk.

And, as usual, Danae completely misses the point. The ‘stall’ rarely works more than one time. Then the teacher has the student’s character pegged and works from there.

It is a slippery slope! A pop quiz hardly anybody gets a good grade on, can be a problem caused by the teacher’s teaching or by inattentive or uncomprehending students. Going over the results usually reveals the problem.

Is it only in springtime that students get motivated to walk out of classes for social issues?

Danae has perfected the “never take any responsibility for anything” and as an adult it’ll morph into “There’s a fall guy born every minute”.

Cheat sheet: The answers are… 1) Pepsi-Cola, 2) Barq’s Root Beer, 3) Sarsaparilla, 4) Cherry Vanilla Dr Pepper and 5) What the Weasel Goes.

The title of her autobiography will be “It’s All Your Fault.”

She’s talking to you Danae. Kid has no idea of ‘personal responsibility.’

Danae, just pipe down and take the test.

Danae has a fascinating mind. I… I’ll just leave it at that.

It isn’t your fault, but you will be blamed anyway.

Just give them all passing grades. Kids don’t flunk and teachers don’t get fired for doing a lousy job. It’s a win-win

The fate that teachers have to face in today’s social norms.

Atlanta 2009—the perils of High Stakes Testing.

Teachers are in the union. Their performance doesn’t matter, only their length of service affects their compensation.

Danae’s got a point. Unfortunately. If a student does diddley-squat and fails… it’s not the student’s fault, it’s not the parents’ fault, it’s the teacher’s.I never understood that position.

Here’s a little English lesson: “It could be seen as an indicator of bad teaching by your superiors.” has a misplaced modifier. It wasn’t the superiors who were doing the teaching. It should’ve been: “It could be seen by your superiors as an indicator of bad teaching.”

Danae seems too on the ball today. Her teacher probably already had a meeting with the principal before class. She doesn’t seem to have planned a overt prank. Aside from this; Danae’s little sister is really cool too.

The t eacher just likes seeing everybody’s eyes pop open when she says “pop quiz”

They’re called “assessments” these days.

Teachers are pitchers, Danae. You’re the catcher.

Gotta admit it, she’s good.