Category Archives: Education

Gaming the SAT

Posted on March 8, 2014 by Jim Wheeler

Headlines from several sources the other day announced that the folks who run the college SAT testing for high-schoolers were not only revising the tests significantly but even making the essay part optional. Well, I thought, this sounds like just … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 15 Comments

Spelling

Posted on August 6, 2013 by Jim Wheeler

Eighth-grader Thomas Hurley III knew the right answer, er, question, in his Jeopardy round was Emancipation Proclamation, but he misspelled it and lost some three thousand dollars. He added an extra “t”, making it “emanciptation”. Oops. When I first heard … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 25 Comments

Penmanship, Through the Looking Glass

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Jim Wheeler

Cursive handwriting is, I submit, linked significantly to the human brain. Logic might indicate that it is simply a pattern reflecting thought unique to a particular brain but my own experience leads me to conclude that handwriting is a complete … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 14 Comments

Recruiting New Exiles For Mars

Posted on June 7, 2012 by Jim Wheeler

Ray Bradbury was ordinary flesh and blood, but he had a magic mind and there were certain similarities between his life and my own. Born in Illinois to a telephone lineman and his Swedish immigrant wife, Bradbury grew up in … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

Penmanship and the Dodo

Posted on March 11, 2012 by Jim Wheeler

Valuing diversity of opinion, I’m pleased to have among my regular blogging contacts a woman and an educator. Jennifer Carey is both those things and I liked her recent blog post offering the InfoGraphic, “A Few Grammar Mistakes That Can … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Education | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

A Solution To The Urchin Problem?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by Jim Wheeler

When I first saw a TV news item about Newt Gingrich’s advocating that children do some menial labor in school to teach them the merits of work and responsibility, my reaction was one of approval. I myself held part time … Continue reading →

Posted in Culture, Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Problem Productivity

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Jim Wheeler

When I recently delved into the problem of productivity, i.e., producing more with fewer people, the Erstwhile Conservative, Duane Graham, produced a survey of the literature in a remarkably short period of time, one which indicates that many smart people … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Education | Tagged , , , , , , | 11 Comments

To Follow A Star

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Jim Wheeler

How do people decide what to do for a living? This question was prompted by a post from my blogging friend, Indiana Jen, a post in which she relates how Florida governor Scott disparaged anthropology and other liberal arts degrees … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 11 Comments

What Would Socrates Say?

Posted on June 18, 2011 by Jim Wheeler

I have attended many classes in my seven decades of life, twelve years of primary school, four of college and the equivalent of two for post-graduate.  Maybe that is enough to have an opinion about the notion that education is … Continue reading →

Posted in Education | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 26 Comments

Student Loan, Leech on Society?

Posted on June 4, 2011 by Jim Wheeler

In a previous post I asserted that the quality of a college degree is more a function of talent and work ethic than it is of instructional quality, and that universities are basically selling prestige and a monopolistic imprimatur.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Education, Personal Finance | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments