Is this too litteral thinking to you?

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I think one question that needs to be asked is..."Why do teachers need to ask 'trick' questions"?

I believe they are designed to "weed out" and punish literal thinkers, ADD anf dyslexic students....not to DX and help them but to punish them.I have major problems with this method of creating a grade scale.

I remember when I first learned that there was such a thing as "trick questions"....it didnt make me a more critical thinker just a bit slower and more paranoid and a lot more frustrated....why was I being tricked?After all,the bases of getting the correct answer is in asking the correct question.
If you want to see an example of this...take a look at the MMPI questions.Could they be any more vague?(retorical/sarcastic question).I dont know how many times I have argued the language used in a questions with teachers....but it is many.It is not that I dont understand the answer but that the question can have so many answers based on what they are actually asking.

Modern first world teaching methods are descended from prussian military techniques. The goal, even if not realized, it to warp and shape the youths mind. While there is nothing particularly malevolent about it, it does reduce critical thinking to socially acceptable ways.

No, you still do not understand. We are not computers. Computers are computers. The fact that he can't handle a question that technically has no correct answer because it presupposes something that is false, doesn't mean he needs to be 'programmed with every little bit of information' in order to get by. He didn't misunderstand because he isn't familiar with the concept of two differently expressed fractions being equal. He understood what was in fact said but not what was meant. He was not expecting deceit.. he was expecting a test of his intelligence.

I remember one teacher getting very upset because I did a writing assignment EXACTLY as requested. However another kid in class who was also very smart did the same thing so it did seem like it pointed out the literal thinkers.

It's so they can make them cogs in the economic and societal wheel. They don't want them asking logical questions. This is the point where her son learns that people lie and call it social skills and politeness. It's still just a lie. They can call it what they want. He'll learn to play the game and close them out otherwise. We all do.

It's so funny to see people try to defend these questions and put it on the Aspie. We don't need to be spoon fed information. Just tell him they are trying to deliberately trick him. That's what they are doing. They are being deliberately ambiguous. It's going to continue for the rest of his life. They will always try to defend it and it will still be deceit and lies.

The ontario cirriculum in particular has become very abstract. They say that the goal is to create "thinkers". Everything needs to be read "between the lines" or they stamp "stupid" on your forhead.

All I want my son to be able to do, is stop for a minute and ask a question if what he is doing does not make any sense. I feel sometimes like he is a lemming jumping off a cliff becuase that is what he thinks he is supposed to do, no question or independant thought. Just to read a question and if it does not make sense, stop and either re read the instructions (which stated = was a possibility) or put his hand up to get clarification! *sigh*. I guess all good things come in time.

This world is full of people who are great at thinking abstract, and those that are great at thinking more analytically. I think my son will oneday be a great analytical thinker, but it is going to take time.

Considering that 3/4's of his class is "at risk" of not passing though I think sends a pretty clear message, it is not just him that is struggling and the cirriculum is not doing what it sets out to do, make successful people!

The funny thing is, I think the newer Ontario cirriculum is less like this. It is just that the average 45 year old teacher is used to doing this for so long, trying to squish kids into cookie cutter molds, they just can't turn it off and allow someone to learn outside of the box they design. It seems like the fact my son does not learn much in her class, but does with me at home is taken as a personal slight against her!

WRONG! It achieves EXACTLY what they want to do! They want to create a profitable sinecure for people with high income, almost no work, and NO chance to be fired. The problem is that that is reserved for the "teachers".

Who ever said it was to make successful people? If that was the goal, it would have been SCRAPED LONG ago!

BTW some of the DUMBEST people are *****FAR***** more intelligent than a computer. If your son was one of the few that wasn't, you wouldn't even be asking people here about him, because he would be a veritable VEGETABLE! Please don't underestimate your son. If you must make a mistake, OVERestimate! Encourage him to PUSH his limits.

Steve

I suspected as much. Many kids have trouble with fractions.

I have not had military training, but I understand that part of it is to form a peer bond. My exposure to the under elements of society, the gangs and whatnot, showed me that it is much the same. I saw them worked up into an emotional state, then get reined in by the higher ups. The idea is that they would be scared and excited, then rendered powerless outside the group, so that they would come to rely on the group for safety, and thus, it would assure their loyalty.

They would tell the younger gang members and prospects "beat that guy up" "do this" "sell that". It would foster personal emnity between two people(the prospect and his target) and then the elder gang members would punish him for further acting on it at a later point. End result would be an angry/frightened young man whos only outlet would be gang orders.

I can see the parallels with school. "Do the lesson this way" "Show your work" "It will be on your permanent record"(whatever, ha!). The students only outlet to succeed is what is chosen for him. I went to school with a guy, probably a two or 3 years older than me, who was captain of the basketball team. They caught him smoking dope, and kicked him off the team. He wasnt much of a student, so as punishment, they took away the one creative healthy outlet that he had. Needless to say, he had a lot more time for smoking dope after that. They should have given him extra training or more responsibility.

Thats what social conditioning is. Exposure to "read between the lines" situations. Its rigid, but its also "feel your way through". "think about the consequences of your actions" "what will people think of you?"

Its not "get all A's so that you know things", its "get all A's so that you can get a good job". Its glorified show and tell. Nobody really gives a hell what you know. ITs what you appear to be.