Let's Fix Education / by Bruce Deitrick Price
Savvy, practical insights on where our Education Establishment went wrong and how most schools can be improved.LET'S FIX EDUCATION explains the many dysfunctional theories and methods operating within our schools. This podcast is intended for parents, teachers, and community leaders who want education reform.
Each week, LET'S FIX EDUCATION examines another problem in our public schools, such as: Constructivism. Learning styles. Sight-words. No memorization. Cooperative learning. Prior knowledge. Reform math. The dilution of knowledge. Common Core. Project-based learning. Student-centered, etc. In fact, there are DOZENS of counterproductive learning and teaching theories, all made worse by ideological motives.
Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, and education reformer. He has analyzed the problems in education for more than 30 years. Price is the author of "Saving K-12: What happened to our public schools? How do we fix them?" (190 pages) His main education site is Improve-Education.org. For more information about book and author, visit Lit4u.com. Newest novels are "Frankie" (about a harmless robot) and "The Boy Who Saves The World" (about a boy who saves the world).
"Bruce Price’s SAVING K-12 is a MUST read! It is precise, concise and powerful. Action is required…for the sake of our children, our grandchildren and the future of the American Republic!” Robert W. Sweet, Jr., long-time President of The National Right to Read Foundation
Let's Fix Education / by Bruce Deitrick Price
Episode 166: Back to school: Modern History Elevated by Iron and Steel
Episode 166: Back to school: Modern History Elevated by Iron and Steel Wed., Sept. 4, 2024
SUMMARY: A look at the central ingredient of modern times, namely, the SKYSCRAPER. When did it appear and how and why?
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POSTSCRIPT: as urgent as ever
Reading is the most important thing. Our public schools are doing a criminally bad job. Don't accept it.
Please see Episode 164. Learn why many experts believe that "Reading Is Easy.”
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Listen to PODCAST or read TRANSCRIPT.
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Here are two ways to help reform…
Visit Education Reform
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Word-Wise Education
757-455-5020
Bruce Deitrick Price
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Bio: Bruce Deitrick Price is a novelist, artist, poet, and education reformer.
(For a list of literary titles, visit Lit4u.com.
Under construction but worth a look.)
NOW IN E-BOOK: "THE BOY WHO SAVES THE WORLD"
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Let's Fix Education explains to Americans why their schools are so bad. The people in charge prefer mediocrity because they are socialists of one kind or another. If people work together to promote real education, we'll have it.
LET'S FIX EDUCATION by Bruce Deitrick Price
Episode 166 Wed., Sept 4, 2024
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Modern History Elevated by Iron and Steel
SUMMARY: A look at the central ingredient of modern times, namely, the skyscraper. When did it appear and how and why?
For the first 10,000 years of human history, roughly speaking, the highest structures were pyramids, temples, castles, fancy homes three or four stories tall.
The modern skyline is 40, 50 or many more stories tall; and in most big cities on the planet, there are 100s of skyscrapers. This vertical space allows a much greater number of people to live and work at almost the same spot on a map.
With wood or stone, tall buildings were impossible. Skyscrapers became possible with iron and steel. These provide the rigid skeletons on which floors and exteriors hang.
Another piece of technology was essential, the elevator. To win acceptance, the elevator needed a second invention, which was an emergency brake that automatically and safely stops a falling elevator.
The 1880s were a very exciting time for engineering and architecture. The massive Brooklyn Bridge, still an astonishing achievement, was finished in 1883. The Statue of Liberty was finished in 1886.
The structure that I find the most fascinating is the Eiffel Tower, which was finished in 1889. It celebrated the 100th anniversary of the French Revolution..
It was a huge and controversial undertaking. For one thing, no structure had ever been constructed to a height of even 200 yards but the Eiffel Tower topped out above 330 yards. Many intellectuals and artists complained that it was a boring, ugly monstrosity. But today almost 6,000,000 people pay to tour the tower every year, a record on planet Earth. It is the world’s most popular structure.
It was supposed to be removed after 20 years but the public liked it so much that it is now a permanent feature. As other tall structures are not allowed in the center of Paris, the Eiffel Tower is uniquely dominant.
The French, even for the French, were argumentative and contentious about the location of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, the design, the materials, the services that should be inside, and what would people think? But this structure has emerged as the ultimate symbol of France and French culture; it’s also the symbol of the inventive engineer.
There are restaurants in the Eiffel Tower, elevators in the Eiffel Tower, even apartments. I always found it wonderful. You can walk under it. You can take the stairs to the top. You can experience it from many angles.
The Eiffel tower was a centerpiece of an industrial fair intended to show off the wonderful products created by France. It looks like it would be very rigid but in fact it can sway 3 inches in a storm. So you have this monstrous sculpture; at the same time it's somewhat romantic and charming. My mother had a charm bracelet and one of the things on the bracelet was the Eiffel Tower.
One thing to ponder is how all of our technological successes, which we are now used to, start off with great difficulty. People express lots of doubt and doom, no matter whether you are talking about airplane, car, or maybe a tower. People say it can't be done, it shouldn't be done. Forget about it, try something else. In other words, all the great technology we enjoy was always in the beginning a struggle.
In closing, for younger children, pick the parts of the story you like, use them to teach a cluster of other information.
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POSTSCRIPT: READING
Reading is the most important thing. Our public schools are doing a criminally bad job. Don't accept it.
Please see Episode 164. Learn why many experts believe that "Reading Is Easy.”
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