Got in my car last night after the LLL lecture in time to hear the entire post-debate discussion on NPR. Elected to watch football when we got home rather than replay the debate. The end of the Steelers/Titans game kept us on the edge of our seats and, thus, we were too exhausted to experience the candidates firsthand and will probably leave it at that. "Morning Edition" played enough tape of the performance to permit us to agree that Martha Raddatz won the debate. Nuff said.
Woke up at 6:30 to the rumbles of thunder. Hung out watching the storm from the vantage of our cozy bed for a while, until the thought of coffee motivated me to emerge. Dan, too. It was the first morning we had to turn on the lights in the music room in order to read the paper.
As usual, lots going on in this tiny town tonight. Two recitals to choose from, not to mention the allure of our own fireside. I think the latter will win out, as the rest of the weekend is absolutely jam packed with music and family/friends. Tomorrow is the first simulcast of the Met Opera Live in HD season, Rossini's "L'Elisir d'Amore." Two of my favorite singers have the leads, Anna Netrebko and Matthew Polenzani. Matthew made his Met debut hours after his child was born. He had been up all night. Then, in the evening, we are having family and friends for dinner. It's the eve of my birthday. Love having company for dinner; will do most of the prep today because of the opera. Sunday, we have a house concert of our local piano trio, The Red Shoe Trio, at my friend, Anita's, so we'll be busy throwing together our culinary contribution and heading out to the gathering. Anita broke her leg in a motorcycle accident last week and so she plans to sit back and enjoy her own party! More power to her!
Last night's Life Long Learning lecture was a panel discussion of the state of public education in America. I was relieved to hear that three of the primary objectives in the latest formulation of goals for these educators are critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration. And not taught as separate intellectual entities, but rather as components of all aspects of learning. The panelists were auspicious members of the profession, including two superintendents and a national consultant. One area not touched was classroom size, which for me is essential to effective learning. I was so lucky to have gone through K-12 in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where the excellent faculty and small classes have consistently produced more than their share of National Merit Scholarship finalists. Something like 10% of each class. My kids' private high school in Cleveland had the same numbers, but the cost was something else...
In my senior year, I took chemistry. As more of a right-brained student, this was a leap. (I was motivated by my then NSF scholarship-winning boyfriend...) But I did just fine because I wasn't afraid to stop the teacher whenever I got lost or confused. (It helped that he was a patient and kind person.) I couldn't hide: there were about 12 of us in the class, and so I tackled the subject with 100% of my attention. Not my norm in that subject area, I can tell you! I mean, back in BSCS Biology, an experimental curriculum at the time, I produced a lot of poetry inspired by the photos in the text book, but couldn't manage to list the phyla on a test!
Apparently, in contradiction to my experience, there are no studies that prove the advantage of smaller class sizes beyond elementary levels. Bah!
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