At 01:52 PM 5/20/2005, Bob Blick wrote:

> >> At this point, the most critical juncture
> >> occurs:  under NO circumstances should a teacher state that the
> >> hypothesis brought forth by a student is "wrong".
>
>Wrong! Students waste everyone's time when they challenge the teacher.
>Teachers don't have the luxury of that much time.

Unfortunately, teachers don't always teach the truth.

A friend of mine is taking university level electronics classes, 
where 63/37 solder is "junk".
The instructor binned a roll during class, preferring 60/40.
He also believes in putting the solder on the iron first, then 
burning the flux off, then applying that to the cold joint.

I was wondering, in 2nd grade, why my friend and I were always picked 
last for everything.
I clearly remember the answer, "You gots ta expec that if you're goin 
to hang around with that black child."..
I decided then and there, who would pick my friends.

I had a math instructor dismissed once.
He had a habit of knocking points off for perfectly legit things that 
he "didn't like".
I took it to the department head, and found some others that he had 
done similarly to.
Apparently he had been sent down to our comm college from the big 
one, for similar things, and he was dismissed.

>Also, one of the things students need to do is learn to respect authority,
>and how to get along with others.

And when to say "shove it".


>Remember, students are in school to learn, and they are doing it under the
>guidance of their teacher. If the teacher wants the students opinion,
>he/she will ask for it.

Sometimes you need to break the rules. 

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