I just read a post on kuro5hin outlining a plan for rethinking the US education system. I Like it. It’s quite radical, but not so crazy as some free learning plans. It focuses around shifting classes toward things people really need to know to be genuinely productive in the world.

Each class is taught for ones entire academic career. Reading and Comprehension is taught in a separate class from Writing and Speaking. Two classes everyday for 13 years covering simply communicating. A brilliant idea. Another class that I wish I had, covers Critical Thinking, Debate, and Recognizing Deceit. That could quite possibility be the most important skill one could ever learn. Of course it also covers the traditional classes with Math as one course and Science Methodology, and Sciences as another. A factual class of History separate from another covering Social Studies, Civics, and Life Skills.

One I would like to add is Religion. I know all those who know me are wondering why I, of all people, would advocate teaching religion in school. Quite simply as silly as I think religions are, they are an important part of the global society. All religions should be taught. None should be taught as correct or true. But people should be knowledgeable of all they each entail. Their belief structure, their organizational structure, their sacred texts, the histories of their people, are all important when living in a global society. Here we are now standing in the middle of a religious war and I doubt if one in ten Americans could intelligently talk about the Muslim faith. I know I couldn’t. Hell I wouldn’t even feel confident talking about Catholicism.

Aside from curriculum structure, there are also other ideas about changing how schools work. But I don’t feel like getting to those here. But you should read the whole thing. It's good.

Well today was the last day of class. That was all part of the plan. But it was also the last day of y new part time bookkeeping/secretary job. I was their third candidate. The first two didn't last more than 2 days. I was there 2 weeks. In the end they decided nobody was going to be able to do the job and the decided to outsource it to a bookkeeping & payroll service.

Now I am with out any real work again. Paintball is only realistically $50 a day, and 2 days a week. I'm going to need more. That also means, I can't upgrade my computer as planned, because I don't know how long I'll be unemployed.

Yesterday I was hired to teach a computer hardware class for teenagers. It's 4 weeks, 5 days a week, 3 hours a day. The cool part is that after 3 hours a day it pays about as much as my last full time job. Of course it's only 4 weeks, so I'm still job hunting.

Now I was never a fan of school. Honestly I think the classroom environment is the worst format for learning anyone has ever conceived. Now will that make me a good teacher? I hope so. I always thought that if I ever was a teacher I would be able to do it differently. I'll find out. The class is pretty small. They are all smart, well off, teenagers. We will all be into computers, so I'm sure it will be very cool. Smart kids are easy to teach.

My biggest worry is how to fill 60 hours. I could teach someone everything they need to know about building their own computer, in probably 10 to 12 hours. How do I fill the rest of the time? The best ideas I have are giving breaks, explain how the parts evolved over the years, and a bunch of different hands on activities.

But What ever happens I'm sure will be pretty fun, and some needed money.

Sunday my sister graduated from WestCON. Sure my birthday was Saturday, but that happens every year. Graduating from college only happens once.

For her, it means that she really is smart enough to do what she wants in life. When we were younger, I was the smart one. The one that everybody expected would go on to graduate college, and she would be waitressing. But we both did our parts to ensure our fortunes unfolded in an entirely opposite way.

For me in the end, the day was all about one photo. We wanted to make sure we had decent seats. We got there 2 hours early. It was raining. So we took our seats. I kept humming to my self, Only happy when it rains.

The lucky thing about the weather that day, was its clearing just in time for the ceremony. So for the important part, it was actually a beautiful day.