Skip to main content

This one just makes me laugh...


So I got home yesterday evening to find my wife shaking her head. She said that Elise had some news for me...

At school kids read books and take tests based on their reading. They earn points based on the level of reading and their comprehension of the text. It also has to do with the length of the book.

We bought Ammon a Hobbit video game based on the Tolkien book. It's really a cute game, and Ammon really enjoyed playing it. Elise would sit and watch him play. I did that a lot myself - I was never very good at video games but strangely enjoyed watching others play. It was kind of like a movie... Elise cheers Ammon on and gives ideas or strategies when stumped. She gets her turn to play, but is generally content to watch. Like I said, I was much the same way...

So Elise gets the idea that since she is intimately familiar with the story line of the book from the video game, which is very similar in almost all respects to the book, she should take the test for points. It doesn't have anything to do with her grade or anything. It's just for fun...

She aced the test.

She's a good reader, and she has passed many tests like this in the past. This was the first time (and hopefully the LAST time) she has done something like this. It's so funny! How did this thought ever even enter her brain - that she would go ahead and take a test for a book she's never read... AND ace it...

I don't know whether to praise her for her memory and comprehension (of a video game!) or chastise her for being sneaky and "cheating". It's like those folks who read the cliff's notes and ace the test...

What ya gonna do?!?

Comments

The answer is obvious: buy more video games and less books.

Dad
Bill Cobabe said…
HA!! Nice one, dad!

I just held her and laughed and said don't do it again. But I am still impressed that she even thought to do it in the first place. Scary. Clever, but scary...
The trick is to encourage them to do well within the system while still helping them learn to think outside the box.

It is not entirely clear to me what she did that she should not do again. She learned the material, even though it was thourgh a non-traditional medium.

Isn't the purpose of learning things to get information and learn how to use it?

Or is it to learn to answer test questions.

There is a delicate balance here somewhere. Personally, I always tried to come down a little on the side of independent thought. And I am pleased to note that my kids turned our pretty good. On the other hand, too much free thinking can lead to apostasy if it is not carefully channeled.

I am glad you are the dad and I am the grandpa. I have a much better job description.
Jeanette said…
Hey, don't knock the cliff's notes test acing til you try it. It's the only way I ever made it through the Moby Dick section in English!
LivingstonClan said…
Ya--I think she pulls that sneakiness from you AND Young Shin. It's always the "quiet ones" you know. I am positive Young Shin has a real sneaky side most of us have never seen! I love it--sounds like something I might have done--once upon a time. What a cute girl Elise is. I drove past your old house last night (after dropping my babysitters off) and it really made me miss you guys. The Miller girls said their brither wants Ammons address again. P.S.
Anonymous said…
I say just love them.

I think that's what Dad always did.

I remember once when I wrecked the car on the way to a shopping trip, but shopped all day, then when I got home and told him, he just said how sorry that I have had to carry that all day with me...

We did stupid stuff as a kids (what she did was brillant), and thats what kids do. Our job is to love them. XO

Popular posts from this blog

The Other Art

I'm not sure we appreciate photography as much as we do other art forms. Part of this comes from the reality that surrounds and permeates a photograph - it's very, very real, and the photographer strives for clarity and crispness in the representations. Perhaps this is why black and white images continue to be relevant - they strip away extraneous information (color) and leave us with something that is at once familiar and also non-existent - for nothing exists in black and white. Nothing. I also think that pictures are becoming too common-place... Everyone has a camera in their pocket, and while that's a very democratic thing (everyone can express themselves in a picture easily and readily, and can find an audience for these images, which are casually taken and casually viewed, and perhaps just as casually forgotten) I think that we embrace that casual attitude, and it spills over to all aspects of the media, making it impotent. So I read this article this morning: h...

Lucky!

So Tomorrow is Amie's birthday. The 12 th is Andy's. The 14 th is Alex's. And the 26 th is mom's. Happy birthday everyone. I recently found that a member of our ward has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic cancer has a survivability rate of less than 5% and you never, ever kick it, even if you live. Once diagnosed, people are expected to live about six months. My wife and I were talking about this wonderful woman. There are very few (too few) people in this world who shine. Literally. This sister shines with a light that is perceptible and discernible . The world will literally be a darker place without her in it. Life is short, folks. Too short for hard feelings, too short for pain and misunderstanding. I love you all so much. Sorry this one is such a downer... I don't mean to be lugubrious on your birthdays... I consider myself lucky to be your brother. You have and continue to bless me and my family in many ways, for which I will be eternally gra...

Excommunication

My heart is heavy this morning. I read that Kate Kelly and others are being brought up on Church disciplinary action. For those who are unfamiliar with the process/proceedings of LDS Church discipline, it can be a bit mystifying. There are several levels of censure that the Church may impose. These range from a simple removal of some privileges for a short period of time to the most severe action - excommunication. When one is excommunicated, the person's membership in the Church is terminated. It is a very extreme measure, and for the faithful it can be a very difficult thing to consider. What people don't understand - what is nearly impossible for someone outside the proceedings to understand - is the amount of love felt. It's discipline. It's intended to be harsh (at times). And it's intended to be unpleasant. But it is done with love and care for the person. Since excommunication is such an extreme measure, it is really only very rarely applied. There are ...