Read my dream article today...

It's finally happened... someone is finally trying it out...
Article from New York Times

The idea sounds great - $125K/yr for teaching. It will definitely attract some of the top talent around the world. But the question is, talent from which pool? By requiring such an extensive experience in teaching, the only people qualified would be people who are already in an established teaching career. There are probably a few in the teaching pool who excelled in the subject they studied... but I mean, the perception that teaching is a 'backup' is sadly, still the perception of most students in college... and the reality is that because of this mentality, a large portion of the current teaching pool do not contain the top ranked students from each faculty because grad school or other lucrative jobs in the industry are thrown at them before they even graduate.

If money is an issue, these people would probably have a better chance at trying to make alot of money in the first 10 years of their life, then switch into a 'regular' teaching position and live off the fat of the land... making the potential to get $125K 5 years later mean nothing.

If money was not an issue, waiting 5 years (which I wonder if you can attain a proven track record in teaching in this time frame) before you can find out if you make the cut is a pretty risky bet... especially when you have something to lose... If people were willing to bet with their life on teaching, then the money part would have been immaterial anyway....

If either of the above is true, then this strategy would fail at tempting any excelling college students or industry experts to consider a career in teaching.

It is true that the 'smartest' people are not the best teachers... but in this experiment this guy is trying to marry the two traits - subject expects + profound teaching experience - together. There will be a few, but it will be interesting to see if the potentiality of topping off at $125K/yr will help increase the overall talent of the teaching pool.

The other thing is looking at the curriculum, it does not include anything related to computers. Perhaps I am brainwashed with my years of schooling, but computers are going to be playing a big part in our everyday lives for at least the next 50 years (if not longer). A successful school should start putting more emphasis on computing (how to use the internet, how to type, etc.). Proficiency with computers are vital to the success of the upcoming generation... I mean, if used properly, the internet can become a very useful resource for research (heck, half my material I learned in my courses in 4B was through the wiki). Language was good when eloquence is required, then it was math, now is the age for computers.

Don't get me wrong though, I really wish for this guy's project to work. The idea is a very noble and good idea. But for this program to be truly profound, this school should not be the light at the end of the tunnel, but rather, the lamp post for people to begin their careers at...

At least that's my 2 cents...

A Heavy Movie

So this weekend was suppose to be watching Jumper, but ended up watching The Other Boleyn girl instead.

It was, as fellow Brazilian grill eater called it, a very 'heavy' movie. The plot was simple, but it was played out very nicely.

So here were two sisters, one who preferred the simple life and had no ambitions, and another who had ambitions and the drive to do anything. The sister with ambition, goes through various ordeals and acquires the skills to get what she wants. She manages to grasp at the impossible, becomes the queen of England, and attains everything that she desired. In the end though, she loses everything - even her life, because of the very trait that made her successful.

But how will someone know when they are going too far. The mentality of the successful is not 'IF' you can do it, but 'HOW' you can do it. There is really no checks and balances when you start thinking from a 'HOW' perspective...is there? It is inevitable that if you continually define the 'HOW's properly and gain success after success, you will end up going too far. To others it will be clearly obvious, but is it obvious to this person who is executing the 'HOW's?... Probably not...

Hrmm...