Thursday, May 31, 2018

Overheard

“Where are you gonna be when school starts?”

“Thirteenth grade.”

Thirteenth grade is (as they say) a thing. But I suspect the speaker was offering a sardonic substitute for “community college.” I prefer James Hayes-Bohanan’s point of view: college should never be mistaken for high school.

Related reading
All OCA “overheard” posts (Pinboard)

comments: 2

normann said...

I have said on more than one occasion that I taught 13th, 14th, 15th and 16th grade. Although I did everything in my power to “fold [students] to a higher standard” (see, I haven’t forgotten), it was a losing battle. It wasn’t all bad: I will never forget my second semester Latin class from spring 1995. Of course, it had only three students: two non-traditional, i.e. older, students (one had been in the Army and the other worked for his family’s business) and a staff librarian.

Michael Leddy said...

Yes, we must fold. But it’s more and more difficult to aspire to the idea of a university.