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Josh Knox

Just Joshin' #187 (Check-in)

Published 3 months ago • 3 min read

Family Photo:
Check-in

The kids have minimum school days this week for parent-teacher conferences.

This is convenient because the kids had two days off last week to observe Veterans Day, so they're used to missing classes. They also have all of next week off for Thanksgiving. At drop-off, I heard another mom call it 'No-school November'.

I thought that was funny.

By chance, right now I'm skimming Bryan Caplan's The Case Against Education, so I can take comfort knowing some economics professor thinks education is mostly signaling and that not all these classes actually build marketable skills.

"These children are minors, why aren't they already working in the mines?" feels like the subtle libertarian talking point.

--

The parent-teacher conferences went well. It's nice to check-in with the boys' teachers.

Both boys are on track with their curriculum standards. My gut reaction to this oscillates between, "Oh, that's nice," and "Well, the standards don't really matter...right now I just want them to enjoy school," and "WHAT ARE WE DOING TO PUSH THEM BEYOND BEING ACADEMICALLY ADEQUATE?!?!" I'm still not sure which response is appropriate.

There weren't any surprises. Calvin's teacher said he is kind. Lawrence's teacher said he is clever. We know these things, though it's nice to know other people know them too.

Talking to another dad, he commented, "There should never be any surprises at these parent-teacher conferences. It's just like at work—any actual issue should be brought up and addressed long before some scheduled check-in."

It seems that dad works in a very functional workplace. And maybe Calvin and Lawrence learn in very functional classrooms.

Dad Jokes:
Checking In / Checking Outside

Source: Twonks​

Source: They Can Talk​

Highlights:
Check Your Facts

​Resonance by Chris Barber​

The world doesn't teach people how to sit with feelings. So when other people have big emotions, people fix them, explain them away, or use reassurance.
​
Resonance is an alternative. When someone is wanting to vent or get advice, instead of giving them solutions/reassurance/fixes, try resonance. It's similar to active listening. Active listening gives you paraphrasing and open ended questions. Resonance adds on three new tools: copies, guesses, and exaggerations.
...
​
First, stay with the emotions and the experience. Do this with a mix of reflecting back what you’re hearing and seeing, making guesses, checking where you’re right, and exaggerating as needed. Then, once the emotions have processed, move onto logic. Avoid adding logic while emotions are still active - that's like pouring gasoline on a fire. Instead, resonance is like cool water or sand.
​
So resonance is this kind of reflection based communication method that helps others digest and process their emotions - get emotionally regulated - by making them feel seen.

​The McPhee method by James Somers​

The rest of the process is the stuff everyone already does. “All writing is rewriting.” You revise, you check your facts, you do more reporting, you restructure, you revise, you compress. But god is this easier once that first draft is in hand. The McPhee method offers a reliable procedure for getting there.

​We Have to Really Rethink the Purpose of Education by Ezra Klein with Rebecca Winthrop​

But a lot of kids are using it to do exactly like you said: shortcut the assignments. An example, one high school kid I talked to said: For my essay, I break the prompt into three parts, run it through three different generative A.I. models, put it together, run it through three antiplagiarism checkers, and then I turn it in. Another kid said: I run it through ChatGPT, then I run it through an A.I. humanizer, which goes in and puts typos in and makes it, you know —
​
These kids are getting good at something. I’m not sure I totally want them getting good at it, but they’re getting good at something. Kids will find a way. No matter what, kids will find a way. We cannot outmaneuver them with technology.

​How to tell a good story by Dylan​

Don’t get hung up on the details.
​
So last Wednesday. No wait, Tuesday. No… wait… yeah, Tuesday. I was walking up 7th ave. Sorry, 6th ave. You see? Ruins the whole thing. Don’t give people a bunch of distracting details.
...​
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Don’t fret the relationships.
​
Just say they’re your friend. Even if it’s your older brother’s soccer coach’s son. Just say “my friend.” No one is going to fact check it. They just wanna hear what happened.

iamJoshKnox Highlights:

Mending Wall | Robert Frost

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Mending Wall | Robert Frost
Dead Artist Collective
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Josh Knox

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