Lemonade from textbook lemons
Regarding the Dec. 30 Metro article “Va. may tighten approval process for textbooks”:
I know what to do with the thousands of error-filled history books in Virginia. Use them! But first put a warning label on every book, and glue an error list (citing page number and line number) inside. Include an explanation: “This history book has many errors. Can you find the mistakes? Can you discover the true facts, what really happened?”
The teachers and students would not only learn the truth, they’d learn about honesty, research and Virginia’s real history. A huge problem could be turned into a wonderful learning opportunity. Of course, publisher Five Ponds Press should pay for the warning labels and error lists.
By
Jan Z. Olsen, Bethesda
| January 3, 2011; 6:50 PM ET
Categories:
Virginia, education, schools
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Posted by: gannon_dick | January 3, 2011 11:23 PM | Report abuse
Amen, amen! They'd learn to not believe everything in a book (and by extension on the web) how to research, what makes a fact a verifiable fact. A great lesson.
Posted by: TomCantlon | January 4, 2011 2:02 AM | Report abuse
Amen, amen! They'd learn to not believe everything in a book (and by extension on the web) how to research, what makes a fact a verifiable fact. A great lesson.
Posted by: TomCantlon | January 4, 2011 2:08 AM | Report abuse
Remember that noone reads those disclaimers; also, most people are too lazy to do research. So, why buy anything else from that publisher, or anything written by those authors?
Posted by: AMviennaVA | January 4, 2011 8:14 AM | Report abuse
Were these textbooks the result of a sort of "Immaculate Purchase"? Did each school district buy them without reading them? I would recall each school board member who voted to spend the money buying this trash without having read it first. Oh, wait, that would be expecting public office holders to be responsible for prudently spending taxpayer money. My bad.
Posted by: lericgoodman | January 5, 2011 7:38 PM | Report abuse
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Think bigger, Jan.
How about a TV Game Show where students are quizzed on the mistakes to win scholarships to (out-of-state) Colleges ... we could call it "Survivor Texas".