Americans and Canadians culture Q&A Thread.

[tvguy]

Why are the gyms separated?

They need the space. The Physical Education classes use them during the school day and they need the space for indoor PE sports. Volleyball, badminton, basketball, Dodgeball, gymnastics are normally indoors. The girls locker room is in the girls gym, the boys locker room is in the boy's gym.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Maybe they have segregated gym classes? I'm sure I've seen that scenario in movies and on TV. That's not the way it's done here though, either 35 years ago when I was in high school or when my DS was, much more recently. Phys. ED at all grade levels is co-ed.

It depends when the school was built.

 

[declansdad]

But they get judged based on the performance of their students results.

They shouldn't be. It isn't the teachers who change the rules, the curriculum and make decisions that no kid fails.

But that's not the topic of this thread so I'll leave it there.

 

[tvguy]

Maybe they have segregated gym classes? I'm sure I've seen that scenario in movies and on TV. That's not the way it's done here though, either 35 years ago when I was in high school or when my DS was, much more recently. Phys. ED at all grade levels is co-ed.

Yes, it is segregated by gender. I am surprised a modern school would have co-ed PE. I know times change, but puberty hasn't and having boys and girls mixed like that could cause issues. My High School was built in 1958 with a Boys and a Girls gym as are all the High Schools here, most built in the 1950's.
And in 1972 a thing called Title IX was passed at the national level in the U.S. requiring any athletic programs to be equal for boys and girls.
The voters here a few years back approved a bond measure for new school building construction. The big trend at High Schools here has been to build "Performing Arts" buildings for music, and drama programs. So at the schools that have finished those new buildings, the Multipurpose room no longer has to house those programs.

 

[tvguy]

And this is what’s wrong with standardized testing. There are so many more factors in student success than testing to see where they stand. Just because a student doesn’t do well on a test doesn’t mean the teacher isn’t good. It could mean that teacher recognizes that (or those) student(s) need more than academic support. Or they focused on their strengths vs worrying about getting a good mark on the test. A good standardized test result doesn’t mean a good teacher.

The USA is much more focused on those sorts of things too I have found. Testing and results and such. We have some here in Ontario, in grades 3,6,9 and I can’t remember the other grades. They aren’t annual. Teachers unions strongly oppose them. As a parent I just go meh. However I just returned to teaching after being a SAHM for 15 years and as an educator AND parent….hate them. I like seeing the results but I know how biased and slanted the results can be.

My kids went to private schools and those test scores are what they live and die for in their marketing. I didn't pay much attention until my daughter started her Freshman year of college in 2009. She was astounded at how poorly prepared for college her classmates who came up through the public school system were for college. A lot of them having to take remedial English, Math and Science to get up to speed.
I also have mixed feeling about the value of a Teaching Credential. Until High School very few of my kid's teachers had Credentials. My daughter's First grade teacher did not have a credential but had been teaching for over 40 years. She felt no value in a credential and was very open about that. She was the best teacher I have ever seen. The most ironic thing, she was the teacher the local Cal State University always placed Student Teachers with.

 

[luv2cheer92]

My kids went to private schools and those test scores are what they live and die for in their marketing. I didn't pay much attention until my daughter started her Freshman year of college in 2009. She was astounded at how poorly prepared for college her classmates who came up through the public school system were for college. A lot of them having to take remedial English, Math and Science to get up to speed.
I also have mixed feeling about the value of a Teaching Credential. Until High School very few of my kid's teachers had Credentials. My daughter's First grade teacher did not have a credential but had been teaching for over 40 years. She felt no value in a credential and was very open about that. She was the best teacher I have ever seen. The most ironic thing, she was the teacher the local Cal State University always placed Student Teachers with.

Plus I think it all depends on where you go to school. I was always in public school growing up, and high school for me was super significantly harder than college. Undergrad was a breeze for me and I wondered why everyone was saying it was so much harder. But, I grew up in an area with excellent public schools.

 

[prairie_girl]

Maybe they have segregated gym classes? I'm sure I've seen that scenario in movies and on TV. That's not the way it's done here though, either 35 years ago when I was in high school or when my DS was, much more recently. Phys. ED at all grade levels is co-ed.

Not done here, either. It’s so outdated lol

They need the space. The Physical Education classes use them during the school day and they need the space for indoor PE sports. Volleyball, badminton, basketball, Dodgeball, gymnastics are normally indoors. The girls locker room is in the girls gym, the boys locker room is in the boy's gym.

Here, they just make time for everyone all the same.

Yes, it is segregated by gender. I am surprised a modern school would have co-ed PE. I know times change, but puberty hasn't and having boys and girls mixed like that could cause issues. My High School was built in 1958 with a Boys and a Girls gym as are all the High Schools here, most built in the 1950's.
And in 1972 a thing called Title IX was passed at the national level in the U.S. requiring any athletic programs to be equal for boys and girls.
The voters here a few years back approved a bond measure for new school building construction. The big trend at High Schools here has been to build "Performing Arts" buildings for music, and drama programs. So at the schools that have finished those new buildings, the Multipurpose room no longer has to house those programs.

OMG how outdated. This right here is a PERFECT example of the culture differences.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Not done here, either. It’s so outdated lol



Here, they just make time for everyone all the same.




OMG how outdated. This right here is a PERFECT example of the culture differences.

My gym class was co-ed.

 

[prairie_girl]

My gym class was co-ed.

Same. Granted it was eons ago (boohoo) but my daughter graduated four years ago and her gym classes were coed.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Same. Granted it was eons ago (boohoo) but my daughter graduated four years ago and her gym classes were coed.

Almost all in the Northeast USA are.

 

[tvguy]

Not done here, either. It’s so outdated lol



Here, they just make time for everyone all the same.




OMG how outdated. This right here is a PERFECT example of the culture differences.

Problem is they need the SPACE of the extra gym for all the students. I guess they certainly could build one gym that is twice the size, but two gyms gives them more flexibility. There are six periods in the high school day, 2,000 students, that's over 300 boys and girls per class.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Canadians, do you ever stream sports games/movies on a projector outside in your backyard on warm nights?

 

[ronandannette]

OMG how outdated. This right here is a PERFECT example of the culture differences.

Agree.

Yes, it is segregated by gender. I am surprised a modern school would have co-ed PE. I know times change, but puberty hasn't and having boys and girls mixed like that could cause issues. My High School was built in 1958 with a Boys and a Girls gym as are all the High Schools here, most built in the 1950's.
And in 1972 a thing called Title IX was passed at the national level in the U.S. requiring any athletic programs to be equal for boys and girls.
The voters here a few years back approved a bond measure for new school building construction. The big trend at High Schools here has been to build "Performing Arts" buildings for music, and drama programs. So at the schools that have finished those new buildings, the Multipurpose room no longer has to house those programs.

Try for the life of me, I can't think of one, single "issue" that might be referred to here. Phys. ED class is not an "athletic program". Phys. ED curriculum throughout the school years includes a variety of things from outdoor orienteering to dancing to condition & calisthenics to yoga, among lots of other things. Of course, competitive varsity sports teams are separate but recreational intramural play was always mixed. (Not referring to football or basketball; non-contact sports like volleyball, badminton, softball, etc.).

 

[ronandannette]

Canadians, do you ever stream sports games/movies on a projector outside in your backyard on warm nights?

Personally? No, and I've never known anyone who has that kind of equipment. Our City Parks and Rec department does offer pop-up movies and plays at various locations around town throughout the summer. We've never gone and I don't think it's something we'd ever do here at home.

We do love watching the jumbo movie screens outside on the deck of a cruise ship during an evening at sea - if that counts.

 

[Buzz Rules]

A ghost haunts my old high school’s locker rooms (I mentioned it in another thread). Are there any haunted schools in Canada?

 

[prairie_girl]

Problem is they need the SPACE of the extra gym for all the students. I guess they certainly could build one gym that is twice the size, but two gyms gives them more flexibility. There are six periods in the high school day, 2,000 students, that's over 300 boys and girls per class.

I hadn’t thought of that. I was assuming all gyms were as big as the ones I know of.
Still weird to separate them into boys and girls though.

Agree.

Try for the life of me, I can't think of one, single "issue" that might be referred to here. Phys. ED curriculum throughout the school years includes a variety of things from outdoor ed to dancing to condition & calisthenics and yoga, among lots of other things. Of course, competitive varsity sports teams are separate but recreational intramural play was always mixed. (Not referring to football or basketball; non-contact sports like volleyball, badminton, softball, etc.).

He’s saying the boys can’t control themselves around the girls, and a visible bra strap could lead to who knows what.

 

[prairie_girl]

A ghost haunts my old high school’s locker rooms (I mentioned it in another thread). Are there any haunted schools in Canada?

I’m sure our residential schools have spirits surrounding them

 

[tvguy]

Agree.

Try for the life of me, I can't think of one, single "issue" that might be referred to here. Phys. ED class is not an "athletic program". Phys. ED curriculum throughout the school years includes a variety of things from outdoor orienteering to dancing to condition & calisthenics to yoga, among lots of other things. Of course, competitive varsity sports teams are separate but recreational intramural play was always mixed. (Not referring to football or basketball; non-contact sports like volleyball, badminton, softball, etc.).

Every year it seems some "boy" would get caught trying to sneak a peak into the girls locker room.

 

[tvguy]

I hadn’t thought of that. I was assuming all gyms were as big as the ones I know of.
Still weird to separate them into boys and girls though.

It also lets boys and girls High School sports team compete at the same time. Whether it be Volleyball, or Basketball, etc, the visiting school can bring their team over in one bus, and the Boys and Girls games are played at the same time in their respective gyms with out having to wait for one gym to be available. I mean, school teams are still separated by gender here. No co-ed school teams.

 

[Buzz Rules]

Personally? No, and I've never known anyone who has that kind of equipment. Our City Parks and Rec department does offer pop-up movies and plays at various locations around town throughout the summer. We've never gone and I don't think it's something we'd ever do here at home.

We do love watching the jumbo movie screens outside on the deck of a cruise ship during an evening at sea - if that counts.

It’s a common thing in the USA.