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Tulsa fires coach Kevin Wilson a day after blowout loss to South FloridaDRIVERLESS Knight Rider-style buses are set to hit UK roads in days as thousands brace for the terrifying new concept. The self-driving motors will soon be zooming along the streets of Central Milton Keynes . Photographs of the StreetCAV, a 'plug-and-play' shuttle, show a pod-like vehicle with bars and handles like any normal bus. Except it's almost impossible to tell which end is the front, because there's no space for a driver's seat. Instead, the entire pod has room for passengers, with seats along either side and a central door. Before it is given the green light, the buses will be trialled in the city centre in December, MK Citizen reported. read more in motors If successful, the vehicles should be ready to board its first passengers in 2025. The driverless shuttles are currently on display in the town's Smart City Experience Centre. Zenzic’s CAM Supply Chain UK programme was launched by the government to help bring the UK in the running for world-leader in development of self-driving vehicles. It has pumped money into the ambitious project, which will be lead by the Smart City Consultancy (SMCCL). Most read in Motors “The StreetCAV project has been going for some time now so we are absolutely thrilled that it is finally at a stage where we can reveal it to the world," Ian Pulford, CEO at SMCCL, said. “Thanks to the partners we’ve been fortunate to involve in the project, we truly believe we have developed a solution which can change the future of urban mobility while making our towns and cities smarter, greener, and more inclusive. "We have also worked rigorously to ensure public safety. Working closely with Milton Keynes City Council, BT and ECS, we will establish a city centre control room, connected by a specifically designed communications network, provided by CableFree, which will in-turn allow the Ohmio vehicles to be supervised and managed remotely. “It really has been a fantastic project to work on and we can’t thank all of our partners and funders enough for their continued work and support.” Mark Cracknell, program director at Zenzic, added: “We are proud to have supported the development of StreetCAV and to have worked with all of the partners involved in this pioneering project. “Should the trial prove a success, it could lay the foundations for a more connected, inclusive, and resilient transportation network not only for Milton Keynes , but for towns and cities across the globe. “It is a perfect example of how, by working more collaboratively and bringing together industry, academia and the public sector, the UK can lead the way in accelerating the self-driving revolution.” The Sun Online has reached out to Milton Keynes Council for comment. TICKET TO THE FUTURE Milton Keynes isn't the only town which could soon have driverless motors roaming around its streets. In early 2023, The Sun Online reported how self-driving, zero-emission shuttles will be piloted in Sunderland after receiving £6m in government and industry funding. The Sunderland Advanced Mobility Shuttle project added it would trial three self-driving Aurrigo Auto-Shuttles. A safety driver will be on board the shuttles just in case. These futuristic-looking vehicles will transport passengers on public roads between Sunderland Interchange, Sunderland Royal Hospital and the University of Sunderland City Campus. The initiative is led by Sunderland City Council in partnership with Aurrigo, Stagecoach, Angoka Ltf, Newcastle University and Bai Communications. The project has received a £3m government grant matched by industry pros - which totals £6m. Liz St Louis, director of Smart Cities at Sunderland City Council, said to Chronicle Live : "Leveraging the power of 5G technology and Sunderland’s leading smart city infrastructure. READ MORE SUN STORIES "The focus of our ambitious project partners is underpinned by an ethos of leaving no one and nowhere behind. "Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) will provide huge social, industrial and economic benefits across the world and we’re hugely optimistic about a technology-fuelled future, powered by local expertise, right here in Sunderland."

Alcoa stock soars to 52-week high, hits $46.57 amid market rallyIsrael cracks down on Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza UMM AL-FAHM, Israel (AP) — In the year since the war in Gaza broke out, Israel's government has been cracking down on dissent among its Palestinian citizens. Authorities have charged Palestinians with “supporting terrorism” because of posts online or for demonstrating against the war. Activists and rights watchdogs say Palestinians have also lost jobs, been suspended from schools and faced police interrogations. Palestinians make up about 20% of Israel's population. Many feel forced to self-censor out of fear of being jailed and further marginalized in society. Others still find ways to dissent, but carefully. Israel's National Security Ministry counters that, “Freedom of speech is not the freedom to incite.” Israel says rabbi who went missing in the UAE was killed TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Israel says the body of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi who went missing in the United Arab Emirates has been found, citing Emirati authorities. The statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Sunday said Zvi Kogan was killed, calling it a “heinous antisemitic terror incident.” It said: “The state of Israel will act with all means to seek justice with the criminals responsible for his death." Kogan went missing on Thursday, and there were suspicions he had been kidnapped. His disappearance comes as Iran has been threatening to retaliate against Israel after the two countries traded fire in October. Israeli strike kills Lebanese soldier and wounds 18 as Hezbollah fires rockets at Israel BEIRUT (AP) — An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center has killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said. The Hezbollah militant group meanwhile fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel, wounding at least five people. Israeli strikes have killed over 40 Lebanese troops since the start of the war between Israel and Hezbollah, even as Lebanon's military has largely kept to the sidelines. The Israeli military expressed regret over the strike, saying it occurred in an area of ongoing combat operations against Hezbollah. It said it does not target the Lebanese armed forces and that the strike is under review. The rising price of paying the national debt is a risk for Trump's promises on growth and inflation WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump has big plans for the economy. He also has big debt problem that'll be a hurdle to delivering on those plan. Trump has bold ambitions on tax cuts, tariffs and other programs. But high interest rates and the price of repaying the federal government’s existing debt could limit what he’s able to do. The federal debt stands at roughly $36 trillion, and the spike in inflation after the pandemic has pushed up the government’s borrowing costs such that debt service next year will easily exceed spending on national security. After Trump's Project 2025 denials, he is tapping its authors and influencers for key roles WASHINGTON (AP) — During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump had hailed what would become Project 2025 as a conservative roadmap for “exactly what our movement will do." Trump pulled an about-face when Project 2025 became a political liability. He denied knowing anything about the “ridiculous and abysmal” plans, even though some were written by his former aides and many allies. Now, after winning the 2024 election, Trump is stocking his second administration with key players in the effort he temporarily shunned. Trump has tapped Russell Vought for an encore as director of the Office of Management and Budget; Tom Homan, his former immigration chief, as “border czar;” and immigration hardliner Stephen Miller as deputy chief of policy. Forecasts warn of possible winter storms across US during Thanksgiving week WINDSOR, Calif. (AP) — Forecasters in the U.S. have warned of another round of winter weather that could complicate travel leading up to Thanksgiving. California is bracing for more snow and rain this weekend while still grappling with some flooding and small landslides from a previous storm. The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for California's Sierra Nevada through Tuesday, with heavy snow expected at high elevations. Thousands remained without power in the Seattle area on Saturday after a “bomb cyclone” storm system hit the West Coast earlier in the week, killing two people. Parts of the Northeast and Appalachia also began the weekend with heavy precipitation. Pakistan partially stops mobile and internet services ahead of pro-Imran Khan protest ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan has suspended mobile and internet services “in areas with security concerns” as supporters of imprisoned former premier Imran Khan gear up for a protest in the capital. The government and Interior Ministry made the announcement on X, which is banned in Pakistan. Sunday's protest is to demand Khan's release. He has been in prison for more than a year but remains popular. His supporters rely heavily on social media and messaging apps to coordinate with each other. Pakistan has already sealed off Islamabad and shut down major roads and highways connecting the city with Khan's power bases. Here's what to know about the new funding deal that countries agreed to at UN climate talks BAKU, Azerbaijan (AP) — In the wee hours Sunday at the United Nations climate talks, countries from around the world reached an agreement on how rich countries can cough up the funds to support poor countries in the face of climate change. But it’s a far-from-perfect arrangement, with many parties still unsatisfied but hopeful that the deal will be a step in the right direction. Japan holds Sado mines memorial despite South Korean boycott amid lingering historical tensions SADO, Japan (AP) — Japan has held a memorial ceremony near the Sado Island Gold Mines despite a last-minute boycott of the event by South Korea that highlighted tensions between the neighbors over the issue of Korean forced laborers at the site before and during World War II. South Korea’s absence at Sunday’s memorial, to which Seoul government officials and Korean victims’ families were invited, is a major setback in the rapidly improving ties between the two countries, which since last year have set aside their historical disputes to prioritize U.S.-led security cooperation. Chuck Woolery, smooth-talking game show host of 'Love Connection' and 'Scrabble,' dies at 83 NEW YORK (AP) — Chuck Woolery, the affable, smooth-talking game show host of “Wheel of Fortune,” “Love Connection” and “Scrabble” who later became a right-wing podcaster, skewering liberals and accusing the government of lying about COVID-19, has died. He was 83. Mark Young, Woolery’s podcast co-host and friend, said in an email early Sunday that Woolery died at his home in Texas with his wife, Kristen, present. Woolery, with his matinee idol looks, coiffed hair and ease with witty banter, was inducted into the American TV Game Show Hall of Fame in 2007 and earned a daytime Emmy nomination in 1978. He teamed up with Young for the podcast “Blunt Force Truth” and became a full supporter Donald Trump.

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NoneThe Arizona Cardinals were rested, relatively healthy and had been playing some of their best football in years. That's why Sunday's sobering 16-6 road loss to the Seattle Seahawks was so surprising. “Frustrating day offensively, especially the way we’ve been playing to come out here and lay an egg and get physically dominated in a sense,” quarterback Kyler Murray said. The Cardinals (6-5) had their four-game winning streak snapped. Murray completed 24 of 37 passes for 285 yards, but made a brutal mistake, throwing an interception that was returned 69 yards by Seattle's Coby Bryant. The running game never got going, gaining just 49 yards. James Conner, the team's leading rusher, had just 8 yards on seven attempts. “There were a lot of things where it felt like the flow of things just wasn’t in our favor,” receiver Michael Wilson said. "Some games go like that. And then we didn’t execute enough to make up for the game sort of not going our way.” Arizona's still in decent playoff position, tied with the Seahawks on top of the NFC West with six games to play. But after all the good news and winning over the past month, Sunday's loss was humbling. “We’re going to learn a lot from this game,” Gannon said. What’s working Arizona's defense continued its remarkable midseason turnaround, giving the team every opportunity to win Sunday. The front seven doesn't have any stars, but continues to cobble together a respectable pass rush. The Cardinals finished with five sacks, all by different players. Second-year cornerback Garrett Williams intercepted a pass by Geno Smith on the first play of the fourth quarter, briefly giving the Cardinals some momentum as they tried to fight back. Williams — a third-round pick out of Syracuse in 2023 — is growing into a steady starting corner that the Cardinals have missed for years. “I thought that they hung in there and battled, forced a bunch of punts, kept points off the board,” Gannon said. “I thought the interception by Garrett was fantastic, kept us in the game there, kept points off the board. We made some mistakes. We made some mistakes, starting with me.” What needs help The Cardinals aren't going to win many games with a rushing performance like Sunday's. Conner, held to a season low in yards rushing, did have 41 yards receiving. Rookie Trey Benson had four carries for 18 yards, while Emari Demercado broke a 14-yard gain. Getting Conner going is key. Arizona has a 5-1 record this season when he has at least 100 total yards from scrimmage. Gannon said falling into an early hole affected some of the things the Cardinals could do, particularly in the second half. “I thought there was plays there, but again, where you get down in that game, you’re not really playing normal ball there for a good chunk of the game,” Gannon said. “So we’ve got to do a better job earlier in the game to make sure we’re not playing left-handed.” Stock up Fourth-year edge rusher Zaven Collins isn't necessarily the star fans hoped for when he was selected with the No. 16 overall pick in the 2021 draft, but he has quietly had a productive season leading the team's no-name front seven. Collins picked up his fourth sack of the season Sunday and put consistent pressure on Smith. Stock down Murray's still having a great season, but the quarterback's MVP credentials took a hit with Sunday's mediocre performance. He played pretty well at times, but the interception that turned into a pick-6 was a backbreaker. The sixth-year quarterback had largely avoided those types of plays this season, which is a big reason they're in the playoff hunt. “Can't give them seven points, especially when our defense is playing the way that they’re playing,” Murray said. “I feel like if I don’t do that, we’re in the game four quarters because that’s the way it was trending.” Injuries The Cardinals came out of Sunday's game fairly healthy. Gannon said starting safety Jalen Thompson (ankle) should be back at practice Wednesday. He missed the last two games. Key numbers 12 and 133 — Tight end Trey McBride continued his breakout season with a career-high 12 catches for 133 yards. Next steps The Cardinals have another difficult road game against the Vikings (9-2) on Sunday. ___ AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl David Brandt, The Associated Press

Cardinals' feel-good month comes to a screeching halt after a head-scratching loss to SeahawksCheck out the report card from Nebraska's 44-25 win against Wisconsin on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. Who can name Nebraska's last 100-yard rusher in a game, before Emmett Johnson achieved the feat Saturday? Johnson ran like he had something to prove, repeatedly shedding the first Badger to get to him. His best run of the day may have been a 19-yard burst in the third quarter when he patiently followed pulling linemen Ben Scott and Henry Lutovsky. Dante Dowdell has a knack for the end zone, scoring three times. (Trivia answer: Chubba Purdy ... against Wisconsin last year). Dylan Raiola has his rhythm back. He spent most of the game hovering around a 70 percent completion rate, which is reminiscent of his first four or five games. The ball is getting out of his hands quicker, and those pitch-and-catches are finally going for big gains. One of his best throws of the day was originally ruled a touchdown on a fade ball to Isaiah Neyor, but replay confirmed he didn't get a foot down. Jahmal Banks had a great TD snag in which he leaped, snared the ball and got his toes down. John Bullock's second tackle for loss of the game stopped Wisconsin's Tawee Walker on fourth-and-1 midway through the third quarter, and it felt like an early dagger for the home team. Bullock was a standout on senior day. The Huskers had some open-field tackling issues but held their own on third- and fourth-down situations. Darrion Dupree was a nice change-of-pace option for the Badgers, averaging 7.5 yards on his seven attempts. Wisconsin found success early on slant passes, including one that went to Vinny Anthony for 42 yards after Isaac Gifford whiffed on a tackle. After that, Braedyn Locke was able to open it for deep balls, including touchdown tosses of 24 and 58 yards. Wisconsin's Vinny Anthony had a big day, racking up six catches for 128 yards and Locke threw for more yards than he has in his past five games. A cool moment for DeShon Singleton, who came down with an interception in his final game at Memorial Stadium. Brian Buschini is having a great season, and Saturday was another notch on his belt. First, he ripped a 52-yard punt that flipped field possession, and he followed that up with a 49-yard boot that went out of bounds at the Wisconsin 3-yard line. Equally as impressive was kicker John "ol' reliable" Hohl, who made all three of his field goals and stayed clean on extra points. Oh, and how about Jacory Barney's 55-yard kick return to open the game? NU's third phase is trending up after a turbulent stretch. A question we might not ever get an answer to: Why was Matt Rhule forced to use a challenge to review Wisconsin's first-quarter touchdown? Don't all scoring plays get reviewed automatically? In a similar situation later in the game, Wisconsin was spared from using a challenge for officials to take another look at a Nebraska touchdown, which was reversed. Also, the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Micah Mazzccua for spiking the ball on a touchdown felt unnecessary. Nebraska scored a touchdown on its first possession of a game for the first time since the Northern Iowa game. A true tone-setter. There's plenty to unpack from Holgorsen's play sheet — it's no coincidence it only took him two games to pop a 100-yard rusher. And, 44 points for a team that has scored 20 (twice), 17, 7 and 14 in its past five games. That'll do. For the first time in 49 days, Nebraska won a football game. That was a long 49 for everyone involved. This one is a little more cathartic than usual, too, as the Huskers finally wrapped their arms around a bowl berth. It also takes a big bite out of the pressure NU faces on Black Friday vs. Iowa, which is no longer a "must-win."

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The Christmas tradition has become nearly global in scope: Children from around the world track Santa Claus as he sweeps across the earth, delivering presents and defying time. Each year, at least 100,000 kids call into the North American Aerospace Defense Command to inquire about Santa’s location. Millions more follow online in nine languages , from English to Japanese. On any other night, NORAD is scanning the heavens for potential threats , such as last year’s Chinese spy balloon . But on Christmas Eve, volunteers in Colorado Springs are fielding questions like, “When is Santa coming to my house?” and, “Am I on the naughty or nice list?” “There are screams and giggles and laughter,” said Bob Sommers, 63, a civilian contractor and NORAD volunteer. Sommers often says on the call that everyone must be asleep before Santa arrives, prompting parents to say, “Do you hear what he said? We got to go to bed early.” NORAD’s annual tracking of Santa has endured since the Cold War , predating ugly sweater parties and Mariah Carey classics . Here’s how it began and why the phones keep ringing. It started with a child’s accidental phone call in 1955. The Colorado Springs newspaper printed a Sears advertisement that encouraged children to call Santa, listing a phone number. A boy called. But he reached the Continental Air Defense Command, now NORAD, a joint U.S. and Canadian effort to spot potential enemy attacks. Tensions were growing with the Soviet Union, along with anxieties about nuclear war. Air Force Col. Harry W. Shoup picked up an emergency-only “red phone” and was greeted by a tiny voice that began to recite a Christmas wish list. “He went on a little bit, and he takes a breath, then says, ‘Hey, you’re not Santa,’” Shoup told The Associated Press in 1999. Realizing an explanation would be lost on the youngster, Shoup summoned a deep, jolly voice and replied, “Ho, ho, ho! Yes, I am Santa Claus. Have you been a good boy?” Shoup said he learned from the boy’s mother that Sears mistakenly printed the top-secret number. He hung up, but the phone soon rang again with a young girl reciting her Christmas list. Fifty calls a day followed, he said. In the pre-digital age, the agency used a 60-by-80 foot (18-by-24 meter) plexiglass map of North America to track unidentified objects. A staff member jokingly drew Santa and his sleigh over the North Pole. The tradition was born. “Note to the kiddies,” began an AP story from Colorado Springs on Dec. 23, 1955. “Santa Claus Friday was assured safe passage into the United States by the Continental Air Defense Command.” In a likely reference to the Soviets, the article noted that Santa was guarded against possible attack from “those who do not believe in Christmas.” Some grinchy journalists have nitpicked Shoup’s story, questioning whether a misprint or a misdial prompted the boy’s call. In 2014, tech news site Gizmodo cited an International News Service story from Dec. 1, 1955, about a child’s call to Shoup. Published in the Pasadena Independent, the article said the child reversed two digits in the Sears number. “When a childish voice asked COC commander Col. Harry Shoup, if there was a Santa Claus at the North Pole, he answered much more roughly than he should — considering the season: ‘There may be a guy called Santa Claus at the North Pole, but he’s not the one I worry about coming from that direction,’” Shoup said in the brief piece. In 2015, The Atlantic magazine doubted the flood of calls to the secret line, while noting that Shoup had a flair for public relations. Phone calls aside, Shoup was indeed media savvy. In 1986, he told the Scripps Howard News Service that he recognized an opportunity when a staff member drew Santa on the glass map in 1955. A lieutenant colonel promised to have it erased. But Shoup said, “You leave it right there,” and summoned public affairs. Shoup wanted to boost morale for the troops and public alike. “Why, it made the military look good — like we’re not all a bunch of snobs who don’t care about Santa Claus,” he said. Shoup died in 2009. His children told the StoryCorps podcast in 2014 that it was a misprinted Sears ad that prompted the phone calls. “And later in life he got letters from all over the world,” said Terri Van Keuren, a daughter. “People saying ‘Thank you, Colonel, for having, you know, this sense of humor.’” NORAD’s tradition is one of the few modern additions to the centuries-old Santa story that have endured, according to Gerry Bowler, a Canadian historian who spoke to the AP in 2010. Ad campaigns or movies try to “kidnap” Santa for commercial purposes, said Bowler, who wrote “Santa Claus: A Biography.” NORAD, by contrast, takes an essential element of Santa’s story and views it through a technological lens. In a recent interview with the AP, Air Force Lt. Gen. Case Cunningham explained that NORAD radars in Alaska and Canada — known as the northern warning system — are the first to detect Santa. He leaves the North Pole and typically heads for the international dateline in the Pacific Ocean. From there he moves west, following the night. “That’s when the satellite systems we use to track and identify targets of interest every single day start to kick in,” Cunningham said. “A probably little-known fact is that Rudolph’s nose that glows red emanates a lot of heat. And so those satellites track (Santa) through that heat source.” NORAD has an app and website, www.noradsanta.org , that will track Santa on Christmas Eve from 4 a.m. to midnight, Mountain Standard Time. People can call 1-877-HI-NORAD to ask live operators about Santa’s location from 6 a.m. to midnight, mountain time.The BBC announced last week that Lineker will leave his role as host, which he has held since 1999, at the end of the current football season. Saturday’s episode of the football highlights programme opened with pundit Alan Shearer, Lineker’s fellow former England striker, saying direct to the camera: “All good things must come to an end.” Lineker then appeared, and said: “Yes Alan – Lee Carsley’s England reign is over. It’s back to business in the Premier League.” Despite his exit, the 63-year-old will remain with the BBC after both parties agreed to a contract extension through to the 2026 World Cup. Lineker will host BBC Sport’s coverage of the FA Cup in the 2025-26 campaign and continue presenting the Match Of The Day: Top 10 podcast for BBC Sounds, which will also host The Rest Is Football podcast, produced by Lineker’s Goalhanger Podcasts, with one episode released on the platform each week. The BBC has said future plans for Match Of The Day would be “announced in due course” with Mark Chapman, Alex Scott, Kelly Cates and Gabby Logan among those being tipped as candidates to replace him. Following the announcement, Lineker said it “has been an absolute joy and privilege to present such an iconic show for the BBC, but all things have to come to an end” on his podcast, The Rest Is Football. He added: “I bowed out in my football career when I felt it was the right time. I feel this is now the right time. “I think the next contract they’re looking to do Match Of The Day slightly differently, so I think it makes sense for someone else to take the helm.” Lineker has hosted Match Of The Day since 1999 and will have presented the show for more than a quarter of a century when he leaves in May 2025.Gary Lineker jokes about his Match Of The Day exit as he returns to show

Every port your giftee will ever need in one stocking-sized dock Every port your giftee will ever need in one stocking-sized dock Credit: Tech Zebra Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. TL;DR: Give the ultimate connectivity gift with this 13-in-1 docking station — a stocking stuffer that packs ports galore for $44.97 through December 15. Holiday shopping for someone who's always juggling cables and running out of ports? This 13-in-1 docking station for $44.97 (reg. $70) is the ultimate stocking stuffer for anyone with a love for gadgets — and a serious need for more connectivity. With a compact design that belies its power, this docking station packs 13 different ports,... Sponsored by StackCommerceWhether it's staying on top of course curriculums or stopping teens from vaping in the bathrooms, being a teacher today is no easy feat. With kids facing record-high anxiety levels , technology taking over classrooms, and public education caught in political crossfire, it’s a nonstop rollercoaster of stress. Whether you’re a teacher or a parent, the challenges are impossible to ignore. To vent some of their frustrations with the difficulties of teaching today, southpawfa took to the r/teachers community on Reddit to ask other educators a simple but loaded question: "What is the most unpopular opinion you have regarding teaching today?" Their responses give a raw, unfiltered glimpse into how fed-up teachers are these days. 1. "School does not need to constantly be fun and engaging, and engagement is certainly not a cure for disruptive behavior." — Lillypad1219 "I agree! I am NOT your child's cruise director!" — Necessary-Clerk4411 2. "99% of the problems in education can, and should, be fixed at home." — UniqueUsername82D "Bad parenting is a huge part of the problems in schools. Our team calls these students PICs — Parent Impaired Children." — Safe-Swing2250 "I agree. But we only work with the kids, and we're often all they've got. So unless you've got a plan to eliminate poverty, make all healthcare (including mental healthcare) free and easily accessible, extend mass transit to levels never seen before in the US, and increase wages, education is not going to be fixed in the home." — AluminumLinoleum 3. "Some kids need to be held back! I have kids that can’t read! I teach high school!" — SpartanS040 4. "Boredom is important; it helps you reflect on yourself, your life choices, and your future decisions. This notion of entertaining the children to engage them in learning is just to excuse their apathy. I'm a teacher, not a clown." — OkTurn8201 "It also allows you to practice self-regulation and delayed gratification — things that kids today struggle with due to the activities and content marketed to them." — Miss-Tiq "There was a time when we would be so bored out of our minds that we would create our means of entertainment to escape it. Boredom fosters creativity. Constant (electronic) entertainment pacifies an idle mind and leads it to dysfunction." — ScalarBoy 5. "We need to start teaching honest American history at a younger age. Warts and all. Students shouldn't have to wait until late high school to see primary source documents for the first time or to find out what happened when Columbus arrived in the Americas." "Children ARE AWARE of the world they live in. Middle schoolers are exposed to gruesome and hateful things online, and they need to know the context of it in our culture and history. Keeping the violence of slavery, colonization, etc. a secret only creates apathetic adults who think that their actions and beliefs don't have broader impacts." — OppositePea5974 6. "I don't believe in automatically passing students due to age. I believe students should only pass by skill when they show they have proficiency in the skills required for the next level of instruction." — southpawfa 7. "Sports don't belong in the education system; they belong in the township. STEM and art competitions are much more acceptable as high school extracurriculars." — opeboyal "Sports shouldn't be associated with a school or used to get scholarships. The word is scholarship, not athlete-ship." — ZealousidealCup2958 8. "Our administrators give us a hard time if the students are 'compliant' but not 'engaged.' Basically, if everyone is doing their work, but they don't seem to be enjoying themselves, then we're told we're not doing a good enough job. Doing something simply because you were told to or want to get a good grade isn't enough." "For the record, I try hard to engage my classes. I just hate that it's become an expectation." — slowsunslumber 9. "Make them memorize. There is value in memorizing facts. Spelling. Stories. Etc." — Rocknrollpeakedin74 "I keep telling the kids. It's a multiplication table. It's the same every time you look at it. Yes, you need to understand the concept of multiplication, but also just memorize the table. It's never going to change!" — imjusdoinmyjob 10. "Direct instruction is more necessary than some school districts think. When small groups can end up being more work (for the teacher) than they’re worth." — Huge_Fig_1109 11. "I hate the push for small groups in districts without the resources to have effective small groups." — tournamentdecides 12. "Mine will actually be unpopular: It's not our job to teach character. It's our job to provide a safe environment free of bullying. It's our job to be good role models. This involves interventions, but actively intervening in the natural social learning that occurs at school age slows the evolution that comes naturally. I think kids are being worse today due to rebelling against schools trying to tell them how to feel and what to believe." — FluidRefrigerator424 13. "We should be teaching for real life, not college. Academia is not real life; in many ways, it's quite the opposite. When students graduate high school, they should be armed and ready to function wholly on their own, no matter which path they take." "We also need to stop pushing for college and start pushing for the trades, or our infrastructure is going to collapse within a generation or two." — Gray-Jedi-Dad 14. "I think that 'inclusion' means the district doesn’t want to, or can’t, pay for higher levels of service." — TheCheshireCatCan 15. "We need to move back to pen and paper more for general work and limit technology. The ease of Googling the answers is ruining critical thinking skills and inferencing." — missfit98 "Handwriting notes and answers on worksheets has been proven time and again to aid retention." — Sorry-Rain-1311 16. "Before Covid, I was a big proponent of technology in the classroom. The reasoning is that we are in a tech-driven world, and students need to know how to use it. Post-Covid, I sing the opposite tune. The tech is way too distracting. There is too much fun stuff on the internet to keep kids engaged in a lesson on it. They get bored with it if it is used too often. They learn better with paper and pencil." "I now use the Chromebooks pretty sparingly, only to read the story (our 'textbook' is only in electronic format, which I hate) and research for a project." — honeybadgergrrl 17. "I think teachers should be able to turn off the internet in their classrooms." — CretaceousLDune 18. "Repetition is boring but it helps to develop memory. Some of my high school kids' prerequisite knowledge is embarrassing. Basic facts and skills are underdeveloped and neglected." — OkTurn8201 "This is also true in the world of instrumental music education. Do you want to get good at the trumpet? Get in the practice room and practice your scales. Certainly, some people find scales engaging, but they aren't engaging for the average person. And that's okay. Repetition, repetition, repetition. There's not much else that'll make up for it." — SubtracticusFinch 19. "Not requiring students to turn in reasonable assignments on time, with a HARD deadline, is robbing them of their opportunity to develop vital time management skills. Not having these skills will cause problems later in life if they do not gain them somewhere else." — MarionberryWeary4444 20. "We educators need to bring back some form of tracking (meaning placing students into groups based on ability level). Having high-performing students in the same room with students reading 4 years below grade level is a huge disservice to both. There would have to be flexibility and the ability to move up and down as needed, but seventh graders reading at a first-grade level need space to catch up." — brewmistry 21. "No school should be 1:1 with technology. Personal laptops should no longer be in schools. They're distracting. Students aren't learning basic computer skills or how to take notes. They rely on online programs that hinder actual learning." — BeachBumHarmony 22. "We never should have stopped teaching students how to write in cursive (script). We also should never have stopped teaching kids how to type." — bkrugby78 23. "Test retakes do more harm to the profession than good. I'm talking at the middle and high school levels. It irks me when a student is about to turn in a test and asks if they can retake it." — flatteringhippo 24. "Standards have gotten too high. New kindergarten levels were not required until second grade or higher. This has resulted in academics being forced on children before they are developmentally mature enough to take in so much information. We complain that 5-year-olds can't sit through all-day instruction, forgetting that when many of us older folks were 5, kindergarten looked MUCH different, and we weren't expecting to learn core academics all day." "Since kindergarten is no longer about learning social skills and norms, play, and basic emergent academics, Pre-K should be free and available to all students." — Workout4cake "Our kindergarteners just completed their Narrative Writing final in November. They were expected to (three months into kindergarten!) use simple grammar correctly and write details about how characters felt in their stories. Yet, before starting Kindergarten in August, most of my students had never even tried phonetically spelling words." — OppositePea5974 25. "Arts classes are not a place to just dump kids because they got booted from other classes. Especially if it's a class that requires performance and judged evaluations." — eagledog 26. "Very unpopular opinion: Secondary teachers should stop giving grades for work other than assessments. Put accountability for learning on them and let them know it is their choice to learn the content so that they can pass. Give them feedback on their work, but stop giving grades to bait them into doing work they are supposed to do to get the job done." "Adults are not graded for every move they make toward completing their assigned projects. We have to exercise responsibility, delayed gratification, time, and resource management to get the job done, and we do so because the results of 'test day' fall squarely on our shoulders alone, and we suffer enormous consequences when we mess that up. Now, these students think it is my job to get them to do work and will only read, write, take notes, or even show up if I grade them. And because of this, they also think it's my job to get them to learn, and don't even remotely understand that I am here only to teach (aka bring the horse to water). Plus, they (understandably) hate busy work--give them study or practice time instead. Stop wearing ourselves thin and only provide constructive feedback until test day." — AquaFlame7 Do you agree with these teachers' unpopular opinions? Share your education hot takes in the comments or anonymously via this form ! Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.