Month: March 2010

Categories
International Baccalaureate TOK

A,B,C,D & F – They don’t exist after all.

Class 20 which was about metrics and performance evaluation reminded me of my IB TOK presentation my partner and I did last year. Our topic was about “how accurate are the teachers at grading their students?” I had to say that it was one of the best things I did in high school!

I wouldn’t speak for everyone but I knew majority of my high school students have felt like they didn’t deserve the grade they got. So my partner and I took this opportunity to voice our feelings towards the grading system of IB. We did lots of research on all the grading criterions, student survey and types of tests (eg. Multiple choices, essays and short answer questions)

Overall, the conclusion of our presentation was that there’s never an accurate way of evaluating a person. We all are given a system to follow because there’s nothing else. Someone once said that “grade is just a tool in your life but what you have learned is the most important”.

The Thinker
The Thinker
Categories
HST

One tax, please?

We all have heard about the NEW 12% HST tax that includes 5% GST plus 7%PST. I know 5% + 7% = 12% but this time, I don’t get to ask for “ONE TAX, PLEASE”!

I don’t know what the BC government thinking by implementing more tax into restaurant meals, airline tickets and others which were previously exempt from the PST. Do they not know what the consequences will be for student employment and low-income households?

Based on the HST official site, the subtitle is “creating jobs, lowering prices”. EXCUSE ME?!?! That is the world’s most contradictory phrase!

How is a 12% HST tax of a $800,000 home which is $36,000 “lowering prices”? I wonder how this implementation will hit the real estate market. “They have absolutely lost their minds if they expect people to pay that sort of a tax. I don’t understand why on earth the government would do that to the housing economy, seeing as housing is one of the staples of a healthy economy, as you can attest to by checking out what’s happening in the U.S.,” Tom Everett, a Vancouver realtor said.

Now, let’s all go and stop HST.

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