Paolino

Don't forget watching Family Guy, playing Gears of War, etc. Surprisingly, there are still a few I see each year who do value education. Occassionally you'll even find a student who performs horribly but tries their butt off to master material. Most of the time this stems from the importance placed on education from the parents. But unfortunately, you're mostly correct... most children just don't care.

I use the communicative method frequently when I teach. I've taught grammar in interesting ways such as charades, dances, and setting up faux travel plans visiting cities they built (which practiced their vocab). EDIT: I feel I need to piggyback on my own statement. You can make almost anything interesting if you try enough. However, school is school. Students need to understand they are not to be entertained 100% of the time and there is a need for a student to take some responsibility for their own actions and do work.

There's a HUGE difference between presenting material in a way that is interesting and motivates learning vs. lazy students. There are students who will not and outright refuse to learn. Having taught for many years, along with my personality and caring, I have an excellent rapport with students and parents. That said, I've come across students that no matter what I do, refuse to do a stick of work. Should teachers be responsible to motivate students to do work outside of the classroom or should parents take a part? Or should this generation finally step up and start acting responsible for their actions? I can't believe how much education (the system and the students) have degraded since I was in school. Students have all the power. They're never at fault. I don't assign mountains of homework. I make it clear to students and parents from the first day of school, I understand what it's like to be a student/teen. I get they have several other classes. That said, I rather they spend 15 minutes practicing my material every day than blowing it off if I gave them an hour of homework every night. Yet 15 minutes of homework seems to be too much for some students to do.

This is good

For those saying "Lay off the Impy, it's still a good car." No.. no it isn't. It's an "okay" car. It's a car that has sub-par materials inside. A car with an albeit smooth, old transmission. It has sub-par brakes. Its styling isn't fresh anymore. It no longer has competitive features. And it tops out at about $32,000. Who on earth would pay $32,000 for one of these?! And before you start going on about the thousands off you can get, what does that tell you?! It's not a great car. It's not a good car. It's an okay car, or a "good buy for the money" when referring to lower trims and gently used.

I can see the reason why GM wouldn't invest any money into the Impala knowing it's going out in a couple of years and that it's already so old, but I can't imagine some incredibly simple changes would help it like maybe a modified grille or new taillamps or updated gauges or even as simple as replacing the plood/metal with a different plood and/or metal that looked substantially better. I mean, if this thing is the fleet queen, then EVERYONE is seeing an Impala and thinking this is representative of Chevy now. The Chevy's I've been in as of late have been in a different class than this W-body.

I'm confused... I thought for 2012, we were supposed to have a new interior and new taillamps?

Keep going...

What makes you think they're going to put the 280hp version of the LaCrosse in the Impala? We may get the 252hp from the Malibu.

That's going to be difficult for many since even though I live in a fairly populated area, there are no buses or subways. I have the LIRR which goes from town to town but the station is about an hour walk away. People will continue to drive, no matter what the price. They'll just have to sacrifice other things or make more carpooling alternatives. Look, Italy had about $4.50/gallon for gas in the 90's... I don't even know what it's up to now. People looked to alternatives like diesel, small scooters, small cars, small displacements, etc.

I agree. I don't think it'd cost an enormous amount of money to tweak the car a bit. I mean, look at Hyundai's transformation between the 08 and 09 Sonata's interior... that was a complete redesign, many features were added like dual zone climate control, nav, etc... I can't see it being terribly difficult or expensive to at least modify some of the materials/designs to incorporate the updated radio and a potential nav screen. And plood that looks better.

If the only thing they're doing is putting the 3.6L with the 6-speed in the Impala, I hope autorags don't start reviewing it like it's a huge update. The car has so many flaws like lack of content for one, and a new powertrain is not going to breathe new life into this thing.

I would hope they could give it at least the slightest update inside and out... it's been around long enough already.

I see the Regal will get the Lucerne's leftover wheels.

I like the interior. I'm sure it'll get an update.

I'm glad they're at least referring to it as the Cinquecento and not 500. Five Hundred just makes me think of the recent Ford disaster.

Navigationally Automatic, version V (5). Seriously? Does it really matter that people are capitalizing it? If you really want to nitpick, it's an abbreviated word and deserves a period like "nav."

I was telling Oldsmoboi, I just kept thinking, "I can't believe this. I can't believe this is a Chevy, much less their base trim?!" Even the way the door shut suggested high quality. And it was SILENT in there. I was just in awe. If the Verano improves on this, they've gotta get people in trying them because they'll sell.

The LS SHOCKED me... I'm serious, it shocked me. I would have sworn it was a higher trim until I saw the wheelcovers and then looked at the sticker. That car, even the base, is a SOLID car and quiet!

I'm confused by this... yesterday I was in an LS and the dash/door panels were covered with the "nicely-padded vinyl".

Thanks guys!

Thanks... it's definitely a step in probably the right direction. I, too, thought it was a physical problem. It doesn't appear to be the light sensor because when it's set to Auto, the lights come on at a certain darkness... even if going through an underpass and then shutting off when I'm in the sun again. I'll mention this next time I take the car in for an oil change.

Haha, nope... as far as I know no other electronic devices have gone down

Not really sure what's going on. The car is a 2006 Sonata GLS V6. It has automatic lights. When set to auto, at dusk the lights go on. However, when you shut the car off, only the headlights go off... the parking lamps and all interior lights/gauges stay on. They're not supposed to--at least for the first four years of car ownership they never did. What makes matters worse is, if you turn the stalk to shut the lights off manually, they rarely turn off. I've had to at times toggle between on/off 4-5 times before the lights would actually shut. Again, the headlights ALWAYS go off, but the parking/interior lights frequently stay on. I've tried leaving the lights in the off position entirely and then at dusk turning them on manually, but the same thing frequently happens: the parking lamps and interior lights stay on. It's not a question of them being temporary perimeter lighting because when this first happened, I've come out of stores a half hour later only to find them still on. What could be causing this? And what could be a remedy? (This is a previous generation Sonata, so although it doesn't cure cancer, it does have the ability to dull a headache.)

I think it looks good.