I have a friend who once wrote an entire essay (for English) about how he doesn't understand why he, a future engineer, needs to take English or be required to read certain books. I have another friend who's annoyed that important college-entrance things like the ACT require him to do math, even though he wants to go into theatre, which isn't exactly math-intensive.
Personally I'm on the side in favor of English, but I'd argue against both of them--not that I think a theatre major will ever need to use math beyond maybe geometry, but because I basically figure that knowing things is good.
Then again, I'm one of those crazy people who finds most things at least a little bit interesting, so that helps. In Spiderman last night when Harry asks Peter, "Who'd want to know that?" and he replied "Who wouldn't want to know that?" I thought "YOU UNDERSTAND ME!"
I agree that at some point it only makes sense to focus in on one area and not bother learning the other stuff, but I'm not exactly sure when that should be. Because on the one hand, if you really don't care about xyz and really don't think you'll ever want/need to know it, you shouldn't have to waste your time. But I also think that the more you know just in general, the better off you are.
Or, you know, maybe I just feel better about myself when I know things.
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Showing posts with label education. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Thursday, October 13, 2011
An Entire Nation Left Behind
"The past is really almost as much a work of the imagination as the future." - Jessamyn West
In January of 2002, President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act, which set nation-wide goals for testing, test scores, and qualification levels for prospective teachers. Although I was too young to understand or care about the legislation at the time-I only noticed the new poster hanging on the wall near the office-these are the sort of ideals I can really get behind, since I believe effective, widespread education to be one of the most important initiatives for any and all levels of government to pursue. The general public seems to agree with me, as education is one of the United States’ few socialized systems-not even health care has anywhere near the same level of public funding.
However, the Act contains two fundamental problems, the first being the emphasis on proficiency rather than growth, and the second being the failure to provide for academically gifted (AG) students. As a participant in the AG program, I have suffered from both of these shortcomings. The system needs incentives to help students at all levels grow to reach their full potential.
While the goal of a publicly-funded school system is to bring the general populace up to a standard of knowledge, the purpose of education is to increase that knowledge. Schools located in high-income areas tend to have larger populations of higher-achieving students, but these students aren’t necessarily learning very much per year, while utterly fantastic schools in lower-performing areas go unrecognized even if their students are learning in leaps and bounds, because their test scores aren’t as high as the Act would like. Funding for reading assistance (“Title 1”) programs is only given to the schools that show adequate proficiency- the schools whose programs already work. In addition, this focus on performance rather than growth inevitably leads to teaching only what will be on the test rather than exploring the full richness of each topic, which leaves no room for curiosity.
The second problem is so deeply ingrained that even the name of the act is clearly focused on keeping the bottom students from being left behind instead of providing schools with incentives to help all students grow to their maximum potential. The AG teacher at my elementary school was relegated to teaching out of a closet due to the school’s focus on fulfilling their Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) minimum requirements in order to avoid losing funding.
Since a country’s children are its future, our education system must have significantly more ambitious goals than those outlined by this Act. Even as no child is left behind, our nation itself is falling further and further behind relative to other leading countries.
We must improve the system in the following ways. First, the AYP framework must be redefined around progress rather than pre-existing aptitude, and provide incentives to encourage AG students in the form of greater funding for advanced programs in schools with higher proficiency scores. This encourages AG students to maximize their potential while simultaneously ensuring that the funding being given to deserving schools is being used in a manner that befits the reason for which the money was initially given. Lower performing schools can surpass their AYP minimum goals if they are encouraged to focus on real learning and the growth of all of their students. Furthermore, the system must provide monetary incentives to allow the lower performing schools to attract more/better teachers. If every child is learning in leaps and bounds, we won’t have to worry about anyone getting left behind.
Saturday, September 17, 2011
The Best School-Year Ever
"Friends and good manners will carry you where money won't go." - Margaret Walker
When I was in elementary school, there was an experimental class with both 4th and 5th graders who had been deemed "independent learners." My best friend was in this class as a 4th grader, and she was always talking about how awesome it was. I wanted in, so I wrote a letter to the principal outlining my reasons why she should put me in it the following year. Some time later, my parents were called in for a conference, and my request was accepted.
It was everything I had hoped for. My mother, on the other hand, was...disappointed. We ignored the curriculum to the point that I may as well have skipped that grade in terms of things we were supposed to be learning. We created to-scale models of the solar system. I drew Kansas for a wall-sized map of the country that was sadly never completed. We designed class currency, paid rent for our desks and cubbies, and "bought" stocks using actual data from the current market. We were told to research anything we wanted and then present our findings in any way we wanted.
Second semester, we moved out into one of the mobile classrooms and things got even better. We ate lunch in our classroom rather than the cafeteria almost every day, playing cards and Clue. Our "morning work" consisted of problems such as "elf + elf = fool" (each letter represents a different number, and you have to use logic to figure out their values), only ours were often 5-digit multiplication. Sometimes we spent the entire day working on them. Our afternoons were taken up with brain teasers, and we once had a class-wide "learn to blow bubbles with gum" session.
Group projects were the most common assignment--designing and creating a miniature theme park, or building a Greek temple. At recess, our teacher played with us rather than sitting on a bench and watching, and when we were back in class he would read aloud. When it came time for middle school recommendations, nearly everyone skipped two grades in math.
My mom says I didn't learn anything (and the program was pretty much eliminated the following year). But I would argue that in some ways I learned more in that class than I have in any other either before or since.
I learned about teamwork. I learned about people. I learned to problem-solve in creative ways, and I learned critical thinking both inside the box and outside of it. I learned about Powerpoint (Good God, did I learn about Powerpoint). The more linguistic brain teasers taught me how to play with words. There was such a sense of unity. If I could have the rest of my schooling be like that (with a bit more "here, go this way," since sometimes curriculum really is important), I would be indescribably happy.
Some of our projects never came to fruition, so it could be argued that my teacher was too idealistically ambitious, but I firmly believe that if we had been able to continue like that (and I so would have gone to school through the summer if I could have stayed there), we could have finished them, and they would have been amazing.
Now it is too idealistically ambitious (and naive) to make that sort of education nation-wide, and it probably isn't the best model for every student, but...if only. This ties into a TED talk I watched several months ago and something my dad and I were discussing this morning, but those are posts for another day, and I have homework I need to do before the photo shoot I'm helping with tonight.
Thursday, August 11, 2011
People Grade
"Be great in act, as you have been in thought." - Jean Paul
Yesterday was Freshman Camp, so the debate team and I showed up with out trifold board and fliers to attempt to recruit new members.
After the morning session for those whose last names fall at the beginning of the alphabet (How I loathe thee!), a few of us decided to walk down the street to the Dairy Queen to get lunch. On the way there, we were talking about some of the stuff we've been doing this summer-- more specifically the things we've been learning on our own.
This post spawns partially from that, and partially from my mother's recent observation that I have befriended a lot of homeschoolers in the last two years.
While I am a public-schooled child, I will never ever say that it within itself is a perfectly sufficient way to gain one's education. As someone I know said last night, "I come from a good branch of a flawed system." I love my school, and I do believe there are advantages to all forms of schooling, but the advantages of public school unfortunately do not make up for the disadvantages if learning is abandoned at 2:15 every day.
My debate team friends agree with this. A quote from one of them: "Doesn't everyone (teach themselves stuff outside of school)?" And the answer, sadly, is no.
I'm not going to make any statements about whether or not there is a single system (or lack thereof) that is enough, but there are a lot of people who learn faster than their classes are taught (and who have interests outside of said classes). The school isn't going to accomodate that, so we have to take it upon ourselves to explore the world on our own time--while still making sure we do our homework.
This is why I read several physics books last fall. This is why I just finished a book about cognitive neuroscience, and why yesterday's post came from a conversation with my dad about evolutionary biology. This is why I'm finishing up the first draft of my second freaking novel. This is why I'm currently reading Harvard's most popular course (Michael Sandel's Justice) in book form, and why my friends and I discuss supposedly "academic" topics without prompting: because public school simply isn't enough.
And I'm sure a lot of conventionally homeschooled kids are the same: they do their schoolwork, whether it be assigned by their parents or an online teacher, but that doesn't mean they stop there.
I'll be entering eleventh grade in two weeks, but I'm also, as I now refer to the status of my unschooled friend, in "People Grade."
Yesterday was Freshman Camp, so the debate team and I showed up with out trifold board and fliers to attempt to recruit new members.
After the morning session for those whose last names fall at the beginning of the alphabet (How I loathe thee!), a few of us decided to walk down the street to the Dairy Queen to get lunch. On the way there, we were talking about some of the stuff we've been doing this summer-- more specifically the things we've been learning on our own.
This post spawns partially from that, and partially from my mother's recent observation that I have befriended a lot of homeschoolers in the last two years.
While I am a public-schooled child, I will never ever say that it within itself is a perfectly sufficient way to gain one's education. As someone I know said last night, "I come from a good branch of a flawed system." I love my school, and I do believe there are advantages to all forms of schooling, but the advantages of public school unfortunately do not make up for the disadvantages if learning is abandoned at 2:15 every day.
My debate team friends agree with this. A quote from one of them: "Doesn't everyone (teach themselves stuff outside of school)?" And the answer, sadly, is no.
I'm not going to make any statements about whether or not there is a single system (or lack thereof) that is enough, but there are a lot of people who learn faster than their classes are taught (and who have interests outside of said classes). The school isn't going to accomodate that, so we have to take it upon ourselves to explore the world on our own time--while still making sure we do our homework.
This is why I read several physics books last fall. This is why I just finished a book about cognitive neuroscience, and why yesterday's post came from a conversation with my dad about evolutionary biology. This is why I'm finishing up the first draft of my second freaking novel. This is why I'm currently reading Harvard's most popular course (Michael Sandel's Justice) in book form, and why my friends and I discuss supposedly "academic" topics without prompting: because public school simply isn't enough.
And I'm sure a lot of conventionally homeschooled kids are the same: they do their schoolwork, whether it be assigned by their parents or an online teacher, but that doesn't mean they stop there.
I'll be entering eleventh grade in two weeks, but I'm also, as I now refer to the status of my unschooled friend, in "People Grade."
Monday, July 18, 2011
Khan Academy
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful people could change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” - Margaret Mead
While I was eating dinner today, I was also reading a few articles in the most recent issue of Wired magazine. One of these introduced me to Khan Academy and how it's set-up is changing the teaching of math in some schools.
It piqued my interest, and I ended up spending two hours doing simple math as something for my eyes and hands to do while catching up on Pop Culture Happy Hour (my usual distractions being Minesweeper and chores).
Khan Academy is a collection of over 2000 videos covering many topics, most of them math/science related, plus problem sets regarding the math. The teacher has flip-flopped standard technique and had her students watching the videos at home, and then doing the problem sets in class the next day, where she could observe their progress through the site's "Coach" feature and help when/where needed. It has been featured in TED talks, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given millions of dollars to Khan, who started out as just a nerd recording math videos in his closet.
The "Practice" area of the site consists of a flow chart of various math topics, some of which must be completed before moving on to others. 10 correct answers in a row unlock new topics, but an infinite amount of time can be spent on any given one.
This allows a student to move at his or her own pace, meaning that some kids in the 5th grade class were about where most of their non-Khan peers are, and a few were doing calculus. Progress is measured both by the flow chart, "Energy points" (earned in varying amounts for doing pretty much anything- I have over 150,000), and by badges awarded for different things.
Meterorite badges are the easiest to get (I have about 40), then Moon badges (30), then Earth (3), Sun (0), Black Hole (0, and the site won't even tell you how to get them), and Challenge (1).
While I was eating dinner today, I was also reading a few articles in the most recent issue of Wired magazine. One of these introduced me to Khan Academy and how it's set-up is changing the teaching of math in some schools.
It piqued my interest, and I ended up spending two hours doing simple math as something for my eyes and hands to do while catching up on Pop Culture Happy Hour (my usual distractions being Minesweeper and chores).
While I probably won't ever use the site for learning, since most of it's stuff I already know and the rest I either don't care about or will be doing before the end of high school, I have tested it out for the sake of review and have determined that I approve of the program and wish my elementary school had used it while I was there. I will be recommending it to my mother (who is now the lead secretary rather than working in the library), and hopefully she will suggest it to the relevant people.
Khan Academy is a collection of over 2000 videos covering many topics, most of them math/science related, plus problem sets regarding the math. The teacher has flip-flopped standard technique and had her students watching the videos at home, and then doing the problem sets in class the next day, where she could observe their progress through the site's "Coach" feature and help when/where needed. It has been featured in TED talks, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has given millions of dollars to Khan, who started out as just a nerd recording math videos in his closet.
The "Practice" area of the site consists of a flow chart of various math topics, some of which must be completed before moving on to others. 10 correct answers in a row unlock new topics, but an infinite amount of time can be spent on any given one.
This allows a student to move at his or her own pace, meaning that some kids in the 5th grade class were about where most of their non-Khan peers are, and a few were doing calculus. Progress is measured both by the flow chart, "Energy points" (earned in varying amounts for doing pretty much anything- I have over 150,000), and by badges awarded for different things.
Meterorite badges are the easiest to get (I have about 40), then Moon badges (30), then Earth (3), Sun (0), Black Hole (0, and the site won't even tell you how to get them), and Challenge (1).
I am now a proud "Arithmetic Master," and have discovered that I still hate multiplying decimals, long division, mean/median/mode, and fractions just as much as I did when learning them originally.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Spring Semester
I'm sure I've mentioned on here before that my sisters and I eat breakfast by the light of glowsticks on the first day of school. Unfortunately, today was the start of the new semester (all new classes for me, and two new ones for both of them), and I couldn't find the package my parents gave me for Christmas. :(
I had a really great and interesting topic to discuss today, but I have absolutely no idea what it was, so you're going to have to either exit out of the window or read about all of my new classes. Sorry. Really. I would have preferred to write about the other thing.
Started the day off with my first-ever semester of Latin. We have a fish pond in the middle of our classroom. I'm serious. We learned vowel and consonant pronunciation. We have to pay 25 cents to use the bathroom, but he takes the money and throws us a party at the end of the year. While other language classes are based around speaking and listening, ours is mostly about reading (so you see why I'm glad I'm taking it- ha).
Then I got to run all the way across campus to band, and I was surprised at how much I'd missed band class, having barely played my clarinet since June. We didn't actually play any music until about 5 minutes before class was over, but...it was fun. And my new mouth-piece makes my embrasure sound much better than it actually is.
Next was Civics and Economics, which I've heard a lot of conflicting opinions about. It seems like a lot of interesting discussions take place, but I've also heard a lot of complaining about all of the dumb guys in certain classes...(sorry, that's sort of an inside joke-- not that I want to keep it secret-- you guys just wouldn't find it funny).
The Honors and Academic-level students are all mixed together, so we have different grade break-downs (tests & quizzes count for more with us Honors kids and classwork more with them) and have to do more of these things called Citizenship Credits-- which are basically mini-projects due at certain times throughout the semester.
Last was AP Chemistry, the review packet for which my teacher forgot to give me before exams. Fortunately, I'd done enough of her review packets for the Honors Chemistry exam that I'm not too behind except for the memorization of solubility rules and ions and such.
I have to watch the State of the Union Address (one of our main Presidential speeches of the year, for those outside of the U.S.) for C&E tonight, so I'll probably type up some thoughts on that either as I'm watching or tomorrow. Or Thursday, since I'll be baking stuff for you lot tomorrow.
I had a really great and interesting topic to discuss today, but I have absolutely no idea what it was, so you're going to have to either exit out of the window or read about all of my new classes. Sorry. Really. I would have preferred to write about the other thing.
Started the day off with my first-ever semester of Latin. We have a fish pond in the middle of our classroom. I'm serious. We learned vowel and consonant pronunciation. We have to pay 25 cents to use the bathroom, but he takes the money and throws us a party at the end of the year. While other language classes are based around speaking and listening, ours is mostly about reading (so you see why I'm glad I'm taking it- ha).
Then I got to run all the way across campus to band, and I was surprised at how much I'd missed band class, having barely played my clarinet since June. We didn't actually play any music until about 5 minutes before class was over, but...it was fun. And my new mouth-piece makes my embrasure sound much better than it actually is.
Next was Civics and Economics, which I've heard a lot of conflicting opinions about. It seems like a lot of interesting discussions take place, but I've also heard a lot of complaining about all of the dumb guys in certain classes...(sorry, that's sort of an inside joke-- not that I want to keep it secret-- you guys just wouldn't find it funny).
The Honors and Academic-level students are all mixed together, so we have different grade break-downs (tests & quizzes count for more with us Honors kids and classwork more with them) and have to do more of these things called Citizenship Credits-- which are basically mini-projects due at certain times throughout the semester.
Last was AP Chemistry, the review packet for which my teacher forgot to give me before exams. Fortunately, I'd done enough of her review packets for the Honors Chemistry exam that I'm not too behind except for the memorization of solubility rules and ions and such.
I have to watch the State of the Union Address (one of our main Presidential speeches of the year, for those outside of the U.S.) for C&E tonight, so I'll probably type up some thoughts on that either as I'm watching or tomorrow. Or Thursday, since I'll be baking stuff for you lot tomorrow.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Re-Segregation in Schools
"Wherever you are - be all there." - Jim Elliot
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Francis Bacon, 1625
Children, I want you all to put on your clean dresses and freshly-pressed suits, because we're going to have a very important visitor arriving here on this blog rather soon. I will be going away for a little bit so that I won't be cluttering up the house while she is here. I want you all to be on your very best behavior. If you do as I ask, I will bake you a special treat.
Who is this visitor, you ask? She is an agent who has expressed interest in The Clockwork Experiment. I may or may not actually stop posting (most likely not-- I could never leave you dear ones for very long, could I? I mean, take a look at the archives on the right). However, the special treat is not a lie, unlike the cake. (Portal reference, anyone?) At least, it's solid truth for those of you in my writing group-- assuming I remember to bake it, that is.
Now, I could write a post in all capital letters about how exciting that is (and believe me, it's easily exciting enough to write one in THE LARGEST FONT SIZE), but I have more interesting things to be discussing, so let us move on to those.
Wow, this is coming out really formal other than the parenthesized parts, isn't it? I'll have to make up for it some other time.
As some of you may or may not know, my county's school system was mocked on the Colbert Report last night.
I was not offended.
On the contrary, I was thoroughly amused, in a "Oh God, that's so true. Our school board sucks" kind of way.
As a friend of mine posted on Facebook, "When your county is the on the Colbert Report, you feel a mixture of pride and deep, deep shame."
It's heart-breaking to know that the school board is essentially re-segregating our schools with full knowledge of their actions. Worse yet is to see the parents, teachers, students, and even non-parent people who care pleading with them to keep the current policies at the open hearings.
They claim that they're doing it to make it easier on parents-- so they don't have to drive their kids as far in the mornings-- and so that certain students won't have to sit on the bus for close to an hour twice a day.
However, many students with long transportation times clearly stated that they didn't mind. They understood the importance of socio-economic (and for the most part, therefore racial) diversity, and they were willing to give up a few hours of sleep each week in favor of that.
Let's see... "democracy." Literal definition: ruled by the people.
We elect those we wish to make the decisions for us, because we believe them to represent our values. They're supposed to do what we want, even if it's only so we'll elect them for another term.
I don't see the school board representing our values. I'm sure there are those who agree with them, but where are they? Not at that hearing. If they aren't making themselves heard, why should the school board do what they might want?
Hey...wasn't there that thing back when hippies were around called the Civil Rights Something-or-other? What was that thing about, again? I don't seem to recall.
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Francis Bacon, 1625
Children, I want you all to put on your clean dresses and freshly-pressed suits, because we're going to have a very important visitor arriving here on this blog rather soon. I will be going away for a little bit so that I won't be cluttering up the house while she is here. I want you all to be on your very best behavior. If you do as I ask, I will bake you a special treat.
Who is this visitor, you ask? She is an agent who has expressed interest in The Clockwork Experiment. I may or may not actually stop posting (most likely not-- I could never leave you dear ones for very long, could I? I mean, take a look at the archives on the right). However, the special treat is not a lie, unlike the cake. (Portal reference, anyone?) At least, it's solid truth for those of you in my writing group-- assuming I remember to bake it, that is.
Now, I could write a post in all capital letters about how exciting that is (and believe me, it's easily exciting enough to write one in THE LARGEST FONT SIZE), but I have more interesting things to be discussing, so let us move on to those.
Wow, this is coming out really formal other than the parenthesized parts, isn't it? I'll have to make up for it some other time.
As some of you may or may not know, my county's school system was mocked on the Colbert Report last night.
I was not offended.
On the contrary, I was thoroughly amused, in a "Oh God, that's so true. Our school board sucks" kind of way.
As a friend of mine posted on Facebook, "When your county is the on the Colbert Report, you feel a mixture of pride and deep, deep shame."
It's heart-breaking to know that the school board is essentially re-segregating our schools with full knowledge of their actions. Worse yet is to see the parents, teachers, students, and even non-parent people who care pleading with them to keep the current policies at the open hearings.
They claim that they're doing it to make it easier on parents-- so they don't have to drive their kids as far in the mornings-- and so that certain students won't have to sit on the bus for close to an hour twice a day.
However, many students with long transportation times clearly stated that they didn't mind. They understood the importance of socio-economic (and for the most part, therefore racial) diversity, and they were willing to give up a few hours of sleep each week in favor of that.
Let's see... "democracy." Literal definition: ruled by the people.
We elect those we wish to make the decisions for us, because we believe them to represent our values. They're supposed to do what we want, even if it's only so we'll elect them for another term.
I don't see the school board representing our values. I'm sure there are those who agree with them, but where are they? Not at that hearing. If they aren't making themselves heard, why should the school board do what they might want?
Hey...wasn't there that thing back when hippies were around called the Civil Rights Something-or-other? What was that thing about, again? I don't seem to recall.
Friday, January 7, 2011
"A Nation of Wimps"
"I'm not 'shy.' I'm 'conversationally selective.' Quote me on that." -- Um...that was me who said that. It was going farther down in the post, but then I thought it was funny, so I moved it here. (Actually, I am shy, but more of that shyness has morphed into conversation-selectiveness in the past year.)
This post is one of my commentaries on an article. This isn't one of the angry(er) ones, but it is rather long.
Thanks to Kenny (again, ha) for the link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200411/nation-wimps
"...today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And... wait a minute... those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies—and especially their daddies—are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves."
I used to think it was just my getting older that made me think the newer playgrounds were lame, and I only liked the older ones for the nostalgia. No. The newer ones really are lame. Give my an old wooden one any day. There's one at a park sort of near my house, and another at my mom's old elementary school, and another that used to be at the park of their hometown, but that one got replaced by the "safe" plastic. Mhm.
"'(A) 13-year-old "couldn't see the big picture.' That cleverly devised defect (what 13-year-old can construct the big picture?) would allow her to take all her tests untimed, especially the big one at the end of the rainbow, the college-worthy SAT."
This post is one of my commentaries on an article. This isn't one of the angry(er) ones, but it is rather long.
Thanks to Kenny (again, ha) for the link: http://www.psychologytoday.com/articles/200411/nation-wimps
"...today's playground, all-rubber-cushioned surface where kids used to skin their knees. And... wait a minute... those aren't little kids playing. Their mommies—and especially their daddies—are in there with them, coplaying or play-by-play coaching. Few take it half-easy on the perimeter benches, as parents used to do, letting the kids figure things out for themselves."
I used to think it was just my getting older that made me think the newer playgrounds were lame, and I only liked the older ones for the nostalgia. No. The newer ones really are lame. Give my an old wooden one any day. There's one at a park sort of near my house, and another at my mom's old elementary school, and another that used to be at the park of their hometown, but that one got replaced by the "safe" plastic. Mhm.
"'(A) 13-year-old "couldn't see the big picture.' That cleverly devised defect (what 13-year-old can construct the big picture?) would allow her to take all her tests untimed, especially the big one at the end of the rainbow, the college-worthy SAT."
*face palm* That was in reference to a supposed "condition" that required the teacher to make special accommodations.
"When he took over as president of Harvard in July 2001, Lawrence Summers publicly ridiculed the value of honors after discovering that 94 percent of the college's seniors were graduating with them."
Good God. And I thought my middle school was bad, handing out "good behavior tickets" just for wearing school colors or getting an answer right. Sometimes even for coming to class on time. These tickets (if you have enough of them) can be redeemed at the end of the month to allow you to meander around outside for an hour, or attend a mandatory during-school dance.
There's also an AR (Accelerated Reader) system where students are required (for a grade) to take content-based (Who was stealing the life force from Ginny in the Chamber of Secrets?) tests on books for points in hopes of meeting a point goal. If you make your goal 3/4 quarters, you get to go to the AR celebration, which when I was in 6th grade was a trip to the roller-rink, and more recently was with "inflatables." Come on.
In elementary school, it wasn't required. You could redeem your points at a monthly "store" to get silly erasers or cool pencils or little green army men or whatever. It was simply an incentive to read more. None of that "you should have done this anyway, but YAY BONUS FOR YOU FOR DOING IT." Also, the goal maximum in the middle school was (and is) 40 points. It didn't matter how fast or often or well you read. So my great accomplishment in 8th grade was to make over 1000% of my goal in one quarter.
"It is a pure index of emotional over-investment in a child's success. And it rests on a notion of juvenile frailty—the assumption that children are easily bruised and need explicit uplift."
I'm all for commending kids when they achieve stuff, but we shouldn't make up achievements solely for the sake of commending them.
It's an argument I often have with my parents:
Them: "Olivia's got her book published on AMAZON. Isn't that AMAZING?"
Me: "It would be...only it wasn't based on the quality of the writing. There are so many typos in there (due to the rush I was in to smash it together), and most of the short stories aren't even that good, and the table of contents is even missing some of the items. Literally anyone could do it. It's self-publishing, and it's free."
Them: "But--But--So? We're allowed to be proud of you."
Me: "I'd rather you be proud of me for things worth being proud of. Otherwise your pride doesn't mean much anymore." :(
"The organized sports many kids participate in are managed by adults; difficulties that arise are not worked out by kids but adjudicated by adult referees."
Case point: 3rd grade. 3 days out of the week, we were required to do an organized sport, or walk the track. 3rd grade recess became something to be endured, not because I didn't enjoy 4-square, but because I was required to play it during my free time.
Also, and I don't want to reflect badly on my mom because of this because she's an awesome mom and I love her, but here's another example:
My sister and I are yelling at each other over something stupid. She yells at us to stop fighting. We aren't allowed to peacefully (or otherwise) our own conflicts. When we're furious at each other, we're forced to leave the room. We're reduced to ranting about each other to either our other sister or Dad. Where is the social-skills-learning in that? Sure, I understand why she doesn't want to listen to us fight, but...Oh well.
Then there's a page about cellphones and parental contact during college, which I've already spoken of in previous posts. The thing with blogging so much is that it's a pain to fish around for hyperlinks. If you want to see that post, leave a comment and I'll be happy to find it for you, but otherwise I'm not going to bother.
"At age 2, none of (the kids genetically predispositioned to anxiety) wound up fearful if their parents backed off from hovering and allowed the children to find some comfortable level of accommodation to the world on their own. "
I don't know if I'm one of those kids, but I definitely exhibited some of the symptoms mentioned.
And I have a story that definitely backs the above quote up, which doesn't really need to be told.
"Children need to be gently encouraged to take risks and learn that nothing terrible happens."
Here's where my dad's paranoia kicks in:
I read that and think: Yes, but sometimes terrible things do happen; like car crashes. God, car crashes. No, no, no, don't want to drive don't want to drive don't want to drive.
Granted, I have been driving places, and nothing terrible has happened, and I'm feeling much more comfortable about it. It's an interesting feeling to be in control of the car, and one I'm still getting used to....but hey, I've had my permit for less than two weeks.
"They need gradual exposure to find that the world is not dangerous."
And here is the point where I temporarily lose open-mindedness about this article. B.S.
The world is dangerous.
"Being examined all the time makes children extremely self-conscious. As a result they get less communicative; scrutiny teaches them to bury their real feelings deeply. And most of all, self-consciousness removes the safety to be experimental and playful. "If every drawing is going to end up on your parents' refrigerator, you're not free to fool around, to goof up or make mistakes," says Anderegg."
True. Very true.
True. Very true.
"...ubiquity of video games that encourage aggression."
Not true. Very not true. I've been playing a game that used to be rated M(ature) for violence (which is now a T[een]) since I was three and watching it be played since I was two, and I am not a violent person.
Maybe some people who like violent video games happen to be more prone to violence. That doesn't mean it's the games' fault.
And...that's it. Off to reading a book. I only have about 7 out from the library right now on three-week loans...
Maybe some people who like violent video games happen to be more prone to violence. That doesn't mean it's the games' fault.
And...that's it. Off to reading a book. I only have about 7 out from the library right now on three-week loans...
Thursday, December 30, 2010
"Growing Up Digitally"
“Every year, many many stupid people graduate from college. And if they can do it, so can you.” — John Green
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
The thing I hate most about that article is that it brings up many good points that are applicable to many people, so that I can't really rant about it and feel justified. It may not apply to me (for the most part), but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its merits.
More after the jump... Note: Very long post. Beware. I will most certainly not be offended if you don't feel like reading all of it. Just read the article I linked to and form your own opinions.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/technology/21brain.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1
The thing I hate most about that article is that it brings up many good points that are applicable to many people, so that I can't really rant about it and feel justified. It may not apply to me (for the most part), but that doesn't mean it doesn't have its merits.
More after the jump... Note: Very long post. Beware. I will most certainly not be offended if you don't feel like reading all of it. Just read the article I linked to and form your own opinions.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Educating Adults
"Soul meets soul on lovers' lips." - Percy Bysshe Shelley
Excuse my sappy quote.
A couple days ago, I was telling my grandma about my English project. I informed her that the Chinese government employs over 30,000 people solely for the purpose of internet censorship.
She said "That doesn't seem like very many people, considering the size of China." I thought "There's a problem."
Adults focus so much on educating their children, and I won't contest that it's a worthy and vital goal.
However, some adults need education as well. There's so much more of the world since when my grandma's generation was in school. Unless they're like my dad and obsessively keeps up with news in science and technology, they're not going to learn things like how when it comes to the internet, size and location don't matter.
I would like to say "Nothing against my grandma, of course," but I think there truly is a problem. Most people think that once they've gotten their degrees, they're done learning and are set for life. Obviously, that's not the case.
Educated, knowledgeable citizens are the most important commodity that we should value. Of course, governments would prefer ignorance, seeing as how it is easier to control and get away with stuff.
I'm not asking for adults to be continuously enrolled in a class or two at a community college (although that wouldn't hurt). I'm asking for them to be interested in learning, and to seek that information out for themselves. Listen to a podcast. Read the news. Talk to your grandchildren, not about how their day's been, but about the world as they see it.
In this case, actually, asking me how my day's been is completely useless because ever since this, I say "good," regardless of how it was. Not even "okay" is all right. If I say "my day was okay," the immediate reaction is "Oh no, what's wrong?" Nothing's wrong. I just had an okay day. So I say good and then don't have to worry about it.
I'd much rather talk about important, truthful things than little white lies, but many people her age have the mentality of "I don't understand what these young people are talking about, therefore I will smile and nod and pretend I do" instead of "I don't understand this. I think I'll ask questions and find out more."
The second is the one that should be used, and the second one is the mindset our teachers ask us to have.
I leave you with this: Life is a continuous stream of learning. There is no "graduation." You may not go to a physical school anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't teachers of other sorts, or "independent 'study' programs" that you can use.
Excuse my sappy quote.
A couple days ago, I was telling my grandma about my English project. I informed her that the Chinese government employs over 30,000 people solely for the purpose of internet censorship.
She said "That doesn't seem like very many people, considering the size of China." I thought "There's a problem."
Adults focus so much on educating their children, and I won't contest that it's a worthy and vital goal.
However, some adults need education as well. There's so much more of the world since when my grandma's generation was in school. Unless they're like my dad and obsessively keeps up with news in science and technology, they're not going to learn things like how when it comes to the internet, size and location don't matter.
I would like to say "Nothing against my grandma, of course," but I think there truly is a problem. Most people think that once they've gotten their degrees, they're done learning and are set for life. Obviously, that's not the case.
Educated, knowledgeable citizens are the most important commodity that we should value. Of course, governments would prefer ignorance, seeing as how it is easier to control and get away with stuff.
I'm not asking for adults to be continuously enrolled in a class or two at a community college (although that wouldn't hurt). I'm asking for them to be interested in learning, and to seek that information out for themselves. Listen to a podcast. Read the news. Talk to your grandchildren, not about how their day's been, but about the world as they see it.
In this case, actually, asking me how my day's been is completely useless because ever since this, I say "good," regardless of how it was. Not even "okay" is all right. If I say "my day was okay," the immediate reaction is "Oh no, what's wrong?" Nothing's wrong. I just had an okay day. So I say good and then don't have to worry about it.
I'd much rather talk about important, truthful things than little white lies, but many people her age have the mentality of "I don't understand what these young people are talking about, therefore I will smile and nod and pretend I do" instead of "I don't understand this. I think I'll ask questions and find out more."
The second is the one that should be used, and the second one is the mindset our teachers ask us to have.
I leave you with this: Life is a continuous stream of learning. There is no "graduation." You may not go to a physical school anymore, but that doesn't mean there aren't teachers of other sorts, or "independent 'study' programs" that you can use.
Sunday, December 5, 2010
Individualized Education Plans
“Emily Dickinson wrote that “Success is counted sweetest by those who ne’er succeed.” And so too youth is also counted sweetest by those who are no longer young. Nostalgia is inevitably a yearning for a past that never existed. And when I’m writing there are no bees to sting me out of my sentimentality. For me at least, fiction is the only way I can even begin to twist my lying memories into something true.” - John Green
I started reading Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine today. It's about a 10 year-old girl with Asperger's syndrome trying to deal with her brother's recent death. It's amazing so far. Go read it.
I haven't been diagnosed with any sort of "condition," but I found pieces of myself within Caitlin. This got me to thinking, of course.
Most of them (like autism) have many different levels. With some people, you can scarcely tell, whereas with others its blindingly obvious.
So where exactly is the line that divides diagnosis with "normal"? What if we all have everything, and its just that most of us have such low levels with most of them that no one bothers to define it?
Yet if we all have these difficulties, shouldn't we all get some sort of treatment for it, even if its just monthly talks with a counselor about random stuff? I don't even want to use the word "treatment." It's too strong.
Reading this book, I wish I'd had "Mrs. Brooks time" (her counselor) every now and then when I was in elementary school. I don't think I needed it-- far from it-- but no one ever talked to me about myself in such objective terms. I got my IQ tested in 1st grade, but no one ever discussed the results with me. That might have been a good decision, but I'd rather that I had been more involved.
I had AG status, but the program, to be frank, sucked.
All students supposedly have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), but I've seen nothing of the kind in regards to me or the majority of my classmates. We don't "need" interventions-- so? It would be useful. It would help each individual to grow more, academically and as people.
Talk to kids about themselves in grown-up terms. I think it would be good in most cases, some of the time. Of course, this won't apply to every kid or every situation, but still. We may be young, but we can still, as Caitlin would say, "Get It."
I also find the concept of having a psychologist interesting--just not enough to actually start seeing one. How to explain that?
Psychologist: "So Olivia, why did you want to come see me? Have you lost a loved one recently?"
Me: "No, I just find the relationship between a psychologist and his or her patient fascinating and wanted to experience it first-hand."
If I suddenly get ridiculously rich...
I started reading Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine today. It's about a 10 year-old girl with Asperger's syndrome trying to deal with her brother's recent death. It's amazing so far. Go read it.
I haven't been diagnosed with any sort of "condition," but I found pieces of myself within Caitlin. This got me to thinking, of course.
Most of them (like autism) have many different levels. With some people, you can scarcely tell, whereas with others its blindingly obvious.
So where exactly is the line that divides diagnosis with "normal"? What if we all have everything, and its just that most of us have such low levels with most of them that no one bothers to define it?
Yet if we all have these difficulties, shouldn't we all get some sort of treatment for it, even if its just monthly talks with a counselor about random stuff? I don't even want to use the word "treatment." It's too strong.
Reading this book, I wish I'd had "Mrs. Brooks time" (her counselor) every now and then when I was in elementary school. I don't think I needed it-- far from it-- but no one ever talked to me about myself in such objective terms. I got my IQ tested in 1st grade, but no one ever discussed the results with me. That might have been a good decision, but I'd rather that I had been more involved.
I had AG status, but the program, to be frank, sucked.
All students supposedly have an IEP (Individualized Education Plan), but I've seen nothing of the kind in regards to me or the majority of my classmates. We don't "need" interventions-- so? It would be useful. It would help each individual to grow more, academically and as people.
Talk to kids about themselves in grown-up terms. I think it would be good in most cases, some of the time. Of course, this won't apply to every kid or every situation, but still. We may be young, but we can still, as Caitlin would say, "Get It."
I also find the concept of having a psychologist interesting--just not enough to actually start seeing one. How to explain that?
Psychologist: "So Olivia, why did you want to come see me? Have you lost a loved one recently?"
Me: "No, I just find the relationship between a psychologist and his or her patient fascinating and wanted to experience it first-hand."
If I suddenly get ridiculously rich...
Sunday, October 24, 2010
The Requested Massive Follow-up
Some conclusions I've drawn from the articles, Kenny's comment, and my responses to said comment:
Kenny's comment was a heck of a lot shorter than the 6 articles I wrote on originally, so I think I'll just go with direct quotes and responses.
"This is an interesting post linking to interesting articles, so I think I have quite a bit to say, sorry? First off, I am unsure that Nerdfighters provide the best examples of "typical" students."
I don't mind at all. And that's a good point. Unfortunately, I haven't anyone else to compare to, since all of my friends are either nerdfighters or would be if they knew about it or are a lot like nerdfighters even though they don't want to be one. I think I wrote something like "all the teenagers I know well enough to speak about in regards to this."
"One thing that multiple articles did was imply that students becoming more family dependent/oriented was a bad thing. I think this comes from our "frontier mentality" as a culture (I assume you are in the US, the articles were from the NYT at least)"
Yep. I hail from central NC, although I got the articles from "Old People Insulting Young People," not the NYT itself. There's a house in our neighborhood in which three generations live, and I know some cultures are very big on extended family sticking together, whereas the general outlook here seems to be more of "We raise you, and now you're grown, so go off and do your own thing and hopefully do well for yourself and we'll see you at Christmas." I don't know anyone with post-college kids very well, so I don't know if that's actually the case. I know my family finds regular communication and get-togethers fairly important (of course, all of Mom's immediate family lives nearby), and while my dad doesn't call his parents and siblings terribly often, they always talk for at least an hour when he does. If a family functions as a support group for "emerging adults," then I think that's a good thing. It's only when they start interfering with things (like you mentioned regarding move-in day later on in your comment) that it starts to be a problem.
"In regards to my students, while some show a shocking sense of entitlement, and many have a serious disrespect for academics, almost all of them have been respectful people whom I have been privileged to teach."
Case point: Sometimes my dad's manager brings in donuts to share. One week, he didn't, and the team asked him why he didn't have donuts for them. He said "because people get a sense of entitlement really fast." The same goes for my computer programming class- our teacher offered to buy bagels (although we had to pay) twice out of the whole 7-8 weeks we've been in school, yet every week someone complains about not getting them.
"I found this Wednesday I was startled by the realization that I could buy a new computer without consulting my parents. And I haven't lived in their house for more than a couple weeks at a time in over 6 years. It seems reasonable that others more connected would have a harder time unlearning childhood programming."
That's interesting, and very true from what I can tell. It reminds me of some of Kristina Horner's blog posts when she was finishing up college. I think my most difficult bit of "programming" to unlearn will be to not relate anything interesting that happened during my day to my parents. All my life, they've expressed interest in "what (I) did at school today," and now it's at the point where they don't have to. Anything of note that I don't mind telling them, I do. They're interested, and (as you can tell, based on the number of posts on this blog), I like sharing.
"Regarding high school friends, not much personal experience there, didn't really have any to keep, but I did observe that people who left campus most or all weekends did not make as many ties in the campus community."
*struggles to phrase agreement without sounding sarcastic* This year's the first year since we met that my best friend and I haven't seen each other almost every school day. She doesn't check her email much (of course, it's marching band season, so there's a reason for that), and can't talk on the phone much due to, well, marching band and homework. It's been strange, but it is true that due to not being in classes with her, I've talked to other people more. Normally, "outsiders" get ignored in the face of a friendship formed in the past.
"Well, there is my veritable manifesto on the subject. I'm a bit sick, so hopefully the ideas made it safely from my brain, through the tiny chicken eggs, and out into the Internets."
It made sense. Get better soon!
- I am incredibly glad I didn't post the original rant. Blogging when angry is never a good thing.
- Parenting is difficult. It takes lots of training to be a doctor, but anyone can be a parent, and there isn't any required training at all for that. There's books you can read, and classes to take, and your own parents and other people you know to learn from, but every kid is different and there's no way to prepare for that. I read some article in which the woman said "I am not a homemaker. I am not a housewife. I am a Mom," meaning that was her profession of choice. It's a job, and it's a job that needs to be done well, and while there are many very, very good parents in the world, it scares me that there are some not-so-great ones too.
Kenny's comment was a heck of a lot shorter than the 6 articles I wrote on originally, so I think I'll just go with direct quotes and responses.
"This is an interesting post linking to interesting articles, so I think I have quite a bit to say, sorry? First off, I am unsure that Nerdfighters provide the best examples of "typical" students."
I don't mind at all. And that's a good point. Unfortunately, I haven't anyone else to compare to, since all of my friends are either nerdfighters or would be if they knew about it or are a lot like nerdfighters even though they don't want to be one. I think I wrote something like "all the teenagers I know well enough to speak about in regards to this."
"One thing that multiple articles did was imply that students becoming more family dependent/oriented was a bad thing. I think this comes from our "frontier mentality" as a culture (I assume you are in the US, the articles were from the NYT at least)"
Yep. I hail from central NC, although I got the articles from "Old People Insulting Young People," not the NYT itself. There's a house in our neighborhood in which three generations live, and I know some cultures are very big on extended family sticking together, whereas the general outlook here seems to be more of "We raise you, and now you're grown, so go off and do your own thing and hopefully do well for yourself and we'll see you at Christmas." I don't know anyone with post-college kids very well, so I don't know if that's actually the case. I know my family finds regular communication and get-togethers fairly important (of course, all of Mom's immediate family lives nearby), and while my dad doesn't call his parents and siblings terribly often, they always talk for at least an hour when he does. If a family functions as a support group for "emerging adults," then I think that's a good thing. It's only when they start interfering with things (like you mentioned regarding move-in day later on in your comment) that it starts to be a problem.
"In regards to my students, while some show a shocking sense of entitlement, and many have a serious disrespect for academics, almost all of them have been respectful people whom I have been privileged to teach."
Case point: Sometimes my dad's manager brings in donuts to share. One week, he didn't, and the team asked him why he didn't have donuts for them. He said "because people get a sense of entitlement really fast." The same goes for my computer programming class- our teacher offered to buy bagels (although we had to pay) twice out of the whole 7-8 weeks we've been in school, yet every week someone complains about not getting them.
"I found this Wednesday I was startled by the realization that I could buy a new computer without consulting my parents. And I haven't lived in their house for more than a couple weeks at a time in over 6 years. It seems reasonable that others more connected would have a harder time unlearning childhood programming."
That's interesting, and very true from what I can tell. It reminds me of some of Kristina Horner's blog posts when she was finishing up college. I think my most difficult bit of "programming" to unlearn will be to not relate anything interesting that happened during my day to my parents. All my life, they've expressed interest in "what (I) did at school today," and now it's at the point where they don't have to. Anything of note that I don't mind telling them, I do. They're interested, and (as you can tell, based on the number of posts on this blog), I like sharing.
"Regarding high school friends, not much personal experience there, didn't really have any to keep, but I did observe that people who left campus most or all weekends did not make as many ties in the campus community."
*struggles to phrase agreement without sounding sarcastic* This year's the first year since we met that my best friend and I haven't seen each other almost every school day. She doesn't check her email much (of course, it's marching band season, so there's a reason for that), and can't talk on the phone much due to, well, marching band and homework. It's been strange, but it is true that due to not being in classes with her, I've talked to other people more. Normally, "outsiders" get ignored in the face of a friendship formed in the past.
"Well, there is my veritable manifesto on the subject. I'm a bit sick, so hopefully the ideas made it safely from my brain, through the tiny chicken eggs, and out into the Internets."
It made sense. Get better soon!
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Are Students Less Independent?
"I never teach my pupils. I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn." - Albert Einstein
WARNING: RANT TO FOLLOW.
Go read this: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/10/11/have-college-freshmen-changed/students-are-different-now
...and then come back, okay? Thank you.
This article pisses me off. Take a look at those links on the left.
WARNING: RANT TO FOLLOW.
Go read this: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2010/10/11/have-college-freshmen-changed/students-are-different-now
...and then come back, okay? Thank you.
This article pisses me off. Take a look at those links on the left.
Saturday, September 18, 2010
More School Rants
Written 9/13/2010
WARNING: THIS POST IS LABELED "JUST IGNORE ME."
Wow, in just one day (meaning the 12th/13th of September 24 hours preceding right now), the amount of views I've gotten from Brazil has increased by 16, making it the 6th most-viewing country of all time. Hi, Brazilians, be ye people or scanner bots.
On to the English journal, which starts with a list:
"What do you not like about your school?"
According to Sarah, they've stopped playing "thumbs up, thumbs down" in Guided Study. Apparently 6th graders can now be trusted to know that stealing is wrong. Yes, I'm bitter.
Instead, they've progressed to doing the following list:
They may as well not call it homework anymore, if they get a freaking HALF AN HOUR to work on it at the BEGINNING of school. Why bother doing it at home when you can do it then? And that's not even counting the 15 minute minimum some teachers provide at the end of the class period for the kids to work on their homework THEN.
AR books...I'm biased. I read for pleasure, and I read fast. So do both of my sisters. But for the kids who don't do that, it becomes homework or something to do after you finish a quiz early, and therefore there shouldn't be provided time for it. Homework is assigned to do AT HOME. The point of AR is to get kids to read without being explicitly told "you are going to read now."
My sister's goal this year is to get at least 1000% (yes, a thousand) of her AR goal this year. She hasn't been saving up on books to test on like I did in 8th grade (I did all of the Harry Potter and Inheritance books at once and beat 1000% in one quarter). I have full confidence that she will make it. She'd make it even without guided study, but still. It's sad that she has the time during school to do that.
They are going to school to be taught. How about we see some teaching get done, please.
WARNING: THIS POST IS LABELED "JUST IGNORE ME."
Wow, in just one day (meaning the 12th/13th of September 24 hours preceding right now), the amount of views I've gotten from Brazil has increased by 16, making it the 6th most-viewing country of all time. Hi, Brazilians, be ye people or scanner bots.
On to the English journal, which starts with a list:
"What do you not like about your school?"
- I wish it started at 8 instead of 7:20
- I wish we (the school) had the money to continue offering some of the cooler yet less-mainstream classes (such as Honors Shakespeare, Creative Writing 2, and some of the AP classes that have been discontinued.)
- I wish it was easier to get a schedule change, and that I'd get first pick of classes (I know that's an unfair request, but the rest have been pretty feasible, so I think I'm entitled to one.)
According to Sarah, they've stopped playing "thumbs up, thumbs down" in Guided Study. Apparently 6th graders can now be trusted to know that stealing is wrong. Yes, I'm bitter.
Instead, they've progressed to doing the following list:
- Check your agenda (for homework assignments and such)
- Organize your binder
- Make up any quizzes/tests/what-have-you
- Read your AR book
They may as well not call it homework anymore, if they get a freaking HALF AN HOUR to work on it at the BEGINNING of school. Why bother doing it at home when you can do it then? And that's not even counting the 15 minute minimum some teachers provide at the end of the class period for the kids to work on their homework THEN.
AR books...I'm biased. I read for pleasure, and I read fast. So do both of my sisters. But for the kids who don't do that, it becomes homework or something to do after you finish a quiz early, and therefore there shouldn't be provided time for it. Homework is assigned to do AT HOME. The point of AR is to get kids to read without being explicitly told "you are going to read now."
My sister's goal this year is to get at least 1000% (yes, a thousand) of her AR goal this year. She hasn't been saving up on books to test on like I did in 8th grade (I did all of the Harry Potter and Inheritance books at once and beat 1000% in one quarter). I have full confidence that she will make it. She'd make it even without guided study, but still. It's sad that she has the time during school to do that.
They are going to school to be taught. How about we see some teaching get done, please.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Will of One (Wishful Thinking)
Written on 9/1/2010
We were talking about magical realism today. I have a great story idea. Here's the journal:
"If you were President, what changes would you make while in office?"
I don't feel like I know enough about the current state of our country (or the world) to answer this well. In terms of teenage bloggers who I follow (and there are what, only four of them/you?) it's more suited for The Liberal Rocker (yep, I'm taking a small break to promote you. Now you owe me. Haha)
That being the case, these are the views of one not-really-average citizen of America.
I would (try to) pass a law limiting the salaries of CEOs, like they have in some parts of Europe. They could still have high salaries, but not to the ridiculously exorbitant extent that is currently common. Yes, I'll be called a Communist for it. No, I'm not a Communist.
And now, since I'm realizing that I'm pretty sure the President doesn't have as much power as we're raised to believe, I will simply make a list of things I want to happen while I'm in office, and we can ignore whether or not that's actually possible and the How of it.
- Decreasing of national debt
- Getting out of the Middle East as soon as possible but not leaving it in a state of ruin
- Making gay marriage completely legal in the entire country
- Changing the education system somewhat
- Higher standards for graduation from high school (we currently only need 26 credits, and if you pass ALL of your classes, you get 32). This includes more arts (and other types of) classes required as well as just more credits.
- When the education system of a given state is low on money, Honors and AP classes are NOT CUT. They can be down-sized, so there'll just be one teacher offering it instead of two or more. The money for this stuff will come out of the Education Executive's salaries, with percentages done based on the amount of money those people make.
- Classes like Marching Band won't be Honors-level. Yes, there's loads of time put into it, but it doesn't take an Honors student to put in the time, even though most band kids are also honors students.
- Teachers will be paid more.
- There will be no more "teaching to the test." The entire attitude of education will somehow be re-vamped so that it becomes about Learning and not Graduating. (Any deities listening, if you could help with that, I'd be very grateful. But I still won't worship you. Nothing personal. I just have issues with worship in general.)
- There will be one additional optional period at the end of the school day. Any teacher who volunteers to do this will receive a bonus.
- "Busy work" will be eliminated. If you're not going to be learning at school, WHAT IS THE POINT OF GOING??? See bullet 5.
- Education will be more individualized. If a kid has potential in a certain area, that kid will be given the opportunities to fulfill that potential. I guess this means there will have to be more placement tests instead of just in college.
Pretty much all of this is impossible to implement, but this was my journal prompt, and these are my thoughts.
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