Schools today

[XCashier]

The only times it really bothers me is when I get someone who insists that high school was wonderful for them, and they can't understand why I would have found it any differently.

There are an awful lot of folks who cannot think outside of their own experiences. They think that because they experienced A, everyone has experienced A, and you must be weird, stupid or both because you experienced B. Yes, it is frustrating to try to communicate with those people.

[Kimmik]

There are some schools out there that are great. How ever States are allowed to set their own standards of what is required and acceptable. There is no federal everyone must meet this standard. For example in California I was required to have 2 years of a foreign language in high school, here in Michigan they are just now instituting it.

In Hawaii in second grade I was more advanced then my 3rd grade peers in California. Texas was also more advanced. Personally I think that it would be a good thing that all schools had the same standards for each grade level. It is very hard to go from one state where you might be considered advanced to another where you are now below grade level.

Also I am big on failing children who do not meet the standards and getting them the help that they need. I am also of the opinion that more of schooling needs to deal with real life. Return to the core education.

When I attend a JC I almost died that most of the students that were in my classes could not write a simple paper, nor could they study effectively from the text. I actually had to listen to a classmate whine that some of the questions where not covered in class. The teacher laughed and said yes that is why I assign chapters that you need to read, not everything is going to be told to you or covered in class discussions. The student whined about how that was unfair as they didn't have time to read and we should only be tested on what we could take notes on and should be told what was important.

This is why I have no faith in the public education today. From not only what I went through in the late 80's to mid 90's in high school to what my nieces and nephews and my friends children are going through now. Hell now you don't even get books to take home to do your homework you get flipping copies and handouts.

I think that we need to stop focusing on test scores.. as they are not a true sign of where our children are because the weeks before the test all they do is prep for the test... that is not learning. That is just preparing for what the test covers.

*sighs*

[Nyoibo]

When I attend a JC I almost died that most of the students that were in my classes could not write a simple paper, nor could they study effectively from the text. I actually had to listen to a classmate whine that some of the questions where not covered in class. The teacher laughed and said yes that is why I assign chapters that you need to read, not everything is going to be told to you or covered in class discussions. The student whined about how that was unfair as they didn't have time to read and we should only be tested on what we could take notes on and should be told what was important.

My last class had a 22 page assignment, of that we maybe covered the answers to 3 questions in class, the rest was from the book.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Weird; when I took A-Level and GCSE English... I had to, you know, actually READ the books in order to do well in the coursework and exams. O_o

[Arcade Man D]

Yeah, that would make sense. We used actual brackets though, when we learned it. Didn't learn until later most people tend to parentheses for initial set-offs, and then brackets for enclosing any parenthetical statements. Took some time to flip styles.

I stopped using brackets (or curly braces) in equations entirely when I learned matrices (and for braces, sets). But that's high-level math, so that's neither here nor there.


I think one problem is this whole "grade curve" bull. Sometimes it's useful. For a Regents exam in New York state, that every student in that grade/class level is taking, the scores probably should fall in a Normal distribution around a particular mean, so a curved grade is appropriate. Same for SATs and ACTs taken by hundreds of thousands of students at a time.

However, a single class should not be subject to a "grade curve". 22 students are not a sufficiently large sample for the Law of Large Numbers to take effect. When I'm teaching, I know for certain, that unless the district requires it (which I know of none that do), there will be no curving of the grade. There will be reconsidering of grades if, for example, everyone except the class "uber-genius" does horribly (which might indicate that either I did poorly at teaching the material, or everyone just copied the smart kid's homework and didn't do their assignments). But then again, there's more of that crazy "personal responsibility" stuff.

Of course, I'm also of the belief that the first day of class should often be made use of not to teach the material, but to set the expectations for the class, go over the syllabus, and all the administrative aspects of a class. And most (high school) teachers should open with a speech similar to:

Everyone in this class wants you to pass. You each want yourselves to pass, and you want your friends to pass. I want you to pass because you learned the material. I will not "curve" grades. If someone does extremely well on a test, your grades won't suffer for it. You are not competing with each other.

If you are having problems outside of this class that may interfere with your participation, please let me know, and I will keep your confidence. You can find me in my room after classes until X time, on X days. I will also be available for lunch hours, if you prefer.

I will be going over material in class daily. My attendance policy is outlined on the syllabus, and the school's is in your planner. You will have homework of a reasonable amount, and it will sometimes include reading from your texts.

Just because we all want each other to pass, does not mean you get a free C here. I do not give grades, you will earn them. The homework I give is to reinforce what I'm teaching. The quizzes will let me know how well you have learned it, and will let me know when you're ready for the tests. My grading policy reflects that, and is also on your syllabus.

You are all teenagers, and in many peoples' eyes, have gone from being "children" to being "young adults". As such, I expect you to bring any problems you're having with the material to me. If I notice you are having problems, I will provide you with help, but you will know if you're having problems far before I will notice.

Then it'd go into more specific stuff for the class. A quick, 3-4 minute speech about what, exactly, is expected in class, what policies are, and what hours you're available to get extra help.