Are Students Coddled? Schools Get Rid of 'F's

The purpose of schools is to educate the children.

Grades are merely a way of telling kids how they're doing.

That system stinks, folks, it really does.

We can do better. We can do much better.

We really can design lesson plans for each kid if we're willing to invest in education. It's called diagnostic proscriptive educating. It works beautifully.

The child is tested first to see what they know and understand and then based on those tests an edcuational plan is specifically designed for them.

Sadly we're too busy pissing away money on foolish things to invest in the kind of tools and resources such systems require.

I would love to see something like this put in place. I'd really like to hear more of your thoughts on how it could be done.
 
There are still a lot of good teachers out there...teachers who try everyday to reach kids and who realize and feel strongly that their job is to educate, not to drill random facts into young peoples heads, but to encourage them to develop critical thinking skills - to extend and refine their thinking, to take the information we give them and run with it in whatever direction the feel pulled towards.
I believe this.

But there are a lot of issues facing education today - and some of them certainly revolve around the fact that we as a society have been lowering expectations and demands on students, partially in the name of allowing them to "discover education on their own" and partially in the name of "improving their self-esteem" among other reasons.
Do you really this that's all there is to it? Do you think the way we do school ever really worked well? Weren't there always kids that had a hard time learning in the kind of environment that school presents?

I am all for students being able to make up work, re-take tests, etc. I have said to parents numerous times that my goal isn't to have your child learn it on December 12th or not at all...but rather to learn it, to understand it, and to be able to use what I have taught them to some useful purpose.

However...

What we are running into in the public school setting...are kids who are learning very quickly...that this often means they don't have to take anything seriously the first time.

Why put any time into the research project that is due at the end of this week? When my teacher will accept it at anytime up until the end of the marking period? Why turn in homework...when, after my mom finds out that I'm failing at the midpoint of the marking period...she'll call the school and ask them to send home all my missed assignments, so I can do them and turn them in the day before grades are due?
I think this is why editec's idea makes so much sense. Kids are bored in school... I think it happens for a lot of reasons being too smart is just one of them, but if learning could be tailored to the student I think a lot more kids would learn a lot more stuff. Standardized testing probably wouldn't work very well anymore, but did it ever?

As far as schools becoming conditioning camps - haven't they always been that to some extent?
Nice to see this admitted. Srsly.

I am not sure that with the direction our society has chosen to go, the public education system can be saved (or should be). I think that I would much prefer a system in which parents and their children could choose a school that matched their philosophy. Want a school that doesn't believe in homework? Great - here it is. Want a school that is more traditional, that will require a lot of time and participation from your child? Go to this school. Want a "free school" model where your child can work with his teachers on studies that are uniquely tied to his interests? Or a school that is more vocationally based? Educators could then choose what type of school they want to work in (and schools could choose whether or not to pay their teachers on a union-based system or based on individual qualifications).

Sorry for the ramble...education is one of those "close to my heart" subjects for me.

I thought it was nice to read.

I don't blame video games or movies or TV for making kids lazy or not good at school, but I think if you look at the speed at which they are experienced it makes sitting in a classroom very dull by comparison. Also if you watch TV and really pay attention to how information is presented you see that an hour long show is really only 40 minutes of show and they tease what's coming up and recount what you just saw so many times that it's maybe more like 15 minutes of show that they just say over and over. I think if school was made more like TV it would be easier to teach kids that way than to have someone stand in front of them and read a book at them.
 
The purpose of schools is to educate the children.

Grades are merely a way of telling kids how they're doing.

That system stinks, folks, it really does.

We can do better. We can do much better.

We really can design lesson plans for each kid if we're willing to invest in education. It's called diagnostic proscriptive educating. It works beautifully.

The child is tested first to see what they know and understand and then based on those tests an edcuational plan is specifically designed for them.

Sadly we're too busy pissing away money on foolish things to invest in the kind of tools and resources such systems require.

Don't you always pre-test? It's part of any assessment, no? I'd love to be able to give each kid their own lesson plan, once in awhile I do, but not enough time. I do tend to differentiate though at least three different plans per class.
 
Don't you always pre-test? It's part of any assessment, no? I'd love to be able to give each kid their own lesson plan, once in awhile I do, but not enough time. I do tend to differentiate though at least three different plans per class.
Pre-testing is very new.
 
Don't you always pre-test? It's part of any assessment, no? I'd love to be able to give each kid their own lesson plan, once in awhile I do, but not enough time. I do tend to differentiate though at least three different plans per class.

Sounds like an IEP! Too bad only special needs students get those, I bet a lot of other kids could benifit from their own also!
 
Sounds like an IEP! Too bad only special needs students get those, I bet a lot of other kids could benifit from their own also!

Indeed, but classes are not of 5-8. However it's important to know the pre-knowledge level of the kids. I wouldn't think of attacking a new area, without finding what they already know. Some classes have kids that are well read and know what the text and materials would cover. They need something extra. Others may be struggling to cover the basics. Most are somewhere inbetween.
 
Indeed, but classes are not of 5-8. However it's important to know the pre-knowledge level of the kids. I wouldn't think of attacking a new area, without finding what they already know. Some classes have kids that are well read and know what the text and materials would cover. They need something extra. Others may be struggling to cover the basics. Most are somewhere inbetween.

Thus our good friend, differentiated instruction. Almost all classrooms should be implementing this strategy.
 
Echo what is your position on this topic? Do you agree with all students being given second chances to avoid an F that they otherwise earned?
 
Echo what is your position on this topic? Do you agree with all students being given second chances to avoid an F that they otherwise earned?

I think it depends on the circumstance of the student. How hard did he/she try in the class? If they were just goofing off, not turning in work, not asking for extra help when they saw they needed it, then no, they don't deserve a second chance. They live with that F.

Now, for someone with learning problems, or who really just couldn't understand the material, and tried/asked for extra help, yes. If they are willing to work hard again, maybe the subject could be differentiated for that student or students.


Remember, I teach special needs kids, and I know ALL children learn differently, not just the ones in "special ed."
 
Thus our good friend, differentiated instruction. Almost all classrooms should be implementing this strategy.

Indeed. While my MSed work was an administration degree, the focus was on differentiation.
 
UGH... At what point do we all march into the school board meetings and demand better?

Oh wait, I'm already doing that. If this pisses you off, get involved. The board meetings are open to the public.

If parents didn't need day care, they should go to the schools and protest. If most families had a single provider, parents wouldn't be so desperate to leave their children in some of these-God-forsaken schools. I don't mean the actual physical conditions -- I think you know what I mean.

The people running the schools are coming up with these "wonderful" ideas, kind of makes you wonder what kind of teachers we have as well. I don't mean to disparage teachers because I've known some great ones, and someone very close to me is a teacher as well. But most of them are no more educated than the students they teach.

There needs to be an education revolution and I hope that Obama would have the boldness and tenacity to take on such a challenge.
No one is forced to be silent at school board meetings. No one is even forced to put their children in public schools if you don't like it.
 
UGH... At what point do we all march into the school board meetings and demand better?

Oh wait, I'm already doing that. If this pisses you off, get involved. The board meetings are open to the public.

If parents didn't need day care, they should go to the schools and protest. If most families had a single provider, parents wouldn't be so desperate to leave their children in some of these-God-forsaken schools. I don't mean the actual physical conditions -- I think you know what I mean.

The people running the schools are coming up with these "wonderful" ideas, kind of makes you wonder what kind of teachers we have as well. I don't mean to disparage teachers because I've known some great ones, and someone very close to me is a teacher as well. But most of them are no more educated than the students they teach.

There needs to be an education revolution and I hope that Obama would have the boldness and tenacity to take on such a challenge.
No one is forced to be silent at school board meetings. No one is even forced to put their children in public schools if you don't like it.


No school huh?

Explains many of your posts.

I love these autobiographical posts.....
 
UGH... At what point do we all march into the school board meetings and demand better?

Oh wait, I'm already doing that. If this pisses you off, get involved. The board meetings are open to the public.

If parents didn't need day care, they should go to the schools and protest. If most families had a single provider, parents wouldn't be so desperate to leave their children in some of these-God-forsaken schools. I don't mean the actual physical conditions -- I think you know what I mean.

The people running the schools are coming up with these "wonderful" ideas, kind of makes you wonder what kind of teachers we have as well. I don't mean to disparage teachers because I've known some great ones, and someone very close to me is a teacher as well. But most of them are no more educated than the students they teach.

There needs to be an education revolution and I hope that Obama would have the boldness and tenacity to take on such a challenge.
No one is forced to be silent at school board meetings. No one is even forced to put their children in public schools if you don't like it.


No school huh?

Explains many of your posts.

I love these autobiographical posts.....
Who said "no school"? I said (and words actually do have meaning) that no one is even forced to put their children in public schools if you don't like it.

Reading comprehension is your friend.
 
UGH... At what point do we all march into the school board meetings and demand better?

Oh wait, I'm already doing that. If this pisses you off, get involved. The board meetings are open to the public.

If parents didn't need day care, they should go to the schools and protest. If most families had a single provider, parents wouldn't be so desperate to leave their children in some of these-God-forsaken schools. I don't mean the actual physical conditions -- I think you know what I mean.

The people running the schools are coming up with these "wonderful" ideas, kind of makes you wonder what kind of teachers we have as well. I don't mean to disparage teachers because I've known some great ones, and someone very close to me is a teacher as well. But most of them are no more educated than the students they teach.

There needs to be an education revolution and I hope that Obama would have the boldness and tenacity to take on such a challenge.
No one is forced to be silent at school board meetings. No one is even forced to put their children in public schools if you don't like it.


No school huh?

Explains many of your posts.

I love these autobiographical posts.....
Who said "no school"? I said (and words actually do have meaning) that no one is even forced to put their children in public schools if you don't like it.

Reading comprehension is your friend.



I love putting a burr under your saddle, donkey.

And....essentially, almost everyone is forced to put their child in public school, under penalty of law.



Try truth for a change, m'kay?
 

Forum List

Back
Top