Another less serious post. Can't all be zingers.
Well, the year is winding down and my time here is drawing ever closer to a close. This suits me just fine, not because I wont miss this, but because I wont be forced to worry about it. That's really the major problem for me, forcing me to worry about things. It shows up in just about every class I'm in, even my English classes. I love reading, I eat books up regularly, but if you assign me one to read I don't even want to crack the cover.It's sad, but true and a lot of my friends agree with me.
What's my answer, you ask? Well, for once, I don't have one. Having students assign their own reading seems like an easily legitimized excuse for laziness. While it is legitimate strategy and can be productive at making children read when they normally would not I could read the same book in every English class and never get any better.
This isn't to say that the alternative is that great... the popularity of websites like sparknotes and the like make reading all but unnecessary for most books, not to mention wikipedia (though to be fair I use it often for outlines). Lastly there's the simple fact that any clever student worth their salt can pull information off the students who are actually doing the work in groups without doing any work themselves. This bothers me, since, throughout high school I was the one being coppied off of.
School is a tough one, one we all worry about. Are children learning what we want them to? do we want them to be learning what they really should be learning? Are teachers doing enough?Are they forced to do to much? Are administrators acting too much like parents? Are parents not acting enough like teachers?
So many questions... I cant answer them all, esspecially with the stress of finals coming up.
So I open the flore to discussion on the topic. Rip away, I'll answer if I can in later posts.
2 comments:
I wonder the same thing as I watch my grandchildren grow up and what they are learning--I can remember back when I was school and the things I learned are not that much different from my grandchildren are currently learning. I want to believe that the times have changed and what are children are learning also needs to change--don't get me wrong--learning about history is important-but history only works if your going to be a history teacher/professor. I believe children need to learn more practicable things that will ensure success once they leave high school. In Mexico--at least where my cousins live--the children go to primary school which is kinder-thru 8th grade and upon entering high school they have a choice of either going on to high school or entering a trade school in which they will learn a trade such as nurse, secretary, teacher, etc is more valuable unless of course you want to be a civil engineer or doctor then finishing high school is important.
I think that children deciding what they read can only work for so long, and only under the right conditions. Silent reading once a week in class, for instance, or for book reports. As for your other questions, I don't know, myself. It seems like everywhere, school seems to let some down, while still others excel in both life and the professional realm.
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