Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
When I was a kid, I played with other kids and toys and all the usual stuff... in the meantime, sometimes I found myself watch ants "marching", transporting tiny tiny pieces of food...
That kind of curiosity has stayed with me as I grow up despite the fact that life takes different forms etc...
So, I wonder how curious students are today... and an immediate question is, how to find curious students?
I think, increasingly, "curious" children are being classified as Learning Disabled, and then placed into special-ed to beat it out of them and make them act normal and follow the flow-chart.
I have a few curious students who will delve deeper but most just want their grade. They treat classes like ticket punching to move to the next level.
That's because the way the school system is set up, grades are carrots dangling in front of students, and classes are a list of tasks to get through. Get through the class, get your carrot, next!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jtur88
I think, increasingly, "curious" children are being classified as Learning Disabled, and then placed into special-ed to beat it out of them and make them act normal and follow the flow-chart.
I have a few curious students who will delve deeper but most just want their grade. They treat classes like ticket punching to move to the next level.
I think, that's very sad. I saw one recent college graduate's profile, which goes like, "Seeking a position that would enhance my skills... bla bla",
which, to me, indicates that the individual is incapable of Critical Thinking...
Were I a potential employer I'd prefer to read something like,
"I hope to CONTRIBUTE to my potential employer with my skills. And I have a strong desire to continue to learn, and to grow... "
I have a few curious students who will delve deeper but most just want their grade. They treat classes like ticket punching to move to the next level.
I think that some classes are just tickets that kids need to punch to move to the next level. You are a parent you should understand that kids have different interests. Some classes really interest them but others are just classes that they have to take.
My son adores science, math and social studies. He is inquisitive and looks for information outside of class. Literature bores him. He is not interested in learning to speak Spanish but has been told that he needs to have at least 3 years of a foreign language because that's what admissions officers want to see. Spanish and literature are just tickets that he needs to have punched to get to the next level. You can force a child to take certain subjects but you cannot force them to be interested in them.
That's because the way the school system is set up, grades are carrots dangling in front of students, and classes are a list of tasks to get through. Get through the class, get your carrot, next!
Exactly.
"grades are carrots dangling in front of students,",
So, it seems that the gap between "grades" and Valid knowledge is huge, and there's the "knowledge" and its translation to skills, and its application to to real world work...
That's because the way the school system is set up, grades are carrots dangling in front of students, and classes are a list of tasks to get through. Get through the class, get your carrot, next!
Exactly.
Unfortunately, without grades, I'm pretty sure that 98% of my students would do NOTHING. I teach high school and I have to collect and grade bellwork just to get them to try it and bellwork is, probably, the most useful thing I do all hour. It's valuable because they get IMMEDIATE feedback but there's no feedback if they don't try and if I don't grade it, they don't try.
I'm not against grading, as you correctly argued, it's a starting point, my concern is, knowledge are too 'static', and learners are not taught how to apply knowledge/skills to solve problems or contribute in other fashion to their employers.
And to be fair, probably I was just like that too when I was right out of college many snows and moons ago...
I'm not against grading, as you correctly argued, it's a starting point, my concern is, knowledge are too 'static', and learners are not taught how to apply knowledge/skills to solve problems or contribute in other fashion to their employers.
And to be fair, probably I was just like that too when I was right out of college many snows and moons ago...
Getting my students to think is like pulling teeth. We've hit a brick wall during this last quarter. Too much of the material requires them to make a decision before they start. If I tell them which equation to use, they're fine but if I ask them to figure that out....they're lost. They can't even do it with just three or four equations at a time....I'm getting really worried about the final....
The big issue I see is they won't try if they don't know how to do it up front. They won't experiment. They won't try to figure it out. They wait for someone to give them the answer.
Oh, and my funny for the day...Today, during the middle of a lecture, a hand goes up. I called on the student and he asked "Are we just going to keep going until the end of the year?" Students...you gotta love 'em.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Students...you gotta love 'em.
