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Not directed at me I know, but personally? Cause I knew the first time I tried to properly discipline some of those out of control childern, I would be fired at best and arrested at worst.
As for the topic at hand, I think it's due to more of a focus on computers instead of books, and teachers focusing their teaching on testing, not knowledge.
Teachers nowadays are mandated to teach in a pretty rigid way and they get to do it over, and over and over again. With the standards in the classrooms, teachers have to cover certain material at a certain pace whether all the students are up to speed or not.
Sorry, but IMO that's an excuse. Cause a teacher has to keep a schedule, they can't help kids that don't get it? BS!!!! My Algebra class (M & W) currently has MORE than enough time to review the past class and answer questions, before we move on to the next lesson. We also have the class before our test to do a practice test, then we review it again to make sure everyone gets it. We only meet 2x week for a semester, how can our Professor manage, but school teachers can not do this?
Cav Scout, I am not talking about a specific class and this discussion is not about college students.
Oh, I know you weren't. I was just using that as an example of my point.
I didn't think anyone would argue that college algebra is vastly more complicated than the majority of math taught in schools, as well that college is designed to go through more material quicker than in a public school setting.
Oh, I know you weren't. I was just using that as an example of my point.
I didn't think anyone would argue that college algebra is vastly more complicated than the majority of math taught in schools, as well that college is designed to go through more material quicker than in a public school setting.
However, college students are there because they want to learn. They are paying tuition.
Public schools are free to the student and the kids have no motivation to be there and to want to learn what is being taught. Without that, they are not going to work hard enough to *get* the material.
You quoted my comment about not getting automatic raises and free healthcare. I would like to point out that it was not a complaint, but rather a rebuttal to an earlier comment. I have never once complained about my pay.
I find this happens fairly often. A teacher doesn't even begin the conversation, but someone will make an initial comment they believe to be true, such as, "Teachers get 100% of their healthcare paid", or a comment about hours. Then, when a teacher points out that it's not the case, he/she is met with a response telling him/her to stop complaining.
Yup, that's the way the argument works. An outlandish remark is made about teachers and when we DARE to defend ourselves, we're whining. Don't say anything and they think we agree. Say something and then you're just a whiner.
This one piece shows how disingenuous your argument is. If you don't get your job done, your boss will fire you and find somebody who will. That is powerful motivation for an employee. Schools can't fire kids and hire ones that are more skilled and motivated.
There's plenty of blame for the state of education. To pin it all on teachers is ridiculous. Do you give teachers all the credit for kids that do well?
Funny how THAT never happens .
I don't take credit for my kids who do well. They do well because they come to me with a solid foundation and they're willing to work. I can do a lot with that, not because I'm such a great teacher but because kids who are primed to learn are rewarding to teach. The kids who FINALLY get it and pass are rewarding too. Unfortunately, it seems there's always a group that just won't even try.
Firstly, through preparation, organization, and patience it is a teachers responsiblity to attempt to transmit subject matter to children. They need to try to do it in a manner that gets through to most kids and not losing a bunch of them in the process.
Teaching kids in this day and age is not an easy proposition-----kids are easily distracted with gadgets, lack of focus, and frankly not caring at all.
For those reasons teachers are not the only ones involved in the process. Teachers can be all be knights of honor and brilliance, but if the kids dont have a support system at home, teachers can only do so much.
In conjunction with teachers, parents must set guidelines and rules for their kids------put the gadgets away, stay off the computers, and off the streets. Set academic goals for your kids and ask them to show you daily what they are learning.
Teachers cannot do everything by themselves-----they can set the plate, deliver the material effectively, and charter the course. However, if students face a hostile and unconcerned environment at home it is likely to have a negative impact.
I completely disagree. I know more people whose scores improved b/c of test prep courses than I do people who took the test on their own and did just as well or "fine." However, the score that the OP mentioned for reading is actually just below the average, which means that most students in MN are doing "fine" on it on their own but will probably need to take a test prep course to do very well on it b/c the test is asking for material that, while related to a high school education, is not directly covered by it. That's hardly evidence that teachers are doing a lousy job.
Moreover, reading in a foreign language--or any language--entails comprehension; someone who can't understand something written cannot comprehend it, it's that simple.
Furthermore, if you are going to even begin to tell me that I only have a superficial understanding of the foreign languages that I speak and read fluently, and that I do not think critically in those languages, well, then you know nothing of language majors; in our foreign language classes, we have to read literature in the target language and then write lengthy, critical analyses of them in which we cite research as well as the text itself. You cannot do any of those things if you do not possess critical reading skills. And, yet, if I took the SAT tomorrow, I would probably do "terribly" on it.
Um, MN leads the nation in SAT scores, meaning we are well above average, we also lead the nation in ACT scores (for states were more than 25% of the kids take the test)...
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