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I'm thinking that this is the result of kids who were raised on self esteem coming of age. They, and their parents, seem to feel entitled to prizes without effort and they get angry when their special snowflake's specialness isn't being awarded.
I wish I were tenured. The tenured teachers are refusing to lower their standards. I'm caught between a rock and a hard place. I'm so easily replaceable that I could lose my job if I don't help these kids improve their grades but I feel like I'm not doing the job I signed up to do if I do so I'm not. Knowing I have two parent meetings the first week back from break, I took the time, last night, to register on a couple of job placement sites. I'm thinking I need to be ready for a pink slip in June. It will only take a couple of parents complaining to result in my being replaced with someone who will pad grades to the parents liking.
I wish I could say I saw a lot out there but I didn't. There were only about a half dozen postings for engineers and the only one for a chemical engineer required a PhD to apply. I'm going to hit every job placement site out there before June and hope for the best. I guess I can always move to Pennsylvania. My certs and experience are actually valued there. I just hate to uproot my kids while they're in high school. I guess there's never a good time to move your family.
Do you really have to bring up the special snowflake slam AGAIN?
Do you really have to bring up the special snowflake slam AGAIN?
Let's get back to the topic please.
YES! It's one of the things we need to get back to yesteryear on. We really need to go back to the day when good grades were earned and prizes were won and you learned how to lose graciously when you didn't get the prize. The air of entitlement these kids and their parents have is one of the negative changes to education. It's very difficult to teach kids who think that they are entitled to everything being easy and to deal with parents who think their kids are more capable than they are. I'd love to see the classroom of the past WRT this issue.
And to make matters worse, these kids don't know how to deal with it when they aren't the star so they treat each other poorly. They don't so much lash out as they toss cold prickleys (opposite of the warm fuzzies they're used to). They'll let out little jabs at students who do better than them. I don't see healthy competition for grades. My students seem to take grades as a jugement of THEIR personal value not the result of hard work/lack of work/whichever the case may be. They seem to attach their value as a person to those pats on the back they've grown so accustomed to. When those stop, they don't deal with it well.
I have, maybe, half a dozen students who have responded to my class being difficult by working harder to get the kudos they're used to. Many of the others just react badly when I don't accept what they turn in. They don't seem to get that the grade is proportional to effort. It's like they think I've made a personal judgement on their value not the value of the work they've turned in. They don't seem to be able to separate the two.
Last edited by Ivorytickler; 12-31-2011 at 03:40 PM..
Ivory, No offense, but out of respect for the people on this forum, let's assume that we all agree on the above and not make this thread ANOTHER rant against parents. You are preaching to the choir here about accountability. You too are a parent - did you raise your children to think that that they were entitled to everything??
Ivory, No offense, but out of respect for the people on this forum, let's assume that we all agree on the above and not make this thread ANOTHER rant against parents. You are preaching to the choir here about accountability. You too are a parent - did you raise your children to think that that they were entitled to everything??
No I didn't but I'm at odds with most of their friend's parents in that respect. I just think this is part of the problem with education today.
That is what the newscaster asked at the end of the segment. Probably no, but I did find it very interesting (and of course ironic like so many do), especially in the math class as I have told my students that we did perfectly FINE using nothing but our "computers=brains", rulers and T-squares to solve problems even though it did take longer.
I think the message they are sending is great, especially in regards to having students READY to use technology, but we need to face facts that high school students do need to know how to use technology, esp. graphing calculators for taking tests such as the ACT/SAT or they will be at a disadvantage. I will add, that I have taught many students to "talk to their books" via annotation, and most agree that it is not the same when they read it electronically nor is proofreading papers, for most mistakes are not seen that way.
This is the OP. Let's talk about technology vs. comprehension, not about about irresponsible parents and children that are not held accountable.
Our schools emphasize memorizing the times tables in third or fourth grade and I think it's probably the first time the kids have to really work at anything.
Our schools emphasize memorizing the times tables in third or fourth grade and I think it's probably the first time the kids have to really work at anything.
Really?? WOW...so that backs up what the father said whom I talked to. I am glad that some districts are seeing that really we need to learn how to crawl before we can walk and then run. Thanks for sharing as that made my day!!!
Really?? WOW...so that backs up what the father said whom I talked to. I am glad that some districts are seeing that really we need to learn how to crawl before we can walk and then run. Thanks for sharing as that made my day!!!
I switched schools for my kids when they were in 2nd and 5th grade because I was told that memorization of times tables was "Drill and Kill" and that requiring my daughter to memorize them was killing her creativity. She was, unfortunately, behind at the charter school because the kids had memorized them by 4th grade.
Our local schools are dealing with plummeting math scores on the high stakes tests because of the decision to go to Everyday Mathematics so many years ago. They did put in a program to try and shore kids up before they get to high school but the jury will be out for a few years on that one. The next few years will be interesting. The kids who started EDM in 2nd grade arrived at the high school this year and the ones who started in 1st grade arrive next year. The ones who had nothing but EDM until 6th grade arrive the next year. Contrast my dd who came up through Singapore math. She's taking Algebra II in the 9th grade with 11th graders. I sure hope the measures they put in place in middle school work. These kids don't deserve to pay for a bad decision on the part of administrators.
This is the OP. Let's talk about technology vs. comprehension, not about about irresponsible parents and children that are not held accountable.
Our schools emphasize memorizing the times tables in third or fourth grade and I think it's probably the first time the kids have to really work at anything.
This has been an interesting discussion and while I have strong opinions on this subject, I have found it difficult to understand the point of some of the posters. Elementary math is a major problem in our schools today. Our schools are teaching geometry starting in 3rd grade. Between learning geometry and the use of calculators, students don’t spend time on the repetition and practice of basic arithmetic including memorization of multiplication tables, division, fractions and decimals. We can spend years debating this topic but if we sit back and look at the most important competencies students should have by the time they reach 7th grade, would most people rate reading comprehension and the basic arithmetic functions as the most important? In my opinion, these are the building blocks for everything else and skills that most people use on a daily basis regardless of whether they are a computer engineer, lawyer, laborer, Wal-Mart clerk, or doctor. Does it matter if students learn math skills by practicing at a computer, working problems in front of a class at a Smartboard, or writing down and solving problems the teacher has demonstrated in front of the class at a chalkboard?
The same goes for reading. Our schools are struggling with instituting a love of reading in today’s students. The attempts are there but you will hear many high school students say they hate to read. Is this an issue of “technology vs. comprehension?” I think technology has some minimal impact but I think many students are not getting enough reading practice in elementary school to develop the ability to read for enjoyment. Specialized computer programs can assist in developing reading skills but I have seen very few of these in use. The Harry Potter and Twilight books have done more for the development of reading than all of the computers in schools combined.
There has been a lot of discussion here about tools like Google and Wikipedia. Yes, there are issues with the use of these tools but I don’t think these items are at the center of the real issues with our educational system. We ended up with computers in schools because we had a generation of adults (which included parents, teachers, school administrators and school board members) who had or still have a fear of not being “computer literate.” They didn’t know what that meant, but they didn’t want their children or the children on their watch being computer illiterate.
Our schools today waste too much time getting laptops on and off carts, finding the laptop is not charged, waiting for it to log on to the network server and then playing games for the rest of the class. I have observed in enough schools to be able to say confidently that much more classroom time is spent playing games than involved in any type of educational activity. This is true for elementary through high school.
I am not against technology in schools. I believe in many situations a computer can do a better job than a teacher in teaching material at the student’s learning pace. There are math programs that do an excellent job of this. The program introduces the material, tests the student’s comprehension, and either provides remedial instruction or allows the student to move forward at a pace that he is comfortable. This helps to solve the problem that in any classroom, there are students who are lost, students who are learning the material, and students who are bored because they have already learned it.
Regarding reading, learning and the Internet, Nicholas Carr has written some interesting material on this subject. His article, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” addresses some of the issues. Carr says in this article, “Now my concentration often starts to drift after two or three pages. I get fidgety, lose the thread, and begin looking for something else to do.” I find myself in the same frame of mind when I read something on the Internet. There is so much information available that I tend not to read anything thoroughly.
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