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Because it's solely the teacher's fault?
What about parents who are not continuing the help at home?
What about students who are more worried about what their last meal will come from than trying to understand ecosystems?
What about special needs students who aren't getting additional help?
What about ENL students?
What about the unfairness of standardized tests not fully representing comprehension?
You're right- booting "incompetent teachers" would fix this.
Open your eyes.
Eh, I don't put too much stock in most of those. I went to school in a district in Orange County that is considered to be very good for an urban school district. The fact that it's considered very good is very sad. However, since I was in elementary school in the 90's and now, the elementary schools have gotten much worse. The economic levels of the students have not changed much. The number of English language learners have not changed much. The standardized tests have not changed much. Parents didn't help much back then either.
The agrarian calendar worked just fine for 140+ years in America. There was never any talk about kids "forgetting what they learned over the summer."
Again, unless you're a teacher in today's HS's, I am unsure why anyone here is posting with seeming omniscience. There is no more FAMILY in America. There are few families anymore, few working fathers, no cohesive unit. Books are obsolete. No one reads anymore unless it's on the Internet. It is a RADICALLY different clientele in HS now than is was in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's or even 90's.
Stop blaming the teachers. It's the breakdown of society, and all the electronic devices that ALL teenagers have in ALL classes.
Stop blaming the teachers. It's the breakdown of society, and all the electronic devices that ALL teenagers have in ALL classes.
Gee I wonder if the rest of us can use that excuse.
" Well boss.... I didn't make my deadline, but it's not my fault, it is the breakdown of society and and and all the electronic devices.... yea that's it, that,s the reason..... What I'm fired? What do you mean I'm fired? Didn't you hear what I said? Hey why is security here?"
LOL
Hey thanks, I haven't had such a good laugh for a while!
Our school system is clearly failing. It will take major reform to right what is so clearly nonfunctional. In California I think the first step should be to abolish the CTA. That would open the door for the firing of incompetent teachers and bringing in some badly needed new blood.
You want to fix it?
First, STOP teaching to the tests. Seriously, those test aren't covering a good majority of what kids need to learn.
Second, DO NOT pass kids that can't do the work. So their "widdle feewlings" are hurt 'cause they didn't move up a grade. GOOD! Maybe the shame will force them to work harder so they aren't bloody idiots for the rest of their lives! If not, keep them where they are till they DO learn, or they drop out at age 16-18 (some states it's 16, I think it is here), then they will get a taste of reality. Also, dropping out of school (w/o a DAMN good reason!) should be a HUGE black mark on them, and they should only be able to get crappy jobs.
Lastly, do away with ALL teachers who are considered bad; regardless of their "tenure" or their "union" standing. Also, don't require higher degrees in teaching, rather require higer degrees in the SUBJECTS they are teaching!
That's just a few of my beefs with public schools.
As a fourth grade teacher, I don't get students who are all at grade level when they enter my classroom. In fact, only 10% of my 34 students are at or above grade level when the enter my class in the beginning of the school year. So guess what, that means that 90% of my 34 students are one, two, and some times as three grade levels below my grade in reading, writing, and math skills.
They shouldn't have ever been passed in the first place, if they are that far behind!!!!!!!!!
Seriously, that is BAD TEACHING (not your part, the part of the teachers before!)! Those teachers that did that should be fired and not allwoed to teach again. Things like that are a crime, IMO!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulysses61
Try competing with texting, Iphones, the 'net, cell phones and everything else that is *instant* to them. Talking about the Founding Fathers and reading from a textbook is not something that is remotely relevent anymore to kids in this society.
Why is it such a big deal in HS but not in college? If the Professor don't allow phones in class, and you break that rule, you are kicked out of the class, it happens enough, you FAIL the class.
Why oh WHY isn't this basic simple rule NOT implemented in HS (grade school too)?! Stick the mis-behaviors in an empty classroom W/O their technology, and give them an assignment to write what they did wrong. Yes SPELLING, PUNCTUATION, and GRAMMAR counts!!!!!!!!!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ivorytickler
Sadly, I have kids who want to learn and I could take them to the moon but I don't get to because I have to pull that, all important, bottom of the class up first. We're not raising the bar. We're doing the limbo.
And in doing so, setting our country as a whole to end up with 3rd world status. I just hope I die before it all goes t*ts up!
First, STOP teaching to the tests. Seriously, those test aren't covering a good majority of what kids need to learn.
Second, DO NOT pass kids that can't do the work. So their "widdle feewlings" are hurt 'cause they didn't move up a grade. GOOD! Maybe the shame will force them to work harder so they aren't bloody idiots for the rest of their lives! If not, keep them where they are till they DO learn, or they drop out at age 16-18 (some states it's 16, I think it is here), then they will get a taste of reality. Also, dropping out of school (w/o a DAMN good reason!) should be a HUGE black mark on them, and they should only be able to get crappy jobs.
Lastly, do away with ALL teachers who are considered bad; regardless of their "tenure" or their "union" standing. Also, don't require higher degrees in teaching, rather require higer degrees in the SUBJECTS they are teaching!
That's just a few of my beefs with public schools.
I disagree here. IF, instead, we wrote tests that actually measured what kids need to learn, the test would, simply, become the standard we teach to. I agree that the tests don't match what kids need to learn but I think the solution is to fix the test.
I think we need to have common exit exams for every grade to make sure that every child has learned what they need to move on. This would also allow us to, truely, compare schools to each other, the way we can with the ACT now that all students take it.
I agree on teachers having subject matter degrees but, as things are now, such teachers are actually looked down upon by the teaching community. Especially those of us who came out of industry. Apparently, you're supposed to be touched by the teaching fairy at 22 or you're just missing something.
Gee I wonder if the rest of us can use that excuse.
" Well boss.... I didn't make my deadline, but it's not my fault, it is the breakdown of society and and and all the electronic devices.... yea that's it, that,s the reason..... What I'm fired? What do you mean I'm fired? Didn't you hear what I said? Hey why is security here?"
LOL
Hey thanks, I haven't had such a good laugh for a while!
Your analogy is wrong. It would be your boss saying that YOU not doing your job because YOU were playing with technology isn't HIS fault. What is your bosses job? Overseeing that you do your job or policing your iphone usage?
I WISH we could put jammers in schools but that's illegal. Every single day I deal with kids playing games, texting and tweeting when they should be learning. Are you, seriously, blaming me for that?
The agrarian calendar worked just fine for 140+ years in America. There was never any talk about kids "forgetting what they learned over the summer."
Again, unless you're a teacher in today's HS's, I am unsure why anyone here is posting with seeming omniscience. There is no more FAMILY in America. There are few families anymore, few working fathers, no cohesive unit.
In my county school, 35% of our kids come from single-person households. That means 65% have a family unit and most with working fathers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulysses61
Books are obsolete. No one reads anymore unless it's on the Internet.
We have a school library FULL of books that students read. I have a SSR reading period, and of my 25 students, on any given day 20 are reading a physical book, 5 are reading on their Kindle/Nook.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulysses61
It is a RADICALLY different clientele in HS now than is was in the 50's, 60's, 70's, 80's or even 90's.
Yes...it is a different clientele. But then the HS students when I was in HS in the early 80's was radically different than my parents era in the early 50's.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ulysses61
Stop blaming the teachers. It's the breakdown of society, and all the electronic devices that ALL teenagers have in ALL classes.
Perhaps, but IMHO, if I have even one excuse as a teacher, than nothing I do has to change. I have been to tons of professional developments that teach us HOW to reach the teens of today. I hear teachers say it is useless, that the world is going to pot, that they wish today's teens were like "we were". But then when they accept the changes, apply the strategies suggested, they are pleasantly surprised that they can actually reach today's teens.
Why is it such a big deal in HS but not in college? If the Professor don't allow phones in class, and you break that rule, you are kicked out of the class, it happens enough, you FAIL the class.
Why oh WHY isn't this basic simple rule NOT implemented in HS (grade school too)?!
Right to education. You cannot kick them out or expel them. The best you can do is suspend them; and most states limit total suspension days for a school year to 10 days or less now. Once they reach 10 days, there is not a thing you can do about it.
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