So, it is Sunday and I should probably be getting ready for Church, but I decided that I'd rather blog, just so long as I don't spend to much time. I have been reading more lately, than I believe I have ever read. I have never been a fast reader, and have continuously had homework and such to worry about, and therefore never did much reading for enjoyment. There were times of course where I read all of The Lord of the Rings and other such things here and there, but never a time before when I simply wanted to find a book to read simply for the sake of reading. This is something that I always wondered if it would happen when homework went away. And lo, and behold, it did. I guess I can add this to my reasons why school stinks. ;-) Of course I'm an advocate for education and always will be. But I always felt like very little of my education made a desirable effect on me. Usually, it was simply a game to see what the best grade I could get was with the least amount of work. Terrible, I know. But I feel many teachers design the class in such a way as to make it nearly impossible to approach it in any other way. So, I think to my self, what could be done to better our educational system. This is a very complex question... a question that I know many readers of this will have strong opinions on. First of all, I realize that not all schools suffer from the same problems. Problems in downtown LA are not felt in the farming lands of Idaho. And the problems for education for elementary age students are vastly different than high school students. And of course, college is a world of its own. So, since I don't have much time, and I could spend hours laboring through the problems of each level of education and in each region, making opinions that are all prejudice to one degree or another and short-sighted, at this point, I don't think I will offer an opinion at all. But I simply want to ask each of you to please comment and answer the following question.
If you had a magic wand, and could make one change to the schooling systems that your children have/are/will go through, what would the change be.
Please submit a 2 page double spaced paper in Time New Roman 12 point font. Your papers are due this Friday at start of class. All late papers will be marked off 10% per day. This paper will be worth 100 points, or 1/10th your final grade. Hee hee!
Have fun, and I can't wait to hear what you all have to say.
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6 comments:
Very funny. It might have helped if you had taken some classes you were really interested in :-D! Working at Challenger, I saw that when a teacher was exciting, caring and knowledgeable,teaching a class of children whose ability levels did not vary a lot and who had parent support--amazing things happened. Unfortunately, this is not the usual case in public schools. It could be, but there is so much political stuff involved that public schools are not likely to change. There are examples all over the place where principals or teachers have made special efforts to improve their schools and it worked. I don't think it's just one thing--it's many. One answer however may be to turn schools over to private enterprise. Mom
BJ, I am a bit frustrated because I just wrote you a novel of a comment and it didn't go through. This blog doesn't like me I think. Anyway, the point was that I try to make education in my family fun and make it something the kids do daily. We have daily lessons in reading, math, music, dance, art etc. We haven't done alot in science-yet. But I try to teach that it is fun and a way of life to be improved upon daily.
Nice photo of Charles. Love ya!
I think that small class sizes make the world of difference. My kids have been fortunate to mostly have very small classes, and friends that I talk to complain that their children's classes are too large. A teacher might be wonderful, but with so many children to juggle, the individual attention might not happen. I think it's important that a child not get lost in a crowd. With that said, I think the biggest influence in a child's education is their family. If every parent took an active role in making sure that their children were learning, you would see a huge change. I feel strongly about this because of the insiders info I get from Kirk's mom about what she deals with as a Kindergarten teacher with really difficult homes that kids come from.
Well, I agree with Dani that the class sizes need to be small. I saw that when I was working at Timpanogos Elementary School teaching math to first graders after school. Even having 10 children in a class where the children had special needs of some sort illustrated to me how important one on one attention is for kids. However, not having kids in school, I am not sure what it is like to be a parent facing school problems. I wish that schools could teach more about morals and values. It seems like if the teacher could help the children learn about right and wrong, kids might have a better shot giving and receiving kindness, and fitting in socially. I don't know though. Just a thought.
my magic wand would sprinkle dust onto the heads of those i deal with, compelling them to respond and execute every suggestion i present to them: listen. love. respect. allow creativity. be hopeful. excited. forgiving. firm. smile. laugh.
actually, i could go on- but- what's the point? it's my eternal job to fight, fight, fight! the system. :(
Haha... don't you wish you had my life! Where almost all I do is read, and for the most part, I enjoy it! My poetry is interesting. Even if I do have to translate it from some obscurely dead language. And one thing I've learned in my long life of being a book worm -- I just MAKE time for pleasure reading. No matter what other work I have to do. It's how I keep myself sane...
(Yes, I'm back to haunt you all)
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