Good Wednesday Morning! Your responses from the USA Today
article:
AND: Since the public education system adopted the
‘teach to pass standardized tests’ instead of
providing an actual learning environment where ideas are
studied, explored, and applied or where students are
instructed how to apply what they learn in creative ways,
it is a no brainer students today are bored and tired.
Children weren’t designed to sit still through hours
of instruction. They were always designed to interact
with their environment to learn. I have no earthly idea
why anyone would think the direction the public education
system was heading 15+ yrs ago would end well today.
Despite numerous protests by parents across the USA that
it wouldn’t work, the educators and those who
dictate what and how things are to be taught in public
schools pushed ahead with a program most knew would fail
our next generation. Why would WE know this? Because our
children come from our DNA. We know how we are, and guess
what? Our children are truly a chip off the old
block…literally. If we as parents have a good grasp
of our own learning style and protest the methods deployed
by the school system, that should have been the red flag
over a decade ago. Let’s have a real discussion
about what truly works. Let’s not make a failed
science experiment out of an entire generation that will
one day run our nation as we age out. Do you all know
what works? Let’s ask real adults doing real work
how they learn. I bet a majority will say hands on. A
smaller percentage will say by studying all the time. I
tell you that studying is nothing more than passing that
multiple choice test unless the student is made to process
what he or she learns. Processing is never through
multiple choice. Processing is truly hands on. So why
isn’t our school system engaging all children with
hands on learning??? And what the —- is this
asinine common core crap that has no real application in
real life America???
AND: USA Today: the nation’s pie chart
paper–everyone loves USA Today. Good sports
section, good business section…everything else, a
pie chart.
A nice article, but hardly news worthy. Who controls your
rest? Who is responsible for whether you are tired or
refreshed? Who makes that personal decision and who would
you be willing to delegate that decision to? Similarly,
who is responsible for your boredom? Who is responsible
for engaging your interest? Is education merely another
form of entertainment?
The Born This Way Foundation was established by Lady Gaga
and her mother. The genesis of the foundation was a
reaction to a gay teenager’s death. The foundation
makes efforts to support acceptance of the LGBT movement
and to halt bullying. The Born This Way Foundation has a
formal connection with Harvard University. I guess the
name itself provides a person with the ultimate out in
life–I was born this way!
The survey’s on-line methodology is a bit
concerning. How were students made aware of the survey?
Was participation mandatory at some schools? Was this
taken in school or at home? Exactly how was this survey
presented to the students? Was this survey completed on
personal time or class time?
How were school administrators and teachers made aware of
the survey? Exactly what are the demographics of those
22,000 who responded–any from Montana, N/S
Dakota–what about California and Massachusetts?
Not really an article worth much time or
thought…appears to be another agenda coming down the
track. I’d recommend a note to Greg Toppo (author)
vs Yale. Yale’s comments are okay….Toppo was
the one with shoddy media work.
It is good to see that 22% of the students were
happy…!
AND:A couple of responses:
1) One reason the students are bored because they are
incapable of thinking deeply. Many of the images these
kids see throughout the day last a second or less, which
results in a truncated attention span and therefore no
time for contemplation. Also, because they are connected
to social media every minute of the day, they are
subjected to constant stimulus-if the stimulus stops their
minds are not trained to amuse themselves, let alone think
deeply.
2) One reason the students are stressed because they have
been taught their lives have no transcendent meaning.
They have not been educated that they are made in the
image of God, therefore the only meaning is what they
create for themselves. Meaninglessness is quite a stress
inducer!
AND:One more comment about USA Today and Lady Gaga:
There are roughly 15 million public h/s students
in the USA for 2015 (private schools not included in this
data). Statistically, a 1% response is considered
outstanding and usually provides a diverse look at a
population. 1% would equate to 150,000 student responses
to the on line survey. USA Today claimed a
“huge” response of 22,000. This is roughly
one seventh of the one percent needed to call the survey
results as outstanding. Is 1/7 of 1% (or .0014)
meaningful? Exactly what should be changed or learned
based upon the input of .0014% of high school students?
Hmm…. I find the reporting to be distasteful. I
attended a high school with roughly 2,000 students
attending. This means 2.8 students would have responded
to this survey—interestingly, I think we had a
couple guys who qualified as a .8 student. Some
Chicagoland school districts had 15-20,000 high school
students alone when I was growing up.
How discerning are we…..?
AND:Couple of things: not sure I would put a lot of faith
in an organization founded by Lady Gaga Also, if you’re a
parent and your teenager is tired, bored, stressed – would
think it’s time for a “little parent intervention” on
their behalf. Has to be some underlying factor on why
that is occurring and maybe needs more “parental
attention”.
Agree with your assessment about USA Today; same reason I
read it is because they are always in hotel lobbies and
gives me something to read on the flight home.
Another item I just heard on news this morning – Obama
White House now wants his federal team to intervene in
states school system to cut back on testing (students and
teachers). Another agenda of “big brother watching you”.
AND:Tired because of the early start time of most High
Schools. Teenagers are on a different clock than mature
adults, in addition today’s classroom settings are
not conducive to “experiential” learning.
AND:My response to your question Mark is from my 14-year
old granddaughter that is in her first year of high school
(9th grade). When I posed the question of how
do you feel at school, her response was “Angry.” When I
asked why she gave this answer her response was that most
kids at her high school were disrespectful of each other
and more so, disrespectful to teachers and staff members.
Personally, I have to admit that my granddaughter is a
high achiever, (makes all “A’s”) but does what she needs
to do for that grade. She completes all class assignments
in a timely manner and completes class projects much
earlier than the dead-line date. She says that other
students (mostly those in her same grade) poke fun at her
for making good grades. I suppose this could be
considered a kind of bullying. She studies and reads
constantly. I have never in my life known anyone that
reads as much as my granddaughter. I know that she did
not inherit that trait from me. She has also excelled at
playing the clarinet with her high school band. In only
three years of playing, she made “All County”, “All
District” band this year and also got to audition for “All
State” band. My granddaughter says that band students
also get made fun of just for being in band.
Please know that I am very proud of my granddaughter and
the stand she takes. I am not bragging just because she
is my granddaughter.
AND: I am not surprised kids are tired. I told my kids,
all four years of high school, that they need to get
proper rest each night so their brain could retain all of
the info it was receiving and I had a bedtime that I
thought was good for their brains & growing bodies. I
MAY have gotten my kids in bed by 9:30, it doesn’t
mean they were sleeping. Kids are on their laptops, cell
phones, listening to music, etc, instead of sleeping. Kids
think they are invincible and can handle everything.
I also think kids’ ‘feelings’ are very
fleeting.
I know mine sometimes changed hour to hour and day to day.
Ask those very same kids, the exact same questions, AFTER:
a victory in their sport, the school dance, getting their
license, a ‘date’ was just scheduled, a
substitute teacher canceling a test or even on Friday
afternoon, before their weekend. I’m sure the
responses will be very different. And, of course, what kid
LIKES going to school??
Too much responsibility for raising a child is placed on
the school system. It is the parents’ responsibility
to look out for & be concerned about their
children’s feelings.
Being in school, is training ground for being out in the
real world & being employed. As far as I know, my
husband’s boss has never asked how he was
‘feeling’.
Children are very often being given good, sound advice.
It’s their choice whether or not to heed it. You can
lead a horse to water, but cannot make him drink. A lot of
what they’re ‘feeling’ has been brought
on by themselves. And, if allowed to suffer the
consequences of their poor choices, they will, hopefully,
learn from mistakes. Unfortunately, what I see a lot of
today, is parents rescuing their kids from any kind of
suffering. Because they don’t want their kids to
‘feel bad’. That response, by parents, is a
huge mistake.
(I could write a lot more, but I’m sure your email
will provoke many responses. I just put the first things
that came to my mind & left room for other
people’s opinions)
Humm: My feelings were hurt when I made fun of my 9th
grade homeroom teacher and was disrespectful to his
authority. I got three swats on the underside of my butt
cheeks in the hall on the first day of school in 1966.
After the first swat, I put my hands under my butt cheeks
to protect them and he hit my hands with that paddle. I
removed my hands and took the last one. I had a hard time
concealing my tears (and pride) as I went back in the
classroom. I may have been bored in history, I was tired
too, butt after that paddling I never really thought about
my feelings in school. (rem) [Oh, to get on that
teacher’s good side after ‘my bad,’ I
went out for sports because he was a coach! I am indeed
grateful – sports changed my life through coaches
and friends! Thanks to many of you!!!!]
rem – I had no knowledge that I had no knowledge.
Question & Thought & ANDs.
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