Working in the school systems has been my motivation to return to school and get my degree in early childhood education with a secondary in elementary education. As I am watching the way things are changing, I am not sure that they are changing for the better.
The only reference point I have is from when I was a kid. I remember you had only one teacher and sat in class everyday doing your school work. Now, it seems like they are trying to make everything a game for these kids. We have reading games and math games and the focus is on playing the game. What ever happened to telling kids that this is what you need to know? I have even seen some teachers afraid to tell the students that they are taking a test; I am not really sure why this is. I personally would try harder if I knew I was taking a test, if I thought it was just class work, I might not try as hard. Also, they move these kids around every 45 minutes and I really think that if they would keep them in one classroom with one teacher all day long, the children would have more consistency and probably better behavior. I watch kindergarten children (mostly 5 year olds) have to go from one teacher and one set of rules to another, and they are expected to keep track of it all. In my opinion, if we were to keep them in one place with one teacher and one set of expectations, we would probably see better results.
I have a son who is in middle school now and a daughter who is in high school and neither of them ever have to take notes. They just keep coming home with ditto sheets and preprinted notes. Then I am being told by the middle school that my son is not paying attention and all I can think is, if he were taking notes, he would have to pay more attention, wouldn't he? I just don't really understand it. What happened to the days where school was a serious business? I remember when I was in school in 3rd grade we wrote cursive letter over and over and over again, until you hand was going to nearly fall off. You would never complain or moan at a teacher. Today, that is all you hear is whining. Maybe, we are taking spoiling these kids way to far. A little hard work never hurt anyone. How can we ever expect to make productive members of our society out of these kids, if we never expect enough out of them? Today's kids are really smart, let's give them credit and teach them a work ethic that will last them a lifetime.
Posted on Thursday, April 17, 2008 9:31 PM by Carol Ann