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Joined: Jun 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
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When I was in the sixth grade, our teacher decided we should all learn speed reading. We were assigned a book report a day. I read all my books the old-fashioned way, one word at a time. If I was too busy to read a book each night, I simply wrote my report on a book I'd read previously.
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Joined: Jan 2002
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veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
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Teachers need to gradually push students. Not all reading is "reading" any more than all thinking is "thinking." Being part of the internet generation doesn't mean students should get a free pass. Surely they will be happy to have less demanding work. That doesn't mean it's good for them in the long run. My oldest is 16 and in 10th grade honors english/history. It's a program called IGCSE, that comes out of Oxford. They have to meet the state SOL standards and they have to pass this test from the UK system. It's a two year program that started in 9th grade and combines English and History together (a very good match, I think). She complained vociferously in the beginning about all the reading and about how hard it all was. It was a terrible experience. She was so accustomed to coasting and learning almost nothing. Finally she had a teacher who pushed her. She hated it - absolutely loathed it - but eventually came to appreciate it.
I recall coming to her on a weekend once. I walked into her room with a cup of tea and maybe some cookies (I don't recall). I sat it down and she never looked up. She started complaining (still without looking up) and it was something like "Daddy, you just wouldn't *BELIEVE* how much homework I have!" and then she looks up at me very briefly and very seriously, "GOD, I LOVE THAT WOMAN!" and then turns back to her work. I left.
The injustice that kids are getting these days isn't just that they aren't learning all that they could learn, but that they are not learning to push themselves. They're not learning to stretch their limits. That's obviously not true of every kid in every class, but I think it's true in the cases where it's true. The biggest problem my daughter has was having an 8th grade English teacher who didn't push her - to prepare her.
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Joined: Mar 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
The injustice that kids are getting these days isn't just that they aren't learning all that they could learn, but that they are not learning to push themselves. Oh! I agree! Absolutely! My son's high school, especially, was just awful. They actually told me that they don't give much homework because "the kids won't do it".
I know they're worried (rightfully so) about low test scores, and I'd bet money that a large percentage of the reason they won't push kids is that they're afraid there'll be a lot of dropouts, which will cost them funding. But...they are NOT doing these kids a favor. My son loved it--he just skated through; but now he's trying the same thing in college, and it just isn't working. He's dropped a couple of courses, and some of his grades are terrible. And it's just killing me, because I think he may actually be even more intelligent than his sister, who has gotten near-perfect grades her entire school career. (She went to a different high school--one where she could stay in the AP. His had a program he wanted, but did not have the AP.)
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Joined: Dec 2000
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 1,055 |
Too little focus on discipline as a means to focus motivation and passion. Also discussed in the ongoing music lectures by D. Barenboim mentioned elsewhere.
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
we just sang at a private (read very expensive) hs in New Hampshire where they are receiving an exemplary education. oh that we could do the same for all the children...
can you say "military budget?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 2,379 |
Is it exemplary if we can't do the same for everyone?
Last edited by inselpeter; 04/20/06 11:57 PM.
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Joined: Jun 2002
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
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well, my dictionary says:
"serving as a desirable model; representing the best of its kind"
so, unfortunately, I think we can.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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Hm mm. Yes and no, I guess.
ex·em·pla·ry P Pronunciation Key (g-zmpl-r)
adj.
Worthy of imitation; commendable: exemplary behavior.
Serving as a model.
Serving as an illustration; typical.
Serving as a warning; admonitory.
[From Middle English exaumplarie, exemplere, an exemplar. See exemplar.]
exem·plari·ly (gzm-plâr-l) adv.
ex·empla·ri·ness or exem·plari·ty (gzm-plr-t) n.
[Download Now or Buy the Book]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
exemplary
adj 1: worthy of imitation; "exemplary behavior"; "model citizens" [syn: model(a)] 2: being or serving as an illustration of a type; "the free discussion that is emblematic of democracy"; "an action exemplary of his conduct"; [syn: emblematic, typic] 3: serving to warn; "shook a monitory finger at him"; "an exemplary jail sentence" [syn: admonitory, cautionary, monitory, warning(a)]
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
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well, I guess I was using it as in the first def.
but this is a strange dichotmy:
"Worthy of imitation" vs. "typical"
and I don't understand this example sentence:
"the free discussion that is emblematic of democracy"
where's the word "exemplary"?
formerly known as etaoin...
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2001
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