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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
There is a good article in our paper today, by a college prof. in Toronto. Here is the crux:
Gaidosch said students' inability to express themselves clearly in writing is a three-pronged problem.
As a teacher with 28 years of classroom experience, Gaidosch has watched his students' writing proficiency steadily decline.
As a business consultant, he has heard employers' complaints steadily increase. They say too many young job applicants, even those with college degrees, lack the basic verbal skills necessary to thrive in a corporate environment.
As a concerned educator who has spent a lot of time trying to figure out what went wrong, he believes that our school systems, Canada's and the United States' alike, are primarily to blame for overemphasizing multiple-choice tests and other ways of measuring mere information regurgitation. http://www.courier-journal.com/features/2004/02/24/writing1.html
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I think that the prof is wrong, in that we are now able to
measure reading skills of large numbers of students, in ways not available when the prof was young. Nobody even tried to do large scale reading skill testing when I was young. And when I was young, troublemakers got kicked out
of school. Now we warehouse troublemakers and so teachers can give less time to the students that need it.
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 5,400 |
and he is partial right! i know i have come to depend on spell check (and my writing here shows how much, i never use enigma!)
when you apply of job, you have to be able to write information on the application. with out spell and grammer check, many people are incapable of writing. (i can do it, but i recognize the effort it takes!)
there is a generation behind my kids (now in mid/late 20's) who use IM short hand all the time (we've had thread on some IM short hand R U OK? I 8 out last night. sort of stuff. they are so used to using it, they, sometimes let it slip into 'formal writing' or make mistakes like i eight out last night! --don't laugh- i have seen it!
it might well be that 8 (for ate) will someday be acceptable... language changes. but for now..
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Joined: Mar 2000
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old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027 |
Wait a moment. I would not entirely trust a professor who uses expressions like three-pronged problem to improve student's writing skills. A metaphor can be a double-edged sword  .
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Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 6,296 |
Here in Virginia, students must pass muliple choice type tests to cover reading comprehension and academic achievement in addition to writing tests. A big percentage of my instructional time goes to the teaching of strategies for writing essays, and much of my time away from school goes to the grading and responses to those essays. I would imagine in those states in which academic programs are strong, the writing test--not a multiple choice test in any way--is well in place. Rubrics are used to score the tests with the three main domains for scoring covering compositional skills such as organizational format, written expression skills such as word choice, and mechanics such as spelling.
I have felt successful with about 60-70% of my students this year, a percentage I know is by far too low. But it has not been for lack of effort since I have worked 13- to 14-hour days at school this year and am home now simply because of an injury.
I would invite anyone who cavalierly criticizes the teaching profession to join our ranks with energy, enthusiasm, and determination to make a difference in the lives of our future writers. Teachers have not given up--they continue to sacrifice time well beyond contract hours to help their students improve. I have not found the answer in making students who refuse to work do so, but I also will not admit that there is no answer.
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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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I would invite anyone who cavalierly criticizes the teaching profession to join our ranks with energy, enthusiasm, and determinationhear, hear!! 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
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One of my deepest sorrows is that I failed to go back and
thank the many wonderful teachers I had who helped me so
much, and got paid peanuts.It is always later than you think.
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
I don't cavalierly criticize the teaching profession, but I do criticize teachers individually and collectively when I think it needs to be done.
If I had to roughly (very roughly) ascribe blame for failure:
90% students and their parents
9% teachers
1% the "system"
(Of course, any particular cause might not reflect this.)
There are legion of disadvantages a child might have - being poor, being blind, being slow. Among the worst, though, is having idiots for parents. This said, I've known - and know - a number of teachers who are ostensibly dedicated to students, but who are utterly incompetent. Ten hours a day or 24 hours per day in the classroom would make no difference.
I've considered leaving my current profession and becoming a teacher. My wife has stated outright she would divorce me. It would be a huge pay cut, but moreover, it seems to me I'd be put on the same pay scale as a person with no experience. I might even have to get another master's degree (not sure on this one). A teacher switching to a computer related field would not have near the hassle, assuming he already possessed the required knowledge. Still, I do what I can.
1) I monitor my own kids' educations and fill in gaps
a. I read to my own kids.
b. I talk to them regularly about different topics, some of which they discuss in school, and others of which they don't.
c. I tell them that having an abysmal teacher is no excuse for their not trying. If anything, when you have an imbecile for a teacher, you have to work harder.
d. I kick them in the butt when they need it, but I'm also willing to kick the teachers and administrators in the butt when they need it. (A teacher has to be really seriously screwed up for me to get involved. "So and so is mean" or "She's so unfair!" is dealt with by a single response - "You go talk to so and so.")
2) I tutor students and teachers.
a. I've helped students learn: physics, algebra, geometry, programming.
b. I've mentored high school students
c. I've coordinated other mentors and tutors. (Who are pretty universally pissed off, because the parents let the kids get away with making appointments for free tutoring and then not showing up.)
d. Currently I'm tutoring an entire class - including the teacher - in java.
This is the first time I've tutored avanced students. I get 1 to 5 problems a week via email that I solve and answer - usually within a few hours. I also go out to the class and give lectures on specific topics, but only rarely. About 5 to 7 times this year.
I could talk about this endlessly, but that's enough for now.
k
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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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and I think I've said it before on these boards, Fal, that I wish I had more students with parents like you!
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear FF: Too bad that too few parents share your values.
Far too many parents expect teachers to make up for the parents' contributing nothing to the education of their
children. I was a school doctor for a year, and I saw some
sad sack parents. One mother even wrote a letter to the
principal complaining that her son's teacher was not
teaching him good manners!
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