While teachers are dedicated, students are another matter

on NPR awhile back, there was this educator who stated that he felt the millenial' kids , because their parents have preplanned their lives, have lost the ability to connect unrelated facts and come up with new, creative solutions. They are (the smart ones) becoming information sponges but , like products of education in some Asian countries, the kids in college have no creativity.
Have you found this?

I have. You find the same attitude on the undergraduate level that POM is finding in highschool. These kids have been taught to learn for the exam, not for the knowledge. I had a student who was upset the other day when she found that the information in the chapters of Part I in an ethnography I had assigned was necessary to answer a paper assignment the had been given on Part II. She couldn't see the connection. Once the assignment has been completed, or the exam passed, it becomes unnecessary information. They don't build on it, they forget it.

And this place "ain't" easy to get into.

At least, following the worksheets, the kids are learning to fill out forms.

Geez... POM, if my kid is like that (a possibility here folks!) kick his arse, and tell him SealPoet sent you...

farmerman,
What you have to say about creativity in problem solving being lost because of parental planning is interesting. I have the feeling that the parents of the earth science kids gave up on them. The special needs teacher told me one boy's father died when he was a baby and that he's being raised by his mother, grandmother and aunt. There is a sweetness in this kid that I hope won't be lost. There's a girl who does nothing. She has absolutely no personality other than a surly streak. I have heard that she has a sister who is the same way.

Acquiunk,
When I was in high school (admittedly, a Catholic school that was strictly college prep), we weren't given questions to answer about our reading. We either discussed it in class the next day, or were called upon to answer questions presented orally by the teacher, or took a "pop quiz" on the matter. I have to blame the teachers for falling into the trap of greasing the wheels for these kids. The problem is they meant well.

Noddy,
LOL!

SealPoet,
I don't have your kid. The biology and chemistry kids are better but they're also smarter. It's a shame that some kids who aren't very bright don't behave well. The less aggressive kids who are willing to work and need more help are lost to the disruptors. On the whole, I am enjoying the work and am learning. It's difficult for a substitute to run a discussion, which I would prefer.

I was always given questions to answer for all of my classes - homework. Normally at the end of a chapter the text had a list of question for answer or essay. They weren't the same questions on the quiz. I can see if a teacher doesn't want to give out the quiz answers as homework, but 'doing' is a much a part of learning as is reading. Reading may help some children learn, and others simply memorize so they can regurgitate it for a quiz. They still forget it. However, if thoughtful 'questions to answer' are requirements it can develop the students abilities to take what they read and apply it for more than just the half an hour it takes for a quiz.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding. Is this type of homework already assigned and they are really asking for quiz practice sheets? If so, then I agree that it's ridiculous.

When I was teaching night school for a bit, I always made certain that there was one 'unfair' question in each test / quiz. I told the students about this up front, but didn't tell them which one it was. Get the creative juices flowing... I taught programming, so I'd always leave a bug in sample code, or word an assignement so they'd have to be on the watch for a programming trap.

If the majority misses the trap, so be it... don't count it, but give extra credit to those who did.

Worksheets are not inspired teaching and they do not result in inspiring learning, but they do force the students to put some energy into meshing their fallow minds with the text material--particularly if the teacher collects the papers and makes some effor to check the answers.

Of course work sheets are fatally easy to copy.

I'm a mother of two teenage boys who where raised in an old fashioned "free form' style. I've always suspected the above was true and have tried to avoid the regimented, preplanned life style popular in the 80's and 90's. I think it's beginning to pay off now. But I must say we marched to the beat of a different drummer and it wasn't easy bucking the system. These kids you are speaking of have too much stress and I don't think creativity and critical thinking is produced by studying to produce a certain standard on a test and by shoving music and art lessons and organized sprorts down their throats.

Kids need boredom. They need to contemplate their navels and watch bugs walking around on the sidewalk. They also need to be able to exchange ideas coming out of THEIR own minds backed up by freedom of speech and expression in their own home.

"Teach to the test" is not just about kids, at all. It's about "No Child Left Behind" and all of the tests thrown at kids that make the tests vitally important for the health nay survival of the schools. I have mentioned this several times now, but it just encapsulates the problem so perfectly I think, that I went to an alternative elementary school that absolutely rocked. The teachers refused to "teach to the test", the students did well, but the school as a whole tended to do not-so-great on standardized tests. This was for several reasons, including many immigrant students, not having to do with the teachers' skills or how successful the students were. Now, that school has been penalized repeatedly for not meeting testing standards. Its funding is being decimated.

So there has to be an infrastructure that allows for more individualized, creative learning, rather than forcing teachers to "teach to the test."

That of course starts early on -- 4th grade proficiency is huge -- and so when students have been taught that way their whole lives, I'm sure they expect it by the time you see them.

We did not mean well, often we have to provide these "cruches" according to an IEP or 504. Not providing them may mean that we are breaking the law (IEP) or violating their civil liberties (504). Yes, I think it is rediculous. Most of my faculty feels the same way.
My thought-- too much tv, too much concern for self esteem, not enough support from parents, IEPs that do more harm than good, parents that have their lawyer call the school once a week--- I could go on.

"crutches" according to an IEP or 504 are neccessary for the the ones that really need it. Problem is IEP's and 504 and space in the special ed program have become crutches in themselves and have been exploited by those who don't reallly need it. Hence the legitimate students get shafted due to the -- what -- laziness??-- of others parents. (what would be the proper word?--laziness, paranoia, greed?)

Edited:

I think the word might be opportunistic parents??

No Child Left Behind means that no child is allowed to get ahead.

Fealola, am in big agreement on your post of this am around ten.... on the later one, I am not familiar enough on the matter to comment.

Osso:

an IEP stands for Individual Education Program. It's used for learning disabled or developementally handicapped students. If a child needs extra accomodations in the class room or needs to be in a special ed program, you must go through an IEP process.

This consists off the following: Meetings with teachers, pscychologist, physician, lots of testing of the student and government forms and med/psych questioneers to fill out.

Then the "team" (parents, school staff-- teachers, psych. sometimes the student etc. meet and discuss the needs of the student.

The results could be for instance: putting the child in a special school or classroom, providing an teachers aid,
providing asstant for physically handicapped, or simpler things such as assisting with tests, extra time on SAT's special computer programs for word proccessing, where the child sits.

Educational Goals are identified and contractsa are signed all around. This meeting happens 2 or 3 times per year and reasseing occurs about every three years.

The school is paid extra per "identified" student by the (state or federa gov't? one or both. I'm not sure)-- So you can see how the schools and parents might want to identify kids that have other issues going on rather than a bonifide Learning Disabilty or Handicap.

A 504 I believe is more casual. One of the teachers could tell us. I think there is no funding and the student doesn't have to be officially identified as disabled. This is also a contract, I think. This provides accomodations such as extra time on tests, or where the student sits in the classroom.

504 is not more casual. If someone does not follow the 504 they can be sued under the disability act. This type of lawsuit is not covered by the teacher's insurance (whereas a IEP violation would be covered up to 1,000,000). So if a lawsuit is brought and the decision rules in favor of the student - any $ is out of the teacher's pocket as well as lawyer's fees and court costs. In my classes I have 8 students with IEPs and 6 students with 504 - every one of them requires preferential seating (near teacher- white board) extra time on tests etc. I have a student with an IEP who has stabbed other students - this act was determined to be a manifestation of his "disability" so he continues to sit in class and attack other students. If I were one of the parents of the "regular ed" students in his classes I would sue the district.

Wow! Thanks beebo! (Didn't know that about the suing!) Could you describe what a 504 is??