Education As I See It

A place to share my thoughts about the current state of education.

[educationasiseeit]

WOW!

It has been a while since I sat down to do this. I've been taking an assessment class through Indiana University. I've been advocating for my children as well as the rest of the children in the school system, and I've taken on tutoring as a way to earn some money while I look for my full time education position. 

Since I wrote last I've been reading news articles, following posts made by parents and educators alike in the fight against common core standards, and standardized testing. Following the fight some have to go through to opt their children out of testing. Reading about those who are homeschooling through their lens as well as through the lens of those who don't whether they agree or not. I've also been attempting to follow this government shut down. Today I'll recap some of what I've learned or heard throughout my time away. 

I'll start with the government shut down. I think it is stupid. I think the politicians have gotten too powerful and act childish. To me it is like that kid who says I'm taking my ball and going home, I won't play with you any more because you didn't let me have my way. It is asinine, ignorant and just shows that they have no clue what is really going on out in the United States. They are effecting the average persons daily life, while in fact doing very little to upset their own way of life. They are liars, they are greedy and they need a wake up call from the American people. Too much complacency and "we can't do anything about it" attitudes from the average person in America has created this mess, and only our voices and actions will force our government to fix the issues they've created through their own agendas and greed. They need to go back to being our servants and stop being in the pocket of which ever rich group is willing to pay them to act the way they want. 

Now on to education. Again complacency is a huge issue here. I am so fed up with teachers who tell me "that is just the way it is, the high ups told us we have to do it that way", NONSENSE!!! Is what I say to that. You are the teacher, You are the educator, You are the one trained to educate the students, and YOU are the one entrusted to do so each day, that means that YOU have to also be the one to stand up for what is right for the students in your care. YOU CANNOT sit by and take it, without voicing your concerns and YOU CANNOT keep telling parents YOU CAN'T DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT!! BECAUSE YOU CAN! IF YOU DON'T, WHO WILL? IF YOU DON'T EXPLAIN THE ISSUES TO PARENTS WHO ARE NOT FAMILIAR WITH THE WAY IT IS WORKING, SO THEY CAN HELP YOU BE HEARD, THEN WHO WILL STAND UP FOR THE KIDS??? AS TEACHERS AND PARENTS THIS IS OUR JOB!!! WE MUST DO IT OR NO ONE WILL!!!!

[educationasiseeit]

One Week In

It is the first weekend since school has begun here in Michigan. As I continue to get welcome back letters, syllabi, and emails from all the new teachers, I am learning about some changes in my children's school that do not make me a happy mom or educator. Specifically in math, which is where this started, though I'm guessing once I get deeper into the information it will be core content wide.

Over the summer the teaches in the school were subjected to "professional development" paid for in part by my tax money, and meant to help them better teach my children along with the rest of the district of course. This professional development was brought to them by a foundation that focuses on testing, as well as turning education into a for profit corporate type of institution.

In math class now, my children along with the rest of the K-12 population in this district will focus on eight power standards, having daily warm ups each day that consist of problems that go along with the eight power standards, then be "progress monitored" (assessed) every week on those specific standards. Those standards were chosen based on how often they appear in the common core standards as well as how often they are assessed and incorrect on the MEAP test.

To say the least I am furious. School is supposed to be a place to go learn and explore. A place where you gain the skills you need to lead a productive adult life, in a field you enjoy, so you don't hate working every day. Not a place where you hate going, feel stressed about going, and do nothing but worry about how you're going to do on yet another test. Do students need to be reaching goals, yes, do they need to have a way to know if they are reaching them, yes, do they need to be tested every week in order to do that, NO. Will my children participate in this, I haven't figured that out for sure yet, but it isn't likely. They will not be taking the MEAP so why should I subject them to this nonsense?

I've got more research to do on this issue so I can appropriately address the school, and possibly the school board, as well as make my final decisions involving my children, and how to get more parents in the district to fight for their children.  

[educationasiseeit]

Fair?

I received an email from a family member with a photo of some school policy about testing, asking for my input. This family member is in North Carolina where they take EOG's (EOC in High School) while I'm in Michigan where they take the MEAP. Two completely different testing scenarios. With MEAP taking place in October and tests their prior school year knowledge and EOG's taking place at the end of the year. 

The school policy (I assume it is probably state wide as well) is that if students DO NOT pass their EOG's they DO NOT move on to the next grade level. So a student who works hard all year, learns well, has proven to be able to successfully complete formative and summative assessments throughout the school year. Now has to sit for hours testing just to "prove" they can move on to the next year. These begin in 3rd grade. Third graders having to sit for hours testing just to go on to forth grade, even when they have met the standards for the year previously. What?!?! 

The problem doesn't just lie within the fact that they are forced to test in this way. It is also the fact that all year long the staff in the school is "beating" into these kids that they MUST do well on the TEST in order to go to the next grade. That they MUST PASS this TEST at the end of the year. ALL year long, the "IMPORTANCE" of this TEST is shoved down these children's throats. By the time the actual test days arrive, these small children are stressed, worried, sometimes so much so they are physically ill.

I question why teachers do that to the students. Then I remember my personal experiences where the school administration beat this importance into the teachers during in-services, with their bosses beating it into them during their own in-services. Until the adults in the building are all so stressed about these tests, they don't know how to think any more. Add to that the frequently doled out requirements to point out the students previous scores (when available) to them, and tell them how good or bad their score was, and what it needs to be this time, as well as other "required" ways to "motivate" students to do well.

Since when do stress and fear make good long term motivators? Sooner or later they stop working (usually by November in this scenario), and those being placed under these "motivators' give up, instead of doing better. As an adult under these types of "motivators" I not only gave up, but suffered some pretty serious health issues, so how can an entire state's school system think this will work on children? Is the goal seriously to "break" them so they conform into robots faster? 

As a nation we seriously need to get it together for our youth. We need to stop the for-profit take over of education (they test even more and put way more emphasis on the importance of testing that any public school system I've looked into, they turn students into test scores and dollar signs), we need to band together as communities, and if need be communities need to band together to make larger communities, to help our schools fight against the "forced" reform that is ruining our schools, and turning our children into sheep that cannot think for themselves, and need every direction written out for them to follow. WE NEED OUR YOUTH TO LEARN TO THINK, NOT FOLLOW!

We need to take a stand as parents, grandparents, adults, community members, community leaders and stop allowing educational reform to stress our children to the point of illness, ruining the happy childhood we wish for, for them. ONLY WHEN WE STAND TOGETHER TO SHOW OUR DISPLEASURE WITH THE CURRENT REFORM ISSUES, CAN WE GET OUR CHILDREN BACK, AND BACK ON TRACK TO A SUCCESSFUL FUTURE!

[educationasiseeit]

Disgusted

This morning I was doing some research, I have this goal. This goal is big, it is to have every "for profit" charter school in the state of Michigan shut down. Huge goal, I know, I remind myself of that every time I attempt to figure out where to start. I really have no idea where to start. I just know this is something that MUST be done in order to save children from their talons. 

While I was researching, looking for and reading articles and studies done on Michigan charter schools. I came across one that although on my side of thinking, made me feel angry... I am starting to wonder if the only way I'll recover from the loss of myself is to get angry and keep getting angry until I return, that is for another conversation though.

Anyway, this article I was reading, stated that:

Also understand that Michigan’s ideological legislature (particularly the House) doesn’t really care about school quality when it comes to charters. Charters don’t typically unionize and they underpay their teachers relative to public schools. This is in the interest of the legislature (and governor). So they really don’t mind that many charters underperform.

and,

In 2011, Michigan passed many policies that seemed to make some sense. Public school couldn’t really debate accountability measures too hard. In some ways, those laws were well-intended. But the state’s magnificent investment in charter expansion and the money-pit EAA (which is getting so much outside money and additional state money that it is unbelievable) has revealed an ideological approach rather than an educational reform.

and even, 

“Yes, there are charters of varying quality. The problem in Michigan is that the state has no real authority to close a charter (even though it gets state money). A member of the state board of education noted in an article months ago (on the same topic) that it’s up to the authorizers to close the school. So in the case of a for-profit organization (like Leona Group) the only motivation to close a school would be a lack of profitability rather than a poor quality school.

Which just kept fueling my anger. So these charter schools that are for profit, they are there for the simple goal of making money, under the guise of "educating our youth" and from experience I can tell you when you are on the inside you can feel that the desire for money is higher than the desire for the children, when the students are simple test scores and dollar signs it is obvious to anyone who pays even a little bit of attention. These for profit charter schools, just continue on, the state has no say over whether or not they close, even if they get complaints, have lower scores (I am against testing but since this is what they use, I'll ignore that issue for now) than their comparable (this is a key term) public counter parts, even if they are FAILING the students they claim they are there to help out of "worse" schools. The state of Michigan just allows them to go on, until one day either they are not making enough money or they are not living up to plans of their authorizer and their management company, or their authorizer finally shut them down. 

Well, this fueled my anger, and didn't help me figure out a way to start on my mission of shutting these teach to the test, don't think for yourself, don't learn to make decisions on your own as long as you follow our every demand, schools down. It did give me a tiny idea, though that will only start a whole new line of research. I will start that soon, I need to "finish" this line of searching first.  Along with my search for a teaching position (gosh I miss the classroom, and students) in a nonprofit or public school. 

While I continue my research and set out on becoming more active in reaching this huge goal of mine. If you know of anything or anywhere I can get more information to get me closer to reaching this goal, please feel free to comment. Thanks!

link to quoted article: http://dianeravitch.net/2013/06/08/why-failing-charters-in-michigan-are-not-closed/

[educationasiseeit]

A New School Year

As the new school year gets ready to begin, or in some states has already begun, I feel a sadness and anxiousness that I've not felt in the past. There are many reasons for these new feelings. 

The first reason is very likely because I now have two middle school students, one of which is their last year in middle school leaving me with this feeling of my children growing up far to quickly. Some sadness involved there. 

The second reason, is this is the first year out of the last five that I am not getting a classroom ready to celebrate a new class of my own to nurture and help grow for the year. Though I'm still looking for those last minute teacher openings, I'm beginning to accept that this year, maybe a year off for me. Some sadness and anxiousness involved here.

The third reason is, the political and reform news for education these days is crazy. With testing becoming more and more "important" and true learning and exploration taking a back seat to test prep, the world of K-12 education is in a landslide to failure. My own children have said they plan to NOT take the "required" tests this year for their grade levels in Michigan, and I will support that choice, as well as encourage as many parents as I can to help their child's stress level by allowing them to opt-out of the testing as well. It breaks my heart as well as makes it race every time I read more into what "plans" are being made for "education reform", as none that I've seen have any real value when it comes to learning, and growing up to be a real productive part of society. Mostly they are setting these next generations up for robotic, direction following behavior that will get them no where in life, except on a production line, or in a cubical following one direction after another, never having a thought of their own, or doing something because they can think to do it for themselves. A lot of sadness and anxiousness here. 

Good luck on your new year of school, try to beat the status quo by thinking for yourself and opting out of standardized tests that add no value to your education or your life!

[educationasiseeit]

“War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, 1984 In a beautifully written, bold, thought-provoking essay, … Micheal Bohr channels Orwell and puts many of our fears into understandable prose… Michael Bohr – The “Slavery of the Mind” I have been watching as the discussion has progressed over the last several [...]

Today I want to share this "essay". Instead of my own thoughts, sometimes other peoples words touch home more than my own could even begin to! 

[educationasiseeit]

[educationasiseeit]

Destruction of Education & The Teaching Profession

Everyday, I am reading more articles about bills being passed, and regulations being put into place regarding education, teaching and schools. Everyday I cringe at the destruction that is taking place with each new reform measure.

Students are being tested to death, the death of their desire to learn and be proactive in their education. The death of their creativity, thinking and reasoning skills. Students are being held to standards that are stringent, demanding, ridiculous and uniform, regardless of individuality. These students are essentially being expected to turn into one giant mass of identically knowing, robots with identical skills, thoughts, and beliefs. Their ability to be individuals and different with different skills, ideas, and passions is being ripped from them, by uniform standards and testing. When will children be allowed to enjoy learning again? When will children be encouraged to truly follow their dreams and passions, instead of being told they are not good enough because they didn't "make the grade" on a standardized test?

Teachers are being degraded, bullied, and forced into going against everything they have been taught is right when it comes to teaching, and everything they have learned through experience. The profession is under attack. There is no other profession with the same or similar expectations to education and continuing education that would constantly reduce those in the professions pay, benefits, and ability to use their knowledge and skills to do their job, like is happening in education. Teachers didn't become teachers to get rich, they became teachers to make a difference, to teach and help future generations become thinking, productive individuals in society. Their ability to do those things is being drastically reduced. They are expected to do more, in less time with less resources, and that isn't even counting the actual teaching aspect of their job. They are being asked (I mean told) that they are taking a pay cut, that their benefits are being reduced and if they want resources for their classrooms, they are expected to purchase the items themselves. They are being told that their pay will resemble that of someone with a high school diploma, rather than someone with a college degree. They are being told they will not earn more income based on advanced college degrees or experience, only based on students test scores. What professions that require college degrees, would employees NOT get paid more with experience, and additional learning? NONE that I'm aware of except for NOW, teaching. 

The only outcome of these changes cannot be positive. Teachers who have tolerated the abuse because they love the what they are doing, and the students they do it for, will leave. They will have no choice, they will be unable to support themselves and their families. There will likely be constant turn over of teachers in schools, as those with a passion for teaching enter the workforce only to find that nothing they learned about teaching is applicable and they aren't really expected to use their knowledge and skills to teach, but to follow scripted prompts and instill uniform information into the brains of their students. As they endure the abuse and ridicule, they too will leave for other ventures. Leaving inexperienced teachers in classrooms, constantly instead of intermittently, without veteran teachers to mentor and help grow the new teachers, schools will fall apart. Students will take control, and learning will cease to take place. 

Our children are at risk. We must unify and stand together to be heard by the politicians that are tearing apart our education system, to keep their pockets lined with the money from testing companies, textbook companies, and those pushing to turn K-12 education into a for profit venture. If you are okay with your child being thought of as dollar signs and test scores, then sit back and ignore what is going on. If you are not okay with that, stand up, write a letter, send an email, make a phone call, get your friends to do the same. STOP the attack on our education system, help children continue to be the future, help the teachers ensure they can continue to teach!

[educationasiseeit]

Too Far

I spoke to a friend yesterday who works for a charter school. The school she works in, although in a decent area where most people would feel safe going to the store or any other place, services students that come from an area where in less than a week there were at least seven confirmed homicides, and three confirmed human trafficking victims, along with shootings, stabbings, and other crimes that don't make it into mainstream news. 

The school, desperate for enrollment, asked all staff to get flyers and brochures and head out into the streets of the city to recruit new students. The city that is being shot up, raped, stabbed, kidnapped, mugged, carjacked and burned down by some of its own citizens. The school wants its teachers, who mostly do not live in the city, or even near the city, to go around the city passing out flyers, and recruiting kids. 

I don't like to think of the students who live in these communities that are plagued with crime, having to grow up in that atmosphere, but if you're an outsider, wandering around in some of these communities, you are putting yourself at risk, outsiders are immediately known and seen as easy targets. Just ask some of the people doing the shooting, mugging, raping and stabbing. 

Is the school really so desperate to turn a profit that they are willing to put their own staff members at risk? 

This is going TOO FAR, and is just one more reason why K-12 education for profit is an unacceptable. 

[educationasiseeit]

Conversations

This morning I sat reflecting on a conversation I had with a 20 year teaching veteran yesterday, myself being only a 5 year veteran. I find it disturbing and frustrating that you can have conversations with teachers everywhere regardless of whether they are traditional public school, private school or charter school teachers and you hear the same concerns with where education is heading. You can have the same or similar conversations with parents and students, and hear the same concerns, which is even more of a concern. 

How is it that as a nation, we can share similar views on education, teaching and learning, and yet, we sit idly by while changes that don't make sense, that we don't agree with, and that do not help our children learn and become better adults, as well as turning the career of teaching into something of a joke, take place. Why do we have these conversations but do nothing to help repair what is distressed, instead we letting it become even more broken by illogical, useless changes, that are powered by greed and ignorance. 

We MUST join together, students, parents, educators, community members, and small and large business leaders to tell those forcing these changes through legislative bills, threats of removing funding, or promises of additional funding that we do NOT like what they are doing to our education system, we do NOT like their plans, and WE WILL NOT stand by idly and watch them ruin something rather than improving it. 

K-12 education is meant to better our nation, not destroy it. With the policy changes and legislative measures currently no the table, it is apparent that the goal is to destroy, and for what? Money, Power, Greed... let's face it, those pushing for these changes are not it in for OUR CHILDREN, they are in it for THEIR MONEY, and THEIR POWER, they DO NOT want OUR CHILDREN or US to have the knowledge and skills to see through their smoke screen. They WANT puppets, they WANT robots, and they WANT MONEY & POWER, the more than can prevent our YOUTH from having the ability to THINK, REASON, and FIGHT against the REPRESSION that is holding them down, the more POWERFUL and RICH they can become and stay, the more CONTROL they will have over the nation. 

We MUST STOP having conversations that DO NOTHING, we MUST START, TAKING ACTIONS that DO SOMETHING! Stop being afraid of the risk, start doing what is right for your children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbors, and friends!!! 

[educationasiseeit]

Closing Schools

It has not been uncommon to see charter schools close. They lose their charter authorizer due to unkept promises, or they do not keep enough students to maintain funding, sometimes they just realize they are not succeeding so they close their doors, regardless of the reason, we see it happen every year. It is very uncommon to see community public school districts shut down, maybe not single buildings in a district which is commonplace when a community loses their population. I'm talking entire school districts. Here in Michigan we are watching as two entire school districts are being dissolved. Just gone, they will be no more. The Intermediate School Districts they are located in, now have the responsibility of deciding how to divide the students amongst other schools in the county. The community is left with empty buildings, which I assume will be sold or rented to pay any debts the dissolved district may have outstanding, they are also left being split apart. The students who may have been in school together their entire lives may be sent to different neighboring schools, with new students, teachers and staff to get to know. This may be common place for students who move frequently, but it is happening without the family moving.

What I wonder is how is it that major corporations, big banks, and the military are given funding to maintain operations but schools are left to close their doors. How will we ever help turn our country-wide issues around if we don't start focusing on creating a populous that is just as if not more hard-working and willing to put in effort and gain at least a minimal education, instead of continuing the trend of putting education last. The crime that many of our nations cities experiences will NEVER cease if we don't provide the youth of those cities with an education they can be proud of, an education they desire to get. When they start school behind and are held to standards way above where they begin and are told they are failing and so are their schools, why would they ever want to continue to further their education. We need to stand together as communities, cities, states, and the entire country to demand that all students attend schools that are properly funded, not for profit and equitable, providing all students with a real chance at ending the cycle that for generations is pulling them into lives of crime and poverty. When will those in "power" begin truly listening to those who elect them, not those who "bribe" them, and do what is right for the youth of this country?

We must stand together as a nation if we are to educate tomorrows leaders, thinkers, creators, fixers, workforce and non-workforce. If issues in education continue down their current path, I fear things will only get  worse before ever, if ever, getting better.

[educationasiseeit]

If students designed their own school… it would look like this

A public high school student actually allowed some students to design their own semester and run it themselves.

WOW!!! Very ironic that this article / video showed up in my fb feed just an hour after I wrote my post today… AMAZING!!! 

[educationasiseeit]

Dreams

I dream of a day when our children can enter school and continue to be as excited to go to school each day as they were in those days leading up to the first day of Kindergarten. A day when behavior issues are minimal in school because the students love what they are doing and are thriving and digging and wanting to learn more. The day that students are truly learning at their own pace, and are focused on learning things they love, so much so, that when they “have" to learn something in a different area, they do it, because it means they’ll get to learn more of what they love even better. Dreaming of a day when parents do NOT have to fight with their children to get up and go to school, because they can’t wait to get there, a day when if a child has homework it get done without a fight, because they are excited to get better at whatever subject they have homework in. A day when students can be focused on learning instead of worrying about testing. A day when students won’t feel like failures because they aren’t “AS GOOD" as others their same age/grade. 

I dream of a day when teachers are given the time and tools they need to really do their best for their students, when they are not laden with administrative tasks, when they can focus once again on the priority: THE STUDENTS! A day when teachers can focus on teaching instead of testing. A day when the American Human Population can love learning again, and values the desires and needs of its youth to learn different things, at different paces. The day that teachers/administrators/schools compare students only to their previous selves, rather than to others in their age and grade. A day when teachers can assist students in following their passion, instead of stifling their dreams. 

I dream these dreams, day and night. My heart aches for the students and teachers stuck in an endless loop of testing and failure because the system thinks everything should be standardized and turned into an assembly line. As if we can take students at the age of 5 and set them on a conveyor belt, extrude information into their heads as they ride along and have them dropped of the end at age 18 with the exact same knowledge, skills, and thoughts as every other student that age. They are human beings, we are human beings, we are not automobiles, processed food, or thing-a-ma-jigs, that can be automated and regulated to ensure sameness. Humans are individuals, with thoughts and feelings, and desires that are all different, why would education try to make everyone the same?

I dream of a day when the educational experience is as different for each person as each person is themselves. A day when education is PERSONALIZED, NOT STANDARDIZED!!

[educationasiseeit]

Fighting

In schools every day, teachers (staff) are fighting, parents are fighting and students are fighting, probably there are administrators fighting as well. What are they fighting? Some are fighting themselves, doing what they are told (in order to keep their job, get a good grade, etc) in spite of their better judgement, doing things they know are not in the best interest of themselves (students), or the students (adults). Some are fighting the schools, trying to get the schools to change things are not working or not in the best interest of the students. They may even be fighting the bureaucracy in education or the political factions that insist on controlling what goes on in schools, without really understanding what the schools really need in order to send “well educated", “college ready", “career ready" high school graduates out into the world.  

I am ecstatic that there are those individuals and sometimes groups who are willing to fight, willing to take risks, and willing to be the voice against what has been proving for years to be mandates that don’t work, that don’t help students become better prepared, that don’t allow teachers to keep their focus on teaching the students. I am appalled that such people are necessary, and it saddens me that more are so dependent on their jobs that even if they want to they just can’t risk it.

Setting standards in a manner that does not provide flexibility for students learning strengths and weaknesses will not “force" them to do better. Testing students constantly and using just those tests to determine the effectiveness of schools and teachers is ludicrous, worse yet is using them to tell students their worth-fulness, or what they will or will not be good at in the future. Standards which require “all students" to achieve a certain level of mastery in that standard during a single year leaves students who learn very quickly behind (not allowing them to reach their best potential, it is limiting), and leaves students who learn slowly behind by not allowing them the time they need to really learn what is being expected of them. In both cases, what you end up with are a group of students (or 2 groups depending on how you look at it) feeling like failures, feeling bored, hating school, feeling dumb, feeling left out, and a whole slew of other feelings that in the end, leads them to giving up, quitting, it leaves them unmotivated to even try. 

If we are to truly educate our youth, to think, to reason, to problem solve, to know, and to send them into the world, willing to learn more, wanting to learn more, wanting to be great and do great work in their lives to provide for their families in whatever industry, capacity that interest them and provides them with enjoyment, then we MUST do better with our schools, we MUST stop tearing the joy of learning from children when they are young, we MUST STOP expecting them to behave and work like robots, spitting out answers, when they should be spitting out questions. We must allow them to explore, find, learn, ask, and answer, we MUST allow them to THINK. Sure, we need to set guidelines, what should they know, and what skills (researching, exploring, finding, learning, asking, answering, along with more specific sets) should they have when they leave the K-12 setting so we know they are ready to enter the workforce or a college, even a technical school. Yes we need a way to measure that, but trying to force them to learn things before they are ready or making them wait to learn things when they are beyond ready, is ruining their desire to learn anything, by testing them and telling them they don’t measure up, we are taking away their love of learning. 

Do our schools need to change, YES, do they need to change in the way they are being expected to now, NO! 

Do students, parents, teachers, administrators, school boards etc, need to FIGHT to make the schools work for the students, YES!!! 

What can you do to FIGHT the wrongs being done to our youth? 

[educationasiseeit]

College Ready?

This morning I was reading an article about students NOT being college ready. That really got me thinking… I went to college, almost earned an Associates Degree, changed majors, earned a Bachelor of Science, then went on to earn a Master of Arts, I was in no way college ready, I never took AP classes, didn’t even take the college prep set of classes (this was before everyone had to take an exact set of classes), and it didn’t even matter. College is NOTHING like K-12 education. While I was thinking about this article and how I was NOT college ready, just like they (ALEC) state many of our students currently are not, I was trying to think of WHY are they not, they are forced to take higher level courses, the higher level standards of what they need to learn or know begins much younger. If students are expected to know and learn more, and more, younger and younger, WHY are they STILL NOT ready for college? This leads me back to my statement earlier that College and K-12 Education are completely different. In K-12 students are expected to follow very specific directions, from how and where to sit in the classroom, to when and where to eat lunch, and even down to the very smallest details for every assignment they are to complete. They are basically taught to follow directions and do as they are told, they are not required to think about what to do, or how to do it. (If you’ve ever taught and tried to get students to make their own decisions about the how and what to do for an assignment or project you’ll know exactly what I mean) Conversely in college, students MUST decide for themselves, where and how to sit in class, how to complete projects and assignments, what to do for lunch, every aspect of college life if about making DECISIONS, it is about THINKING, and REASONING, and FIGURING OUT, how and when to do EVERYTHING. It is no wonder students are NOT ready for college, college expects them to know how to think and make decisions BEFORE they get there, and guess what, these students don’t have the slightest idea. They don’t have any clue how to do those things, because from the time they are born until they are graduated from high school, they have had decisions made for them, they have been thought for instead of being made to think for themselves, they have been told what to do, how to do it and when to do it for their entire lives, especially from Kindergarten to Twelfth Grade. If you want our children to leave high school READY FOR COLLEGE or for those who will not go to college for whatever reason READY FOR THE WORKFORCE, (where I might add they will also be expected to do some thinking and decision making), then we MUST change how we view K-12 education. Instead of standardizing everything, and making all the decisions for students, micromanaging their every move in school, we MUST start in Kindergarten, giving them opportunities to use their natural abilities to THINK, and make DECISIONS, and REASON, and QUESTION, and GROW, instead of stifling them and eventually (usually by grade 2-3) extinguishing their ability to do any of them, requiring them instead to sit silently and wait for every detail of every aspect of their education to be spelled out in detail before beginning anything. THINK ABOUT THAT!!!

[educationasiseeit]

Have you Ever?

Have you ever been in a classroom full of students who are behind, who are struggling to catch up, and who struggle every day to care enough to even try? Have you ever had to give those same students a “standardized" test, in order to obtain data to drive your instruction? Have you ever looked on helplessly while they gave up, and gave in to the tears that threaten when they know they don’t live up to the expectations set before them? Have you ever fought for the students and your job so you could keep fighting for the students who need a voice? Have you ever had to look at students in a classroom and try to understand how those who are telling you how to do your job can see them as dollar signs and test scores? Have you ever had your heart broken as the system (and you) failed to really give the students a chance, no matter how many “rules" you broke to try to defeat what was pushing them down? Have you ever really taken a look at what politics is doing to our education system? Have you ever taken at look at the teachers who are fighting for the students everyday? Have you ever wondered why kids hate going to school?

If you have never done any of those things, you should, then you should stand up and fight, fight for the kids in schools, fight for the teachers who are giving it their all, fight for the schools in your community, volunteer, donate, share your voice, join with others, this is an “us" issue not a “them" issue. If our children are not being educated, and being allowed to love learning, and enjoy learning, if our children are having the their creativity and natural curiosity and desire to learn and be great at something they love, where will we be in 10, 20, 30 years? When the only thing students learn in school is how to test, and how to follow the leader, instead of how to think, and lead where will we be? Have you ever even thought about it??!?!?!?! 

[educationasiseeit]

You never change things by fighting the existing reality. To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete.

Buckminster Fuller