One of the biggest lies we tell our students on a regular basis is “you’ll need to know this some day.” Some day, if the world still worked the way it did in 1950, they would. But not today, not in a post-industrial economy. Today, what they really need to know is problem solving, thinking on your feet, creative solutions, and ingenuity -- none of which are they taught in school. In fact, all four of these attributes are unilaterally squeezed out of our students until they resemble a crumpled toothpaste tube that excels at following directions.
This may sound like an overstatement. Maybe it is. Regardless, the truth of the matter is that kids are born with insightful, ingenious minds. Kids ask “why” in a world where not enough people do. It’s the people that keep asking “why” into their twenties that go places. The ones that question everything around them are the ones that eventually hit on a solution that no one else saw because, well, “that’s just the way things are.” It was the way things were until someone asked why.
The reason we as adults get so annoyed at those obnoxious kids who ask why all the time is because we don’t have the answers. Sometimes we spout off scientific reasoning for questions like “why do trees grow up?”, but in those situations we’re proud of how smart she is; when we don’t know the answer, when the kids ask “why are some people poor?”, and no matter how many insightful economic answers we come up with, the kids aren't satisfied, that’s when we get angry. You’ll understand when you’re older! we snap, and then feel a pang of guilt when the child lowers his head and stops asking. We don’t like the question why because it reminds us that somewhere in our own minds, we aren't satisfied with the answers either, but we don’t have the guts to step up and do something about it.
Those are the times when we say because I said so or Just do as you’re told. The movers and the shakers in this world, the ones who get places and change things and become independently wealthy at age 30, are the ones who were the trouble-makers in high school. Their teachers saw them as pests, their parents didn't understand why they couldn't just do the busy-work because it wasn't even that hard, and their friends always told them to give it a rest. But at the end of the day, they’re the ones who didn't take because as an answer and instead found that maybe things didn't have to be that way. They’re the ones who asked why not? when they were told it just can’t happen.
And now, I’m going to be the one asking why. Why does our school system have to be an ordeal that kids have to make it through to get to college and if they’re lucky, the real world? Why can’t we foster the out of the box thinking that makes for a successful world changer? Why can’t we actually give our students something that they can grab on to and chase after and use, no matter where they end up? To those of you saying “because we have to work with the way things are; we can’t just have a complete overhaul,” I say Why not?
Now, I understand that a complete overhaul is not in immediate reach, but I also understand that there’s likely to be a revolution if we don’t. Either that, or one of those students who asked why and was shoved aside starts a revolution himself. I also know that I’m by far not the most qualified person to change the system -- I don’t have a PhD in education (though I hope to get one someday) -- but I, for one, refuse to take because as an answer, and so I see no reason -- or at least no viable reason -- why we can’t make at least some changes in the meantime.
The biggest change we need to make is scraping the standardized testing. Yes, I can see your immediate reservations shooting up. Hear me out. I can see the benefits of standardized testing -- everyone is held to the same standard and there are objective, numerical ways to judge applicants for colleges and jobs.
The problem is that the damage these tests do far outweighs the benefits. What they are really testing, after all, is something arbitrary determined by men in suits spending their time in towers away from civilization. Ultimately, the tests measure your ability to take a test, a skill you will never again need, not what you've learned, and certainly not your potential. Ultimately, each of the “benefits” of standardized testing is a drawback.
For instance, holding everyone to the same standard is actually detrimental to the students. When a child falls behind, he finds it almost impossible to catch up because all of the other students are progressing at a rate he wasn't able to attain in the first place, causing what’s called “warm body syndrome” (if you’re a warm body in the classroom, eventually, through social promotion, you’ll graduate). However, when a child wants to go ahead, he is punished and told that he is belittling his peers who are falling behind, which leads to “testy teenager syndrome,” where he becomes frustrated and gives up on school.
Numerical standards are also detrimental to students. Though I've already made this point in my post about grades, I think it deserves an extra push here. We all know that colleges look at more than just your SAT scores and GPA -- they look at where you came from, what your hobbies are, and usually conduct an interview to see if you’re the kind of person they would like to have at their school. We, as the general public, have long sported this idea that standardized tests are a necessary evil, but that’s simply not true. What if, instead of making each child pass a high-stakes test that will determine her future, we had our students create a portfolio of themselves? In their portfolio, they put their absolute best work, the things that they are proud of, and the things that show who they really are. Elementary school students could create their portfolios every quarter with the help of the teacher, including items from each subject and examples of strong improvement. High-school students could have one or two a year in each subject, but ultimately be working with their college advisers every year to create a yearly overall portfolio that represents them. It could sports or performing arts footage, debate scores, even volunteering hours. These portfolios, surely, would be a better tool for college admissions than a GPA that can mean something completely different in each school.
But it’s more than just standardized testing that’s got to go. We need to make a big change in our curriculum, too. So much of our focus is on getting kids ready to eventually be in college, that we forget that many of them never make it. So with that in mind, each moment of our time with students should count toward making them, no matter where they end up, better informed, intelligent persons that can independently life a fulfilling life. We need to include citizenship classes in our high schools. Students need to learn about the responsibilities and rights of being a US citizen. We need to include classes on pro activity and statistics to teach our students how to set goals, accomplish them, take their lives into their own hands, and always do their own research before believing hallo-baloo arguments they hear on the street. We need to have a sociology class to teach students how to break the patterns they have been born into for themselves, and eventually, for entire communities. We need to have a basic financial skills course that teaches students not just budgeting, but also the benefits of banking, stocks, and bonds, and how to use those things to your advantage. We need to teach them to use technology and be prepared for the assumed basic-fluency in the workplace.
All of this passing the buck has got to end. If we don’t teach our students these skills, particularly our disadvantaged students, chances are high that no one else will. So we have to do it. Now. While we have them. Before it’s too late.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Thursday, November 8, 2012
What Matters?
What’s the first thing that pops into your mind when you think of school? For most people, it has something to do with grades. Why? Because “grading” is such an integral part of what we think of as “school.” From quizzes to presentations to standardized testing, for the majority of any given student’s academic career, they will be assigned numbers to dictate their success. These numbers will help determine the student’s success of failure in the future -- it will set a precedent for how they will view themselves and how they are viewed by others for the rest of their academic career and beyond.
When you were in school, how many times did you hear people tell you just be who you are? We hear it all the time. Don’t worry about what Suzy thinks about you or No matter what he says, Tom can’t determine who you are inside. Adults seem to think that part of being a child or adolescent is determining your own self-worth based on the views of others and that you’ll just miraculously grow out of it once you become mature.
Where do you think all of this obsession is coming from? We hear stories all the time about kids who fixate obsessively on the number of facebook friends that they have or the sad truth of young girls who fixate on the numbers on the scale. Do we ever stop to think about where they learned to fixate on the numbers to tell them their worth?
From the time our kids are little, we assign them a number. This is how good you are, we say, as we pat them on the head and pretend that we’re encouraging them.
Not only has it been systematically proven time and time again that using grades as positive or negative reinforcement for motivation doesn't work, but all grade assignment is to some extent an arbitrary decision on the part of the teacher and is affected by the teacher’s perception of the student as well as his or her perception of what matters.
It has also been shown time and time again that the most effective grading for results isn't really grading at all -- it’s timely, specific, improvement oriented responses. This is the type of thing that music teachers and computer programmers do. But in the school system, not only do we include early learning experiences in the ultimate grade we assign a student, but the grade we assign often doesn't even focus on what matters.
And that’s what it all comes down to, really -- what matters. What matters is the students. We need to give them fair and true assessments. Our assessments and grading practices must reflect what we really need the students to know to life a wholesome life. And they simply don’t. More than that, we have to show the students that they matter. When teachers invest in students, grades go up, ambition goes up, and teacher morale goes up. Not only that, but gang involvement goes down, violence goes down, abuse goes down, and students who are kidnapped and trafficked goes down. That’s a pretty impressive list, but we haven’t done anything with it.
When you were in school, how many times did you hear people tell you just be who you are? We hear it all the time. Don’t worry about what Suzy thinks about you or No matter what he says, Tom can’t determine who you are inside. Adults seem to think that part of being a child or adolescent is determining your own self-worth based on the views of others and that you’ll just miraculously grow out of it once you become mature.
Where do you think all of this obsession is coming from? We hear stories all the time about kids who fixate obsessively on the number of facebook friends that they have or the sad truth of young girls who fixate on the numbers on the scale. Do we ever stop to think about where they learned to fixate on the numbers to tell them their worth?
From the time our kids are little, we assign them a number. This is how good you are, we say, as we pat them on the head and pretend that we’re encouraging them.
Not only has it been systematically proven time and time again that using grades as positive or negative reinforcement for motivation doesn't work, but all grade assignment is to some extent an arbitrary decision on the part of the teacher and is affected by the teacher’s perception of the student as well as his or her perception of what matters.
It has also been shown time and time again that the most effective grading for results isn't really grading at all -- it’s timely, specific, improvement oriented responses. This is the type of thing that music teachers and computer programmers do. But in the school system, not only do we include early learning experiences in the ultimate grade we assign a student, but the grade we assign often doesn't even focus on what matters.
And that’s what it all comes down to, really -- what matters. What matters is the students. We need to give them fair and true assessments. Our assessments and grading practices must reflect what we really need the students to know to life a wholesome life. And they simply don’t. More than that, we have to show the students that they matter. When teachers invest in students, grades go up, ambition goes up, and teacher morale goes up. Not only that, but gang involvement goes down, violence goes down, abuse goes down, and students who are kidnapped and trafficked goes down. That’s a pretty impressive list, but we haven’t done anything with it.
Wednesday, November 7, 2012
All Children Dragged Along
Right now, the educational “vogue” is inclusivity. For those of you that don’t know, this means including special needs students in the general education classroom in order to challenge them, keep them on track, and promote more peer-relationships between special needs students and “general” students. Students are given an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) which is reviewed by a plethora of involved persons that tells their general education teacher what accommodations need to be made for the student. Do they need a special testing situation? Is it an issue of physical space in the classroom? Should they be allowed to work in groups? How do they learn best? These are all the types of questions that the IEP answers.
There are two guiding principles for the IEP collaborators -- the student must have a Free Appropriate Education and it must be in the Least Restrictive Environment. So, if the student can excel in the general education classroom, there’s no need to restrict them to the special education classroom, and if they need accommodations for testing because of their disability, then that’s the appropriate thing to do!
We, as a nation, have forgotten those students without IEPs. The slogan we have adopted is no child left behind, but in the educational race and our efforts to ensure the success of the slowest, we keep all children behind.
The did a study on inner city kids -- the ones we don’t value as much -- and why they dropped out. Some kids dropped out because they needed to work to support their families. Some kids dropped out because they were already behind and it wasn’t worth it anymore (something that can be prevented by getting books into their hands at a young age). But the majority of the kids who dropped out said they knew they could succeed in school if they invested themselves, but they were bored.
Bored? That’s certainly not the story you hear on TV!
But it’s true. And it’s not just the inner city students, either. In fact, most suburban dropouts stem from the same issue -- boredom.
Students who are smart, gifted even, are put in classrooms where everyday, they go over the same material again because their neighbor didn't understand it. In middle schools, it’s common for students to fail an assignment because they read ahead in the book (hey, it happened to me!). In fact, teachers often take a class period to go over the answers of the test with their students -- a good idea -- without taking into account the many students in their classroom who excelled on the test. Why should the student pay attention if they already got a 100 on the test? Of course they know the answers! And yet it’s for doing other work in times like these that students frequently get detentions.
How in the world can we expect students to enjoy and invest in a system that wastes their time and belittles their abilities?
Of course, there are many responses to this. No, we don’t want to speed up the level of the course so that students fall behind, but if flocks of kids are dropping out because they’re bored, then we as a nation are failing to provide them with appropriate education. And that’s what it all comes down to -- ALL students should be given a Free, Appropriate Education. It’s never appropriate to waste someone’s time, that’s simply common courtesy, but it’s even worse to punish them for being productive. ALL students should be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment -- and if their learning is being restricted by that of those around them, well then there needs to be another option.
And there are many other options, but nobody is implementing them! The obvious one is to have an “honors class,” but, as many people rightfully point out, that encourages the same problem we had to start with, only instead of “Special Ed, general, and honors” you have “general, honors, and super-honors” or something. However, there are tons of other options! You could have a pull-out program for students where students spend one day of the week (or one class in a high-school setting) with an honors section -- maybe they have extra projects or assignments. You could have those students in your classes be given extra assignments -- maybe they can research a topic and present on it, or write a paper on it, or they can research how to make their own. You could do just about anything you wanted as long as you challenge students.
And that’s what it comes down to, really. Students want to be challenged. There’s a program called AVID that is all about challenging at-risk students. And you know what? When those students are challenged, they step up to the challenge. No, you don’t want to push students until they burst, but when you set them up to succeed, honestly tell them that they can, and then make them do the work, they almost invariably step up to the challenge.
We have to stop losing the students of our future to boredom in the very places they’re supposed to be learning and growing.
There are two guiding principles for the IEP collaborators -- the student must have a Free Appropriate Education and it must be in the Least Restrictive Environment. So, if the student can excel in the general education classroom, there’s no need to restrict them to the special education classroom, and if they need accommodations for testing because of their disability, then that’s the appropriate thing to do!
We, as a nation, have forgotten those students without IEPs. The slogan we have adopted is no child left behind, but in the educational race and our efforts to ensure the success of the slowest, we keep all children behind.
The did a study on inner city kids -- the ones we don’t value as much -- and why they dropped out. Some kids dropped out because they needed to work to support their families. Some kids dropped out because they were already behind and it wasn’t worth it anymore (something that can be prevented by getting books into their hands at a young age). But the majority of the kids who dropped out said they knew they could succeed in school if they invested themselves, but they were bored.
Bored? That’s certainly not the story you hear on TV!
But it’s true. And it’s not just the inner city students, either. In fact, most suburban dropouts stem from the same issue -- boredom.
Students who are smart, gifted even, are put in classrooms where everyday, they go over the same material again because their neighbor didn't understand it. In middle schools, it’s common for students to fail an assignment because they read ahead in the book (hey, it happened to me!). In fact, teachers often take a class period to go over the answers of the test with their students -- a good idea -- without taking into account the many students in their classroom who excelled on the test. Why should the student pay attention if they already got a 100 on the test? Of course they know the answers! And yet it’s for doing other work in times like these that students frequently get detentions.
How in the world can we expect students to enjoy and invest in a system that wastes their time and belittles their abilities?
Of course, there are many responses to this. No, we don’t want to speed up the level of the course so that students fall behind, but if flocks of kids are dropping out because they’re bored, then we as a nation are failing to provide them with appropriate education. And that’s what it all comes down to -- ALL students should be given a Free, Appropriate Education. It’s never appropriate to waste someone’s time, that’s simply common courtesy, but it’s even worse to punish them for being productive. ALL students should be educated in the Least Restrictive Environment -- and if their learning is being restricted by that of those around them, well then there needs to be another option.
And there are many other options, but nobody is implementing them! The obvious one is to have an “honors class,” but, as many people rightfully point out, that encourages the same problem we had to start with, only instead of “Special Ed, general, and honors” you have “general, honors, and super-honors” or something. However, there are tons of other options! You could have a pull-out program for students where students spend one day of the week (or one class in a high-school setting) with an honors section -- maybe they have extra projects or assignments. You could have those students in your classes be given extra assignments -- maybe they can research a topic and present on it, or write a paper on it, or they can research how to make their own. You could do just about anything you wanted as long as you challenge students.
And that’s what it comes down to, really. Students want to be challenged. There’s a program called AVID that is all about challenging at-risk students. And you know what? When those students are challenged, they step up to the challenge. No, you don’t want to push students until they burst, but when you set them up to succeed, honestly tell them that they can, and then make them do the work, they almost invariably step up to the challenge.
We have to stop losing the students of our future to boredom in the very places they’re supposed to be learning and growing.
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Land of "Equal Opportunity"
I’m sure that almost every person I talked to could tell me a story about “Great Aunt So-and-so who came over from whatcha-face with only the coat on her back and a worth ethic and look where my family is today!”
America: the Land of Equal Opportunity!
It’s a nice story, but it’s simply not true.
When the original settlers came over to the United States, they came to a land that was free for the taking. At the time, the leg up the social ladder was land, and, quite frankly, there wasn't any land for sale in Europe. Sure, you could get a flat in the city or a small paddock in the hills every once-in-awhile, but land was hereditary and there wasn't any more to be had.
But there was this great and open land! The New World! You could just stake out your land and put in years of work and after a while, you had a living and a status in this open country.
Needless to say, we don’t live in an age when land is the means of subsistence anymore. In fact, people who make their living off the land are often the least well off among us. The real leg-up is education. A work ethic is still one of the most effective ways to get yourself up the social ladder, but you have to apply that to your education and not to the land. And so we say that America is the land of opportunity where everyone can get a free education and start on an even playing field!
Even playing field? Hardly! The current system is more like the Rockies than anything else. In rural or urban districts, students are simply less valued than those in middle class white suburbia. We convince ourselves that our blatant favoritism is acceptable by saying “oh, they’re in such a horrible place, they’ll end up dropping out anyway” and laughing off our own disregard, when if we take one honest look at the situation, we know that’s not the case.
Firstly, we send all the rotten teachers to the inner city. That’s not entirely true, they’re not “sent” to work in these schools, but the good teachers find other jobs and go somewhere else and the teachers who do stay are burnt out and don’t believe in their students anymore than the general populous. Another year, they say, another batch of teen pregnancies, drug dealers, and convicts. Another batch of failures. And so it doesn't take long before the teachers themselves don’t even try. Why look for what went wrong in your lesson if the students are all going to fail no matter what you do? Why assume anything went wrong at all? Not to mention, the easiest way to make a child give up is to give up on them.
Students simply don’t have the same opportunities, either. Kids in middle class white suburbia have marching band, basketball, theater, and art clubs. Extra-curricular activities are proven to strengthen a student’s relationship to school and motivate them to advocate for themselves, but it seems that only the kids in the areas where success is already presumed get these opportunities. How can we call public education anything like equal when suburban students are handed the tools they need to succeed and rural students aren't even given the option?
Not only that, but simple facets of education are missing in our most needy districts. Books, for instance, are one of the most integral aspects of education. By engaging children in the habit of reading at an early age, students will be more motivated, have easier success in school and in life, and will be more likely to take their education into their own hands. And yet, not only are books shockingly absent in the schools of our urban and rural students, but we then go and blame the students for not learning to read! How are they to learn to read without any books?
And no, in today’s society, books are not the only avenue for reading. Far from it. Now, even newspapers are read online more often than in person. Our future as a nation lies in the hands of technology. More accurately, it lies in the hands of those whose minds comprehend our technology enough to shape it’s next generation. The job fields for things like computer science and inventive engineering are predicted to soar within the next few years. And yet those same students, the ones who we push to graduate and get themselves on their feet, are kept away from computers. In urban districts, not only do most families not own a computer, but many schools don’t either. There’s no opportunity for students to learn the basic skills they will need in the workforce, let alone the opportunity to really grasp technology and invest in it in the way that is required for those that make the future. In fact, not only do we rob our students of these opportunities, but we penalize them for an un-typed paper.
When we look at all these discrepancies, we begin to understand the true form of this “land of opportunity.” If America is a land of equality, then we should start by valuing our progeny equally. To any perceptive mind, that’s not the case. So what do we do?
The obvious answer is revolutionize the financial system that puts our schools at such polarized places. If the urban districts had the same budget per student as the suburban districts, they would look a lot different. There would be technology, books, electives, and AP courses that the schools previously couldn't afford. Not only that, but there would be significantly less incentive for the better teachers to seek alternative jobs if there was no pay difference. If we as a country are spending more money on some of our kids and less on others, how can we possibly say that we value them all equally? It’s the ultimate parental favoritism between Washington and her many district babies.
Of course, some people will resist this. The federal government shouldn't be paying for schools that are sub par, they will say, and suburban parents who have worked hard for their money shouldn't have to pay for future dropouts that they have no influence on. But before the dissenters jump to conclusions, here me out. It is natural to resist the federal government supporting failing schools -- it’s almost like feeding the problem. However, in the current system, only the schools that do well receive funds from the government. Not only does this mean that the schools that need the money the most to motivate and engage their students are not getting it, but the ones that are already doing well will be able to do even better, creating a larger and larger gap. I understand a resistance to an overall federal funding per-student to each school, it’s drastically different than anything we've tried before, but it’s the only way to ensure that each student gets a fair shot at a good education. If the students fail out, fine, but the government will have held its obligation to give each person in this country an equal chance at life, and in the current system, they’re discriminating at best. At the very least, we need to institute an equal funding per-student from the state to ensure statewide equality, if not nation wide.
I also understand the fury of hard-working suburban parents who don’t want their money wasted on hoodlums in the city or hillbillies in the country. But again, I ask you, think about the facts. At some point in time, no matter your ethnicity, your ancestors worked hard to get you where you are today. And right now, in our cities, parents work hard and invest everything they have for their children, who are left without the support and resources to pull themselves up that your ancestors had. Without investing an equal amount in each child, you can hardly claim you live in a land of opportunity.
We, as a country, need to hold to our values. We need to commit to equal opportunity for our future leaders. If we don’t invest in our future, then we need to change our motto to this:
America: Land of Equal* Opportunity!
*Must be 18 years old or older, citizen of the United States, and have moderately wealthy grandparents. Subject to approval. Void where prohibited.
America: the Land of Equal Opportunity!
It’s a nice story, but it’s simply not true.
When the original settlers came over to the United States, they came to a land that was free for the taking. At the time, the leg up the social ladder was land, and, quite frankly, there wasn't any land for sale in Europe. Sure, you could get a flat in the city or a small paddock in the hills every once-in-awhile, but land was hereditary and there wasn't any more to be had.
But there was this great and open land! The New World! You could just stake out your land and put in years of work and after a while, you had a living and a status in this open country.
Needless to say, we don’t live in an age when land is the means of subsistence anymore. In fact, people who make their living off the land are often the least well off among us. The real leg-up is education. A work ethic is still one of the most effective ways to get yourself up the social ladder, but you have to apply that to your education and not to the land. And so we say that America is the land of opportunity where everyone can get a free education and start on an even playing field!
Even playing field? Hardly! The current system is more like the Rockies than anything else. In rural or urban districts, students are simply less valued than those in middle class white suburbia. We convince ourselves that our blatant favoritism is acceptable by saying “oh, they’re in such a horrible place, they’ll end up dropping out anyway” and laughing off our own disregard, when if we take one honest look at the situation, we know that’s not the case.
Firstly, we send all the rotten teachers to the inner city. That’s not entirely true, they’re not “sent” to work in these schools, but the good teachers find other jobs and go somewhere else and the teachers who do stay are burnt out and don’t believe in their students anymore than the general populous. Another year, they say, another batch of teen pregnancies, drug dealers, and convicts. Another batch of failures. And so it doesn't take long before the teachers themselves don’t even try. Why look for what went wrong in your lesson if the students are all going to fail no matter what you do? Why assume anything went wrong at all? Not to mention, the easiest way to make a child give up is to give up on them.
Students simply don’t have the same opportunities, either. Kids in middle class white suburbia have marching band, basketball, theater, and art clubs. Extra-curricular activities are proven to strengthen a student’s relationship to school and motivate them to advocate for themselves, but it seems that only the kids in the areas where success is already presumed get these opportunities. How can we call public education anything like equal when suburban students are handed the tools they need to succeed and rural students aren't even given the option?
Not only that, but simple facets of education are missing in our most needy districts. Books, for instance, are one of the most integral aspects of education. By engaging children in the habit of reading at an early age, students will be more motivated, have easier success in school and in life, and will be more likely to take their education into their own hands. And yet, not only are books shockingly absent in the schools of our urban and rural students, but we then go and blame the students for not learning to read! How are they to learn to read without any books?
And no, in today’s society, books are not the only avenue for reading. Far from it. Now, even newspapers are read online more often than in person. Our future as a nation lies in the hands of technology. More accurately, it lies in the hands of those whose minds comprehend our technology enough to shape it’s next generation. The job fields for things like computer science and inventive engineering are predicted to soar within the next few years. And yet those same students, the ones who we push to graduate and get themselves on their feet, are kept away from computers. In urban districts, not only do most families not own a computer, but many schools don’t either. There’s no opportunity for students to learn the basic skills they will need in the workforce, let alone the opportunity to really grasp technology and invest in it in the way that is required for those that make the future. In fact, not only do we rob our students of these opportunities, but we penalize them for an un-typed paper.
When we look at all these discrepancies, we begin to understand the true form of this “land of opportunity.” If America is a land of equality, then we should start by valuing our progeny equally. To any perceptive mind, that’s not the case. So what do we do?
The obvious answer is revolutionize the financial system that puts our schools at such polarized places. If the urban districts had the same budget per student as the suburban districts, they would look a lot different. There would be technology, books, electives, and AP courses that the schools previously couldn't afford. Not only that, but there would be significantly less incentive for the better teachers to seek alternative jobs if there was no pay difference. If we as a country are spending more money on some of our kids and less on others, how can we possibly say that we value them all equally? It’s the ultimate parental favoritism between Washington and her many district babies.
Of course, some people will resist this. The federal government shouldn't be paying for schools that are sub par, they will say, and suburban parents who have worked hard for their money shouldn't have to pay for future dropouts that they have no influence on. But before the dissenters jump to conclusions, here me out. It is natural to resist the federal government supporting failing schools -- it’s almost like feeding the problem. However, in the current system, only the schools that do well receive funds from the government. Not only does this mean that the schools that need the money the most to motivate and engage their students are not getting it, but the ones that are already doing well will be able to do even better, creating a larger and larger gap. I understand a resistance to an overall federal funding per-student to each school, it’s drastically different than anything we've tried before, but it’s the only way to ensure that each student gets a fair shot at a good education. If the students fail out, fine, but the government will have held its obligation to give each person in this country an equal chance at life, and in the current system, they’re discriminating at best. At the very least, we need to institute an equal funding per-student from the state to ensure statewide equality, if not nation wide.
I also understand the fury of hard-working suburban parents who don’t want their money wasted on hoodlums in the city or hillbillies in the country. But again, I ask you, think about the facts. At some point in time, no matter your ethnicity, your ancestors worked hard to get you where you are today. And right now, in our cities, parents work hard and invest everything they have for their children, who are left without the support and resources to pull themselves up that your ancestors had. Without investing an equal amount in each child, you can hardly claim you live in a land of opportunity.
We, as a country, need to hold to our values. We need to commit to equal opportunity for our future leaders. If we don’t invest in our future, then we need to change our motto to this:
America: Land of Equal* Opportunity!
*Must be 18 years old or older, citizen of the United States, and have moderately wealthy grandparents. Subject to approval. Void where prohibited.
Monday, November 5, 2012
Education: What's the Deal
There are a lot of people out there who want to change the world.
There are people who spend their whole lives working with drug addicts, broken homes, or welfare families. There are entire professions built around enacting empathy and thousands more that can be used as methods of care and compassion.
Bringing these people out of the bondage they are in is a noble act, but it only addresses the symptoms, not the problem. We have to stop the systems that put these individuals in bondage in the first place, otherwise there will simply be more that fill their shoes.
There are very few things in society that reach almost every person and affect almost every aspect of life, but the most prominent of the few is public education. Think about it. From the time a child enters this world, their life is dictated in some manner by education. Socio-economic status, living situation, and opportunities for this child are determined almost entirely by the education of his or her parents. From the day the child starts school, he or she is shaped and formed by the perspectives of those around him or her, the stereotypes and the treatment he or she receives, and the quality of the support he or she receives in school.
We all know that there's inequality. We've all heard about the problems that students face with standardized tests and funding and teacher apathy. And we all assume that, well, such is life.
But is it?
We assume that it has to be that way because that's how it's always been. But if we only took the time to imagine something different, then maybe we could get one step closer to a truly free America.
Why can't education be the force of equality and not distinction? Why can't our schools empower and motivate our kids instead of classifying and indoctrinating them? Why can't a high-school education actually remove its graduates from the cycle of poverty?
If we could only harness education, we really could change the world. As the only thing all citizens are guaranteed to experience, it's the only thing that can really make a difference.
Over the next few days, I will be posting several blogs about education. Each one will address a single problem that we face and provide a multitude of solutions. And I hope that, someday, education really will change the world.
There are people who spend their whole lives working with drug addicts, broken homes, or welfare families. There are entire professions built around enacting empathy and thousands more that can be used as methods of care and compassion.
Bringing these people out of the bondage they are in is a noble act, but it only addresses the symptoms, not the problem. We have to stop the systems that put these individuals in bondage in the first place, otherwise there will simply be more that fill their shoes.
There are very few things in society that reach almost every person and affect almost every aspect of life, but the most prominent of the few is public education. Think about it. From the time a child enters this world, their life is dictated in some manner by education. Socio-economic status, living situation, and opportunities for this child are determined almost entirely by the education of his or her parents. From the day the child starts school, he or she is shaped and formed by the perspectives of those around him or her, the stereotypes and the treatment he or she receives, and the quality of the support he or she receives in school.
We all know that there's inequality. We've all heard about the problems that students face with standardized tests and funding and teacher apathy. And we all assume that, well, such is life.
But is it?
We assume that it has to be that way because that's how it's always been. But if we only took the time to imagine something different, then maybe we could get one step closer to a truly free America.
Why can't education be the force of equality and not distinction? Why can't our schools empower and motivate our kids instead of classifying and indoctrinating them? Why can't a high-school education actually remove its graduates from the cycle of poverty?
If we could only harness education, we really could change the world. As the only thing all citizens are guaranteed to experience, it's the only thing that can really make a difference.
Over the next few days, I will be posting several blogs about education. Each one will address a single problem that we face and provide a multitude of solutions. And I hope that, someday, education really will change the world.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Cardiovascular Disesase
I keep trying to convince myself to write something, but I never know what to write about. I eventually decided that even if I have no idea what I want this blog to ultimately turn in to, I should write, because I won't figure out what it is until I figure out what it's not.
I decided somewhere along the line to blog about unexpected lessons. So, starting today, I'll be blogging about the top twenty ways to die.
I know that's incredibly random. Bear with me. Maybe if we look at how people die, we can learn how to live.
Well, today's mode of death is cardiovascular disease. Cardiovascular disease is a blanket term for basically anything that interferes with your blood flowing and your heart pumping. The vast majority of all cardiovascular diseases occur due to one of two conditions: atherosclerosis or hypertension.
Atherosclerosis basically means that your arteries are clogged up. There's little fatty deposits that block the blood from getting away from your heart. Of course, it can still pass through, but the arteries themselves get inflamed and clogged, so the blood has a harder time.
Hypertension is a big fancy word for high-blood pressure. Nine times out fo ten, there's no identifiable reason for hypertension, it's just an amalgamation of things like stress, too much salt, not enougb veggies, or not being active. Over time, all the little things add up and boom! You're dying of cardiovascular disease.
Without blood, there is no life. Blood is what keeps our body teeming with oxygen and willing to move, grow, and expand.
Without its lifeline, your body withers; so does your soul.
What is your soul's lifeline? How are you clogging it up? How are you letting things add up until it gets harder and harder to push it through?
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Purpose
Well, here I am on this blog.
A whole bunch of things came together at the right time that convinced me to try again.
I'm an Adolescent English Education major in college. I've been doing a lot of my own personal research about how to successfully teach students as well as attending a college with a fantastic education program. One of the things that's been showing up in my life again and again is that I need to commit to learning how to write myself.
And then there is this whole concept of brain development. During puberty, the brain begins to weed out its synapses. These are like little trails that it can follow to react to something. It weeds them out and gets rid of ones it doesn't need (like crying for food at four months) to make room for the learning it will do as it grows into an adult-brain. At this time, whatever synapses aren't used get destroyed and those that are get strengthened. So it would seem hopeless to try and change the brain after that.
Except that you can. When, as an adult, you may a point to do something you don't do often, you make a faint trail for your brain to follow. It's going to keep following the strongest one automatically, but when you force yourself to create a new path or follow a weak path instead, slowly that path will become stronger and the strong one will fade. You can re-train your brain to work the way you want it to. As a Christian, this blew my mind. In Romans, it says "be transformed by the renewing of your mind."
Well, that's exactly what I wanted to do. Transform my mind into the focused and vibrant organ I wanted it to be. I wanted to transform it into a powerhouse of learning and love. But I'm a busy, poor college student, and I needed to use what little free time I had to pay back my loans.
And then, I read an article. It basically said "so what. Do it anyway." and here I am. I don't know how long this will last, but I'm going to commit to (hopefully) one or two articles a week.
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