I found that the diagram on pg. 141 pretty much sums up the whole chapter for me, and applies to what we as teachers do every day. So let's take a look at what we do.
Paper work is the backbone of the teaching industry, all the way from lesson plans to student worksheets. We are organized and we do know where it is we want to go, our administrators want to have curriculum maps for the entire school year, there is no question we are organized. We have goals provided for us by the State of Michigan, the federal government, and our local school districts. Teachers definitely have the organization part down pat.
We also know what the performance is we want the kids to achieve. Sometimes I tell my 8th graders let's just give you all A's on your report card and then we can worry about you learning something!! They like the idea of getting the A's, it's the let's learn something that's the hard part. Performance takes many shapes and forms. Currrently we are taking the MEAP test, talk about knowing the desired performance, we've been preparing for the MEAP for weeks now. Everyone knows the performance that is expected on this test. Once again, just because the kids know the expectations does not mean they are going to perform to that level. This leads to the idea that some students will purposely do poorly on the MEAP, just because they know the expectations are so high from all the adults around them, others can't meet the expectations no matter how hard they try. Remember the part in the chapter where the military screened the personnel so they could get the recruits that would have a better chance of completing the task and only teaching those men the activity. The ones that didn't make the grade were assigned to other activities. That is not allowed in todays educational world, high schools are now only training kids to go to college. We all know that not all kids belong in college, we still need electrictions, plumbers, bus drivers, and construction workers. Our educational system has no room for training these students, this is one difference from the chapter and the diagram. According to the chapter training workers to do the best job possible and finding the occupation that will help the company grow and survive is a valued goal. That is not always true in education.
2 comments:
I agree that there is a need to tailor to the needs of all students, regardless of level. Just because a student gets an A, it does not mean he or she has learned anything.
Wow! You summed up my school perfectly. I wish I had a magic answer on how to motivate some of my students. I had one girl (very bright, schoolwise) not even do the test. Talk about frustrating. Unfortunately, see has a lot of other problems in her life, the test is no concern of hers. I agreed with the evaluation you made of the chapter. It was spot on. I could work on the organization part a little, though. That is beside the point. We, as a school, are trying to find ways to motivate the kids who don't think they need to do well on the test. I'd say about half to one-third of our students are not "college bound" It makes test taking for the state a little difficult. We do what we can. Good reflection.
Post a Comment