First off, just want to apologize for not getting this post out right after class or last night. Some things happened and I soon found myself out of time.
To me it seems like one of the root problems is the educational system no pressuring kids to exceed standards, and instead just encouraging the students to meet them. We all probably knew those kids in our high schools that tried to do everything, the students that took all the AP courses, were in either band or choir, were in a sport, and devoted all the free time they had left to community service. We may have viewed them as over achievers, preppies, or any other stereotyped name - but I think instead of that being the extraordinary student, the school system should pressure us more to do all these activities.
For example, I was one of the kids who just meet the standards. I didn't join any sports, or other extracurricular activities. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't entirely lazy, I took one AP course and got As in most of my classes - I just didn't do more than what was needed. I think it is do to the school not explaining to you how these activities will help you later in life. Had I known it would have looked great on a resume to be in sports, band, and doing community service I would have done it. Had I known just how much money in scholarships it would open I would have done it. Instead they just told me "There's this thing called band. If you find it fun go do it, but it's no big deal." I wasn't sure I would find it fun so I left it behind.
Apart from leaving us with a poor resume and little scholarships, the lack of these developments can leave us behind socially. I'm honest enough to say I'm behind a little socially and it could very well be do to me not having been in these activities. So I suppose the point I'm trying to make is the whole school should be involved in "prepping" a student, rather than just letting us float through.
I think this is a good concept and I do agree with the idea. However, isn't it the point to let kids have the power of choosing whether or not they want to be the over achiever, not because they will be rewarded in the future? Otherwise what is the point of the options? Kids do rely heavily on a reward system in schools, such as, students only doing well so that they will receive a reward at the end whether its candy for a five year old or car keys for a teen. The thought i'm getting at is why should the schools have to tell us what looks good on resumes? The point of high school is to grow up and mature. If they did tell us about this reward, scholarships and grants, then we would not make that next step into adulthood, learning from our mistakes. The mistake would be not wanting to learn from the world around you and experience different beliefs and living styles.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I did do all of those things and not because people told me it would be better for applications, but because it was interesting and opened my perspective to people and things I would not have encountered in my small knowledge of the world around me.
I think a lot of what your talking about Lance just goes back to this issue of a school being ran like a business. I personally recall talking to one of the counselors at my school and them telling me exactly what I need to do so I could graduate. They did not inform me about the scholarships that were available or our student leadership programs that would later help me get a scholarship. Instead, they sat me down and told me the quickest and most effiecient way that I could get out of high school. I said "ok, great".
ReplyDeleteNow where I disagree is that I don't think it is the schools resposibility to hold our hands and guide us through high school. Like anmeyer said high school is about growing up and maturing. Part of the maturation process is accepting the responsibilities of one's own actions and actively seeking to improve oneself as a person. I think to often in American society that people always want to play the blame game and point fingers at anyone other than themself. A school should provide AP courses, extracurricular activities, sports and other school affairs but it is on the students to take advantage of these opportunities and use these to develop and mature.
I agree with the statement that students need to be encouraged to excel in academics, extracurricular activities, and social skills.
ReplyDeleteIn my personal experience, I excelled in social skills and some extracurricular activities. Throughout gradeschool through high school, I was placed in advanced courses and was in a gifted program for exceptional students. After awhile however, I realized that I didn't need to study for tests and I could finish all of my homework before school got out everyday. Because of this realization, I proceeded to degrade to the average classes for the simple fact that I could pass with flying colors without breaking a sweat. To this day I regret not taking more advanced classes and pushing myself to excel.
The problem with motivating students to excel is that they have to want to excel as well. No one stopped me from taking more basic classes and some one should have. The education system needs to be revamped so students will desire to do well without being rewarded or having their hand held through everything.
While learning from mistakes is important, I think some things are too costly to make a mistake on. Like what we are talking about here. Not taking any of these extra activities has given me a bad resume and has lost me out of many scholarships. If I had just been told about these benefits I would have done it.
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying the the school should monitor every step you take in order to make sure you do things exactly right. I'm just saying they should reveal to you what all the opportunities are, what they mean, and how they can benefit you in the future. After all that seems to be a root of the problem - a student asking themselves "what purpose does this serve me? why does it matter to my future?". It's a question that needs to be answered for students to want to try to achieve.
Students need to be pushed harder and not given an easy way out in academics and extracurricular activities. In my high school I was in an AP history class and some of my friends took the regular history class because they didn't want to get a lower grade and affect their gpa. The teachers and counselors should of pushed those kids to try the class instead of going into the regular history class and not trying to excel. If students do not have a goal or expectation in a class then the student has no motivation to try and push themselves. Teachers should push students in sports instead of giving them passes and let them slack off in classes.
ReplyDeleteIn sports at my high school basketball was what every student and teacher lived for because thats what the town was known for and my senior year for example I was on the basketball team and i had a teammate who was in behavioral classes and he didn't try at all and was still passing to play basketball. I blame the teachers for not making the kid sit out and make the student try and challenge himself. The student had no motivation because he knew after high school there was nothing for him to do because he wasn't going to do anything with his life. Why do the teachers let students do below par work when they could do something.
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DeleteI agree that teachers and high school faculty members should encourage students to do well and exceed. In my high school we only had to take 2 years of science to graduate. Many of the kids in my grade decided not to go to a 4-year university that would require more science so that they could only take two years and be done. They could take the easy foods or shop classes instead. Towards the end of first semester of senior year, many of them were kicking themselves because they changed their minds about going to a 4-year school and were unable to even apply because they didn't reach the requirements. If teachers and faculty would have pushed those students more and made them think about the future, many of them would have been able to get into the bigger 4-year universities.
ReplyDeleteI would agree with some of the blog that you posted, first I feel that you are absolutely right when you state that kids should exceed the standards that teachers set and not just to meet them. But, I happen to disagree with the statement you made about the school system needing to push the student to excel or join extracurricular activities such as sports, band, ect because it would look good on a resume. Those activities are not specifically aimed towards kids only for resumes and scholarships. They are intended to be activities for kids that enjoy those outside activities to stay in shape, socialize, and later in life to excel in that area to possibly help them in their future. The schools offer other programs that aren't all physical such as clubs like art, yearbook, thespians, ect. I feel that the school (even SIUE) give you the opportunity (through flyers, announcements, ect) to be involved in which ever club, sport, or extracurricular activity you want to be in and to be yourself. You just have to know who you are and what you excel in or where your interest lie, through common sense, to know what type of social network you want to spend your time in. I feel that the majority of kids have steered past these extracurricular activities thus making our national average of television watching to 5 hours a day. People are and do become lazy, they give excuses to do absolutely nothing, become unmotivated due to there own stresses in life, or just by their own lack of want.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I think the use of words “prepping a student, rather than just letting us float through” is a strong statement that many agree on. When a child is pushed farther and farther everyday he/she will go farther in life. This can be seen in not only education but also in sports and just life in general. I also believe this must be enforced before the child is set to lazy ways. For example when I was young my mom always expected the house to be clean when she came home from work, this was always done, and the rewards always present. On the other hand, when taking the expectation of a goal being met there is a loss of hard work. Because when I moved away for the first week I wouldn’t clean and it became a nasty environment. I made my own rewards of living in a stress free environment after I cleaned which pushed me to clean again. I think this is a good example of how kids react to knowing there expiations but also knowing there rewards. In school kids are always reminded that there reward for hard work will be there in money, either with scholarships or a high paying job.
ReplyDeleteIt is schools responsibility to prep the student to do well and exceed their expectations. Keeping that in mind, they are not the only ones that should do that. Parents need to get their children in that mindset too. Students need to be in the mindset that they should put in effort to do well in school. So parents need to push their children and keep an environment that if they work hard they can achieve greatly.Once parents and teachers keep trying to put them in this mindset then in the end it will become a habit and it will be easier for them to do it in the future and keep putting effort.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree, I think that the school and the faculty should let students know that there are so many opportunities that you can take advantage of if you exceed in class or do extra curricular activities. Usually teachers just let the students float on by as long as they do the minimum but I think that it is time for the teachers to tell their students that the better you do in school, the better chance you'll have of getting into the school of your dreams and getting a good job in the future. Maybe if the teachers showed more motivation then the students would start to do better in class and believe in themselves. Instead of just doing the bare minimum they would excel in courses because they know that they have a great future ahead of them.
ReplyDeleteI agree that the school should prep the students for the "real world" and not let them just float by. Some teachers show no interest in really getting to know the students and are just their to strictly teach them the material and go along about their day. Once the students see that the teacher doesn't really care about them, some may get disrespectful, or simply quit doing their work altogether. Teachers have to care about their students learning and encourage them and show the students they can do it and they believe in them.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Students should leave the classroom with not only knowledge of the subject but also how to apply concepts learned in real world situations. I was one of the "over-achieving" students because I was pushed to be by my parents, myself, and some teachers. Most teachers did not push students though. If more teachers pushed students to go beyond what was expected, then the student will have a better chance of having the knowledge and being prepared for the real world.
ReplyDeleteI see a great debate developing here. Keep it up!
ReplyDeleteIt seems the debate in question stems from two views of education: 1.) It's the school's/teacher's/system's responsibility to push students to do more and to enforce higher standards (not just in the classroom; 2.) It's the student's/parents' responsibility to enforce the best outcomes. It's tough predicting the future in High School, and many of you have observed how with age/more experience, your career or life choices begin to change.
I think many of you point to some areas of concern for students growing up today. Lance, you mentioned that by doing what was required of you, it now seems like not enough. Others have mentioned that by doing too much, it seemed fruitless, or led to too much unneeded stress. But with both of those ideas in mind, it seems that students need some better direction from those who can see what the end result will yield.