How true! Mr. Gallagher really hit the nail on the head with this one when he wrote,
We would never buy a book at Barnes and Noble if it came with mandated chapter-by-chapter exams. We would never read a book so that we could tackle worksheets afterward. We would never being a new read with the expressed goal of earning points. And we would never feel compelled to read if we had to complete a project after ever book. Yet, as teachers, we do all of these things to developing readers. We subject them repeatedly to treatments that are counterproductive to developing book lovers. (page 72-73).
How true! And, we do this with so much more than just reading. We bore students to death with standardized tests, multiple choice this and standards that and we are fully surprised to learn they hate school! Instead, we need to appeal to students and meet them where they are. In fact, I loved Mr. Gallagher's idea of assessment. I enjoyed reading Mr. Gallagher's idea of one page papers - yes, accountability is important, but it doesn't have to be boring. Why can't we just let students tell us whats going on? Instead of always quizzing, testing, questioning, etc. - why can't we just let them tell us what they know in an informal kind of way?
And, then, here's another point - on the way to school this morning, I was disheartened to hear President Obama's take on the educational system. To paraphrase Obama, our students are not performing as well as other countries. So, to fix the problem, he suggests a mandated additional month of school. Wait a minute - to me, this idea further promotes everything we as educators are striving to fight against. Why make students who hate school and perform poorly in school continue to attend for an additional month - its school-i-cide.
Instead of systematically killing the love of learning, let's revamp the school system we have now. Let's quit asking teachers to teach the test and quiz and question students into boredom. Instead, let's allow students an opportunity to TRULY learn and to develop a love of learning. Only when students desire to learn - will they actually learn. Just like only when students desire to read will they actually read... and get something out of it. We should not bully students into reading. And, we should not bully students into school. There is a right way and a wrong way to educate. And, unfortunately, many of our practices now are pushing students further away from reading and further away from school.
I agree with your insights and reactions. It is going to take teachers, though, to convince policy makers of the need for change. So, how can you work against the systematic killing of learning (I agree it goes beyond reading) in your classroom? It is difficult to work within, yet against the testing culture. However, Gallagher seems to offer ways in his discipline. What might that look like in math?
ReplyDeleteOh dear. I have not heard any of this about Obama and the extra month, but I agree so much that more time is not the answer. Obviously, what we're doing with the time given now is not working... maybe we should reconsider our time management and teach into a subject deeper than the ability to regurgitate facts in multiple guess format.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many methods I'd like to implement to develop understanding than cover facts in science... it would build a foundation for future education in science, and promote interest in the subject (from better activities than cramming)
I totally agree with what you said about students telling us what they know in an informal way. I bet if you just asked students to tell you what they remember about a book or a chapter, you'd see that they actually got a lot more out of it than you thought. Just because they may find it difficult to answer the questions we think are important about something they read, it doesn't mean they didn't read it and that they didn't get something totally different out of what they read.
ReplyDeleteI am also amazed that Obama thinks an extra month of school is going to help our students learn. Instead of making them come to school more, we need to figure out what we can do with the time we do have to make better use of the time. I've also had students ask me why they have to have certain math when it has nothing to do with what they are interested in. It seems like some of our students are ready for the "college" stage where they pick their interests and take the associated classes. I wish they had more options in school. They'd probably be more interested if they had more options and actually felt like they had a choice in what they learned.
Amen, amen, amen.
ReplyDeleteHow are the students going to want to learn for an extra month when they don't want to learn now. You are soooooo correct when you say it is school-a-cide.
We have to find a way to make these kids want to learn. They must realize that it is imperative to their future to be somewhat educated. I try to do that now but these kids seem to think they will get by and not have to work that hard. Wait until they find out the real story.
I have to agree with everyone else posting here. I have not heard the 'extra month' idea Obama proposed. It's like our nation is only after beating other countries' standardized tests scores. We should be focusing on the actual learning, not the improvement on our test scores.
ReplyDeleteIf things continue to move in this direction, we are going to be 'educating' an entire generation that will never pick up a book to read for fun. We will have a generation of students that never want to go to college or even become teachers......
What's going to happen to the future generation of children if everyone decides education is a waste of time and not worth their effort?