Kids Graduations???
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- drgs0
I never received my kindergarten diploma
- bjladams0
haha - when I graduated high school and walked across the stage, I was given an empty sleeve while my real one was locked away in the school safe... due to a prank pulled earlier the same day. I took me 2 weeks of groundwork to get it back.
- orrinward20
Often I find myself at odds with what albums says, but he's always putting sentences together coherently.
It's such a good sign of a weak argument when someone starts insulting the language used rather than the topics discussed.
I think there are merits on both sides. Reward should be given based on an individuals accomplishments beyond what is expected of them - A weaker student who improves should be praised just as much as a strong student who gets top in the class.
It does seem a bit defeatist to hold a ceremony simply for getting through every step of academia though.
I enjoyed my secondary school and University graduations a lot, but it was because it was a send-off from an establishment, not progress through a single year.
- locustsloth0
Here's the thing about all that, albums, and maybe i'm misinterpreting you, so correct me if i'm wrong.
There are those who believe that each child should be taught to their ability and given the opportunity to grow and learn as much as their ability allows them. This means being given an ample amount of attention and resources from those who mete out the child's education. Ideally this would result in individuals who succeed to their highest potential, without sacrificing the needs of those who require as much or more attention, but don't produce the same results.
And there are those who believe in what could be called educational Darwinism. The smart survive and move on, the rest are someone else's problem.
The tone that started this thread sounds more like the latter. "Why are we congratulating these kids, they didn't do anything special?!" And while it's true that they didn't do anything out of the ordinary and, as you pointed out, they are merely taught to the test, this sort of celebration is often the only kind of bone they can throw these kids. It's an ineffective bone, for the most part, and a cheap tool on the part of the education system, but it works for some kids. Some enjoy being lauded for accomplishing something and that compels them to want to achieve again and more.
Year-end celebrations/graduations aren't what is bringing the education standard down, it's lack of funding and lack of participation on the side of the parents. There is no way to provide children the education they need if the system is built in a one-size-fits all manner and evaluated on that basis. But because it is, for the most part, that way and politicians have hung price tags on those homogenized evaluations, we're not going to get anywhere.
Not to mention the cynicism of parents (much like the cynicism that started this thread) who don't want to pay more in taxes for their child's education. Every year my son's school cuts positions, yet that doesn't make the school better or more streamlined or more efficient. It just further taxes the staff that are there,making them less effective.
In conclusion, it costs money and time to educate a child the way that they each, individually, need to be taught in order to entice them and excite them about learning. If all schools can afford to give them is a congratulations on filling the requirements, i hardly think it's a problem and certainly not worthy of the cynical fervor in this thread.
- albums0
My experience from the woman I work with that I mentioned earlier & others that I have met through her is that the administration is not concerned with education as they are state assessment scores. The reason she pulls double duty as a librarian is that her administrator fired the last woman that had the position to save money replacing her with a college student looking for a job. This new woman is not aware of what it takes to manage a library including selecting and acquiring reading materials. this story could go on, but without someone trained as an educator in a library, a lot can go wrong because little is taught and it becomes a playground not a study space.
As far as my friend who teaches on base, he hates the parents, they come to the teachers complaining of behavior problems that should be dealt with at home. So instead of actually helping children develop, we spends his time disciplining in front of the other children.
As far as tutoring and latchkey and babysitting of children by schools, this is a for profit system now with teachers moonlighting after hours to cover cost of living, the concern is teaching as much as filling the schedule, most of these programs in my area have penalties of $5/minute if you're more than 5 minutes late. the reason the child is in this service anyway is usually because both parents work and are unable to be there for their children immediately after school.
In the past two years of helping these schools, I've decided that most parents think the teachers are supposed to teach, discipline, & nurture while most teachers hate their administration because there is no money for them, their programs, or more teachers.
When i say programs are cut I mean important ones, ones that do separate the more gifted kids from the challenged ones. The elementary school I mentioned earlier that I attended used to have this funding. I remember the mentally challenged kids in helmets trying to make it at their own speed, but they had their own teachers and were separated into different rooms when lessons changed as to not disturb class. I took gifted classed there where we got to dissect a frog and a cat with a guest that explained things to us. Last I heard that that program had been gone for years.
In today's schools in the same area, those students are a burden in the system now because the means to care for them while educating them has been removed. This is a trend I hear more about than see but could easily see it tomorrow if I hit up the elementary school again and ask how to help.
Personally, I blame the parents for the issue of disrespect and not giving the necessary attention needed, not the schools only because children are a choice and not a requirement. i feel bad for children that are born into families that have excuses for their inattentive parenting.
I blame the school system for nickel & diming teachers until they were broke with no resources except their own finances to pull from leaving them with no real options to confront the diversity of students.
I feel it's a system of blame that has teachers sadly and against their will hustling kids through school knowing they haven't absorbed the material but continue to do so to keep the available funding coming in for their own school therefore paycheck.
Education starts at home, a toddler at 2 is a sponge capable of absorbing multiple languages, mathematical concepts, and is developing motor skills that can be applied to musical instruments. if you're a parent or guardian that leaves the responsibility and task of educating your child on the schedule of public schooling, you have no right to complain your child is performing as you'd hoped in the classroom.
- no right to complain your child is *NOT performingalbums
- drgs0
Discuss
- PonyBoy0
My Mom's a principal at a private K-12 school in California (she's taught at all levels but currently handles teenagers—primarily seniors)... they've learned to focus on kids individually and 'congratulating them' one-by-one when they -actually deserve it-... the classes are kept to minimum amount of students to 'facilitate optimum learning.'
I know it's not possible to do this with a public school setting as class sizes can be overwhelming and some children slip through the cracks... .. but the truth is that kids need to be taught at their own speed / pace sometimes which means spending time w/them on an individual level...
... here's some bullet points from the school's main philosophies:
"• Education tailored to meet each child’s unique needs.
• Small class sizes facilitate optimum learning.
• Core academic subjects are emphasized.
• Self-discipline and personal responsibility are encouraged in each child.
• Acknowledging education can be fun by never losing sight of the joy of childhood.
• Allowing each child exciting forms of self-expression through instruction in art, music, and drama."The most important point (in my opinion) is: "Self-discipline and personal responsibility are encouraged in each child."
Making kids accountable from the start is more reward than some silly graduation, cookies and lemonade... treat a child individually and hold them accountable. This builds self esteem far more than some bullshit participation trophy or silly 'graduation' for each year they skimmed by...
... what good is a grade-by-grade diploma if the kid can barely read it?
- Amicus0
I wrote a long post, but decided to keep it simple.
Kids need rewards and goals, sure, but they also need to know there are also consequences if they don't achieve them.