Thinking back to elementary school, even to first and second grade, school was done sitting in a desk, reciting things. We were graded on neatness and punctuality and we said the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. Even from the beginning I think the goal was to prepare me to go to college, after I passed the standardized tests each year. I’m fine with all those things. I finished high school successfully, went on to college and finished that successfully, worked on my Masters’ Degree and then had the opportunity to teach for two years in a foreign country. I feel that the schools I went to growing up had strong beliefs and academic and social beliefs and it had a positive effect on me.
I think it would be great if every public school in America had the resources and teachers it needed to be a good school. This is not the case, and until it is I think people will always have various types of schools. In areas with good public school systems I think there are fewer children attending an alternative type of school. I don’t think that there is anything wrong with the various types of schools, except that it pulls out children who could benefit the public school.
I think to make my school effective for the students I will need to find a balance. A balance between work and play, discipline and self-regulation, and the necessity to learn and the desire to learn. There are some things that are just not fun to learn, but we have to learn them anyway. Maybe there is a fun way to do it, but maybe there is not. I think that if I can find the right balance and remember that each child is an individual and everyone doesn’t learn the same way, it will be effective.
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I agree teaching is a balancing act. School can be a fun place to learn, however there is a time to be serious. School is not all just fun and games. It is important that students know that school is essential for their future well-being. It is up to the teachers to make learning fun by using different styles of teaching.
ReplyDeleteI am glad that you had a better experience in school than I did. We did have to memorize a lot of things in the school that I came up in. To me that was a lot of presure to have memorize all that information. That what made school not fun at all for me.
ReplyDeleteI think we had to memorize things, because I know the states, capitals, and presidents, but I learned them all through songs. So, while it was memorizing , it was more interesting than just repeating it. The same is true for my multiplication tables, they were raps!
ReplyDeleteI liked the way you described trying to find a balance. I think that is very important, and a good view! I think like Amanda said, learning the presidents and multiplication through 'songs' was a whole lot better than just reciting. Math was not fun for me, so anything that could be done to make that seem better was great.
ReplyDeleteThe concept of finding the right balance is a good idea. You are very correct in saying some things that we have to learn are not fun, but if a teacher can try to make them fun, it might be the perfect solution.
ReplyDeleteThat is so true about children attending an alternative school because of the smaller setting. I have worked both public, charter, and like them both very much. I have worked with children who have been home schooled for so long that when they finally enter public school, they lack social skills.
ReplyDeleteChildren need to be around people their own age and spend time together. Of course, we do not know why children are being home schooled and being in a public school setting.
I know that parents have very high expectations of teachers and the school that their child goes to. There have been too many promises broken to our parents and they only get disappointed.