High School

[travelerjp98]

Well, tomorrow (technically later today for me) is it... my first day as a freshman.
I am not nervous at all.... just excited.
I'm going to the Downingtown Stem Academy, a public magnet school that I had to apply to - wrote essays, got recommendations and all. Its really a well known school. Bentley systems, inc. even has an engineering lab inside of it. The school is in a beautifully restored old building.
They even give each person their own MacBook, which, along with a cell phone and basically anything else you want to... are free to carry around with you each day. So, yes, it is a truely different experience. But... I'm having a bit of trouble falling asleep tonight anyways. It is, after all, still, a step in life. For me at least.

 

[flower]

Oh to be young again....

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by travelerjp98 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489777
Well, tomorrow (technically later today for me) is it... my first day as a freshman.
I am not nervous at all.... just excited.
I'm going to the Downingtown Stem Academy, a public magnet school that I had to apply to - wrote essays, got recommendations and all. Its really a well known school. Bentley systems, inc. even has an engineering lab inside of it. The school is in a beautifully restored old building.
They even give each person their own MacBook, which, along with a cell phone and basically anything else you want to... are free to carry around with you each day. So, yes, it is a truely different experience. But... I'm having a bit of trouble falling asleep tonight anyways. It is, after all, still, a step in life. For me at least.
Well, glad you got into a good school. That's neat that they provide laptops. Most schools are still in the dark ages when it comes to technology. You got lucky.
Even though your going to a high class public school, don't expect everyone there to be as mature as you are. Remember where you come from, keep your chin up and your nose clean and you'll do fine.

 

[morgan175]

Snake my daughters class just received I pad 3's for the whole class and she is in the fifth grade. But I think the teachers dont teach anymore just put the class on computer and play facebook.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by morgan175 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489796
Snake my daughters class just received I pad 3's for the whole class and she is in the fifth grade. But I think the teachers dont teach anymore just put the class on computer and play facebook.
Teachers are usually held to high standards these days. They all have to meet "common core" requirements - which is a Federally mandated program that all teachers have to abide by. It makes all students - anywhere in the United States be on the same lessons if they move states. There isn't really any academic freedom for teachers because lesson plans have to meet certain requirements now. Now - there is freedom in how teachers teach those lesson plans... most "survival" teachers who do the computer thing or give worksheets or make kids copy from the book are either in it for the paycheck, just don't care anymore, or are just trying to get through every day. Teachers also are "burdened" with the no child left behind act which forces mentally disabled students into a regular classroom setting - and thereby making teachers have to create separate lesson plans for EACH individual disabled student to based on their abilities to meet their requirements AND the rest of the class.
Teachers also have to deal with parents that care too much - by coddling their children at ever turn, and teachers can be sued for any little small thing that happens. It's actually a pretty high stress job and it sucks for the pay. Therefore, most teachers only teach as well as they think they are getting paid for. While others (the good ones) teach because they like to teach and don't care how much they get paid because they love their job. Those are the teachers that you want to stick around.
Some teachers actually teach and love their jobs. For example, my wife. AND - I am going to be a teacher as soon as I finish my degree. My pay as a teacher will be significantly higher then what I have made most of my life, however I'm going into teaching because I am passionate about it... not because of the salary.

 

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by morgan175 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489796
Snake my daughters class just received I pad 3's for the whole class and she is in the fifth grade. But I think the teachers dont teach anymore just put the class on computer and play facebook.
This thought process is what is wrong with the world today. You really think that teachers sit and play on their Facebook all day?? How many more credit hours did your job make you have to take just to stay employed?? Teachers across the country have to take continuing education (at their own expense mind you!!) just to keep their job. They often bring work home with them just to keep up with the work load. Not to mention the growing class sizes in schools, or the number of students that have some sort of impairment that are streamlined in each class. I am not saying that the system or each teacher is perfect... Sometimes the kids that don't need special one on one help don't get it, BUT that is because the are understanding it!!. The teacher sees them as being able to succeed without special attention. Now this means that they don't teach?? Hey, maybe you have had a bad experience with a really bad teacher that really is not good. But for the most part I refuse to believe the profession of teachers just babysit for 8 hours a day with their nose buried in their smart phone on FB.
How many parents are taking time each day to sit with their kids and go over every piece of their homework? Or shoot, even read to their kids each day??
Maybe you meant that they are using unconventional means to teach things to kids??

 

[snakeblitz33]

Parents pretty much use the education system to babysit their kids and expect teachers to do all of the work. It also takes a lot of parent involvement to teach their kids as well. Because if the parents dont value an education, neither will their children in most circumstances.
Dick, im not trying to attack you by any means. I am just stating my opinion. I am going to be a Biology teacher soon enough, and to think that my job has been reduced to "playing on Facebook" is deplorable.

 

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489812
Parents pretty much use the education system to babysit their kids and expect teachers to do all of the work. It also takes a lot of parent involvement to teach their kids as well. Because if the parents dont value an education, neither will their children in most circumstances.
Dick, im not trying to attack you by any means. I am just stating my opinion. I am going to be a Biology teacher soon enough, and to think that my job has been reduced to "playing on Facebook" is deplorable.
+1
I am not trying to attack at all either. Teaching can be a very subtle art, and I think sometimes it comes off as nonchalant. But there are bad teachers out there just like one might have bad coworkers. For the most part I feel that teachers work very hard (and I feel that they are not paid what they're worth).
I had a history teacher in 11 grade and we watched a documentary almost everyday. At the time I thought that this older teacher was just mailing it in. But looking back, a lot of the documentaries and shows he showed I still remember and that helps have a good grasp on the history he was teaching.

 

[snakeblitz33]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sweatervest13 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489818
+1
I am not trying to attack at all either. Teaching can be a very subtle art, and I think sometimes it comes off as nonchalant. But there are bad teachers out there just like one might have bad coworkers. For the most part I feel that teachers work very hard (and I feel that they are not paid what they're worth).
I had a history teacher in 11 grade and we watched a documentary almost everyday. At the time I thought that this older teacher was just mailing it in. But looking back, a lot of the documentaries and shows he showed I still remember and that helps have a good grasp on the history he was teaching.
Effective teaching can come from all forms of medium. I'm not a really big fan of long doctumentary videos in the classroom, but short snippets of videos that you can not easily recreate in a classroom setting ... for example, an experiment of what happens when you put a good chunk of Sodium in water.
I believe that there have been some rumblings going on about paying teachers based upon how well their students do on standardized tests. Has anyone else heard anything more about this? I don't think it's a fair evaluation of how effective you are as a teacher based upon the bell curve of intellects in the classroom.

 

[sweatervest13]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489822
Effective teaching can come from all forms of medium. I'm not a really big fan of long doctumentary videos in the classroom, but short snippets of videos that you can not easily recreate in a classroom setting ... for example, an experiment of what happens when you put a good chunk of Sodium in water.
I believe that there have been some rumblings going on about paying teachers based upon how well their students do on standardized tests. Has anyone else heard anything more about this? I don't think it's a fair evaluation of how effective you are as a teacher based upon the bell curve of intellects in the classroom.
If that were the case I would want to pick the area that I worked if I were a teacher. LOL. Some areas have smarter kids. LOL.

 

[dragonzim]

Teachers here in NY, and specifically on Long Island, get paid ridiculous salaries. Not uncommon for them to start at around 40K-50K and get 10% guarenteed raises every single year. I personally know a number of teachers who get insane pay.... High school gym teacher with about 10 years experience making about 100K. Middle school history teacher making 110K and the best is an elementary school music teacher making 90K. The teachers union in this part of the country is a bunch of thugs and is the main reason why our property taxes are insanely high. I pay almost 9K in taxes a year and a little more than half of that goes to the school system.

 

[reefraff]

When I was in high school we had a lot more teachers phoning it in than really trying to teach. I think the fact it was the 70's and we were in the wash of a lot of crap that happened in the 60's had a lot to do with it.

 

[bionicarm]

Quote:
Originally Posted by SnakeBlitz33 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489822
Effective teaching can come from all forms of medium. I'm not a really big fan of long doctumentary videos in the classroom, but short snippets of videos that you can not easily recreate in a classroom setting ... for example, an experiment of what happens when you put a good chunk of Sodium in water.
I believe that there have been some rumblings going on about paying teachers based upon how well their students do on standardized tests. Has anyone else heard anything more about this? I don't think it's a fair evaluation of how effective you are as a teacher based upon the bell curve of intellects in the classroom.
Texas leads the bandwagon on "teaching the test". We started with this TAKS teat, and wehen my daughters were in elementary and middle school, 90% of the curriculum taught were these copies of previous year's TAKS test. I know several teachers from elementary to high school, and all of them tell me that their performance reviews are based on the passing rates of the standardized test. It's the typical "%^$% rolls downhill" effect. The school district is told by the State that their annual budgets are based on the results of the test, the district tells the principal of the school that their job performance is based on the test, and the principal tells the teachers the same thing. Meanwhile, the kids sit around dazed and confused, waiting for to get the same information regurgitated a hundred times. Parents have constantly complained about this ridiculous system, and last year the State changed the exiting requirements of all graduating high school seniors starting with the new Freshman class. They went from TAKS to STAAR. TAKS used to require the high school student to pass 5 tests in the major areas - reading, English Language Arts, Science, Math, and Social Studies. Now with STAAR, it's 12 - English I, English II, English III, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, Biology, Chemistry, Physics
World Geography, World History, U.S. History. One of the biggest controversies with this new test is the State mandated that each of these tests must be 15% of the students final grade for the respective course. Fail the test, you're likely to fail the class. Last year when this was first implkemented, 30% of the Freshman statewide failed the English Writing Exam of the test. If you fail any of the tests, you must re-take the test prior to the start of the next school year, or you don't get promoted to the next grade. My school district had to spend over $200,000 this summer keeping school's open, and scrambling to find teacher who could teach "cram sessions" to all the Freshmen kids who failed this test, so they could retake the exam and hopefully pass it in order to be promoted to the next grade.

 

[bionicarm]

Quote:
Originally Posted by DragonZim http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489825
Teachers here in NY, and specifically on Long Island, get paid ridiculous salaries. Not uncommon for them to start at around 40K-50K and get 10% guarenteed raises every single year. I personally know a number of teachers who get insane pay.... High school gym teacher with about 10 years experience making about 100K. Middle school history teacher making 110K and the best is an elementary school music teacher making 90K. The teachers union in this part of the country is a bunch of thugs and is the main reason why our property taxes are insanely high. I pay almost 9K in taxes a year and a little more than half of that goes to the school system.
That's good to hear. My daughter is studying to be a Elementary school teacher, and she's stated that once she gets 3 - 5 years of teaching experience, she plans to move up to the NY area to teach there.

 

[dragonzim]

Quote:
Originally Posted by bionicarm http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489832
That's good to hear. My daughter is studying to be a Elementary school teacher, and she's stated that once she gets 3 - 5 years of teaching experience, she plans to move up to the NY area to teach there.
Make sure she really studies the job market first. Not too many teaching jobs right now and teachers have been getting laid off because the majority of the taxpayers are sick of the system and most school budgets get voted down the first time around. I am one of them... I, and many others like me, see no reason whatsoever that an elementary music teacher or a gym teacher should be making 6 figures...

 

[reefraff]

We should can the department of education which causes far more problems than creates solutions. Congress should come up with national standards and leave it up to states how to best meet them. I personally don't believe a child should see a computer in any classroom except a specific computer science class at least until middle school. They are an important tool but no substitute for the ability to think.

 

[bionicarm]

Quote:
Originally Posted by reefraff http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489847
We should can the department of education which causes far more problems than creates solutions. Congress should come up with national standards and leave it up to states how to best meet them. I personally don't believe a child should see a computer in any classroom except a specific computer science class at least until middle school. They are an important tool but no substitute for the ability to think.
That's what No Child Left Behind did. Each state is responsible for coming up with a "measuring device" in which to guage their students educational progress. The Texas test isn't the same as the Illinois test, or Missouri test,...
Computers and technology are an inevitability in today's world. You practically can do nothing today without having a simplistic knowlege of computers and other technilogical devices. Back in the early 70's, you were considered privileged if you owned a scientific calculator. We're heading into the age of The Jetsons. If a kid doesn't have the knowledge or understanding of how to use a computer by the time they're 6, they're falling behind.

 

[reefraff]

Quote:
Originally Posted by bionicarm http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489861
That's what No Child Left Behind did. Each state is responsible for coming up with a "measuring device" in which to guage their students educational progress. The Texas test isn't the same as the Illinois test, or Missouri test,...
Computers and technology are an inevitability in today's world. You practically can do nothing today without having a simplistic knowlege of computers and other technilogical devices. Back in the early 70's, you were considered privileged if you owned a scientific calculator. We're heading into the age of The Jetsons. If a kid doesn't have the knowledge or understanding of how to use a computer by the time they're 6, they're falling behind.
Teaching kids how to use a computer is a lot different than having them use that computer to do their English or Math lessons.
I am talking a national standard. All kids should be able to do multiplication tables by the end of the 3rd grade. How they reach that goal is up to them but at the end of the year they should know what 12x12 equals. Every state should have the same standard but should be allowed to use their own method of reaching it.

 

[sweatervest13]

In my area they have stopped teaching cursive hand writing (and I thought it is everywhere, but I am not sure).
Give it 20 years or so and not many under 30 will know how to read or write in cursive.
Who would have thought that they were learning a secrete code when they were in 4th grade?

 

[reefraff]

Quote:
Originally Posted by sweatervest13 http:///t/392778/high-school#post_3489873
In my area they have stopped teaching cursive hand writing (and I thought it is everywhere, but I am not sure).
Give it 20 years or so and not many under 30 will know how to read or write in cursive.
Who would have thought that they were learning a secrete code when they were in 4th grade?

People haven't been able to read my cursive writing in over 40 years