Education Has Fallen Off The Track

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news but the reality of life is not every-one is going to college when they leave high school. If this statement is really true then why does education deal with everyone like they’re college material? I graduated from high school almost forty years ago.

When I was a student there were three courses of study that I could take. The first course was college prep; this provided some challenging classes that got you ready for the rigors of college. The second course was business. This prepared students for the business world and exposed students to things like Junior Achievement, and a club called Future Business Leaders of America. (FBLA) The third course of study was general studies. This was a hodgepodge of courses that was like a high school liberal arts program.

I graduated from the eighth grade and it was recommended by my eighth grade teachers that I be placed in a general studies program. I didn’t choose general studies I was placed in it. I took just about any classes I wanted, from college prep classes to general classes, and I did fine. I really wasn’t college material, but I got accepted into a state school and received a college diploma. I still haven’t figured out what was so horrible about a group of teachers recommending that I be placed into a course of studies that was based on my abilities.

The world of education has gotten away from something that was very common many years ago, and that’s called tracking. There were always two or three classes in every grade that addressed the individual needs of students who needed to be challenged, and the needs of students who needed extra help. The groups were never co-mingled because the instruction would be too hard for some of the students and not hard enough for other students. Somewhere along the way someone came up with idea that tracking kids had a negative affect on their self esteem, so it was decided that all students should be placed in the same classroom in order to receive the same instruction. This was supposed to improve the way a child felt about himself as a student. It would make him feel smarter.

Nothing could be further from the truth. Students who have difficulty and who are placed in a classroom with kids who are more academically advanced than them are always trying to figure out why they can’t do the same work as the smarter kids. In simple terms they start to wonder, why am I so dumb? The other challenge is for the teacher who has to spend an obscene amount of time working with the slower students, while the more advanced students may be left to work by themselves.

The idea that all students can learn at the same pace and in the same classroom is flawed and, believe it or not, has become a huge money maker for those who have been smart enough to take advantage of this movement. Differentiated Instruction, Multiple Intelligence, and Inclusion strategies are all programs that have been born out of the idea that all students should be heterogeneously grouped. These programs were developed and sold to colleges and public schools as a ruse to convince educators that this type of education works for all students.

Once the decision is made to implement the program thousands of dollars have to be spent in teacher training so the teachers understand the process. This just puts more stress on the teacher and gets them more concerned about the means of educating their students and not the end which is have the students mastered the material that was taught.

The developers of these programs make their money, but it is costly to the school districts that choose to use them as well. Most elementary classes today have two and maybe three teachers present in one room in order to work with the varying levels of the students. One teacher in the room may only work with 4 or 5 students. This same teacher could work with 20 students if the students were tracked. Districts pay thousands of dollars more in teacher salaries by hiring one teacher to work with a very small number of students. Many students are not prepared for or capable of some rigorous form of education that does nothing but constantly frustrate them academically.

During the last 40 years, I have witnessed the dismantling of industrial arts shops that were used to introduce students to carpentry, electronics, metal work, auto mechanics, and even home repair. These shops were dismantled in order to make room for huge computer labs, additional classroom space. One district used the space for a weight room for the football team. Does anyone need a carpenter an electrician or a plumber anymore? Better yet does anyone know what they charge? These are fine careers that pay a handsome salary.

Education has even moved away from shared time programs that train and apprentice students for careers that society needs to support the economy. The Voc-Tech programs as they’re called seemed to focus more on technical aspect than on the vocational. The majority of these programs have rigorous acceptance requirements and works with the students who have the ability to perform scholastically. The balance of these programs work with students who are cognitively impaired and provide a setting similar to that of a sheltered workshop of the 1970’s and 80’s.

The vocational schools are not providing enough training for those students who truly want to become trained carpenters, plumbers, and electricians. The real tragedy of the situation is that there are students who want to become master tradesmen. In order for them to accomplish their goal they must enroll in post secondary programs at their cost and spend another two or three years in training in order to do something that could have otherwise been provided at the high school level.

I have a wonderful brother in law who is a master tradesman and can do anything from carpentry to plumbing, and electrical work. He operates heavy machinery, installs gas tanks and pumps, and is a demolition expert. He can do anything. He is now 65 years old and continues to work at his crafts. I know that he didn’t go to college. He learned many different trades as a young man by doing the work himself and by working with other people. I know he was definitely smart enough to go to college but as he was growing up it may not have been his first choice. He chose to learn a trade or should I say many trades. He learned to do the jobs that not everyone could do or wanted to do.

Everyone is not cut out to go to college, or to even be in a classroom with kids who are. I don’t know what my home would look like if I didn’t have a handyman. I also don’t know how long my car would keep running if I didn’t have a trained mechanic. My brother in law doesn’t have to worry about these things because he can fix and repair and build. The other thing that my brother in law doesn’t have to worry about is money because he is a millionaire.

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Revenge: The Greatest Motivator

Why is it that every time a school shooting occurs that everyone who knows or knew the perpetrator identifies him/her as a troubled person who was reclusive and exhibited all manner of anti social behavior? Never fails. Here are some of the comments that have been made about Adam Lanza the perpetrator who entered Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown Connecticut and opened fire on December 15, 2012 killing 26 people, 20 of them were children.

“Adam Lanza has been a weird kid since we were five years old,” said Tim Dalton, a neighbor and former classmate, on Twitter. “As horrible as this was, I can’t say I am surprised.”

“This was a deeply disturbed kid,” a family insider said. “He certainly had major issues. He was subject to outbursts from what I recall.”

A further family friend said he had acted as though he was immune to pain.

“A few years ago when he was on the baseball team, everyone had to be careful that he didn’t fall because he could get hurt and not feel it,” said the friend. “Adam had a lot of mental problems.”

“It was almost painful to have a conversation with him, because he felt so uncomfortable,” said Olivia DeVivo, who sat behind him in English. “I spent so much time in my English class wondering what he was thinking.”

“He didn’t fit in with the other kids.” “He was very, very shy. He wouldn’t look you in the eyes when he talked. He didn’t really want to lock eyes with you for very long.”

It’s almost as if everybody knows, but nobody cares, or maybe they do care but really don’t know what to do. They continue to walk amongst us being spoken about as weird by neighbors and family members who wish they could take a peak into their secret life and discover what conclusions they have drawn about life. Who or what are they angry at, and what measures will they take to get even with the world maybe for just being born.

Revenge: the greatest motivator known to mankind. It’s been around since Cain and Abel affecting those who have been victimized by life, either physically, emotionally, or mentally. The problem is the victims get even with the wrong people.According to the United States Secret Service since 1999 thirty seven of the school shootings that have occurred have been carried out by those who were victims of bullying.

Bullies are motivated and driven by power, victims are motivated by revenge. Victims are compilers. They compile information about people who have victimized them and about their inabilities to speak or act with confidence. They do this until their cup just plain runs over. The pain has to go somewhere which is why after the victim exacts his revenge he/she will usually take their own life.

“There’s something happening here. What it is ain’t exactly clear. There’s a man with a gun over there. Telling me I’ve got to beware.”  For What It’s Worth – Buffalo Springfield

A Unit Plan On Respect

A Unit Plan On Responsibility

A Unit Plan On Resilience

Motivating Disaffected and Hard To Handle Students

 

Don’t Let The Past Remind Us

The past is the past, right? Wrong. The past can and will dictate the future if we allow ourselves to be measured based on our failures rather than our successes. Let’s face it. We all have failed or fallen short from time to time. Just because we have failed does not mean we are a failure. It just means we did the best with what we knew at the time. Parents can do this once they take a look at the lifestyle or the behavior of their grown children. If you are a parent, take heart: you did your best with the information you had in the process of raising your children. If you are a teacher and have had your share of problems and headaches and feel like the funds are low and the debts are high, don’t look back. Don’t drive while looking in the rear view mirror; you will hit a future tree. Gandhi once said, “Be the change we wish to see in the world.” What changes do you want? A kinder and gentler place for kids to come, have fun, and learn? Realize that you are the one that has the capacity to facilitate the change. Have you goofed up in the past? So what? The past is the past, so please don’t ever let it remind you of what you are now. Let the past remind you of what the future holds when you finally let go.

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Be Complimentary To Your Fellow Teachers

It is always nice to receive compliments, but sometimes we need to ask ourselves, “how free are we with compliments toward others?” Teachers as a group can be very stingy with complimenting other teachers. It is as if teachers think that by complimenting another teacher, they will be diminishing their own worth. Get into the habit of paying a professional compliment to someone each day. We all need to be affirmed and recognized for our efforts. Just think about how good you feel when someone pays you a compliment, and give another teacher the opportunity to experience the same good feeling. How does this help stop bullying? It is all in the example and attitudes we set. Our students will notice and be freer with compliments themselves.

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