This past Wednesday, I attended an articulation meeting at a college by my school. We actually did have a lot to do since the curriculum did not improve and that some of the college courses were more or less of the same thing from last year. It has always been a pleasure to attend these types of professional development because it gives me the opportunity to talk to colleges professors and see what they expect our students to know before they get to them. I was glad to see that what I am teaching does really prepare the students for the next level if they do take the subject seriously on top of their core subject classes and that is where my concern comes into play. I always knew of a high dropout rate in college but to learn that the students coming from my school system and others from another county which I would not name are just not prepared for college. The professor was expressing his disappointment at the students' lack of work ethics, absences, study habit and on top of everything , the freshmen are very poor in problem solving skills, maths and writing.
As we continue the conversation I could just see the future for some of kids who struggle with in class on daily basis; those kids who everything to given to them, those want free points or somebody to do the work for them. I know somebody will tell me that if I teach them right , they should be able to do it themselves and become independent learners but we dealing with a generation of kids who want everything free and anybody can argue that but the reality is that they are more and more high school students who cannot read, write and spell properly at their grade level. What happened to those when failing was not an option?
Nowadays, you have students joking about failing a test, not studying for an exam, not worrying about a failing score.
My friends, we are in trouble>>>>>>>>..
Yavo,
ReplyDeleteDo not lose hope. We must continue to train our students for success. The articulation agreement can work but only if we plan.
As for our students, we can only continue to encourage them. It is an up hill battle, but it can be won.
Yavo-
ReplyDeleteI understand your frustration? I think one major problem is that educators allow the students to use calculators in the classroom starting in elementary school. By allowing them to use the calculators, the students never learn to problem solve - they are always handed the information. Let me clarify, I do think that advanced science and math classes should be allowed to use the calculator, but not algebra!
My students writing skills are lacking and I'm not quite sure what to do about it. I give so many points for spelling and grammar on each project and most lose those points because they do not proofread their own work. How do we make them care about their work?