How will we, as future teachers, engage students in learning who really don’t care about their education? What if our pay increases depended on the results of our classes standardized testing? My daughter is in the tenth grade and I received the following email from her English teacher. I know a lot of kids just don’t care about their grades, and teachers can only do so much, but I could really sense this teachers frustration in his email. My daughter completes her assignments, and said as long as you do the work, it’s easy to get an A. What is keeping the kids from doing the work? I actually observed her English class last semester with the teacher who had to fail the students. He is a fun and engaging teacher. This email got me thinking. I’ve been out of school a lot longer than most of my classmates. I would be interested to hear what some of you think. Would the use of technology engage more students in learning? Or, would the same students still not care? Here is a copy of the email….I blocked out the teacher’s name.
Parents:
Well, the first two weeks of the second semester are coming to a close. The beginning of the second semester is the opportunity for your child to start over, and many of your children need this because at least 15 of them failed the first semester with Mr. ****** who told me that most of them failed because they did not follow through on assignments. And after only two weeks, I can already see this pattern with many of the same students. So far, we have nearly 85 points, and not one assignment has been
graded; all the student had to do was do the work. Unfortunately, there are students who do NOT have a A+ because they do not do the work. This is a pattern that is happening among many students because they don’t care about education. I need your help instilling, in your child, the need for an education; unfortunately, many of these student don’t care because their parents don’t take an interest in their child’s education. Hopefully, by you providing your email, we can help your child succeed.
Wow, this is so true. I was just talking to a teacher friend of mine who was using the old lead a horse to water saying. It is funny because I am working on NCLB and I really want to Bushbash on this because I think it is the teacher thing to do, like I am betraying the throng and defying the cause if I don’t. Don’t get me wrong I think it is a poor law however my research has lead me to understand that education has stuggled from the dawn of time. Somtimes I picture Eve actually telling Adam that if he does not outline a plan Cane and Able will not have a future. The other issue is that this is bipartisan. Dr. Rozema mentioned in class that the name is brillant and I agree. This whole leaving children behind would be nothing other than the work of the devil right? I am not sure. Yes I think we need to keep up with technology changes but that is something that we have had to do since before the inkwell. I find it hard to imagine that it is even possible to progress and not leave children behind. I thought the email was very intersting because it talked about parents taking a responsibility. I was just having a conversation with my husband the other day about some friends of ours. We were noticing that friends who’s parents had a business grew up to do the same, even when the parents did not hand it down or give them money, even if they were poor students. We noticed that our friends that went to college are the ones that are planning for their children’s education. We noticed that our friends that are teachers have thier children in foreign languages and honors courses along with sports progams, art and piano lessons. We also notice that people who had a poor experience in school and did not persue higher education were the same people who had children who were just plain not performing. While I realize there are exceptions to every rule I think this trend is apparent. To place this blame on the school is all good except that no school can change the priorities of families. I honestly think that the answer lies in the media. I think there needs to be a national awareness and people really need to get out and vote for what they want, along with that I think we need to have some user friendly way for parents to pair up with resources that keep them in the loop. I know that when I tell my parents who are in their sixties that my husband and I together spend up to four hours a night doing homework, instrument practice and sports activities they say ” wow, it’s really changed” AND ONE OF THEM WAS A TEACHER!! Another thing that really surprises them is the need for technology in the home, it is hard for them to understand that my fifth grader really needs the computer. I think in many cases parents do not know what to do or they do not understand the subject matter or they do not understand how competitive the world is. When a parent says that A’s and B’s are good they might well be thinking of thier day. Parents do not always realize how important it is for kids to treat school as if it were a job. I just plain do not think that their are enough resources to keep parents in the loop and this finds it’s way into the classroom. It is really hard as teachers to find the balance between apathy and reality. Very great subject!!
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