Tuesday, October 13, 2009

American Government 10/13/09

In Class - Library. Work on printing or gathering your political cartoons for your project due on Thursday, October 29. You need 50, dating no later than January 2009. Also, remember you need a citation (author's name and where you found the cartoon) for each political cartoon.

Homework - None. However, extra credit is due by Friday, October 16. See the posting from Friday (10/09/09).

Question of the Week (due by Friday, 11:59 pm) - Read the following article and respond to the question. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/33277470/ns/us_news-education/

Considering all of the arguments against NCLB and state testing, how can teachers motivate students to perform well in school, be held accountable for their education, and perform well on these standardized tests?

51 comments:

khoapaulvo said...

There are several ways that the educators can get students to study, get students responsible, and get great standardized test scores. Tohatchi Elementary School seems to be the model school that does such a thing. Test scores rose from the 15%s to the 70%s. How did they do it? Simple. There are three steps. 1: They searched for every single student and found what troubles they had and decided to help them more. 2: They made education fun with "Cougar Readers" and "Math Monsters." 3: They rewarded perfect students with pizza parties. All of these would work for all schools. Find the problem, make practicing it fun, and reward the students for progress. It's a great idea that Tohatchi has proven to work.

Pedro A Maldonado said...

There are many ways for teachers to get students motivated to perform well in school and standardized tests. The method they're using at Tohatchi Elementary school seems pretty good for "elementary kids". But what we also have to consider is that there are different levels of education, for instance lets talk about high school students, i do not think they're going to get satisfied with stuff an elementary kid will. So for elementary kids that is evidently a great idea but high school teenagers certainly are a whole different story. From experience i would suggest that educators be really prepared for class, their job is to make everyone of their students understand the daily topic. If educators become a cause of inspiration for their students it is very likely for students to improve their overall performance.There should be some kind of balance between learning time and some other activity an educator may chose to do, like telling stories, jokes or anything that would help to gain their students attention/friendship/confidence. Also educators should not just teach the how and why of things but relate it to real life and make sure their students feel really confident about what they just learned, make them feel that their learning is really worth it. Personally it inspires me to walk into a classroom where i know a very smart individual is waiting for his/her students and is willing to make a difference in their lives by daily contributing to the growth of their knowledge. And like they do in Tohatchi, teachers should get to know every single of their students and their skills, that way they know what to work on the most. Now, when educators get to feel confident enough about all of their student's performance there should not be any doubt on their performance on standardized tests.

stephany said...

Teachers can do many things to inspire kids to learn. For example, creating a friendly competion is always a great way to motivate students. They could also try using their own methods of teaching. Going by the book is always less fun, students tend to doze off or stop paying attention if they are just reading a text. Involving students in the learning enviorment helps the students remeber what they learn, and if they remember it they will do so much better on the standardized test. So it would be a win win situation.
-stephany hernandez
per2

Esther said...

I disagree with Pedro when he said that the methods used at Tohatchi Elementary only work for elementary school kids. My brothers middle school used the same tactics and they raised their test scores too. One of the perks they got was their principal shaving her head. Our school used that bribe too and our test scores improved as well. There seems to be a stong corralation. Our school also used the perfect attendance raffle during the STAR testing week and there was a significant improvment in attendance. Kids like getting awarded, age doesn't matter. If schools want to improve their standerdized test scores they should recognize and award students.

Esther said...

Sometimes the answer is right infront of us. Teachers also shouldn't be fully accountable for the students score. I believe a students success starts at home.

autumnnn said...

Teachers have many options to motivate students, the question is whether or not they take the initiative and or time to do it. The options are endless, yes the prinicipal shaved his head and raffle tickets were passed out, but for me that honestly has no effect. I think the best reward was moving your grade up a letter for improved test scores. This was a long term reward that effected me tremendously. Last year i got a C in English which looked horrible on my transcript, i got advanced on my test and now that C is a B. To me this is the best reward you can recieve a second chance to correct a mistake. The chances of winning the raffle is slim, even if you deserve it. Teachers can motivate by every problem you get right is extra credit or an improved grade. Students will go to any extent to try and get some extra credit. Therefore, I think that motivation can come from rewards, fun, and passion from teachers.

mis@3l said...

There are several ways for teachers to motivate their students and get students to be responsible.teachers can make it to be competitive like the way they did it at the elementary in how who ever got the highest scores they would get pizza . i think that this works but with only elementary kids and not with highschool students.that school method also helped out the kids and school by the way that they looked for the kids that had the most trouble and in what parts and helped them out . i think that this was a great idea for the school and for the kids.

JazZy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
JazZy said...

I think there are many ways to motivate students to study. They can help students study by helping htem with what they are struggling on. they can also make studying fun by playing games with students that are educational. students will not learn anything if they are bored in class all the time. They are not gonna pay attention. All they will do is fall asleep in class or just not show up to class at all. teachers need to make the lessons more interesting and in a way entertaining. They need to do something that will get there attention and make sure the lessons are easy to understand. If students are interested they will payattention. If they pay attention and understand what they are doing then they will get better scores on the tests.


Jazmine Ramirez
per. 4

TheDeuce said...

First off, I think that the teachers need to make the students want to be there. The teachers should be able to entertain their students along with teaching them. If students are glad to be in a certain class, they will be more motivated to do their work. Also, I have found that if I am having fun with what I'm doing I tend to learn better. The more that students learn, the better they will do on tests and the tests won't seem like as much of a burden. Also, if students are having fun with the work they do, the work will start to seem less like "work". So, basically if teachers have the ability to entertain while they teach, then the environment of school will be more positive and fun for the students and easier to learn in. But, along with this, the students have to take on some responsibility and make the effort to motivate thenselves. If that is not done first, then there is not much that the teachers can do.

Anonymous said...

I think teachers can make the learning experience more fun Is if they explain the topic in easier terms so the students can understand what it is that is being taught, and also involve the students in the lesson, like, ask them what it is in their opinion and explain it afterwards and tell them what it is so they understand it. Teaching doesn't have to be about books, notes, and mindless lectures. I use the example from the movie "Dead Poets Society" Robin Williams was energetic about teaching, and I think that if more teachers taught like that, then more students will not have to succumb to boring power points, and to drowsy documentaries of WWI and what caused it.

Teachers should be more like....like..... Mr. Palo
=:D (period 2 is still better than every other class)

$D@NNYBOY$ said...

Many students seem to just forget about taking the standardize tests serious because they think its just a waste. But teachers seem to think its important to them. Now there are many ways where a teacher can motivate students on focusing in their tests. For example, back in middle school I remember that we had a battle between other classes. Which ever class got the highest test scores we would have a pizza party. After they told us that damn we were really focused. And the results were true. By giving goods to students if they perform well in their tests, results will overcome on what you expected.So in my opinion yeah tyheres a way to motivate students to focus on their tests that are neccesary.

-Daniel Castaneda
Per 2

Guda1992 said...

There are many ways educators can educate students. when studying, you can make fun flashcards or have a big project that can make it more visual. Also if they are struggling in a subject, teachers can tutor them as much as possible until they get the hang of it or whenever there grade inproves. theres also fun and educating websites that can help with the subject that may seen hard. when students do good in that class or subject, they should get rewarded with a gift, free quiz, or maybe a party, when educaters show appraisal then the student realizes that they can succeed and get rewards for they progressional work.

socalnick said...

Teachers shouldn't have to motivate students to perform well in school. If anything it shouldn’t have the job of the parents to motivate their own children to do well. Teachers are hired on to teach the subject in which they have studied. If the teachers are doing their job, and teaching the subject and not teaching for a test, then we wont have any problems. Students are under the impression that they must be entertained, however that is not the case, students are there to learn, they should not be doing anything else.

Incentives are a nice thing to offer the students, however the only incentive should be a good grade. If there is a student who studies for 3-5 hours a night and does all their work, compared to a student who only shows up to 3-5 hours of class a month, how is it possible to have those two students in the same range of grades? I believe that it should be a direct reflection of the parents not motivating their OWN kids. There is nothing saying that teachers are responsible for their students grades. Teachers don’t give grades, they receive the grade that is done by their own work.

To perform well on Standardized Test's, we must first look at what a "Standard" test is. Can you give the same test to a 4.7 GPA student as well as a 1.8 GPA student? The only thing it will show is that one student actually cares about his grade and the other doesn't. Then somewhere along the line a "professional" will look at the scores and make a biased judgment and will then result in a different test, or different teaching techniques for the teachers despite it not being the teachers fault.

Dino Sloan said...

teachers can motivate kids in many ways like raise there grades give rewards stuff of that nature.Most students do hold theirselves accountable for there actions but alot of others dont they say it is the teachers fault for failing them or some other lame excuse. To me the only way to get students to perform well on the standardized test is to make it part of their grade so they have a reason to try and that will motivate them.

Esme said...

The best way to get a student to perform better is through motivation. In the article the teachers and directors cared very much for the students that they took the time to find out what their weaknesses were and their strenghts. Tohatchi is a very good example of preseverance. Motivation is a great tol to use, in the article the teachers used prizes to motivate the students. Teachers can use the same methods that where used in Tohatchi school. MAking school fun and such as informing students of their success is another good because it makes them proud. student teacher parent involvement is a very great strategy because not only do the students get helped from their teachers but now they are getting help from their parents as well. they fine many motivations by having more people involved with their work.
Blanca

estefania_torres2010 said...

I think that a great way to have students do good in school is to be more close to them. I think that teachers,and other member of the school should make a special bond with students. I think that if the teachers make a special bond with all of there students then the students will feel more comfertable and they will be able to do better in school. I think it is important for the staff of school to find out who is poor,who needs more help,what are certains peoples needs. I think that more interaction with students will make the school a more better place to learn and to bond with people. I think this is important because a lot of studetns do have a hard life that not even there teachers know about it. If there is more interaction with the students then the studetns might be more confertable to tell them certain things. That way if more teachers know about there problems they can give more help,and sudents can recive more help.

Estefania Torres
period.2

Anonymous said...

Well some teachers don’t have to be strict and expect kids to do everything at a grade that there not use to. Every student works at a different pace and there not all at the teachers. So if all teachers can slow down for kids that write slow or that kids suck at math. Also some projects that students have to do are hard and in a short amount of time. In my third period my teacher expects us to do a project with ten minutes left in the class and we can’t take it home. We should also be taught what is going to really happen in our life. Learning about the ancient Greek is not going to help me with what I want to be. Learning about ancient Greeks should be maybe left for history. Overall I think that it’s the teachers and the curricular that affect us the most with how are grades turn out. I’m not saying that students don’t because there are a lot of lazy people out there now. In my opinion most of the stuff we have to learn sucks.

Sam said...

Im not sure if theres one right way to help motivate students in school because everyone is different but I think teachers should really show students that they care, it makes a big difference. It gives the student more reason why they should do their work. I know Mr. Palo cares about our grades and how we do and in all honesty it modivates me. I think modivation to do well on the standardized tests is on you. Teachers can modivate us but its ultimately up to us.

Anonymous said...

yeah many peiople out there in tghis world are struggiling in school, but the reasion why they struggle is by lazyness and no determination at all. Tohatchi elementary raised there score high because its a new school and they probally worked of there kids more then other to show what there made up. In order to make these kids to get there education and to show what they learned is by congragualte them by something special or ever giveing them a day off, in my opinion. I feel that from 15% to 70% is a high rate of percent going up but its not just the teacher doin there job but the students that like school and that want to succed in life

brian felix
per 4

March_Of_Sand said...

I agree with what has been said numerous times in class about teachers having to be entertainers to keep their students interested in what is being taught. If teachers make things more interesting then the students will probably pay attention and learn more. I think that Tohatchi Elementary school shows a perfect way to motivate their students. They do many things like giving rewards to their students if they do well like a pizza party. Also the faculty get to know the students and try to connect to them. I think it is a good way to motivate their students and it shows. I think that teachers should also try to make everything they teach be fun because if something is really boring then students will have a tendancy to not pay attention and not learn anything. But for some students you have to have your own motivation because there is nothing a teacher can do if you cant motivate yourself even a little bit.

Munoz[: said...

Several ways in which educators can improve the students test scores is by making learning fun. By making pizza parties when the test scores anr high, by motavating the students, like the principal does. Giving the students hugs, high fives, and greeting them. That shows that the principal sees the students and knows who they are. That makes the students feel better, like oh, the principal knows my name, he knows who i am. Elementary students are like that i remember because i loved it when the principal talked to me, or he called my name to help him out with something. Even though the majority of students are poor, doesn't mean they can't learn or anything. They might be shy about it and neglect others, but then again the teachers in the class are also motavating the students, by giving them stickers and high fives, great job!

Bryan Munoz
P. 4

Nathan...A said...

There are many ways to keep students focus in school. I think the best way to keep students focused is the teacher needs to be a entertainer, not just say somethin and hope it sticks. Teacher need to make learning fun not something that is just boring and not entertaining.

shesunlatylike said...

Teacher have many ways to motivate their students. I think some of the problems with actually doing so is the dificult part. Many teachers don't always want to get involed with studensts one on one. some teachers think there helping attacking the indivdual problems by having the class write down there weaknesses. If most of the class his having the same promblem in the same areas the teacher focusus on that. But what happens to the other problems? I think that if teachers helped there students overcome there weakenesses it would be a better outcome. I dont think the teachers need to buy student pizza or whatever, but i do think they need to take the states boring standars and make them fun so that kids understand them better.I think that the artical is useful, not for students but to teachers accross America.we all could learn something from George Bickert and the kids in Tohatchi.

aubrianne said...

Teachers play a big role in kids education and need to find effective ways to motivate kids. There are so many ways a teacher could do this but there are some that i believe would be very effective. First teachers need to make classrooms a more interactive place where students are free to disscus the material with other students and work in groups in class more often. This helps students to voice their opinion and elaborate their thoughts to fellow students which helps them to analyze their thoughts and take into consideration their classmates viewpoints. A big way to motivate kids is by a behavioral approach. This includes providing incentive for kids to well on tests and schoolwork. for example our principle promised to shave his head if we improved our test scores by so much and he promised a beach trip and kids ended up improving their scores. teachers should do this to maybe not by promising to shave their heads but they could provivde small incentives for kids to do better on tests. their are many ways for teachers to motivate students to do better i think many of them have just stopped trying and it is effecting how students learn.

jackiearias said...

There are many ways that teachers are able to motivate their students to perform well in school, be accountable for their education and perform well on the standardized tests. The way that the principle did it was a good idea. He got to know all of his students, knew which ones needed help where and why. He helped them on the areas that they were struggling in the most. I believe that this is the best way to go with the problem of the bad test scores. We should help the students with what they are struggling with the most. The incentives also help, because kids will do any thing if they a get an outcome that they are willing to work for. Teachers can have a one and one personal relationship with their students and help them get the opportunities that they need to get ahead. For example help them learn English if it necessary.

leslie said...

according to he NCLB educators can motivate and encourage students to study by knowing everything abput their students in what subject were they having trouble on and all that kind of stuff also by giving them prizes like pizza parties, when educators did that the tests scores went up. in order for students to go to their classes they should like that class the teacher has to entertaim the class and be funbut at the same time actually teach something the teacher can tell a story that is related to the subject that he is teachong so the students can learn it.

Leslie Bedoy
Period 4

RicardoV per 4 said...

There are numerous ways for teachers to get student to study do good in test and also do well on test. I personally think that students now a days have to be entertained when they want to learn. When we were kids everything we did was put in a form of entertainment to learn. I think from growing up and being taught things in a fun manner. So I think from growing up and being taught everything in a fun manner we grew accustomed to it. Things like perfect attendance prizes and principle shaving his head off are good incentives to get kids to class and do good on test scores. As for teachers motivating kids to do good in there class and other classes I think would fall under the category of teachers being entertainers. From experience in Mr.Andersons class I enjoyed going to class and also enjoyed learning too. As that class being entertained and learning at the same time was an experience I was glad to be apart of and enjoy. So i do think that teachers have to be entertainers to be good teacher in a way.

Aaron Beltran said...

incentives are a huge way of motivating students to preform well in school. one incentive that really motivated students was grade changes. like if you improve your score or keep it at proficient of advanced, the teacher would change the current grade of the student one letter grade. another incentive would be some sort of activity that would have nothing to do with school. like a pizza party, or carnival, or day at the beach or ice skating ring. another incentive is the principal shaving his or her head.

sleven said...

Motivation has always be what some school teachers have lacked, which also affects the students. The way I believe teachers can motivate students is by motivating themselves. If a teacher wants to be there and wants to teach, then the student will feel their energy and would want to try. Another is by awarding students that perform well on anything. Awarding students who try and succeed will ultimately motivate them to keep going and performing well. testing is another concept that is much harder to motivate students for. To motivate a student to perform well on a test that way to long is to award them with something amazing, entertaining, and unique. One of the finally things that educators should is by motivating the parents of students. Students will only go so far themselves unless the parents bring the best out of them. that is why the best way to motivate someone is by using a role model to show them the way.

RaygozaP said...

Teachers and staff members can play a huge role in deteriming success within a student. This is the case that happened in the New Mexico elementary. A huge part of it has to do with motivation, and involvement. If all the students in a classroom are focused, involved, and feel that they are learning within a great capacity; then they will succeed without them even thinking what there capable of. Perhaps prizes and rewards(raffles, money, parties) may also contribute to induce students, because they feel there getting something back. Like the elementary kids who got pizza parties, teenager kids can get some other type of prize, more "mature".
Apart from this, teachers should also maybe create lectures in a "fun and easy" way, instead of a complacticed confusing way where it will dismotivate students. Making stuff "simple"creates a better understanding of the knowledge presented, and it actually sticks in a the head.
Furthermore,It's also important to involve parents, because that way the students will built more support. I think a student with support/help, rewards, and a clear understanding of each lecture should be able to perform well on a standerdized test.

Berenice Nava per-4 said...

There are a lot of ways the teachers can motivate students to do better at school. Not only can they look for those students that need a lot of help. The can look for things that students like to motivate them do better in all test like the standardized test. For example there it is the Tohachi elementary school did. This elementary, found good ways to make the student does better in everything like the tests. This school is a good example that when students have a good motivate they does well. For me the idea of NCLB is a god idea but they didn’t worked good so it can work. For me the schools are only teaching how to take tests not really what the subject is about. For me if there is going to be a test the teachers should do it because they know what they teach. For me the test the state do does not work because they are a lot of thing that the teachers never teach and the students are tested for.

LordKirby said...

Comrades!!!!!

I think that motivation is a very good factor in the division between the successful and unsuccessful. However, I do not think that it is entirely up to the teacher to provide that motivation. If a student wants to succeed then they are going to succeed regardless of whether the teacher is motivating or not. Although motivation from the teacher does help a bit it also hurts the student in the long run. If a person does not learn to motivate themselves by the time they are out of high school then they are not likely to succeed in the real world. Quote the late George Carlin, "Actually, if you ask me, this country could do with a little less motivation, the people who are causing all the trouble seem highly motivated to me". However, if I were to suggest a way of motivating the students it would be through improving their grade as a reflection of their test score. There really isn't anything lost because if they did well on the test then they prove they know the material and isn't that the point of going to school?


your humble comrade
Alan
Period 4

Jessika Caudel said...

I think that teachers can motivate students by giving them incentives to do well. We all know that this generation does pretty much nothing unless there is a reason or a prize to do it for. It is the teachers job to help keep the kid entertained. They need to learn how to teach the way that the students need to be taught. In the article that you provided us it showed that a principal got to know each and every kid in order to see how he can better there education and test scores. In this he put in weekly test to see how the classes are doing giving kids incentives like pizza parties. This help the schools scores tremendously. So if every teacher learned how to teach the way that the student or students need to be taught not just in a way that is going to bore everyone then I think this will help with the lack of effort on this generations part.

L.Mejia said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
L.Mejia said...

Well, if it came to be that teachers were to motivate students to do well.It has to first have to show the student that you wanna help. Its always important to show students that not to give up.It tends them to actually look at what they are doing and not give up and try there best.Should also give students rewards which can be anything that would want students to want one. They should make education more fun and exciting thst students would want to learn. It could be projects that could fun but also making a point.Have studying more interesting to make students want to study.Which in other hand,I dont think students should be accountable for there education because i bet half of them wont even do anything.So might as well do something about it.Probably with the help of teachers teaching there way will allow students have higher test scores and improve there education level.

:] said...

In my point of view teachers can motivate in many ways. Teachers should reach out to the student when they see them stuggle and do poorly.Teahers should give the students a reward, it will not only motivate them to do good in tests , but the students will tend to feel more secure of thier capacity in school.Like in the article the elementry children seemed to inprove their test scores because of what was in it for them.I think if the schools want thier students to do good in order to rank high they should puut something in for us too.I think it will be a good idea to reward the students.yet not forget of those whose test scores still fail ,and should try to motivate them harder.like in the article that one pricipal george bickert,he was involved and new his students names and seemed like he acually cared.All kids need is encouragement and to not be put down just because of some test scores.

torres 4th per.

scott toreres eg6 said...

Teachers can and can't motivate students. They can motivate them with bribes. Also they can teach them in a fun way. I say that because if your teacher is boring you are probably going too fall asleep. On the other hand if your not motivated no one else is going to motivate you. No matter what a teacher does it's not going to help you. The best way to do better in school is for the student to motivate themselves. They have to get outside of school motivation. Like for example a dream of working somewhere or on something. The motivation is not always going to be by teachers. You might get motivated by family members or friends. All you need is motivation in any type of education then you will succeed!!

ili said...

I believe there are many different ways educators can motivate their students. Weather it is to get them to score high on a standardized test or simply to do their home work. They can give their students incentives or rewards for their hardworking progress. Personally I believe that a student is the only one who can make their progress possible but of course a little push would help them as well. I also believe that if a student does not want to try to put an effort in raising their scores it will obviously not happen. No matter how many incentives a student will receive. For example , the students ,from Tohatchi Elementary School, willingness to progress made them want to try harder and get better scores and those incentives were just a little boost that gave them confidence in themselves. Showing them that they can accomplish whatever they put into their minds. But Mr. Palo, don’t think I don’t agree with incentives motivating their student. That can give a student who wasn’t into graduating or getting good scores something to look up to or a goal to reach their prize.

Killcycle said...

Students are motivated in school by several things. The most obvious is that they enjoy the classes they take. Another reason is that they may enjoy the teacher or the students in the class. Unfortunately, this is a rare occurrence, especially in core classes. Without interest, of course students are going to get low test scores. The best way to fix it is to make the classes more interesting; that, however, is extremely difficult because of all the standards and rules in place. I think that the 'general education' requirement of 4 years English, for example, should be VARIABLE. This means that if a student wants to take classes more mathematics oriented, or more art oriented, then they could replace one of their core english classes with a math or art class. There would still be the requirement of 1-2 years with math and english, of course, but if you make school more oriented towards what the student wants, the student is more likely to learn. That is one of the largest reasons students drop out: because they just don't see any use to the classes they are forced to take. If you give them more of a choice in their core classes, it will make it seem more like they have real control over their education when they want it most.

And lets face it... we're human.

We LIKE control.

xX[Nick Ibarra]Xx P.4 said...

The NLBC should not focus so mcuh on trying to only prepare students for stanrdized tests. I personally think that its a waste of time. I also think some schools only encourage kids to take these tests very seriously so they get good scores on it. One reason they want this is so they get more school fundings and get more money for the school. Furthermore, students should also be prepared for real the real world. What i mean by this is having a job and whats its like to pay bills and how they wont tollerate late payments like they accept late work at school and being late to classes. Teachers should also focus on making class entertaining and educational at the sametime this way both students and teachers have fun and learn at the sametime. In conclusion, i dont think schools should just prepare students for standardized tests.

Bryan V. said...

I don't think students can perform better by giving rewards. The only way I would really do better on my test is if they gave me something like money.Teachers need to connect more with their students.Students need to feel that their teacher actually care for their well being.I also think that teachers need to be more fun so that students pay more attentions. From my past experiences the teacher that inspired me to do better on my test was Mr.Anderson.He entertained me with his stories.Whenever he gave lectures the stuff he would say, i actually remembered. In my opinion more teachers like him would raise test scores.

Adrian2010 said...

I believe that theres a lot of things teachers and schools can do to motivate students. It motivates most children when they are bribed. The teachers need to find out whats going wrong in the students lives to find what they can do to help. Just like at our school, the test scores changed dramatically. The principal promised to shave his head and I bet many students studied for the test to see him be bald. Sometimes teachers can also make the students feel more comfortable by being like a mentor to them. When students are given things they like, they will always be willing to work harder. Things like the ones that happened at Tohatchi elementary school should happen more often.

joseleonel said...

What the principal in Tohatchi Elementary school was a good idea. Rewarding students will improve standardized testing. There are other ways to motivate students to improve on the tests. One thing is teachers can let the students have a free day when it shows that they did well on a test. By encouraging students that they will have a free day, they will try harder on a test. Another good idea is having fun activities to prepare for the test, such as jeopardy. The students will be more awake and not feel boredom if their actions or movement in learning.

Jose S.
P. 2

Trever Strand said...

The education system in the United States has always been plagued by the issue of motivating it's students. Schools across the nation have been trying different methods to see a difference in their test scores. One school featured in an article by MSNBC made an astonishing turn around in their test scores. They did this just by making a few simple changes. The school's new principle simply made learning fun for the students. He did this by motivating them with simple yet enjoyable rewards. This is all fine and dandy but I think we should take more drastic measures. I personally believe we should bring back capitol punishment in our nations schools to motivate and keep our students in check. If this was done it would be a challenge to find a student who did not participate in class or do their daily homework assignments. Naturally if they pay attention in class and do their work their test scores would follow suit just by enforcing some "old school" rules.

Anthony_Zomb said...

The teachers and the state testing are both enemies on a student if the motivation, teachings, and even easy lessons can not be accomplished. A teacher that can be more interactive with their students can show the care for their education. The other kind of teacher would be the simple state testing teacher. Their goal in life is to make you choose a,b,c, or d. With the standardized tests in the way of true learning and not just studying over basic lessons the students mind can expand and actually become smart. Things that these teachers can do is from step 1 of the learning process in kindergarden, in which that education is a proud thing to have and its a true reward to be an intellectual. The main step would be to have the teachers show that they actually care about the students. This may seem hard in high school with some students who simple go to school to breath air but for the students who want the education and deserve it. Another important step would be a reward for having a high GPA. Hopefully in the future we can use these steps to bring back our education to its finest.

-Anthony y

Prisila Santana said...

The Tohatchi Elementary School story is a great example of how every school can have excellent standardized test scores. I believe that the reason for the improvement in their test results, despite their "demographics of poverty and language", was the support and encouragement they received from the school administrators. Their efforts do better in school, or at least on the state tests, were rewarded with prizes. Everything we do had consequences, whether they are good or bad. Our own experiences and even other's experiences motivate us in our decision on which roads to go on. For example, I myself as a student know from hearing and seeing successful people on TV and such that if you try hard and persevere in your education, you will succeed and find a good job. However, I feel that there is motivation missing starting at home, then in school. Perhaps there is some motivation but there's no discipline, which makes it harder for me to apply myself and reach goals that are important for the rest of my life. It'd be nice to see speakers from different careers telling from their own experience working as whatever they work in how they decided to go into that specific field and for students to be reminded that it doesn’t matter where you’ve come from and what you’ve been through, the USA is a place of opportunity. By reminding a student often about how much potential he or she has, a teacher is motivating that student into believing so. Even though that alone will not make them instantly smarter, the student will open up their mind and will want to prove that they are excellent students. Like someone mentioned in their response, it is true that we as high school students can be motivated into doing better in school if we receive incentives for our effort. The iPod giveaway during State Testing week had a major effect on the students’ efforts to get to class on time, I would think, by seeing the number of people who usually walked in late into class, including myself, that were on time most of the week. The agreement that if we scored Proficient or Advanced on a certain subject test we would have our final grade raised was very popular with the students as well. We did improve our scores; we met and surpassed our API goal, the product of the motivation from the school. If that was just effort from school administrators, imagine how well off we’d be if parents were pushed to get involved in their child’s education!

Laurenkatehis said...

In order for students to do better in school and on standardized tests teachers can change their curriculum. A lot of classes in school teach students how to take tests. Teachers can learn new ways to not only entertain students but to, as well, teach them that learning certain subjects in school leaves more job opportunities. If there was no teaching about math, English literature, or history, schools would not have teachers or college professors. When teachers entertain their students with technology and overdeveloped systems they are more likely to attend class more often and do better in school. Students want to learn while having fun so if staff can make learning fun more students would be more interested in the subject they want to pursue as a career. Using technology as an everyday thing will leave many more people with more satisfied knowledge. There are many teachers throughout the world that are an important part of a schools curriculum and if we can change that, the learning system can be more advanced and in depth with students. In order to get students to receive better test scores, bribery is a factor this school has already used, so i believe it works. Having principal Cunard shave his head was able to jump our test scores. Using this tactic will get students to come to school more often and raise our test scores.

J.Kraft said...

Tohatchi Elementery School would be great for elementary schools. The kids are young and like to be rewarded for doing good. High School students would be a little harder. It would require good teachers who making learning fun. Students like cool teachers and they are more likely to pay attention to them. If the teacher is boring nobody wants to pay attention. Teachers have a big impact on the way students score on their standardized tests. I have some teachers who make their class fun and i like to pay attention in those classes. If every teacher could be like that, test score would go up.

J.Kraft said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
DCashS said...

I personaly think that grades should be based entirely or nearly entirely on tests. A student will be more motivated to try on a test than every day class work because its not overkill, it simply checks to see if they know the information the class is intended to teach. School work and home work should be kept to a minimum excepting students who are not performing well on the tests because they have obviously not learned the information. the only exceptions to this would be sports/physical education classes & art related classes. I think this system of grading would much better reflect the intelligence of each student and motivate more to actually learn the matirial to be prepared for the tests as opposed to monotenously finding and copying answers in a text book to get a good grade in a class they didnt actually retain any of the information from.