Monday, April 9, 2012

American Government 4/9/12

In Class - Welcome Back!  Begin introduction to the topic of Education in the United States.  In Class Writing: On a scale from 1-10 (with 1 being low and 10 high), how would you rate your educational experience?  Justify your response.  As a class, share what you have written.

Homework - QOW due on Friday (4/13) by 11:59 pm.

QOW - Use your in class writing assignment from today's class to begin this week's QOW.

Part I: Copy what you wrote in class today concerning your rating of your educational experience.  Based on your response, if given the opportunity, what would you change in order to make your educational experience more suited to meet your needs?  No need for outside resources on this, just tell me what you think.

Part II:   However, by the end of Saturday (4/14 at 11:59 pm), you will need to respond to a minimum of two of your classmates.  You can do this by simply making another comment.  Include the name of the person and offer a response to a classmate.  It can be simple and to the point.  For example:

John made a good point concerning the use of electronic textbooks.  I never really thought about it, but it makes sense.  Students are using more technology outside of the classroom.  I agree, we should implement more technology to meet the needs of our students in order to prepare them for the 21st century global world....Something like that:)  You need to respond to two classmates by 4/14 at 11:59 pm. 

29 comments:

Lisa Martinez said...

The rating of my educational experience would be probably be a 6. It's not that high but when it comes to me and learning the teacher really has to be into helping their students and not just giving work. My educational experience was never good if the teachers weren't willing to help you when you really needed it. Some teachers just don't care if you pass or fail at all but to me if you show you care we woul show we cared too. What i would change to make my educational experience more suited for me if i stopped being lazy and probably payed attention more to what the teachers were saying. When your a good teacher and have a sense of humor and help us remember things it's more easier for us. You have to get us into any subject we may be working on. My educational experience was never really bad unless i had a lot of girl teachers, they just seem to judge so much on how you look that some just have no hope in you from the very beginning..like i said to make educational experience better for all us teens is showing that you care and your willing to help because not all teachers do their jobs like their suppose to.

Bryan said...

I given my educational experience an 8. During my whole life I’ve gone to school and felt liked I learned a lot. There is some times where I wish I could’ve learned about this subject, I wanted to know more. Teachers teach all of these subjects because the state wants us to know the standards of these subjects. At the end we take a test on the subject to see what we learned. I feel that teachers teach this subject because the state tells them to teach a certain part of subject to us and expected us to rememorize for the state test. I think that teachers should teach what they feel is more important. If took all the opportunities that were presented to me my educational experience would have a whole lot different. My experience would’ve gone beyond compare to the one that I have now. If I was that lazy to do the most simplest homework, my experience would’ve have been better.

Anonymous said...

The rate that I would give for my educational experience would be a 7. Most of my teachers were the type that would just give me classwork and then a homework assignment. They wouldn’t explain what to do so it was difficult for me to understand. In order for my educational experience to suit my needs I asked questions after class or through e-mails. I think that when a teacher teaches in a way of just giving you work, it is for your own good. It helps you learn to be independent and ready for college. Students usually blame their teachers calling them lazy or saying that they don’t explain well, but if a student doesn’t understand something it is they’re responsibility to ask questions and get to know what they’re learning better.

Anonymous said...

RESPONSES:
1) I agree with Lisa when she mentioned about teachers having a sense of humor. Teachers who are monotone with absolutely no sense of humor bore students which cause us to fall asleep. Teachers who have a sense of humor seem to get more attention from the students and get the students interested in learning more about the subject.
2) I agree with Bryan where he said, " Teachers should teach what they feel is more important.” Teachers know what they're teaching well enough to take control of the curriculum.

AFlores said...

I give my educational experience a 7. The reason I give my educational experience a 7 is because at times I enjoyed the classes I was in, mainly because there were teachers who have a great sense of humor and gave hints that were funny to help remember what we were learning. Though I give my educational experience a 7, teachers should stop focusing so much on the state tests and I think on all subjects, teachers should go more in depth. One thing that I would change from my educational experience is perhaps pay attention more in classes and go ask for help from teachers when I did not understand anything clearly.

Responses:
1. I agree with Juila when she mentioned that it is the students to reasonability to go ask teachers when they need help on a subject. A teacher can not be balm for the misunderstanding for a few students, since a teacher can not be able to tell every time when a few students are struggling.

2. I agree with Bryan, when he mentions that teachers should be able to teach what they feel is more important. Teachers got a well enough education to teach the subject, that they know what is important and interesting to teach to students.

HARPER said...

April 12, 2012 I had rated myself a (5) because, I can be into it or I can be out of it. I do like learning but I don’t like to. To me I hate doing test and I like to do worksheet s. Now if worksheets were named test and test were named worksheets it would be a different story.
If I had to go back and change the way I learned my answer would be NO! I like the way I am today. But if I saw an opportunity I would of have taken it and possible turned my life around.

Rosyy_Lara said...

I would rate my educational experience a 6. Only because my learning experiences weren't that taken seriously. I really didn't follow up on my education ever since 7th grade and if I could i would change things a bit differently. In 10th grade i was on the NV softball team and the circumstances were to not lack in classes and recieve acceptable grades. To me that movtiated me to get the grades i needed. In my opinion it doesn't matter who or how the teachers are and how they teach. It all depends on how you'd want to be taught and how important your needs are to you.

1) I agree with what Aaron said. I rather have worksheets rather than tests. It only give you stress and sometimes some materials on them aren't in the same range.

2) I also agree with what Arlene said. To have a good education you actually have to play uor part and pay attention in class.

Deanna said...

I gave my experience a 6 because based on my 4 years of high school I have had great teachers in some on my classes mostly History and English. Plus I love the drama program it has helped a lot! But some teachers haven’t helped me at all like some of my teachers have literally ignored me and that’s not how it should be. In addition the curriculum is way too tight and restricted I understand in elementary school but for high school it’s not needed. Honestly I would want to change the whole system if I could. I think to get a better education it’s pretty simple get better teachers. Teachers are the foundation of school if the school hires people that don’t really care and are just there for a paycheck how can you expect a student to want to be there?. In addition some students just aren’t suited for the kind of education that is required by law it’s just the way it is. Some students reject English and history but do better in a mechanic’s class and that’s ok if that’s what they want to do with their lives why can’t they get an education to do that. I think if a student knows what they want to do or has an idea then they should go to a school to pursue that and if they don’t then continue to go to general education school to find their passion.

Responses:
1. I agree with what Arlyne that teachers should go more in depth because I think that would help with the learning process instead of just reading out of a book.
2. I also agree with Lisa if we had teachers that were more humorous and didn’t care so much about standards but more about learning something it attracts the student more.

Jeska Leonard said...

I rate my educational experience 6. I feel i haven't been prepared for the real world, i think schools teach students a lot of useless information that we do not need. We learn about those type of things instead of learning things that will actually help us in life. I have also had my fair share of teachers who just do not care about there students and are not there to help them succeed in graduating. Most teachers i have had all care more about state testing rather than the actual education the student is receiving. I believe we should have standards, but i also think our standards need to be reevaluated. Standards should be based more on criteria that will be used by the students after high school. The standards should go according to what field the student wants to work towards after high school. I rate my experience a bit on the higher side because i think schools do a good job of providing extracurricular activities. I've had amazing experiences both the drama club and the girls soccer team. Both of those activities really made my high school years great.



RESPONSES:
1) I agree with Deanna, I too think that some kids aren't cut out for the type of educational standards we have, therefore i think we should have classes that suit the students interests.

2) I agree with Lisa, I think teachers need to focus more on teaching rather than just giving busy work.

monica barriga said...

Based on my educational experience I give it a 7. I chose a 7 because even though I actually have learned from some teachers not all of they really cared if you understood a subject or not. I had several that would say I’m not going to force you guys to learn we can just sit here and do nothing and I’ll still get paid. For me the question would be, “Why be a teacher then, if he/she are not going to bother to help out?” I say that if they really wanted to get into this career, then they should actually do their job and teach/help students. For instance, I had this subject in my 9th grade year that I really was prepared to learn in it, but it came out to be that the teacher I had wouldn’t teach her subject. She would mostly be talking about her family, for us at a moment it was kind of good because that meant no homework. But, when it came to taking tests mostly everyone would fail. I do give respect to those teachers who are always there being supportive, caring, and making teaching be fun. If I was given an opportunity to change my own educational experience, it would be to pay more attention. I usually tend to get distracted so easily.


Responses:
1) I agree with Lisa when she said that teachers having a sense of humor. This would actually make every student want to learn more plus it would make teaching more fun. Basically more students would want to go to those teachers, and be more excited to learn than going to a class where you know the whole period is going to be boring.
2) I agree with Julia when she mentioned that students should ask questions to teachers when they understand something. This is true because teachers do tell you if you have any questions raise your hands, and its ones responsibility to do so if we don’t get something. This time it wouldn’t be the teachers fault, but you who was to shy/ afraid to ask.

leahmillerr said...

I rated my educational experience a 5. My personal opinion is that teachers ONLY teach for the CSTs. They base everything we do off of the state standards. There are good teachers that go the extra mile for their students. Who actually care about the students and not just caring about looking good with the CST results. Personally, i was always told not to care about those test and not to try because they didn't effect me at all.
The State needs to get input from the students. The people who sit in class and know actually what goes on. They just base it off of what the union says. I have had a good education for the most part and being involved in my school which makes up for the teachers who don't care.


1) I agree with Lisa. I also think that if the teachers arent willing to help us then what will make us motivated to learn and further our education. Teachers need to help us and make us enjoy the subject.


2)I agree with Juliah as well. I think teachers need to prepare us better for college. Maybe not start in ninth or tenth grade but in 12th grade they should start to prepare us. We dont have standards to be taught. The system needs to be fixed.

Lisa Martinez said...

RESPONSES:
I agree w/ Leah, i think teachers do only prepare us and teach for the CST's. Many teachers just care about how they look to others about their students and don't really have too much care on what we learn after that.

I also agree w/ Deanna, I think students should learn about things they want to do when they grow up because it will prepare you more for your future. Also i agree that schools hire teachers who don't really care about what the students want to learn they just teach us what the state wants us to learn and that's not really helping us cause it's going in one ear and out the other.

HARPER said...

Aaron respons

I agree with Leah
The teachers only care about you passing the cst so they don’t have to see you next year in their class.

I also agree with Monica Barriga
She right and I had most of my school years on NOT good teachers. Like if you like a subject shouldn’t you understand what’s it’s about and how you can use it in your everyday life whether you got a job or not. Isn’t school where you should get your education? And should it up to you to get to class on time and understand and let the teachers teach and if you don’t get it shouldn’t ask for help?

Roman34 said...

If i were to rate my educational experience i would put it at a 7. The reason why I rate it as this is because teaching experience may be different from what you are generally use to learning things as. You have teachers who are passionate about teaching and will help out every student to the best of their abilities. Then again you have the other teachers who really do not care if you pass or not. Most of the time the teacher give you allot of "busy work" which doesn't help out allot just as long as you know the standards that you need to pass for the CST's that come around every year. Teaching styles are different for every teacher. you have teacher when you sit down they tell you to open the book and write down notes for a test coming up on Friday and you just have to hope you can understand it. Then other teachers who will explain what everything means to the best of their abilities so you can have a generally good educational experience .

Luis De Anda said...

I would rate my education experience a 4 because of my 4th grade teacher. She was evil to us and if you cussed she made you go to the sink and she would wash your mouth with soup. Also when we didn't do our homework we had to pull weeds for an hour! She eventually got fired. But after that experience my teachers have been really helpful to me and offered tutoring when i needed it. The only thing i would change is for all teachers to teach students what they think will help us in life and in college. Cst's are important but how is it going to help me with what i want to become in the future

Ericka Montoya said...

At first I rated my educational experience a 7 but after discussing why we rated our educational experience the way we did I realized I was more at a 5. There are some hard working teachers and teachers who don’t care. I believe teachers should love their job and do it because they want to help motivate their students to pass with the best grade possible, if they are not willing to stay after school to help kids who are having troubles understanding something then why are they a teacher? I also think students play a big role in why we’re doing so badly. Students sometimes go to school to socialize and they aren’t paying attention in class. We have a free public education which I think some take for granted because we should be working our hardest so we can get the career we want. Some kids do not understand the material or they don’t want to do it. Some kids need motivation because their parents don’t pay attention to them or don’t have time. Teachers are supposed to teach us certain material, sometimes students want to learn other things but teachers are given certain subjects to teach which I do not understand, we should be learning about things that will help us in our future or important subjects that we will need to know because when we go into college education isn’t free and we could have learned those subjects for free in high school. Yes, I do think if I had made better choices I would have rated my educational experience higher. Overall, I think teachers should teach what we should know not just for the test but for us to be informed. There are other careers out there that we are not aware of because high school does not expand our minds to new things but in conclusion I believe it all comes down to the teachers we get and how hard we’re willing to work.


Responses:
I agree with what Lisa said “the teacher really has to be into helping their students and not just giving work” because teachers just give out busy work at times and they aren’t giving us lectures trying to get us interested in the subject.
I also agree with Monica when she said “I had several that would say I’m not going to force you guys to learn we can just sit here and do nothing and I’ll still get paid” I think a lot of teachers do not care, it’s sad that they are teachers and they aren’t using that as a way to motivate students to do their best.

Tschopen said...

I would give my overall edutional educational experience a six. This is because I do not feel like what people are taught in school has any practical application. Teaching to state regulated standards holds students back and makes it hard for teachers to actually prepare students for the real world. If there were a change in our educational system it would need to be one in which the teachers are not so restricted in what is taught so that students may receive an education with less gaps in important aspects of life. Most kids graduate without the ability to think critically and solve any kind of abstract problems and this cripples us in an adult society.

Sonia said...

The rating I gave my education experience was a seven. The reason for this is because I have had teachers who just don't care if their students understand the material. As well as teachers who go over the subject so quickly that no one in the class understands. I'm not saying all the teachers I've had have been like this, no I've had some really good teachers. Teachers who actually want to help their students, some who call out the students who are failing and do their best to help them pass the class. Students tend to pay more attention to teachers who show they care about the students grades, then to the teachers who don't take it seriously, and just took the job for the benefits it comes with. Something I would change would be the attention I pay to classes. If the topic or teacher bore me I have a tendency to find something else that can keep my attention and will keep me awake so I do not fall asleep in the classroom.


Responses:: I agree with Lisa, when she says that teachers should have a sense of humor. If teachers
did , students would actually look forward to going into the classroom.

I also agree with Leah, teachers pay so much attention to the CSTs that they neglect anything else that could possibly help us, further on I life, the tests take away from our education, and I believe that is something that needs to be fixed.

Mhernandez said...

Responses:
1. Julia brings up a good point; some students need to stop blaming their teachers when they don't understand something and make it their responsibility to ask questions. Some teachers are willing to take the time to help you understand the subject. Julia also states that they are preparing us for college and that is what they are doing. College professors have no mercy when it comes to giving their students homework. Your education shouldn't only be based on the teacher but also how much work you put in.

2. Although I agree with some of Lisa's perspectives. Teachers have to motivate their students. Teaching in everyone's learning style would definately be hard since there are seven different types of styles. Lisa also states that if she would have taken the opportunities she was given she would have been better off; but here's the thing, not a lot of teachers give us an opportunity to fully understand the subject. Some teachers don't hold tutoring anymore. If teachers were to put more effort and energy into teaching, they would see great results in their students and probably won't feel like teaching is just a career that helps pay the bills. I'm sure they would think better of their career if they felt like they were actually making a difference. Some teachers need to change their attitudes in order for us to change ours.

Kevin Lee said...

I rated my educational experience as a 6. Although I have found the educational opportunities (things like AP classes and clubs) adequate, there certainly could have been more things. I also believe that class should be more engaging and that teachers should really emphasize the importance of education more, from a young age. Math and science should be greatly emphasized over English and history. They should also take more advantage of technology to teach, since the internet is a vast source of information, which we can access with our phones even.

Kevin Lee said...

Responses:

I disagree with Julia to a certain extent on passive teachers just handing out worksheets. While that sort of isolation may prepare students for college (where professors really don't care that much), that is usually because the professors are busy researching their own pursuits. Teachers don't have that excuse, and should do all they can to help their students.

I disagree with Leah about CSTs being useless. End of the year tests like the CSTs, AP exams, and Finals all provide valid information on exactly how much that student has learned throughout the year, which in turn is telling of exactly how much effort he or she put into the class.

Aaron To said...

I rated my educational experience as a 7. Somewhat enjoyed the educational experience. However, the emphasis on standards was annoying. Teachers should be able to teach the way they want to teach. The standards limit them to certain things. I would have gained a better learning experience if I wasn't so lazy. Instead I had more of a social experience. I never really had a class I looked forward to going to though.

Aaron To said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Aaron To said...

Responses:

1. I somewhat disagree with Aaron because to me anytype of work is a tedious task. However tests are somewhat easier to me. You just need to remember the information the teacher taught and you'll do fine.

2. I agree with Bryan. Teachers should be able to teach what they want to teach. The whole emphasis on standards just gets in the way.

MÉLISSA said...

By: Eliasib Sanchez
Overall, I rate my educational experience to be an 8. My teachers were really clear on what they wanted me to learn. But, the only thing I would change would be that I should of taken more challenging classes. I learned many things from my teachers. I think technology would of affect a students education in two diffreent ways. Some students would of abused the opportunity with working with technology and others would take the opportunity wisely.

1. I agree with Aaron To because the standards do limit the teachers ability to teach what they want.They are based on a structure and honestly you dont really learn by that. We are being taught to learn certain things and block out others.

2.I agree with Tommy because its true teachers are forced to just do pratical teaching. Nothing in school is being used in the real world. Somewhat the educational system is teaching us to depend on what they want us to learn. We are basically being spoon feed at some point the answers to another test. Instead of teaching us valuable things we need to learn, we are being taught to what to study for the next exam.

Bryan said...

Responses
1. I agree with Lisa with teachers not helping with the student. Teachers should help the student at all times. There are some teachers who don’t care weather or not the students pass. Teachers should care about their students. If teachers were to care more about their students, then maybe students would pass their classes more often.
2.I also agree with Leah about teachers teaching only for the CSTs. Teachers shouldn’t teach just for the CSTs. These test are based on what you learned in class weather you learned it or not. I think we should just forget about these test and focus more on our education.

Tschopen said...

Responses:
I agree with Jeska in that it feels like we are not being prepared for the real world. It seems as though we are only being taught enough to pass whatever benchmark is coming up next.

And I also agree with Erika. Teachers need to love their jobs and actually try to motivate the students.

Jackie_Flores said...

I rate my education experience a 7. I rate a 7 because I think how the education I’ve received could have been a lot better. The education doesn’t prepare us for the world and doesn’t help us for our future. They base what we learn to the state testing and it limits our experience on what we have to learn. Also the teachers I had really made my education experience a one to remember. The teachers that actually care and want you to succeed are the ones that made my education experience an ok one.

Jackie_Flores said...

Responses
1- I agree monica because there teachers who don’t care and just teach and don’t care if you learn it or not.
2- I agree with lisa how teachers having a sense of humor would make the education experience more enjoyable.