<p>I'm curious to know how teachers educate in schools other than my own. My school doesn't allow us to keep textbooks, and many teachers don't work out of them in the first place because they aren't good, so they say. Can anyone tell me the kind of required reading students do? I have only been assigned to read To Kill a Mockingbird in my high school career and I will be a senior this September, though I have done my own reading to balance it out. Teachers either talk a lot and don't make us take notes, or if they do, not a lot. And they'll base grades on quantity, even if all they have is silly observations. Some make us read the book and do questions at the end of each selection. Math teachers pick a section for the week and give us questions out of the book and on dittos and then we take a quiz at the end. The teachers typically go over the work the next day so we understand it. Maybe it is just the books we use but I never feel confident that I am learning as well as another student is in a different school. How do other teachers do things, particularly in english, history, and math?</p>
<p>MWbashful:</p>
<p>Do you know how much your district spends per student? That may have a lot to do with textbook policy. In our state, we do not have a state-wide textbook adoption policy, so each district is free to use whatever text/curriculum it chooses. So some classes use textbooks, others do not. Last year, my S's class was allowed to keep a copy of the AP-History textbook at home and use another one in schol because it is so heavy. At the end of the AP-English units, the students were allowed to keep a copy of the novels they read. They were also given a lot of photocopies. And each science and math class distributed its own textbook. Math and science textbooks cost over $100 each.<br>
Our district spends a huge amount per student--not always wisely. But at least, it does not stint on books and supplies.</p>
<p>mwbashful18, schools do educate kids differently. You should try to get a copy of Jean Anyon's study "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work". I believe it was published in the Boston University Journal of Education.</p>
<p>Anyway, upper and upper middle class schools educate kids differently than working class schools. In upper-middle class schools there is more independent work, creative thought, analyzation, public speaking practice, less control of the class by a teacher as children have more say of what is going on in the class room. The teacher's are forward looking and relate what the kids are learning to future goals. These kids are being taught to be leaders.</p>
<p>Keep doing independent study. Keep developing your own thought processes. Find a college that develops skills I have mentioned above.</p>
<p>What state is this?</p>
<p>I'm from Michigan, an itty-bitty suburb of Detroit. It's true that my school, as opposed to others, spends more time trying to control the amount of students in the halls and the craziness level in the classroom. I work with people who have no problems in their school with students being disrespectful, while a teacher-friend of mine was just laid off from my school (only four years in) and was seriously considering changing his line of work because of the students he's had to teach (I being the exception of course). I don't understand how my school is so terrible, with students who don't care about themselves, and even less about the teachers helping them, while other districts send their students to Harvard, and the only difference is a few miles and a little money.</p>
<p>What do you mean by keep the textbooks? Do you mean you cannot take them home at all or do you mean that you have to give them back at the end of the school year? They make students give all books back at the end of each semester here (N.C.) and if they lose or damage them they have to pay a fine to replace the book before graduation. The same goes for unreturned or damaged school library books. Otherwise, the administration will refuse to give the student a diploma. We did not have a reading list here until high school. I remember that 8th grade was grammar stuff, but then they made us take a class called grammar in 9th grade. :/ What is a ditto? I have never heard of that? We had to do a research paper in my 12th grade English class and in the AP Biology class, yet I'm seen some parents on message boards mentioning that their kids are doing/did do research papers in elementary school! :O</p>
<p>I can speak to the required summer reading for our school district. Starting in Middle School (6th grade) each child is required to read two books over the summer from a list and a third book is free choice. For the kids in the more advanced reading classes they have harder books to choose from.</p>
<p>In High School only the honors and AP students have required summer reading, which I think is setting the mark pretty low for the other students. After having to read books for three years in MS, they were already in the habit anyway. Here's the link for required reading at our schools:<a href="http://www.slsd.org/high_school/resources/index.html%5B/url%5D">http://www.slsd.org/high_school/resources/index.html</a> As you can see it starts off pretty easy with four books for 9th grade, then 5 books for 10th grade but 11th grade is crazy with 8 books. If you take AP euro in 11th grade, you'll have two more books to read plus essay's to write.</p>
<p>I think our school is pretty good. All of the kids I know feel that they were prepared for college academically.</p>
<p>kat, on those lists the only two I've read are Of Mice and Men and The Catcher in the Rye. :X</p>
<p>Also, our art class was a joke. I think we had 4 or 5 regular teachers when I was there (they kept quitting..LOL) and numerous subsitutes. No one wanted that job. The class was mainly full of people who weren't really interested in art. They just wanted an "easy" elective.</p>
<p>Bluealien:</p>
<p>Not to worry. My S has had a totally different list. I think the only title in common is Crime and Punishment. But his elem school actually had students write 3-4 page papers, complete with bibliography beginning in 3rd grade.</p>
<p>Most of the books we read were really stupid. I don't even remember what they were about. Something called My Darling, My Hamburger; The Pigman, Ms. Basil Frankweiner or something along those lines (not sure of the entire title or if that is even remotely correct). That's all I can remember right now.</p>
<p>MWbashful, your many posts throught theses boards have a common them of feeling sorry for yourself. I encourage you to take a different vies and to certainly not present this face to colleges. Many don't go to great schools. As librarians, or use the internet to find worhtwhile reading. If your father lets you down you're in good company. You will get a waiver if he hasn't paid child support. Make the best of your situation! Your life is ahead of you!</p>
<p>I agree with Zagat. The plain an simple truth is that there are major inequities with the school system in this country (both public and private). System probably isn't going to change anytime soon. You can choose to whine about it (and have the world's smallest violin playing just for you) or you can take the initiative and not let your situation/circumstances define you. There is the public library, colleges and universities, bookstores, you cna even go to Barns and noble sit down and read the book instore with out having to purchasse. People who really want to get things done, do them, not play lip service because they don't have what others have.</p>
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You will get a waiver if he hasn't paid child support.
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S/he collects SS from dad, so this student is way ahead of the game as compared to students that recieve absolutely nothing fromt heir parents.</p>
<p>What's that adage again, I complained because I had not shoes until I met a man who had not feet. Stick around, while you cry about having no shoes, you'll meet plenty who have no feet, but still manage to stay in the race and finish the course.</p>
<p>I've never seen a person without feet. I have seen people missing fingers though.</p>
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I don't understand how my school is so terrible, with students who don't care about themselves, and even less about the teachers helping them, while other districts send their students to Harvard, and the only difference is a few miles and a little money.
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The only difference is not only a few miles and a little money. Unfortunately the differences are caused by multiple factors, including preparation of students, peer influences, cultural factors, nutrition, home life, morale and training of teachers, expectations of students and teachers, relevancy of curriculum,etc. It is not curable by moving the school to a new location and adding money. I wish it were that simple!</p>