There are some people that do not need to have access to the internet. I'm willing to bet some of the people asserting this are those people.
Just so I'm clear, are you saying that some of the AP English students had poor writing skills? If so, how in the hell were they allowed to take those courses? When I was in school we were selected for those courses based on established skills/aptitude; they were not classes someone could simply select. This is disappointing to hear.
Oh, don't get me wrong, I love what I do. School is the best part of the day for some of these kids. That alone makes me appreciate my job that much more. I'm with ya, though. Lecture all day, and they'll be busting to leave the class. I'm one of those that does a lot of that (but I still include group work, which they enjoy).
Went to a private school and we always had homework that was checked and graded. By the time I was intermediate/middle, it was substantial amount, and my brother and I completing it was my parents priority. It amazes me we got do much finished in comparison to the public schools I've been in. We had 2 recesses, lunch, breakfast, evening snack in addition to Reading, Language, Social Studies, Science, Math, and an hour of Bible every morning.
I think this touches on a very important piece in the homework volume discussion - efficiency. I think students of any age who are capable of discipline and structure when it comes to study will do a much better job of dealing with homework. I understand that's a no-brainer, but I question if the required homework is truly 3 hours of actual study or taking significantly longer due to lack of focus and/or discipline.
oh they are selected. she also taught regular students. they were far worse. she has run into the problem that basically if a parent throws enough of a shit fit they'll let their kid into AP even if they aren't deserving. or will at least let them retake the test.
I was probably a bit OCD about it. I remember doing math problems at least two different ways and then seeing if I could come up with a third. I also really liked to open essays with some quote. So I'd end up reading for an hour to find the one I wanted. Other times I was just inefficient. Staring off, watching TV while doing math, etc. I guess it comes down to the fact I didn't mind making a night of it. I didn't work a job in HS except in the summer so I thought I should at least get the most out of it. It also didn't help that I grew up in the middle of nowhere, 30 minutes outside Crossville. Doing things with friends required extensive planning and a ride.
Although some of it was just high workload. I remember reading Atlas Shrugged for my HS SR English class. Maybe I'm not a fast reader, but that was some significant time investment each night, particularly when paired with keeping the corresponding reading journal up to date. That was basically how we were graded.
Understood. I'm not trying to sound elitist over AP courses, it just seems the students with the ability and desire to benefit from these course types are not getting that full benefit due to time spent working with students not in possession of the skills/aptitude to be there in the first place.
I don't see your experience as inefficient at all (on the whole). Sounds like most of your time was spent on true study, even if a portion was personal extra credit. Occasional lack of focus is inevitable, I simply wonder if there is more of that today versus when many of us were in school. For the record I was a nerdy kid and remember being fascinated with vocabulary at one point; I would read through the dictionary and thesaurus in my spare time to learn new words and phrases. Fun kid.
my sister and I both went to very good high schools and she would study at least twice as long as I did and no one would suggest she isn't smart. now she had a better gpa than I did too, but I think you can overdue it sometimes.
for whatever reason it doesn't appear that people learn to write as well as they used to. I've seen this with resumes as well.
I made my own alphabet. I see this in my two sons: the oldest is a carbon copy of me, loves to read and soaks stuff up like a sponge. My youngest detests sitting still and would rather be playing.
Casualness run amok. I read Dickens and think "jesus, how did people write this stuff", but it was a much more formal age. Now, with txtng n l33t sp3k, it has swung the pendulum to all sorts of laziness.
I think that common core has some good points, but its also going to be very centralized and hard to implement on a national scale. The amount of computers needed is going to be a challenge for a lot of schools and systems. I don't like that it forces the teacher to on a schedule, and not based on class need.
They were forced to write for long distance communication, and reading was a primary personal entertainment method.
I was shocked at the writing level of masters students when I was a TA. I read hundreds of papers each semester. Some seriously awful stuff.
