Hw#45-More Big Thoughts on School

After reading about Hirsch he's arguing that "He concluded that schools should not be neutral about what is taught but should teach a highly specific curriculum that would allow children to understand things writers take for granted". I think that Hirsch is trying to say that before you learn something you should have background on it such as war and other things before going on and reading other texts. In the text where it said "Students at the University of Virginia were able to understand a passage on Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee, while students at a community college struggled with it, apparently lacking basic understanding of the American Civil War" i found this kind of interesting because compared to the community college they did not know the background of the topic they are learning about which is Hirsche is point of how concept of cultural literacy, which is understanding the back ground information.

Reading about Sizer he talked about how kids should be thinking more instead of looking at books and taking standarized test more on trying to make students use their brain instead of a piece of paper. "Schools, he argued, should abandon one-size-fits-all educational methods like standardized tests, grading and even the grouping of students into classes by age." What i found interesting is how he said that the teachers were the mentor/coach and the kids were the workers which i find to be true and that the teachers should motivate the students.

Looking at both views i think they both make valid points Hirsch believes in background knowledge and cultural literacy while Sizer on the other hand allows the students to think more and use the habits of mind rather than whats on a piece of paper. I lean towards Sizer views because i believe they are better and im used t0 what he is talking about rather than test-taking and other things. Just as Sizer said the teachers in SOF actually do play the part of the mentor which has helped and allowed students to think out of the box.

Hw#44 Big Expectations For School

After watching the Obama speech i thought that it was really good and thought he had very interesting points. I liked how in this speech he talked about how your not going to succeed the first time you try something and you have to keep trying as he referred to Michael Jordan and J.K Rowling. I like how he didn't sugar code anything and put it all out there because its true what he is saying. On the other hand, i feel that when he says its the students responsibitly to fullfill their responbitlites its easy said than done. There are kids out there who struggle everyday and aren't able to balance school compared to workign or taking care of their family for finanical reasons etc. How is that kid going to succeed compared to another kid not dealing with these issues.

Reading the article on "Where the Bar Ought to Be" i thought that Bob had a good point at the end stating that maybe the bar is a high coming from a tough surburban neighborhood. It kind of goes back to what Obama said both articles relate. So far from what i read school is primarily to get to the top and get the highest education. Also learning the impossible and having high standards which i believe is kind of hard. I think that in general we should work our way to the top at a good pace instead of shooting to the top. At the same time i think that its good that the schools are like this because it opens up the children's brain and make them comfortable not just like you have to do "this this and that".

After reading this article i agree that we just to school just to be "good employers". Like they said "Go to school and get good grades, so you can get a good high-paying job." In simpler terms that means, "Go to school to become a good employee." But there are too many employees, which is why we have an unemployment problem. Today, kids just out of school aren't finding jobs. At the same time, many of their parents are going back to school for retraining. But they're not finding jobs, either" its true and i think that it would b a good idea if we did have two systems.