Hw- 45 Back In My Day...

Okay. So what I gathered is that both of these fellas were the fathers of a particular form of education. Which a lot of people assume is so different from one another.

I looked at the short article that compares both style of teaching. The debate seems foolish since the article states "Hirsch worries mostly about elementary schools, Sizer about high schools" this quote right here should automatically nullify any of the arguments that the teaching styles have against each other.

Hirsch apparently believes that "Students should be able to read and know basic number facts by the end of the first grade" which I believe that many kids can do by the end of first grade as well as basic math. Sizer believes "Students should leave school as well-informed skeptics, able to ask good questions as a matter of habit". To me that idea seems a little far fetched.

When you look at most high school students today the idea of "oh these kids can ask some pretty good questions" is not one that comes to mind when you see freshmen smoking directly outside of school. I think that the teaching styles from 1st to 12 grade differ on a wider spectrum than most people realize.

When kids are in lower grades the independence is in full effect and they still want to hold on to mommy's ankle for as long as they can. As we get older we tend to whisper and sometimes yell f*** off as we shut the front door behind us and welcome the idea of leaving for college.

Honestly I think that both of the ideas of Hirch and Sizer has been lost over time. I think that since TV programs have become something that a lot of kids and teens watch the task of studying has become something that is almost archaic. More and more kids are having a harder time focusing and having an easier time blaming the teacher for various reasons (though sometimes valid).

A lot of the ideas of knowledge has been lost over time and it seems a little weird that the people that argue about it are a long ways out of both middle school and high school. School social norms and styles are always changing so getting the opinion of someone who graduated high school in 1999 no longer has a valid opinion when it comes to high school or middle school because most likely it isn't what it was like 10+ years ago. That's like a 12 year old giving stock market options.

I think that to a point kids care about their education but not to the point to look up or even care about the history or the foundation of their schools.

Hw-44 You're Gonna Go Far Kid

We are officially at a point where we mostly wonder why we are stuck in school to begin with. By this time we can't really point out why we need school. We as students can say all the things that bother us about school and the people that are assiociated with it. Why is it so much easier to say "homework is pointless" before saying "I'm lucky my school has a GSA" I think it has become a social norm to hate school. It's something that is not to be questioned.

How did we get here?

School is hyped up to a point where if you have never been you antisipate the greatest thing ever. And as it so happens school is the greatest thing ever but something happens in between getting bullied or failing a class where your motivation seems to be on an eternal downfall. In Obama's speach he says that you have to believe in yourself and never give up. If you give up you not only give up on yourself but you give up on your country. Wow... really?

School is the place where the most judgement happens. Either you're too skinny or too smart or too fat or too dumb or ugly blah blah blah. In a place like that how can you be motivated to always believe in yourself? As previously discussed school is a place where the eternal contest of cool is being held. 'if you can't stand the heat get outta the kitchen' is the high school anthem.

Socially there is so much going on that even the slightest thing can manipulate the direction of your mood. Thus it becomes easier to shatehat we hate about school before listing what we love. Everyone loses sight of what school is for. But then again have we ever really had a clear understanding of what school is there for?

We have the cliche definition of why we need school but how can we know if what we have been told and taught holds truth? No matter what there is always a way to disprove what has been drilled into the various spaces in our heads.

I wonder what the alternative is for when we don't believe in ourselves? What happens then? Does the country stop to check up on us? Do we stand united? Not at all. I believe it's because all our lives we have stood alone. School pushes the 'every man for himself' clause on us and that is what sticks with us. We fight till the death in an endless cool battle, or we end up trying to prove our worth academically and even if you're in the 'i don't give a damn' crowd there are even people competing for who doesn't care the most.

School is a game but the players never win. But hey believe in yourself champ.

Hw - 42 Uh...Important Things aka Significance

The American school system babies its students thus preserving the immaturity in its kids. We never really grasp the idea of 'growing up' we have become used to a childish routine.

I think that this topic is important because the better half on teens are stuck in this realm of immaturity. Is it our fault? When I look back on how the school system is we have been hand fed, burped, and put to bed for the last 13+ years. Its all we have known. Daily reports on lateness and reminders on who is passing or failing. Let's not forget the "Timmy do you have your homework today?"'s. I know personally that teachers ask on a daily basis about work and projects and yada yada yada.

We get stuck in this routine thinking that teachers, these 'superior' people who essentially control your high school career with a simple number or letter. I think we get so used to having everything all done for us until we reach the point where we get a huge slap in the face telling us the grow up. We let things and places like high school become the pinnacle of our lives because we think this is where it all is. Having teachers grade your work and cut you slack.

Why is this all that we know?

Take a look at our society, everyone is obsessed with age. Preventing it or relishing it is something that we can see everyday. How many movies have their been where some old guy is disappointed with his life *gasp* until one day he gets a magical chance to re-do his life. We have been filtered to believe that age is bad and that when it comes we need cosmetics to make it all go away. Here we have this obsession with time...all the time.

How many seniors will say "I can't believe its over" Granted you will miss your friends and the popularity or whatever. But I think its deeper than that. Leaving high school means growing up. High school, middle school and elementary school were places that let us crawl around, roll around, fall in love, act a fool without consequence or worry and now we are scared out of our minds.

Some of us appear to be embracing the fact that we can get the hell out of here. Some of us like the idea of being on our own. But is that just another childish idea? Something that lets us run away from mommy for a while. A mini adventure that allows us continues to roll around to get dirty to rip holes in our jeans.

We all say things or have heard things like "We are wasting our youth in school!" or "Everything is easy when you're young" Why does it have to be that way? Why do we all end up wishing we could rewind the clock just a little bit? We are in this mindset of valuing the 'glory days' so when reality comes zooming by to slap us in the face we don't know what to do. We wake up wishing that we could go back.

That leads me to think about why there are so many of us that are immature. It seems that we have been taught to value our young years and hating the birthdays after 29. Its weird but I think alot of us might miss the 'goo goo gah gah' phase.

Is this a bad thing? It looks like we have only been doing what we have been taught.