Do Teachers Teach Quicker and Smaller?

[lleeder]

With our society geting faster and faster and peoples attention span getting smaller and smaller has it impacted schools? Ron talked the other day about magazines having smaller articles and top ten lists. People watch Youtube rather than entire shows. Even in this psot people aren't reading it due to its length. Teachers need to be faster and develop more streamlined lesson plans. Why not mix some math problems up with the history lesson just to keep these kids on their toes? Or ask for the top five reasons a verb makes sense? Or shorten classes to 10 minutes but you have 30 of them instead of 9. If you want to see these changes elect me class president.

[Hottub]

Thank God I'm out of town March 12th.

[TooLowBrow]

this is ridiculous

kids are learning fundamentals which are learned through repetition

your idea is like a coach who has 3 balls thrown to a batter at the same time with the hopes that if he learns to hit 3 he'll hit 1 even better

[lleeder]

this is ridiculous

kids are learning fundamentals which are learned through repetition

your idea is like a coach who has 3 balls thrown to a batter at the same time with the hopes that if he learns to hit 3 he'll hit 1 even better

You can coach my daughter any time you like. Gotta build those reflexes.

[TooLowBrow]

You can coach my daughter any time you like. Gotta build those reflexes.

ill coach your daughter using 2

[EddieMoscone]

I think we should do more the fix the short attention span and lack of long term memory. Otherwise we are changing things to avoid facing those issues instead of tackling them head on..

[brettmojo]

Eliminate summer vacation.

Problem solved.

[Thebazile78]

Eliminate summer vacation.

Problem solved.

Other countries do it; they've turned out well:

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/bhSspSOiBJw&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/bhSspSOiBJw&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

[Bellyfullasnot]

I can only base my opinion on a current situation with my sons school. It seems that the entire third grade program revolves around getting the kids ready for the NY state tests.

The kids aren't learning a lot of new material unless it will be on the test. My son is bored because most of the material has been covered before. The teachers (in this school) have told the parents that the results from the tests will affect the kids placement in certain classes next year. It is our understanding that the tests are used as a tool for the state and school districts to monitor what skills need to be improved district wide.

There are some kids in my son's class that are not able to keep up with the faster pace and are stressing out. The teacher feels that it's a faster pace and she can't slow it down anymore. I think "learn enough for the test" method is hurting the way our kids learn, and is actually putting more pressure on the teacher. My son has 2 hours of homework most nights. I'm lucky because he understands the material and enjoys it, but throw any extra curricular activity into the mix and there is very little time to complete it.

[boosterp]

I can only base my opinion on a current situation with my sons school. It seems that the entire third grade program revolves around getting the kids ready for the NY state tests.

The kids aren't learning a lot of new material unless it will be on the test. My son is bored because most of the material has been covered before. The teachers (in this school) have told the parents that the results from the tests will affect the kids placement in certain classes next year. It is our understanding that the tests are used as a tool for the state and school districts to monitor what skills need to be improved district wide.

There are some kids in my son's class that are not able to keep up with the faster pace and are stressing out. The teacher feels that it's a faster pace and she can't slow it down anymore. I think "learn enough for the test" method is hurting the way our kids learn, and is actually putting more pressure on the teacher. My son has 2 hours of homework most nights. I'm lucky because he understands the material and enjoys it, but throw any extra curricular activity into the mix and there is very little time to complete it.

Having several teachers in my family and familiar with Texas' education policies; the same happens here. We call it "teaching for the TAKS tests.)

[instrument]

More people would read long posts if people would occasionally hit return.

Paragraphs are your friends.

I agree though, I hate reading stories online with multiple pages of filler....respect the fact that I'd like to get to the heart
of your story before I have to flush.

[Bellyfullasnot]

More people would read long posts if people would occasionally hit return.

Paragraphs are your friends.

I agree though, I hate reading stories online with multiple pages of filler....respect the fact that I'd like to get to the heart
of your story before I have to flush.

Thanks teach.

[ToiletCrusher]

I don't have the energy to get into this. But, there are a tremendous amount of evidence based curriculum out there. The problem is that without having a national set of standards that all states have to adhere to, there will always be discrepancies.

There is also a tremendous gap between the level of professional development requirements placed on teachers and the demands of the classroom. Teachers can pick and choose what types of workshops they want to attend in many states just to keep current with their continuing education credits. That is a big problem because it is easier to do what you know and these are the teachers who aren't willing to learn and do new things.

Additionally, we need to take a look at higher education. There are no two schools in this country with the same program for education. Being in education, I can say that. Researching in education, I have to know that. But take a look at the programs for any institution for Childhood Education and compare it to the same program at a different school. Not the same at all. Similar, yes, but not same. These discrepancies also contribute to the growing problem that is the field of education.

For reference, here are a couple links of evidence based curriculum. However, they are shunned because the publishing companies can't change it a little bit and sell it to thousands of different school districts.

TRIAD - Building Blocks (http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/org/triad/tbb/index.asp?local=parent)

This is the project which I work on.

Empower Reading (http://74.125.95.132/search?q=cache:UboNXzIi9pMJ:www.theibsc.org/uploaded/IBSC/Conference_and_workshops/Toronto_Workshops/LeatchM_EmpowerReadingInfoSheet.pdf+Empower+readin g+program&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=1&gl=us&client=firefox-a)

I am also certified to teach and train this program. It is designed for children with reading disabilities but is currently being used in many school districts throughout Ontario as the primary reading curriculum. The researchers involved have also developed a component to use with high school students.


I don't think the issue is simply that teachers need to be faster or anything like that. I think the issue is more a result of a non-engaging curriculum.

Anyone can keep children engaged with an enormous amount of resources and the best practices if those are given to them. However, you cannot make a diamond out of shit and that is what most of this nation's teachers use daily.

[MC Pee Pants]

kids are for queers

[SatCam]

Quicker and Smaller

That's how my girlfriend likes it