Read the two essays assigned from
Writing from Sources. (I'll hand them out in class, but you should also buy the book if you haven't already because I'm asking you to read Chapter 5 in it as well.) By Wednesday's class, respond to both essays in a paragraph or two on each essay. Don't think to hard about your responses. What you're really trying to do in a "zero draft" is to decide what essay you want to write about in WA#2 based on how much you have to say on each essay and how strongly you feel about the opinions expressed in each of the essays.
As you read, consider the writers' arguments and how you might support them if you agree and how you might refute them if you disagree.
We'll be using your comments as the basis of class discussion on Wednesday and Friday, so please post by sometime on Tuesday.
Tom B.
P.S. Will someone please let me know if the book is still not available at the OWU bookstore?
We Need More F’s
ReplyDeleteI could not agree more with Singleton’s piece. I think that he makes valid points about our education system. I am a Cleveland native, so hearing about the Cleveland schooling systems has always been a daily news thing. Some teacher is either being shot or fired, and why the teachers even bother teaching these kids still baffles me. There are some kids that aren’t meant to be in school, and the ones that don’t even want to try shouldn’t be allowed in the building. Going to school used to be an honor, and now that it is a requirement it has lost most of its respectability. While the OGT’s for my school, a private, catholic, college-prep school, were a breeze, those tests are the hardest tests those kids will probably ever take. They take them during their sophomore year, since the teachers expect failure and give them two extra years to retake them so that they can graduate. While it certainly is not fair that the kids at my high school are getting a much better education, it should not be an excuse. Every kid should want to learn, and I believe that every kid does want to learn something although it may not be what is taught it school. I think that kids are not motivated especially because schools often do not have the money to show students the cool things about chemistry, or let them try playing different musical instruments, or even learn how to play sports. I have certainly not enjoyed all of my classes but I know that you have to do well in all your classes in order to get to the good stuff later on. I hate chemistry, but I know that in order to take higher biology classes, I have to take one year of it. Not everything in life is pleasant, but the ends may justify the means.
On the other hand, kids need to learn that they need to actually do work to get anywhere in life. I am sick of affirmative action and colleges trying to fill quotas and diversity requirements so that they can get a tax break. It is ridiculous that some students have things made for them. A 4.0 student that may be white might not even be accepted to a college so that a 2.9 student who claims he is 1/15 Cherokee gets accepted. I am sick of reading other student’s essays that still confuse they’re, there, and their or that can’t even use correct grammar in speech. Granted, I never learned how to really construct a sentence, but at least I know how to conjugate the verbs we use every day correctly.
I also agree with Singleton that teacher’s should feel some responsibility towards this, since they are the ones giving the grades. There are some colleges in this country that don’t even grade kids anymore. I don’t know why this but I hope that it isn’t because a failing grade could be detrimental to a student’s emotional health. That to me is a cop out because no one should be good at everything. An A grade should be given to a kid that really did the work, knows the material he is supposed to know and succeed on the test. There shouldn’t be retakes and there shouldn’t be make-up homework (although I am grateful for it when teacher’s do this).
Everyone wants to take the easy way out, and it really isn’t always the best way. Maybe it is just an American thing, but regardless I hope that students start putting more effort in, even if they don’t like the subject, and that teachers push their students more. If kids fail, they fail, and then it is their problem.
-M.
In response to Singleton's essay:
ReplyDeleteI attended a public, rural high school where shop class was quite possibly the only class that most of my male peers took seriously. However, those same guys had passing gpa's, and i can almost guarantee that they don't know the difference between a hypothesis and a hypothetical situation. Perhaps they shouldn't have been promoted, and they certainly shouldn't have had as high of gpa's as they did. I'm not sure if I agree that there needs to be more f's though. Obviously, if someone knows nothing about a subject, then a failing grade is warranted. However, I think that a more effective solution would be to simply lower grades, but not necessarily fail them. Something that was very frustrating for me is how many people could claim that they had "straight a's." I was valedictorian and when all was said and done, my gpa was over a 4.0 with weighted classes. So why was it that my peers, who couldn't write a paper or solve an equation to save their life, had high gpa's as well? I wouldn't go so far as to say it made my work feel insignificant, but it certainly made me ask myself if it was worth it. I probably could have had a respectable gpa and literally have done nothing. but i still don't believe failing every single incompetent student is the answer.
As i said, i was not in an inner city school, we never had a bomb threat, and there was never a school shooting. But imagine what would happen if teachers just started failing students. One would hope that everyone would just drop out. but it scares me to consider the kids whose one shot is school, or the kid with undiagnosed dyslexia or ADD, who simply gets failed. Whose to say these kids wouldn't seek revenge. Apart from that, whose to say that these kids wouldn't have made something of themselves if given the chance, but instead, they were simply given an f.
It has been proven time and time again that positive reinforcement, while sometimes harder, has a longer lasting effect on everything from animals to people than negative reinforcement does. I don't think that giving everybody an f is going to solve school funding problems. maybe they should have considered fixing the roof in my math room because if it so much as sprinkled outside, someone would have to go and get a bucket to catch the water. or maybe we should consider buying relevant history books. or, gasp!, maybe we should consider paying teachers what they deserve. my mother was a teacher for thirty year's who earned her master's degree, but it was nearly impossible to support my brother and i on her salary; and unthinkable to have any money to pay for either one of our colleges.
So no, I don't think that America needs more f's. I think that America needs to start putting the student's first, not inflating gpa's to earn government money. And i also think that we need to move away from standardized testing, it is no wonder that we don't learn the material when we are simply learning methods of test taking.
-Paige
In response to M's comment.
ReplyDelete"There are some kids that aren’t meant to be in school, and the ones that don’t even want to try shouldn’t be allowed in the building. Going to school used to be an honor, and now that it is a requirement it has lost most of its respectability"
really? would you like to go back to the days when only white males from affluent families were allowed in schools? and how do you suggest we determine what kids aren't "meant" to be in school? should we give them a work ethic test. compulsory education goes with civilized society. you cannot say that some people aren't meant to be in school. And you're right, going to school used to be a reservation, not a requirement, back when my friends would have been plowing my fields based on the color of their skin, and i wouldn't have been allowed to vote, and i certainly wouldn't have had an opinion.
I agree that some students do not have the aptitude to learn math, or chemistry. So maybe we should offer more skills classes. but prescreening who is or isn't allowed in schools is crude.
Affirmative action is something that was certainly crucial twenty and even ten years ago. I understand your frustrations that being white could be considered somewhat of a disadvantage. However, I do not feel that our society has moved away from needing this, because obviously discrimination still occurs in our society. And the bit about the 1/15 cherokee, while certainly inflaming, is just untrue. credentials still outweigh heritage in almost all cases, and i think that is an exaggeration.
You also say that if kids fail, they fail, and it is their problem.
So is it a kid's problem if he or she is working a full time job on top of school to support their family, and they have to miss a major test in order to pay for a couple day's worth of food.
I'm just saying, not every child has the luxury of a meal every night.
Fortunately, I did have this luxury, but I had work to do on the farm every night and when it was softball season i struggled to keep my grades up, stay on top of my game, and get the work i needed to get done at home. I would hate to imagine what working the graveyard shift and going to school would feel like.
You make valid points, but don't forget about the exceptions, and don't forget that what is really needed is accountability, not disposing of students who aren't "worthy," after all, isn't everyone worthy of basic rights.
My first approach to this article is that giving F’s would be detrimental to the American education system. As someone with a decently strong work ethic, I would have to disagree with the idea, however, after reading Singleton’s piece, I started to agree with him. I do think that those deserving of F’s should receive them. I also strongly agree with the idea of getting parents more involved in their child’s academics. Giving F’s would also force the students to actually learn the material. This would prevent them from “just getting by” in school and they would have to meet the standards and pass the class.
ReplyDeleteI have mixed feelings about Rauch’s piece that more homework should be awarded. Many American students are lazy and need more structure. However, there will always be the students who will not do their homework anyways, so that should be taken into consideration. Also, those who are well-rounded students may participate in after-school activities or sports. It makes for a very long day to have to come home from practice or an activity, eat dinner, and then start their hours of homework when they are exhausted. I think different types of students will react differently to having more homework and it will be difficult to change the work ethics of those who don’t do their homework anyways and have negative attitudes about school if their teachers add more schoolwork.
-Molly
also, there are copies of Writing from Sources in the bookstore for $67.
Giving F's
ReplyDeleteI don't agree that F's should be handed out by the miillions to students because they don't know the material. Yes, you do need to know the material but Singleton deosn't realize that not everyone learns on the same level. It is easier for some people to comprehend some subjects and materials while others are just lost in the dust. For example, my calculus class that I withdrew from because I just could not understand anything in there. So, Singleton thinks that I should automatically get an F not saying I deserve an A but when is someone going to really use calculus in their daily job unless they are a math professor or calc teach seriously. This is another thing Singleton just doesn't take into consideration, he talks about us and our parents not being smart and being ignorant but he is just as ignorant. Giving alot of F's will just make school virtually impossible. And no one will be able to pass thus making this country dumber than ever because only the Genius' will be able to go to school and get a diploma without failing out like everyone else.
More Homework
I honestly agree with Rauch. Students today are pretty lazy, but I also think that the teachers too can be just as lazy.The students don't want to do homework when they can have fun, and teachers don't want to grade a ton of stuff. Some of my high school teachers would honestly not give alot of homework because they did'nt want to grade it. He says that giving more homework will make the schools smarter. Maybe maybe not!!! Honestly though, students do not really do their homework now, so if they got alot more thats just more they won't do. Rauch is right that we need to do something with the education system, but i don't think that a massive ammount of homework will do the trick. Also if all this homework was to happen and then u throw in the idea of Singletons MORE F's THEORY, then their would be no need for schools in America anymore because graduating classes would only have 2-3 students!!!!!
I agree with Singleton's argument in principle. I think public education's standards have fallen too low, though Fs may not be the way to remedy this problem. My graduating class needed a 48% on the OGTs in order to graduate. 48% is a failing grade, but it counted as passing for the OGT. The asministration at my school had to offer incentives for certain grades just to make the smarter students take the test seriously, and even that didn't work. Many of my friends and I answered essays questions with jokes, because we knew we would get away with it. I think high school students should be held accountable for knowing more than what was covered on the OGT. These increased standards would justify lower grades for the amount of work being done, so parents and public would be much less outraged with lower grades. Singleton's plan of distributing lower grades for work that used to merit passing grades would outrage the public, as he suggests no change in curriculum.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Rauch on more than his principle. My senior year of high school, although I was enrolled in four AP classes, I did about thirty minutes of homework a night. Also related, I did just hwat I needed to learn the material I needed to pass the test and no more. I was one of the lazy students Rauch mentions. If I kept my GPA close to where it was at 3.6 I was happy. This wasn't only in high school, but started as soon as I noticed that not everything we learned ended up on tests. High school ws just where I mastered the techniques of fiuring out what WOULD end up on tests.
I think both theories would be helpful, given the slight tweak I suggested to Singleton's, but Rauch's would be more effective.
More F’s
ReplyDeleteI agree with what Singleton is saying in this essay to a point. Americans are becoming lazier and if a student is repeatedly struggling the teacher usually decides to pass that student to get them out of their class, rather than help them learn the material and do well. Although, I think teachers should give lower grades in order to get the students and parents attention, rather than just giving F’s. This problem is also causing students (incoming freshman in college mostly) to struggle when getting to the college level because they are not prepared for the work ahead, which causes them to get discouraged and drop out. I feel that if we do give lower grades and/or F’s to those who do not fully understand the material, our education system will drastically improve and students will know they have to put in the effort to pass; it will not be handed to them.
More Homework
I completely agree with what Rauch is saying here. At my high school, my Spanish class was intense. We had homework every night, even if it was only 20 minutes. As much as my friends and I complained about this, we learned more in that class than we did in say, my English class where we rarely had any homework on a given night. I agree that if we increase the homework load, even if it is just requiring students to look over the notes for a small quiz the next day, their performance in school would increase drastically. I am not saying we should assign hours upon hours of work every night; that would leave no time for a kid to be a kid and be active in their communities and with their families. I feel if our teachers were not so lazy (not assigning homework because they don’t want to have to grade it), our school systems would be improved and American’s would become less lazy and used to working for what they want to achieve.
Essay One
ReplyDeleteMore Fs are necessary because students are able to pass without having to do the required work. This is very bad because they are able to get through the system without having to apply thamselves and these habits are likely to go past high school and college. It is also bad for younger kids moral development to think they can get good things without putting in effort. This will be very bad for the kids when they get into the labor market.
essay 2
I don not agree that more homework is the way to go simply because homework requires something to be taught in class and children always cheat on homework. I also think that the way the system is run we need to focus more on academics and good academics. In some places they've even gone as far as to teach creationism in classrooms. We need to focus on quality first to make an efficient running system that teaches kids as much as they can and not just required things for standardized tests