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Post by alliefried on Sept 6, 2022 22:15:58 GMT -5
This past year I had a teacher who taught poorly and then complained to the class about how low our test scores were; he expected nothing less than perfection. Since he would never truly teach us during class, we practically had to teach ourselves from home. Learning the content on my own pushed me to exceed what I thought was possible, as I never had to work that hard in a class. I thought it was impossible to end with an A in his class, but after hours of studying, I came out with one. In our education system, motivation to have a high GPA is built in through the grading system. Throughout school, the importance of grades and test scores are constantly stressed, giving us the idea that they are the sole factor in determining your future. Although they are important to colleges, they don’t define your success and are one of many factors considered for colleges. Traditional motivation has worked very well for me, but I think that’s due to my competitive nature and the need to achieve my personal goals. I believe the first half of our education system should include everyone receiving general education until their early teenage years, allowing them to be well-rounded in all subjects. Following this, they can pick subject areas that interest them more and drop the classes they hate. I think this would draw kids more towards school since they aren't forced to learn about topics that don't interest them. I think this would be an interesting perspective on how students would approach school. It reminds me a lot of what people do in the United Kingdom for traditional schooling. After grade 8 they enter "A levels" where they choose for subjects they will study for two years in preparation for a large test. It gives them the chance to study different fields that they might be interested in but completely drop subjects they just don't understand or know they will not want to work with in the future. After that they start "college" which is where they choose 3-4 subjects of interest they will study again to complete a test that will decipher whether they get into University or not depending on what scores the Universities asked of them. The people I have met from the United Kingdom are similar to your prediction where they are hard working at their classes because they know their future depends on it, and they got to choose which classes they wanted to take, based on the career path they want. The only issue I have come across with this form of schooling through thought experiments is that you have to decide fairly earlier on, just about what you want to do in life. If you decide you don't like the subjects you are taking I have heard it is incredibly hard to switch. This varies from the American college system where if you are willing to pay for the new classes and tuition then it is an easy switch.
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Post by Talia Robertson on Sept 8, 2022 12:02:51 GMT -5
My Spanish teacher, Senora Holmes, sets a very high mark that you can communicate in Spanish better than we think we can. And I'm often very down on myself and don't feel like I can. But by her believing that we all are very capable, I've been able to push myself and hit that mark of communicating what I want to say in Spanish even if it doesn't always sound the best. I've been very fortunate in my years in school and I have had very great teachers. So generally, I would say that I've been pushed to exceed far beyond what I originally thought I could because my teachers have been generally super helpful and encouraging. As far as what motivational systems are built into our school system, it really depends on the teacher. Some teachers motivate you by giving you words of encouragement, so motivate you by giving prizes if you earn a certain score or grade, some motivate you by offering help and staying after school to help you with assignments. I find that words of encouragement really motivate me because I tend to be sort of negative when it comes to myself. The motivation of good grades does not really work for me, it stresses me out more than anything because I'm more worried about getting a bad grade than I am actually learning the material. I think that a school system that would really motivate kids is having teachers that truly care about you and motivate you by encouraging you in whatever way they can. And, also focusing on learning more than earning grades. I believe that kids would learn more if the stress of grades wasn't so huge, stressing the importance of learning is more important.
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