February 11

For writing into the day, we responded to a newspaper article about why high school students aren't prepared for college.  Then we had the following discussion:

• In high school, AP was busy work and book work.  In college, it's more critical thinking.
• Each week we'd have timed writing responses.  You don't have those kinds of timed writing in college.  You have at least a week to write a paper.
• We were just taught how to pass.
• How are you being prepared for college if the course is a year long?  Why did it take so long to teach/learn that material?
• They don't have adequate teachers to teacher higher classes in high school.
• Multiple choice doesn't allow for learning concepts; it's about memorization.
• You have to focus on what the teacher says in college, not just memorizing dates and facts from a book.
• We only learned what was on the exam.  The teacher wouldn't answer questions about things that weren't going to be on the exam.  
• Test scores are the measure of what the students supposedly learned.  So are teachers teaching kids to pass the test to help the student or to save their job?
• It's cheaper to do multiple choice.  It's not feasible to respond to many students with critical thinking responses.
• Often, we don't think about what other people say; we just accept it.
• Teachers can't impact all students in the same way because each student is different.
• Classes should be smaller.
• But that means more teachers, more classroom and more buildings which means more money.
• High grades might occur more often in smaller classes.
• It's easier to get your questions answered in small classes.
• In small classes,  you get to know the teacher better so you are more comfortable talking to him/her.
• In big classes, you're just a number.
• Education is about pressure: pressure to pass for the student, pressure to make students pass for the teacher.
• It's everybody's fault that education is failing.
• In big classes, it's harder to connect with peers.
• In big classes, it's easier to fall asleep, skip or check out.
• The teacher impacts your class and your grade.  It's on the professor to make the class interesting, regardless of class size.
• When classes are more about concepts and discussion, it's easier to remember what you learned.
• Because we are of similar age and position, it's easier to understand when your classmates explain things than when the teacher does.
• Some teachers don't know how to explain their knowledge to the students.
• Some teachers don't understand why students aren't grasping the ideas.
• Some teachers are too smart to teach.
• It's like Sheldon on Big Bang Theory.
• College starts hard.  You can't slack even the first week.
• Teachers don't understand that we haven't been taught how to start hard from the beginning.
• Some teachers think that because we are paying for college, we will work harder.
• When you go from high school to college, it's going to be different.  You expect your first semester to be easy, but it's not.
• In 7th grade, each class should start getting harder, but it doesn't.  So we don't believe teachers when they say college is going to be hard.
• In college, you need to study.  In high school, you didn't.
• You have to do homework in college.  You never had homework in high school because the teacher helped you do it.
• College makes you think for yourself instead of having someone else do the thinking for you.  It teaches you responsibility.
• Your parents aren't there telling you to go to class and do your homework.
• Are we old enough to take care of ourselves at 18?
• There's more the college than just the education part of it.

We also talked about whether everyone should go to college:

• You can't get very far without a college education.
• If you don't have a pathway after high school, college is the other option.
• Most people have the opportunity to go to college, but not everyone does.
• It's not an open opportunity.  Money is a big issue.  FAFSA doesn't see what your family is spending money on.
• You can do vocational school.
• It's all about who you know.  If you know someone you can get you in the door, you might not need the degree.
• If there is something you need to know to do the job, you should go to college.
• It's harder to get it for some than others, but everyone has the opportunity to go to college.  You can work multiple jobs, get grants and apply for scholarships.
• If you inherit a business, you don't need college.
• It comes back to money.
• Everyone has a different path and different views.  It's your choice.
• Your parents play a role too.  Your family might make a lot of money but have to spend that money in other places.
• Isn't the government here to take care of us?
• Why is tuition different at different places if we are supposed to be getting the same education?
• Are teachers as qualified in community colleges as in private college?
• Colleges are like brand names.  You get a job just because the name looks good.

Homework:

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