How I Would Change the K12 Curriculum. *VERY* Rough Draft.

I was in the American education system for 75% of my life. In those years, I learned to recognize the benefits, and the costs, of the mass American system that is the K-12 curriculum. Now, while I can't speak for every student, or school, or educator that is part of this system, I can speak from my own point-of-view and the point-of-view of my peers. The point of this argument is clear, teacher's need to learn how to develop motivation and passion along with the curriculum, or students will never truly learn what they are "taught".
I am speaking to the educators, not just of America but of the world, when I say that most kids do not enjoy learning, nor do they want too. It is not the kid's fault. The problem with mass education in America is that everyone is taught the same subject, every day, every year, and these kid's are just getting information overload shoved down their throats and are then expected to regurgitate it back out perfectly on a test. It doesn't take a Harvard graduate with a Ph.D. in education to see that this simply does not work.
Why not? Why can't you teach every student the same thing and get perfect results back from everyone, equally? Well, for starters, not everyone is the same. We all have different personalities, different lives, different families, homes, stories, and we all learn differently too. Yes, it is true that it is near impossible to teach every student in this country individually the best way they can. However, it is possible to boost the student's motivation, so that they not only enjoy learning, they want to learn, and they love it.
We see this effect in Finland, a country with the highest test scores and rates of graduation. You could call Finland the Holy Grail of primary and secondary education. While American students test 14th in reading, 17th in science, and 25th in math, Finland is at the top on almost all accounts. How is this possible? What is Finland doing that we're not? In Finland, the amount of homework given is slim to none, there is no mandated testing, and their teachers are only trained at the most elite universities, and only hired if they are in the top 20%, sometimes 10% of their class. This creates an almost perfect environment for the students to truly prosper in their subjects. With much lower stress, the students don't dread to wake up early on weekdays and drag themselves out of bed. With outstanding teachers who truly know their subjects and how to teach, the student learns to extremely respect what the teacher's are telling them, they choose to listen and retain the information, and therefore learn more than the average American. Investigative reporter Amanda Ripley called this system in an interview on CNN the "utopian model".
If we adopted an education system similar to Finland's, we would see an increase in test scores, a decrease in drop outs, and a major increase in the student's positive attitude and happiness. The secret lies in the ability for the curriculum to develop a passion for each student, and let them grow from it. This will teach every child to grow to their full potential.

Writing Strategies

       Other the years, I have used many different writings strategies. Usually, when assigned a essay, I start by writing an outline. My outline first consists of my thesis statement, along with a topic sentence for each paragraph that I plan to incorporate into my essay. Next, I go back and add at least 3 details and supporting claims to my thesis and to the topic sentences. Then, I add conclusion sentences to wrap them all up. My next step is to copy the outline onto a new document, and type the essay along the same lines. I do not usually write it word for word with my outline, and I often add extra sentences to make it more interesting. If my paper is educational and includes sources, this is when I usually go back and add in the citations while rereading to edit and revise. I will proofread one more time to make sure it sounds good, and to make sure it all ties back to the thesis and the topic I was assigned.
       Another writing strategy I use is to just flow straight out of my mind and onto the paper. While this technique is often sloppy for educational texts, I find it to be the best strategy for narratives and story-telling pieces. Now, I don't just type it and turn it in. I will usually type out the entire essay in one swift motion, not taking any breaks, just getting every idea down. Next, I go back and edit and revise. Then, I edit and revise again, and again, and again. I repeat that process until the paper sounds professional yet still personal. Though this strategy is the most effective one for me, though I would not recommend it to those who are writing an informative or persuasive paper.

Argument on Mud Wrestling

Thesis:
Cartoonists do not value mud wrestling, but they should because mud wrestling actually increases their chances of becoming successful cartoonists.

Topic sentences:
1. Mud wrestling will increase their adrenaline and in turn their creativity.
2. Mud wrestling relieves stress from a long day of cartooning.
3. Mud wrestling is comical which can inspire them to create funnier cartoons.
4. Mud wrestling will increase their popularity as a cartoonists.

The Most Important Change.

The most important change in our education system is mindfulness. It is extremely important to build a level of mindfulness for the students in order to teach then to think and learn for themselves. "It teaches them kindness, caring, empathy, and being able to decenter from their own point-of-view and listen deeply to others." This sets up the students to be better communicators with other people and increases their chances of success in whatever they choose. With increased mindfulness, there is increased passion and creativity and therefore increased success.

Connections between Chalk and other texts

Freire's concern with the modern education's style of teaching or the, "banking concept of education", involves a teacher narrating information to the students, for them to memorize in a mechanical behavior. The movie Chalk shows an example of Freire's concern when the first time history teacher is narrating to his students what history is, and demands that they memorize his interpretation of it.

Gatto's concern with modern high school was if high school had any relevance with educating it's students that attend. In Gatto's essay he asks the readers, "do we really need school", and then explains to readers how a, "considerable number of well-known Americans never went through a twelve year wringer our kids currently go through, and how high school is destroying the creativity of the children. Chalk portrays Gatto's concerns of the relevance of high school by creating a scene where a three year history teacher talks to one of his students after class, and scorns him that he shouldn't of been dancing, and should of been doing his history homework.

Rose's concern involves his belief that modern high schools should be focusing on making the young people become more engaged with education, rather then having teachers narrating to students in a mechanical matter. Chalk positively portrays Rose's concern by recording how a three year history teacher focuses on asking his students to be constantly engaged in his lessons, and how he constantly helped students struggling, because he believed that if his students failed, then he failed.

Black's concern involves how modern high schools are allowing anyone to work as a teacher, because they wanted to, 'help', without the basic qualifications that come along with becoming a qualified teacher. Chalk clearly emphasizes this point by following a first time history teacher who was previously was a computer maintenance technician, who wanted to, 'help', at the high school. Students quickly catch onto the fact that he is unqualified, and a first time teacher, and instantly begin disrespecting his authority.

Thoughts on Chalk

Chalk illustrates the difficulties that teacher's are faced with in today's education system. It displays the issue of motivating kids to want to learn, and the issue of motivating teachers to want to teach. The problem of disrespect between the students and teachers is repeated many times throughout Chalk, and it shows its overall negative affects. When the student doesn't respect the teacher, he won't listen to what the teacher is saying, and if the teacher doesn't respect the student than he doesn't care.

Notes from Chalk

• ·         Teachers always talking about the students and the faculty and teaching
• ·         But they never quit because they loved teaching
• ·         50% of teachers quit within the first 3 years of teaching
• ·         It’s the first day of school
• ·         Kids look exhausted already
• ·         Teachers immediately start giving out rules
• ·         Teachers trying too hard to get kids involved, just making it worse
• ·         Teachers are having a hard time
• ·         Some teachers get involved with their students
• ·         Some teachers obviously have no idea what they’re doing
• ·         Teachers are being taught how to teach… as they’re teaching
• ·         Students are fighting, the teachers have to break it up
• ·         1^st year history teacher is having major problems getting control
• ·         The AP is becoming really stressed
• ·         The teachers have terrible communication
• ·         Everyone is having trouble connecting
• ·         1^st year history teacher is starting to learn how to get his class more interested
• ·         The teachers are slacking off almost as much as the students, sometimes more
• ·         The teachers and the students don’t respect each other
• ·         Lindsay is getting very upset and stressed
• ·         He didn’t win teacher of the year even though he tried so hard
• ·         The AP is figuring out that she’s a better teacher than AP
• ·         1^st year history teacher wins the spelling hornet
• ·         Mr. Lowry finally connected with the students and is enjoying his job as a teacher
• ·         Mr. Lowry hasn’t decided if he wants to stay as a teacher or not
• ·         In the end, the teachers learned just as much as the students