IGSS 2013-14 Student Links

While we are trying so hard to have Chinese test scores and mimic hard core education, highly standardized test curriculum--they are trying to mimic ours.

I found this article quite helpful in helping me develop my thesis and overall theme of my paper. The article did a great job exploring what the purpose of an american education is, and while i disagree with the author, I found that way he organized his thoughts was clear and effective. The comments to the article however, are what warranted the diigo. There is a rich conversation in the comments, filled with great evidence.

Great way to get addicted to TED talks, lots of statistics, amazing facts that definitely have a WOW factor.

Also if using great TED talks like this one, there is a "Show Transcript" button at the bottom which helps to pull quotes if the video is moving to fast.

American scientists are sensationalizing (presenting something in an exciting way to get attention, that might not be as accurate) their studies- isn't this what students do? By trying to be the best, we join every club, even if we're not interested, take all the hardest classes and cram for them, try to do everything we can to make ourselves stand out for colleges. At New Trier, even if you're incredibly smart, it doesn't matter unless you're incredibly smart by 'New Trier Standards'. Students are always trying to out do others and themselves, running the risk of burnout, depression/eating disorders, and general unhappiness. Asghar says the reason Miley Cyrus at the VMAs was so shocking was because she was being so textbook American- the only way to get noticed is to be the loudest. We set our standards so high that even when perfection is attained, it's not good enough- not a 4.0 GPA varsity athlete who also does community service is good enough- he is only good enough if he gets full ride to Harvard and becomes a top notch lawyer, too.

This essay discusses the value of a discussion based education. It argues that class discussions teach students how to learn as opposed to a lecture based class which emphasizes the regurgitation of content. Especially relevant to seniors as the article also touches on the economics of college and the value of small classes over large lectures.

This article delves into the idea that a successful learning experience that has a positive relationship with the student must be individualized. Every student is different, and every student has unique talents and strategies of learning. The author explains that Gardner's Multiple Intelligences should be applied in the classroom. The current school system only fits linguistic and mathematic learners, and forces the other types to fit in anyway, damaging their self esteem and promotes a negative relationship that child has with school. If teachers took advantage of the multiple intelligences to approach learning, then all students would learn more efficiently and society would benefit from these students' contributions; not losing them as casualties to our current school system.

There is a difference between education and schooling that was brought to my attention by this piece. To go to school and learn is a separate action from receiving an education. Education is a self-initiated action, an endeavor undertaken to better understand the world around you and grow as a person. Trough education t You learn the value of human life and how to think as an individual. Schooling is a task controlled by others, where you are fed others opinions and others ideas and it is for the purpose of others. Gatto argues that the problem with education in America is that we are schooling our children rather than educating them.

This is a great piece for anyone interested in the controversy surrounding standardized tests. The article discusses a topic that is very sensitive to parents; testing their preschool year-old children with standardized tests in order to provide information that ranks their preschool among others in the D.C. area. The article includes quotes from concerned parents which adds an interesting narrative side to the piece.

This article, written by Eric Sheninger (a high school principle), discusses the wide-spread standardization of our education system and how it is steadily destroying it. It talks about how the system of standardization is based off the century-old model focused on industrialization, which produces students that lack creativity, fear failure, and work to do only as they are told. The focus is on test scores, viewed as the only determinant of success. Students are leaving school unprepared for the world awaiting them. The solution according to Sheninger lies in intrinsical motivation. If students and teachers are motivated not by test scores or pay raises, but by creativity and innovation, students will find relevancy and meaning in their education.

This is a poem written in the 1960's that I thought fit in well with what we were talking about. Shows how long the issue of standardization has been an issue. Makes me think about how school teaches kids that there is always a right and wrong way to do things, when thats not necessarily true.

A brief (11-page) summation of a new way of teaching called Learning in Depth, created by Kieran Egan. The general idea is that in first grade a child will be given a simple, broad topic such as spiders or rocks. Then, that child will study and do projects on that subject for the next 12 years of their school career. It's quite radical, but I think it has a chance of revolutionizing the way we learn. Some of the benefits that they mention are its capacity to build a community of scholars and experts, its emphasis on individual responsibility through independent research, and the fact that it gives the students something to be proud of (their expansive knowledge). I'm especially interested in this idea because I have begun to question the depth of the learning we receive in school and this seems to be at least a STEP in the right direction.

NSTA:  National Science Teachers Association is a teaching organization that progressively acts to education teachers and allow them to share ideas.

A discussion starter (ish?) Basically a counter-argument on the homework pressure expressed in the movie.

Vargas Made me do this