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Finals weekend has arrived. Along with it comes the stress, last minute cramming, pointless studying of subjects and topics and chapters that will not remain in the REAL long term memory. The goal of most students at my school is that they will use this opportunity as a LAST chance to raise their grade, so that they can go to their pristine and wonderful, top university so that they can go make their six figure salaries. Supposedly, failing the final is death, as the A is the holy grail of all school existence.
Yet surprisingly, very few (if any) student use the finals as what I think it was meant to be: a checkpoint to see if the students are truly absorbing the information spit out by the teachers. The long drawls and talks and lectures must surmount to something, right? Yet, every one of my peers are studying by rote memorization. The purpose of finals is lost- both the teachers and the students know that a vast majority of the student don't care about the knowledge that they are learning and most of them resort to rote memorization in order to pass a test that is just an means to an end. The goal is an A and they will do whatever it is required to make that grade.
But am I the only student that sees the problem with this? Or am I just one of the thousand of students who think that the education system is being degraded, yet is unable to do anything or act upon these thoughts because the 'A' is to much of an important part of our lives and if actually CARING and LEARNING may result in an unsatisfactory grade than it is better to AVOID knowledge and the reason we have to take the finals in the first place.
In my opinion, we should just change the whole finals program. The teacher occupation is way to underrated. To change society we must increase the number of teachers in the United States. Instead of making teaching the job for failed lawyers and doctors, more resources must be placed into the teaching field. More teachers results in more focused classroom settings. Teachers will be able to teach better and provide more support and control to each individual student. Every student should be able to have access to a teacher who is willing to sit down and talk to each individual student and a teacher who has the TIME and resources to help each student do what they want. Each class should have different expectations for the day, rather than one curriculum that is universal. Students learn at different paces and the most intelligent will be able to go farther and achieve more while students with less intellectual capabilities will be able to learn at a more fitting pace. The current system doesn't aid the top 5% and the bottom 5% of the class, rather hindering both. Reform is necessary and must be immediate. To change is to make the society better and thus our focus should be in change.
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5 comments:
Teachers like Magister don't deserve to teach.
Amen?
Very well written, bravo Mr. Rhee. The only blog I have found to have school as the blogger's topic and make it interesting.
Finals are up to students to interpret and yes, I do agree many students treat the final as a last minute effort to raise grade, but isn't that the point? I mean, let's suppose finals were eradicated, gone, so your conjectural "pointless redirection of resources" is, too, gone. Students will still treat the last few weeks/months of school as cram time. Yes, it might lead to actual long term memorization, but isn't the point of finals to separate who gets the A and who gets the B? From a non-IB perspective, you have to come to learn not everybody is in IB and that finals aren't always a time to raise a grade. In most regular classes I have, I have observed that the finals separate the kids who are hard working from the slothful. Moreover, the majority of students in the US are in REGULAR classes (I haven't checked my statistics, so correct me if you will) so aren't the finals both benefiting the US, by sifting the blue collar to the white, and the students, by giving them a last chance to raise their grade and show what they're capable of? In conclusion (this comment is way too damn long), I believe the finals program should NOT be cut, however, the public education system needs to drastically reform with more attention and resource diversion towards it.
The school you describe Mr. Rhee is very much a reality in private boarding schools on the East Coast such as Andover and Philips Exeter. I don't think in the public education system, teachers will ever have the resources, or the salary, to individually satisfy ever student's academic necessities. That requires a smaller classroom setting and more teachers, but in economic times like these, is very much, if you will, a dream. Moreover, if you are unhappy here in the public education system of California, then why don't you move to the East (presuming you have the resources to)? Hmmm? Because as we all know, students can do little to persuade the minds of the state legislature to listen to us and our "education" concerns. And, if you are planning to do just that, you should snail mail our senator or whoever, every single post you make in here. (sorry the comment is so DAMN long, I just read your "dream school" portion, definitely something I wanted to talk about since it affected me)
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k no brandon.
Simon, you've grown up since math three years ago! Haha, well, I very much agree with you. And, worst of all, it's almost impossible to cheat on a final. Just kidding. That's the IB side of me peeking out.
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