Most of the time when I think about the stereotypical poor slums of Chicago I think about gangs and violence and a poor learning community. I'm guessing most people probably think the same thing. Reading this story I find it amazing that these fifth graders care about their school. Most kids that attend schools that are run down and dirty don't normally care about their education. If I had to go to a school like that I probably wouldn't care about my education either. If the government doesn't care enough about my education to give me a decent learning environment why should I care about my education either. It's incredible that these kids care enough about their school to try and make a difference.
The other part of the article that interested me was the teaching style of Brian D. Schultz. I think it's a lot easier to learn when you can related it to your own life. Towards the end of high school the English classes started adopting a new style. For every story we read we had to write a couple sentences about how we could relate the story to our life, to another story, and to the world. I think that learning style definately helped me connect with the story which in turn raised my grade. I think it would be beneficial to all students if teachers tried relating the work that we do to the real world so we could better understand it.
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I agree that it would be very hard to care about getting an education if I were at a run-down, inadequate school. But I think the most important point you made was the style Brian D. Schultz used in teaching. Allowing the students to be in charge of their own curriculum creates more interest and thought. Students can relate more if they are actually enthused about learning.Ultimately the student gains more knowledge and is more successful in the classroom when a teacher allows for a more "open" curriculum.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr373.shtml
I totally agree with the fact that when you think of poor area, their kids dont generally appreciate education, or have any motivation to learn. The highschool that i went to have the richest kids in the area, to kids from areas where there was shootings on their streets once a day. They were always steriotyped about what they got for grades, what they did in their free time and where they were going to end up in life. The interesting thing is that when a conflict came up that impacted them, or related to them they always were passionate about being involved. They liked seeing change take place and all they needed was alittle relavance to get invloved. So i definetly agree with you when you say that teaching inforamtion to kids that relates to them will definetly motivate them to learn
ReplyDeletehttp://www.stonington.org/Admin/docs/slbw.pdf
This link lists come of the ways students learn best, and they repeat again and again that they need to be able to connect with the material.
You are right! Too often, teachers just follow a basic curriculum that they repeat year-after-year and lose meaning after a while. In high school, we read stories and wrote analytical essays on them without truly thinking about what we read. If we had to connect our readings to our life and the real world, it would take on a much larger significance than normal. This is why Schultz's teaching method worked on these students, and the students responded due to their unfortunate situation.
ReplyDeleteThis link is very general, but gives examples to some great questions that could be asked by a teacher to their students on how to connect what they read to life experiences.
http://www.thinkport.org/Career/strategies/reading/connect.tp
For the first half of my educational experience, I attended grade school in a suburb of Chicago, Skokie. I commuted from the city to school until the fifth grade. I do not remember much besides much of Highland besides its new renovations and clean suburban-funded insides. I also remember my shift into sixth grade and the CPS system.
ReplyDeleteI visited to schools, both magnet, but both unable to reach the sparkling facade of their suburban school counterparts. I grew into this system, and having been on both sides of the grass, I believe it's what has shaped me this far.
I think if anything, it is the kids that grow up in run-down classrooms that strive for better. I think it's the suburban students that take what they've been handed for granted. I think that it is the kids that commute 45 minutes or more through the public transit system are the ones who care most.
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- Byrd Academy, Chicago, IL
Brittany’s argument in her first paragraph about the relationship between school environment and academic achievement sparked my interest, so I decided to look into it closer. I came across an article from Science Direct that examines the correlation between school conditions and student attendance, and then between attendance and grades. The study that was done actually did find that schools in poor condition had lower attendance rates, and in turn, poorer performance on standardized tests. It goes to show that these kids had a good reason for fighting for their school and wanting the best for their peers.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WJ8-4S1C8G8-1&_user=443835&_coverDate=09%2F30%2F2008&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1212814752&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000020958&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=443835&md5=76de5cd030c150aee3b0f7a977c5da80#secx17