As I currently prepare to say goodbye to my wonderful class of second graders and take my first break from teaching in five years, I have been reflecting on what makes a good education. So for those not interested in educational views, skip this post. :)
Here are a few educational myths that I find extremely pervasive and that I wish to leave behind forever.
1. Myth 1: More difficult equates to a better education.
I heard this one reflected when a fellow teacher proudly told me he gives extremely few As. I heard this one reflected when a parent complained that our students have far less homework than their peers at a neighboring school.
Here's the end-all: An excellent education will include the difficult bits, but it will not attempt to make things difficult.
Giving almost no As means the teacher failed to bring almost any students up to an A level of understanding. This does not mean the majority of the class should receive an A, but my goal as a teacher is to create an accurate assessment on what I taught. Very low grades overall is a reflection on either my teaching or a poorly aligned assessment.
Lots of homework=busywork. There's no data supporting that homework helps student achievement.
2. Myth 2: The earlier the better.
If reading at age 6 is good, reading at age 4 is better! If doing multiplication at age 9 is typical, doing multiplication at age 7 is terrific!
Faulty.
There's a reason to the older, slower paces of learning. While some children may be ready earlier and may automatically learn these skills ahead of the game at home with their parents, subjecting all children to these schedules lacks an understanding of child development (I say this after being required to teach multiplication to second graders who haven't had the chance to fully master subtraction with regrouping). Take your time.
3. Good grades are a sign of your child doing well.
Well, no.
They're a sign that the teacher gave the right pieces of paper to the child on which he/she could at least copy or imitate the correct answer/process. A wise teacher creates scenarios in which the child must demonstrate further thinking, but even among the best of teachers, I am skeptical of grades in general. How was the child feeling on the day of an assessment? How did the teacher take the child's answer to form a number grade? Was partial credit given for where the child had the right thinking but only missed on a minor calculation error?
Mostly I am opposed to grades in the elementary school, because I think what most parents are looking for is really information about where their child is succeeding/not succeeding. Numbers just don't give that. An 80% in math doesn't tell a parent that the 20% he/she did poorly on all had to do with fractions. I think assessments and feedback can be done better than numbers, but numbers are easy shortcuts for schools (I feel the draw of them, certainly, because doing away with them would be way more work for me).
What do you all find to be the pervasive myths your encounter daily?
Here are a few educational myths that I find extremely pervasive and that I wish to leave behind forever.
1. Myth 1: More difficult equates to a better education.
I heard this one reflected when a fellow teacher proudly told me he gives extremely few As. I heard this one reflected when a parent complained that our students have far less homework than their peers at a neighboring school.
Here's the end-all: An excellent education will include the difficult bits, but it will not attempt to make things difficult.
Giving almost no As means the teacher failed to bring almost any students up to an A level of understanding. This does not mean the majority of the class should receive an A, but my goal as a teacher is to create an accurate assessment on what I taught. Very low grades overall is a reflection on either my teaching or a poorly aligned assessment.
Lots of homework=busywork. There's no data supporting that homework helps student achievement.
2. Myth 2: The earlier the better.
If reading at age 6 is good, reading at age 4 is better! If doing multiplication at age 9 is typical, doing multiplication at age 7 is terrific!
Faulty.
There's a reason to the older, slower paces of learning. While some children may be ready earlier and may automatically learn these skills ahead of the game at home with their parents, subjecting all children to these schedules lacks an understanding of child development (I say this after being required to teach multiplication to second graders who haven't had the chance to fully master subtraction with regrouping). Take your time.
3. Good grades are a sign of your child doing well.
Well, no.
They're a sign that the teacher gave the right pieces of paper to the child on which he/she could at least copy or imitate the correct answer/process. A wise teacher creates scenarios in which the child must demonstrate further thinking, but even among the best of teachers, I am skeptical of grades in general. How was the child feeling on the day of an assessment? How did the teacher take the child's answer to form a number grade? Was partial credit given for where the child had the right thinking but only missed on a minor calculation error?
Mostly I am opposed to grades in the elementary school, because I think what most parents are looking for is really information about where their child is succeeding/not succeeding. Numbers just don't give that. An 80% in math doesn't tell a parent that the 20% he/she did poorly on all had to do with fractions. I think assessments and feedback can be done better than numbers, but numbers are easy shortcuts for schools (I feel the draw of them, certainly, because doing away with them would be way more work for me).
What do you all find to be the pervasive myths your encounter daily?
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