Presentations 2.0

1. I thought Amy, katie, and I did a great job on our presentation. We knew that it would spark a decent conversation, but I don't think any of us expected it to be that interesting. There are so many factors that affect drop out rates, and we chose to only focus on a few very broad ones, but everyone in class came up with some really good points. I'm glad people found it interesting.

2. First of all, I really liked the effects that the second group chose to use. They made the presentation very fun to watch. Information wise, I think that statistics were very similar with the presentations we've already seen. So obviously there is a trend here. Maybe we should make some of these presentations on a larger level... do you think school administrations and lawmakers would get it? LOL!

3. More on PSSAs... YAY! Honestly, I'm SOOOO tired of listening to debates on PSSAs. I've herad it in every class since I started school in 2002. I mean, really, I get the point. But you'd think the people that really need to hear this stuff would be listening to it. (Again I say, if we made these presentations on a national level, would anyone get it?)

It is obvious that things need to change when it comes to education. It's just a matter of people - the right people (namely educators), to do the reserch and put the time into planning the encessary changes that need to occur. I don't think that it will ever be perfect, because we'll always be behind. We'll always be insufficient. The world is changing faster than our education system, and that's going to always cause problems, and always cause debates like we are having today.

This makes me think about my undergraduate thesis. I did research on grammar curriculums, completely determined to prove that traditional study of grammar was necessary in schools. And by the end of my research and my paper, not only did I NOT prove my thesis, but I didn't even disprove it. it came down to the fact that the debate has existed for what seems like forever. It is what it is and it will always be as the world the changes. I found it extremely interesting, because ym research even gave me doubts in what I believe, but in the end, I was ok with accepting the debate. There are times for its use, and times to let it go. That's just something you discover as a teacher.

When it comes to education, I think there will always be debates. Certain people will want thing, and others will want other things. And it might be one thing for one generation adn a completely other thing for another generation. But that's the way it is.

It makes me wonder if there's a point in debating the subject. Can we really change anything? (Individually, sure, but as a whole?) With all this debating and "thinking about things," nothing is getting done. So what is the point?

And they wonder why it's so hard to find teachers... or keep the ones that are already qualified...