I was shocked by some of the Silent Epidemic findings. Since all of my experience has been with teaching middle school students, I never really encountered high school drop outs. I assumed that they were unmotivated or just overwhelmed with personal problems that kept them from performing in school. I never thought that boring classes could be a reason to quit.
I was also struck by the author's comment that rigor is doing more with less, not necessarily assigning more work.
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We shared a great article with principals and instructional coaches, "17 Reasons Why Football is Better Than High School," Phi Delta Kappan, April 1998. Ask your principal or instructional coach for a copy of this article. The author's message aligns beautifully with the Silent Epidemic findings.
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ReplyDeleteThe Silent Epidemic findings were definitely interesting. I thought some of the responses were scarily similar to some of my eighth grader's attitudes...
ReplyDeleteI liked that the book said we as educators sometimes do not understand our circle of influence, or even give ourselves enough credit. Really, all of the findings in the Silent Epidemic can be directly connected to teachers in the classroom by providing: more interesting lessons, more challenging questions and discussion, and better connection for the learner between real-world situation and the curriculum standards.
In response to page 34, I find that I do these things on a daily basis to some extent. I think when you teach elementary age students that you have to engage students more. We all remember things better when they are fun and engaging. I have also found that by the time they are in 5th grade they have a tendency to be hesitant to try things on their own. They don’t want to guess because they are afraid of giving a wrong answer. I have a big banner across the front of my room that says, “We don’t make mistakes we make opportunities to learn”. I do think that sometimes we are in such a time crunch to get everything done that it’s easier to just hand out information.
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