Student X

Wow! Today I left the high school I'm shadowing at very frustrated and honestly hurt. Before I get into that, let me tell you about NPR's report about teaching.
So Eric Westervelt of All Things Considered wrote a piece called "Where Have All the Teachers Gone?" He said that many of the states that turn out large amounts of teachers have taken a hit in the education field. He pointed out that "in California, enrollment is down 53 percent over the past five years" and that "it's down sharply in New York and Texas." One interviewee, a senior in college questioned her future as an educator because schools are "obsessed with testing and standards."

From my experience just today I can tell you why enrollment is down here in Texas. There I am in class standing and watching the last few US American History students of 8th period take their exam. I'm besides my teacher as she is grading the work that was due prior to the test and in walks a lady with a few packets of paper. She asks my teacher if she had a student named "X." My teacher nods and the lady says that X is going to have to take the End of Course exam (EOC) for US American History in a few weeks. My teacher looks at the lady and says, "He just got here. He has missed the entire first half of the course. How do they expect him to pass the exam if he hasn't been in school?!" So apparently this student left his hometown and went to Puerto Rico for several months and didn't attend school there. Then left PR to another state for 17 days and enrolled in school but again did not attend. Now he's at my high school and since he is in 11th grade, he is expected to take and pass the EOC. After explaining to me and the lady all of this my teacher said, "I'll sign it but I don't agree with it."

I told my teacher that I didn't get it. How is the child expected to succeed if he hasn't had the course in its entirety? They are setting up the child for failure. I asked my teacher who is forcing him to take this exam? Her reply, "The State." WTF?!?!?! I understand there are standards but as my teacher said, "The state should review such cases individually." My teacher said that the students self-esteem towards his academics is quite low already because he is beyond behind. The other day in class he got 8 questions done out of approximately 30 in 50 minutes only because my teacher did a one-on-one session with him. Now does that sound like a well prepared student? I think not.

The ISD in which I am in has approximately 147 TEKS (State standards) for 11th grade Am. Hist. Again 147 TEKS in which all are testable. These so called standards are mostly documents, people, acts, court cases, etc. That is not what History is about. History to me is about relating what happened yesterday to what is going on today. It's about seeing, hearing, and reading the ideas and events of yesterday and arguing interpretations based on the evidence given or researched. History is not History when it's this date and that, or this dead white old guy here, and this act passed. It's about WHY and WHAT was going on that this needed to be passed or whatever the situation. These kids are not interested in timelines and they shouldn't be. History did not occur in a linear fashion but through blood shed, verbal battles and penned ideas. These young adults should be TAUGHT the beginning of this nation by analyzing primary sources and through discussion. In the Army we used to say all classes were taught with "Death by Powerpoint." These young adults should not be subjected to such cruelty. Actively engaging the students' intelligences is the only way they are really going to make the connection of history to today. It's the only way for them to truly learn. Memorization is not learning. Regurgitation of information is not learning. But application to real life of critical thinking skills obtained by evidence-based arguments over historical documentation? Now that's learning. Let's teach students how to think and argue rather than a date. The date will come to them while they argue.

MOOC Review for Class

OK so I checked out and signed up for my first MOOC (Massive Open Online Courses). I went to
Coursera and found a History class on JFK called The Kennedy Half Century. The host university is Virginia and the professor is Prof. Larry J. Sabato.

I chose this course because I know little of the Kennedy Era and Prof. Sabato promised to cover JFK from his rise to power and the effects of his legacy. The course is a series of video lectures given by Prof. Sabato and range from 5 to 20 minutes long. The entire course is broken up into 4 modules with sub-sections. At the end of the fourth module there is final exam. It consists of 10 questions though it is not specified whether they are short answers or multiple-choice.

I liked the knowledge I was gaining via the video lectures. Prof. Sabato evidently knew his subject well and that was projected through is lectures. I also like that this MOOC was self-paced and that I could pause and rewind to take notes or just listen to the information again. Another great asset the MOOC offered was that it had a class discussion board and a Twitter account. Both could be used to ask questions and further understand the ideas explored.

What I didn't necessarily favor was that this MOOC in particular, has certain instruction dates, so the course had already ended but I was still able to access the lessons.

I love the idea of Massive Open Online Courses. They can serve as CEUs and to furthers one own understanding of a certain subject. I want to teach History so what better way to gain more knowledge about Kennedy than taking a self-paced online course from a highly qualified professor for FREE!?!?! I plan to be a forever student anyways and MOOCs allow for us learning-lovers to continue learning with out depleting our accounts like secondary institutions do today.