One idea I have discussed with people is that having one diploma for different goals doesn't make a lot of sense. Why should someone who plans to be a mechanic need to have the same set of skills as a programmer? The two jobs require completely different skill sets offered in high school. Because of this, there should probably be multiple types of diplomas. An issue with this is that they potentially won't mean anything, but they would allow people to get the skill sets they need without having to waste their time in other areas. They all should have 4 years of English, a semester of Health and another in Economics, and three years of History. Besides that, they should require classes that go towards certain career paths that people choose, while still having enough diversity that it would be easy for people to switch interests without spending too much money.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Drugs
Drugs are a major problem in my high school and many other schools around the country. I have watched people go from doing well enough in school that they would have graduated on time, one of them with honors, to dropping out and transferring. They ruin people's lives and makes it so that we need to spend more money in the future bringing the survivors back to where they can function in society. It would save a lot of lives if the drug policy in schools was enforced. It would save people who are gullible from being taken advantage of and save money in the long term in rehabilitation programs. We must destroy the market for drugs in the United States of America before the drug war spills over into American territory, so that there will be a smaller market and distribution would be hampered. There has been enough talk, now teenagers are calling for government to do their duty in protecting people from foreign threats.
Open Campus
A big issue at my high school is whether we should have open campus. The reason the administration has for having closed campus is because of the traffic and accidents that happened when there was open campus from people wandering off. However, we can still have open campus and avoid this problem by letting people walk off of campus to get lunch and then walk back within 30 minutes. There are enough places to get food around my school that being late will not be a major issue. This would stimulate the local economy around the school by giving money to keep operations and would make the lunch room less crowded and noisy.
The Library
The Library is the heart of the school. It provides every student with a relatively quiet place to work on homework, talk, or play card games. Without the resources the library offers, both in print and online, our schools would not work. Libraries need to be kept up to date, and need to have resources that help with three things. 1. It should give students places where they can learn things they want to learn or read things they want to read. 2. It should have the materials that high schoolers need to learn in order to be good citizens and knowledgeable in areas that are required in today's complex society. And 3. They need to have the books and Internet resources that students need to complete their projects for school. These three guidelines give a rubric to what libraries should carry to produce real learners, because some of the most important skills in life, knowing how to research on-line and knowing how to use a library, are among many other skills, only learned in the library through its resources.
Clubs
Nothing else in school is quite like a club. It gives students places to learn, have fun, and give back to their community. They should be kept for as long as there is high school. It gives high schoolers something to look forward to at the end of the day, and a time to hang out with friends in activities that are mutually enjoyed. What we have now works really well and shouldn't be changed.
Graduation Testing
The WASL and the High School Proficiency Exam offer nothing new to students planning to graduation. It only puts one more time you have prove you know what is taught in the class that you take as part of your curriculum. You can tell by grades if someone is good in Math, Science, or English. If someone is truly not good at one of these three subjects, their grade will show it because they do poorly on the tests in class and get a bad grade. Basically, a test required to pass graduation is unnecessary because you can tell from a students Grades and teacher comments whether they are good in a subject. It also takes away class time which is not replaced.
Though, there is one variable that could come up with making sure students have met certain guidelines. Teachers grade differently. People in different schools learn different amounts because of teaching style differences. Because of this, there needs to be some way to make sure people who go to different schools learn the same amount of information, otherwise an A in a class might be the equivalent knowledge of an F in the same class by another teacher. There needs to be a balance, and there needs to be a short standardized test in Math, English, and Science that students should take. The one provided by the state should be designed so that it can figure out how advanced students are by advancing in difficulty as a fill in the bubble test to reduce grading error. The time should take no more than 2 hours total to save learning time.
Culminating Project
In my opinion, this looks like a good idea. I am a Junior, so I haven't done my culminating project yet, but the room for creativity makes it so that we can invent things, discover things, write reports on things, resolve issues, the list is endless. It should stay, it probably takes up a lot of time, but is well rewarding because you can do something that relates to your future job, learning enough so you know if you want to do it for forty years, potentially saving money on education.
High School and Beyond Plan
The High School and Beyond Plan makes sense to me. To be required to have an idea of what you want to do after high school when your a senior is a very smart policy, because it forces seniors to think of what they are going to do when they are adults. This makes it so that we know what we are going to do, so that we don't get unemployed and have no idea where to go once we get our diploma. We should be narrowing down on a job starting as Freshman and have a good idea what our first career should be by the time we graduate, and have a plan on what we are going to do, so we are not lost.
Health Class
Health class is a really important class to any Freshman's dismay, even my own. When I took health I hated it. But however, it taught me a lot of things that are important about our bodies. It gives us the information that is required to be healthy, from disease and sex education to drugs and obesity. It should continue to be a required class, because it teaches so much more than students think they are learning when they take it. It should be taken for one semester in 9th grade.
Physical Education
Physical Education used to be required in High school for all four years. However, there are few jobs, and no technical jobs which require a strong body. The jobs that most students aim for nowadays require one to be able to communicate and calculate, not lift things or have a strong body. It is true that being healthy means one will have to spend less money on health care, which would save the country money, which is why PE should be required in Elementary and Middle School, because that is where healthy habits are developed. By the time students reach High School, we have decided how we are going to live and many know what we want to do as an occupation. Most people aim for jobs that don't require you to be as fit as a body builder. It also is a problem for people because it takes away time to learn a language, do occupational education, do another year of science, or another year of the arts. This takes skills away from people who then have to take the same class in college, which wastes their money, and society's money in scholarship money that should be used for more advanced classes. PE should be scaled back, not abolished. It should be an option for the students who want to do jobs that require strength, or want a period where they are not challenged mentally, but it shouldn't be a required course because it takes away from precious instruction time.
Economics
Economics is not a required class in my school, and this is a pity. I am going to take microeconomics in Running Start however, and from the class I plan to gain insight into how the economy works so that I can invest wisely so that I personally benefit. If everyone knew how to use the system to their advantage, then less people will need to go on welfare because they will know how to invest wisely, making enough money so that many people can be successful financially, which of course offers many things one can do with the money they earn from the stock market, mutual funds, or banking. It would show students how to invest wisely, benefiting themselves, family, and country. It would decrease the amount of money the Federal and State governments need to spend to support people who's lives were ruined on the stock market and increase the money the government would get on incomes, or the tax would be decreased potentially. That is why I think that you should need to have passed a semester of Economics in order to graduate, which should be taken for one semester during freshman year, the same period as health class. The benefits of Economics can be seen from one of my friends who says his Uncle, who is very wealthy, attributes his wealth taking Economics in college so he knew how to use his money. It might cost a little more in the short run, but will greatly pay off in the long run. If everyone in America had this knowledge, we would be far richer and have a much higher standard of living.
Visual Arts
I haven't done any visual arts since middle school personally, but it gives people a place to experiment with their creativity and the art that comes out of the visual arts classes in my school is beautiful and high in quality which is fun to look at in the hallways. It is similar to music and theater in that it gives people an activity that lasts people's entire lives, and gives them places to have fun while learning. I am sure that it also gives people who would otherwise go into drugs a place where they can be in a structured, fun environment.
Performing Arts, Band, Theater, Orchestra, Choir
These arts are essential to 1 out of every 10 students at my school. Band is the true leader of spirit, playing the fight song at games and providing the background music to the drill team. All four performing arts gives people places to hone their skills in music, giving us a love for an activity that can last our entire lives. It can bring families together, giving grandparents and grandchildren, parents and children, something to do together. There is also the deep love that develops for the music, which lasts entire lives. It also gives students a place where a place where they can enjoy themselves while earning credit, which is very useful in some cases when the rest of a student's life is bad.
Library Assisstant
Library assistants are a small group of students, and do one of the most important tasks. The library is the heart of the school, because librarians teach students how to research, and offer indispensable resources to help with projects, and basic school work, including a quiet place to do school work during lunch. By offering this class, it makes the center of knowledge for any school function more effectively, making the entire school run better. It also decreases money that would have to be spent on extra people, or searching for volunteers. Libraries will not go away, because books have so much information and will be kept for a long time, and keeping this class keeps that service running.
Teacher's Assisstant
Being a TA gives you good experience working with people, and doing things to make your school function better. In my school, TA's bring notes around to the teachers, which is less distracting than a phone call or an announcement over the loudspeaker. You also do tasks to help school run.
Engine Repair
The truth is that internal-combustion engines are dying. They are not going to be used much longer. Other technologies have been developed that keep more money here in America when they are used, helping our economy and keeping money away from terrorist organizations that have shown hatred towards all free peoples. There also is the fact of Global Warming, which is another important reason to scale back on the use of internal-combustion engines. By keeping this technology, we are prolonging our addiction to oil, making it more of a choice to keep using the old technology. To not offer engine repair would make the transition to renewable energy more urgent, helping national security. Because of this teaching people how to repair internal-combustion engines is not beneficial to our country.
This however presents another issue, the issue of not having people to work on cars in the future. Because of this, we should start working now to having an engine repair class that teaches internal combustion engines for maybe two months, but in the rest of the class it should teach about alternative energy sources, which will make the time when we switch over to more economical, more efficient, less polluting sources of energy sooner, because we will have the work force. (I must thank my librarian for presenting this issue to me.)
Wood Shop and Welding
These classes are important too. They give people who aren't academically inclined a place to do things with their hands that are applicable in real jobs that will be used for thousands of more years. These also offer them important tools that they can use in a job setting. These classes should be continued because they create jobs that won't go away. Welding could offer optional assignments to complete the visual arts requirement too.
To reference Doctor Who, a British science fiction show, where the Doctor travels time and space with “companions” who travel with him for several seasons, when visiting the future at the end of Planet Earth because of the sun expanding, the Doctor's companion Rose talks with an alien who is working on the spaceship, and she says she is a plumber.
Oc Ed: Computers
We study computers since Kindergarten. By learning a programming language in middle school or high school, you get an upper hand on competitors around the globe, by offering better programming capabilities to gigantic corporations, which has the potential to keep jobs in America. If people learn how to program computers in high school when they graduate from with their 4 year degree they will know about as much as they would have with their Masters if they didn't have the High school technology, saving money for them because of the decrease in student debt. It also helps society because they will have more money to spend as young adults, stimulating the economy.
However, this doesn't mean that classes that are repeats of what you have done for 9 years should be continued. In my opinion it wastes money on classes that reteach people the things they have been studying since Elementary school, which shouldn't be done because it wastes time and money.
History
History is as important as all the other core classes because it shows people which paths a society can take. It shows what works and what doesn't, meaning that when people are looking at what is happening in the world, or in their own State, they can use history to predict if the path the government is taking is a good one accurately. American History teaches Americans how their government works, which is as important as learning English, because if you don't know your rights, how can you be free?
World Language
Knowing a world language helps people learn their own language better, making them better speakers in their own tongue. They teach you the theories behind language works which makes you understand how English works better too by giving you exposure to other grammatical systems.
That is the least important reason for learning a language.
Being bilingual makes it so you can communicate with more people around the world. By offering four years of multiple languages, you make it so that people can communicate with people from other countries when they come to America, making tourists feel more at home, and makes it so that people can go overseas traveling to where they want to go while still being able to communicate with the people where they are.
I have personally that it also stimulates brain activity, showing me more patterns in language, and also is fun to know.
Countries in Europe start teaching multiple languages to children when they are younger than 14, for example, I have a friend in Georgia, and he has been learning English since he was in Elementary school as part of the standard curriculum. After so many years speaking English, one cannot tell that it is not his native tongue. This helps him travel around the world. English is spoken by approximately 1 out of 6 people on Earth, which means that there are still a lot of people who we can't speak to without a translator in our native tongue.
The last and least important reason is that it allows people to travel to other countries, like my friend, and volunteer spreading kindness, and be able to communicate more effectively in the places they want to go.
It also doesn't just mean you communicate better in places where it is the official tongue, because languages like German, French, Spanish, and Chinese are spoken all over the world where they are not the official language. These are only a few examples.
Science
Science is an important tool. Physics makes it so that if you are doing work around the house you can accurately predict how things are going to work. Biology is essential because knowing some of the basics makes it so that your doctor can't take advantage of you. Chemistry is fun to do and is essential to understanding advanced biology. Science should be included because, like math, it opens doors to potential occupational opportunities.
Though, one thing that I have noticed is that in some courses in high school, there are not a lot of labs. The other two people at my table group last year agree that labs are where the most learning is done, so that should be emphasized the most.
Mathematics
When you get into high school, you know enough math that you can calculate things in a grocery store, and multiply and divide. However, this is not enough if you want to do a technical job. By requiring 4 years of Math you are opening doors to people. The more math you know, the more doors are open, the less you know, the more money you have to spend in college trying to get the knowledge you need in order to change your job from labor to technology, science, banking, or almost anything. Knowing Algebra makes it so you can calculate interest, making it so that when you take out a loan or collecting interest you can make sure you aren't being stolen from. Because of this, taking 4 years of math is a good thing for the individual and society as a whole.
English
English is definitely the most important of the core groups of academics. People need English in anything they do in America, and need to be able to communicate effectively in order to hold a job, and to learn other subjects. It is fitting that you need 4 credits of English, because it is so essential. How English is done today is how it should be, with classes organized so that the learners can learn and the people who distract others aren't distracting the people with the most potential.
About me
I have written up my perspective, and have shared it with some of my friends who all agree and have given input which is in the different sections.
I have focused on the curriculum, extra requirements, and try to write down the economic, job, and social benefits that I see in each course. Please comment and give input. If you do comment on one subject or another, please put down if you are a high schooler, parent, teacher, or any other viewpoint you may have and say anything you want that is appropriate.