"Why School?" Book Club Post #3

The most interesting thing that Mike Rose wrote about is the accuracy of IQ tests. I think that people tend to rely too much on determining intelligence with IQ tests. There is only so much these tests can tell you about someone's knowledge. I liked that he made the point that tests are not the most important things in school because tests can't determine it all. He thinks that the values we learn in high school are more important than how we do on tests, which I agree with. Some people are not good test takers so it's hard to say that somebody learned a lot based on their test scores. For example, some people are better at essay writing than multiple choice or vice versa. Some systems should be changed to determine somebody's intelligence rather than tests, and I think teachers are starting to change their lessons to incorporate every student's strengths.

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Bridget Figueroa's Midterm Portfolio

"Why School?" Book Club Post #2

I found it interesting reading about the No Child Left Behind Act. The idea that tests are a way of determining how good a school is and whether or not it should stay open. I do like that there is a way of including children that may not have been included otherwise. It is important for a teacher to include all of his/her students that may not have a clear understanding of what the lesson is about. Mike Rose makes a lot of good points in these chapters up to chapter six but he is still stating a lot of facts rather than including his own narrative.

"Why School?" Book Club Post #1

After starting this book, I didn't want to put it down. Since I am an Education major the information in the book really caught my eye. The introduction gave a good sense of what the book was going to be about. The way Mike Rose writes is as if he is speaking to you rather than at you, which I really enjoy. In chapter 1, he focuses on the reasons why we go to school, even though we may not know them ourselves. He felt that it was important to ask students why they go to school rather than those who don't just because there is an obvious answer when asking parents why kids should attend school. By asking students, he can get a sense of the real reasons why they keep going, and for the most part it is because of the teachers themselves and the inspiration they give to their students to continue education. He uses this idea of teaching to move onto chapter 2. In this chapter he gives us a sense of what his life was like while going to school, and then he uses an example of a first grade teacher in her classroom. This was the most interesting part for me. Seeing how her students reacted to what she was talking about was nice to read about because people teach for these reasons, to see their students enjoy what they are learning. I think that sometimes teachers and professors sometimes forget this, and so they just teach what the curriculum tells them to teach even if it is something they are not interested in.
While reading these couple of chapters, I couldn't help but think about the recent issues involving teaching at my high school. Many teachers wrote a letter talking about how they are being forced to teach a certain way, which was dumbing down their lessons. I went to an exam school which was supposed to prepare you for college, but the students are now receiving work that is not challenging and not preparing them.
Below is a link to the newspaper article regarding this situation.
Turmoil at Boston Latin Academy