Week 6

Ah, variation.  The spread of skill in each class from the average.  Since I teach in a private school, some of my students are literally the brightest math students in town.  If they're bored and not working, they set an example of behavior for everyone, and no one thinks they'll have to do any work.  So the class has to be at least a little bit challenging for them.  But then there are the students in the very same classes who, against recommendation, went with the faster-paced track instead of a perfectly good slower-paced one.  And they look at me with this expression that says, "You seem so nice...how could you betray me with a test that hard?"  Of course, did they come in for any extra help?  Only one or two of them;  it's the decent students who think (probably correctly) they can earn better grades that come in for help most often.

Even in my slower-track course there's significant variation.  I gave a series of speed tests (I called them "challenges" because I didn't want them to think that it would affect their grade if they didn't do well.) on basic skills.  The most telling one was:  25 minutes to give the prime factorizations of all numbers from 2 through 100.  They had plenty of warning and I gave them practice tests (identical except for order).  The best scores were 96 and 97 (out of 99, of course).  The worst was 57.  That kid missed a significant portion of the ones he tried, and didn't get to the rest.  And they all put forth a decent effort.

I'm sure that teachers in public schools get even greater variation than I do.  And with our president brilliantly requiring that No Child be Left Behind, they are forced to teach to the bottom of the class, not the top.  I'm pretty sure that the president's educational philosphy is Leaving our Best and Brightest Behind.  But even in a place like I teach, I have to deal with variation, and with so many kids in a panic about getting in to a good college, or at least in a panic because they're at the mercy of parents who are in a panic about it, emotions can run pretty high when achievement is uneven.

I wish we could just accept the simple fact of variation.  Some people are just going to get better grades than others.  Some will work harder than others.  Some are (*gulp*) more naturally talented than others.  And some will be luckier than others.  Of course, the ones at the top have more of a responsibility to help those at the bottom, and those at the bottom have a responsibility to give a solid effort.  But this expectation (coming mostly from parents and students, not from teachers) of "everyone can get into Harvard or be president if they just work hard enough" is unrealistic and demoralizing.  Kids need some degree of affirmation at any level if they're working hard, and they don't need to be made to feel like being the best is the standard.

Heh...see how I did that?  How I made that paragraph apply to the kids at my school, but then also general enough to apply to all kids, and even to society at large?  That was on purpose.  We need to be more supportive of our lower achievers and make them believe that hard work will pay off.  The standard they hear is "you can be president!" or "you can make millions in the NFL" or "you could live in this mansion".  And when it becomes clear that only a very small fraction of them will actually be president, they have no more reason to work hard.  It's demoralizing.  How about just setting realistic standards like "you can have a comfortable life as a teacher, electrician, cook, bus driver, mechanic, military officer, etc., etc., etc."?  This relentless drive for the top doesn't really do anyone any favors.

And for those of you waiting for cool math stuff, I'll have to put that off for a little while;  it's crunch time at school, and I have to write evaluations of all of my students this week.  I promise, though, soon!  I have a special property of cubics in mind...or maybe Morley's theorem...hmmmmmm.....

Comments

[William Willing]

> And for those of you waiting for cool math stuff...
Actually, I enjoy your school stories even more.

I'm a teacher myself. I'm relatively unexperienced and only teaching part time. It's nice to know someone teaching on the other side of the globe runs into the same problems I do. :-)

[David Harmon]

Well, jobs not requiring a college degree are continuing to get scarcer....

I will also comment that I *did* get into Harvard -- even graduated -- and I'm *still* not sure it wasn't a mistake. They had no proper treatment for my depression or learning disabilities, which threw me way off their "track". Fortunately, my family was totally "there for me", and I eventually found up about Prozac on my own! Even so, I spent a lot of time flailing around....

I wound up spending most of my time there living in their various Co-ops (think: "Hippie Houses"). These were such an awkward appendage to the House System where most students reside, that I never really felt part of the "Harvard Community". (They've since turned most of the Co-ops into overflow housing for the main Houses.)

As for the POTUS... well, I suspect he's happy to screw over the "smart kids". Remember, he and Kerry were both C students... but Shrub's were "gentleman's C"s.

[Jen]

I don't know if jobs requiring a college degree are really getting scarcer -- nor do I think all the emphasis on academics in K and 1st grade is showing up with fabulously better skills in HS.

I'd love for my doing well/enjoy learning kids to also have a SKILL. Jobs that require a college degree are often the easiest to outsource. Whereas there's always going to have to be an actual person who builds houses, fixes electrical wiring and plumbing, etc.