I will admit there was a time I was uncomfortable with the way I spoke. When I was a kid my parents never spoke down to me..They spoke as if I were an adult and would understand the big words they used. If I didn't, they took the time to make a statement and then say..What this means is.......And maybe use a more simple way of phrasing it. But guess what...In doing this, I developed a better than average vocabulary.
The problem is when your with you're peers and most of them don't speak in complete sentences let alone big words. You get a lot of "Huh?" What does that mean? For a kid who liked blending in...It got a little embarrassing. So I would dumb down my conversation skills.
"Like you know, I just took out all the big words. Then like people understood me better. Ya know?"
One day my mom said "Why are you talking like that?" So I explained my problem to her..She said never be ashamed of being intelligent enough to understand the meaning of words or things. She felt that part of the problem with some of my friends wasn't lack of intelligence on their part, but laziness and bad habits. If you don't use it you loose it, sort of thing.
I thought about what she said and I realized she was right. I looked at a few of the girls I knew..I know what classes they took..They were in the same honors classes I was in..They made good grades.. I knew they weren't stupid..Yet they wanted to talk like they were. I also noticed it happened more often when they were around the opposite sex.
Well that's when I said " Screw it" I am who I am..I talk the way I talk..And if they don't like it oh well, so be it.
I have heard talk of lowering the standards for our testing system so that little Jimmy's self esteem wont be shattered when he fails a test. To me this is the most stupid idea that has ever come out of our educational system and that is saying something.
To me the entire point of education is to raise the bar..To push ourselves to take in more knowledge. The point of testing on subjects is to see if the knowledge being taught is being absorbed by the student...If all we worry about is that little Jimmy feels badly because he hasn't passed a test on material he hasn't been able to grasp for whatever reason. Then in my opinion we do a bigger disservice to him than hurting his little self esteem.
Isn't it far more important to understand that not everyone learns the same? That we shouldnt have some sort of cookie cutter method of teaching. Not everyone can grasp material in the same way..Sometimes it takes a creative approach to be able to get a student to understand the information. Teachers, because they are teachers should be willing and open minded enough to explore other methods of exposing their students to this information...After all isn't that the main purpose of being a student and a teacher...TO TEACH AND TO LEARN.. Why should the method matter as long as the end result is there.
In school I usually made fairly decent grades. If I didn't there was usually a reason why. It could have been the subject being taught...Math and I are not on good terms....It could have been me screwing around instead of doing my work....Or it could have been the teacher not connecting with the way I learned. I personally am a visual learner......I need to be able to associate the information with a picture or idea in my mind so I can recall the fact at a later time. If I am sitting in a classroom listening to a teacher drone on and on with facts and figures with out this visual association being made...The information is completely lost on me.
Its not just the responsibility of the educational system alone to provide a child with knowledge...Its also the parents...Maybe even more so than the teachers...Because as a parent I think you have a larger stake in the outcome of your child's education than anyone else in this world.
I believe the fact my parents took the time to read to me, and speak to me the way they did had an effect on me, one of the end results was that I had a pretty good vocabulary. While strangely enough, reading is not my thing.... I do like writing.
I wont say that I still don't use slang when I speak. Occasionally I do, but I'm not worried if anyone thinks I'm weird any longer because I know some words with more than four letters.
Whats wrong with having a brain and not being ashamed to use it?
8 comments:
When I was a teacher in a high school one of my mantras to the students was "YOU are responsible for your own education!" I was there to facilitate their learning, not to pour goop into their brain pans. I still believe this is true.
I know all the stuff about different learning styles and how effecive they can be. Unfortunately, when you have 30 students ina class and 50 minutes to cover material you are not going to be able to cover all of those styles. So you mix and match and do the best you can.
I am glad to hear you stood up for intellegence. I knew a girl in college who was VERY bright. but she hid it completely. Acted like a total ditz all the time, never got good grades, the whole deal. Why? Because boys didn't like smart girls. We were on our way to fencign tournament one day and she sat in the car explaining how the then very new and experimental lasik eye surgery could correct vision problems. Me and the other guy in the car looked at each other and called out Busted! We pointed out that she had just proven she was smart. She laughed and tamed the ditz thing with us but it took her years to abandon it completely.
exmi
Youre right at the High School level its a students responsiblity to learn. It doesnt matter how great of a teacher they have or how incredible the materials to teach are if you are not willing to take advantage of the knowlege..And I do see your point about the economics of trying to teach so many and do it so that you get the most out of the experience for as many as possible.
However..Lately at least here ..They focused so much on the FCAT test they were required to give to students at certain grade levels that it seemed everything else took a back seat to this. There were literally months and months of drilling with the focus being those tests. I realise that knowing the basics is important...but I felt cheated in someways while this was going on..It was as though nothing else about my education matter except that I pass those tests.
I believe alot of females dumb down for guys..I know several who do exactly what you describe.I have never quite understood why any guy would want a girl who behaves that way.
Sometimes I wonder if its that a girl is taught to put more effort into being pretty than smart.
Don't g4et me started on state mandated standardized tests and how schools screw that up. I have a friend whose daughter had nightmares about being sent to an orphanage for failing some test after two weeks of preperation and pressure from her school. (As I recall she was in the 3rd or 4th grade at the time) Arrrrgh.
Wasting two to three weeks for each test destroys the cycle of learning and teaching and disrupts the students completely.
oops, I got started. sorry.
Suffice to say I do not appreciate the way things work.
exmi
Well Im glad to hear that opinion from a former teacher. You are right on the money with this one. It does disrupt and distroy the learning enviroment. For those who are forced to drill to prepare..its mind numbing at the very least...and you miss out on a lot of the course information you should have been able to get because you have to spend so much time and effort on test preparation.
It feels like so much emphasis is placed on the fact that a student MUST pass these tests at all costs that a student is put under a great deal of presure.
Correct me if I am wrong about this, but isnt the purpose of tests like these to show if the school systems are meeting the standards set forth by the state...I realise that there is money involved as far as funding to the school system. But it just seems like it would make more sense to correct the subject matter being taught on a day to day basis...or maybe the way the subjects are taught. To give students a better base to build their knowlege on.
If done properly it seems like there would be no need for all the stress of weeks of drilling in preparation for the test.
I realise that I am probably only seeing one side to this coin..because I have never had to be a teacher..I have only been a student. But some of the very best teachers I had in school were the ones who took that little extra time to make sure I got it...you could tell that they really cared about their students. It made me want to put in the extra effort to understand and grasp what they had to offer.
jef
Well the older I get the more foolish I feel it is to dumb down. I suppose when your young, not sticking out and just fitting in is important enough that you do it so no one notices you. But at my age... screw em, what you see is what you get, flaws and all. Besides Im a work in progress..
I know this will sound weird especially from someone who loves words..But I am not a reader. I loved being read to as a child and my father was an avid reader who took me to the library at least once a week minimum. We would get a huge stack of books and he would read to me. This went on until I was in school. My dad turned me on to Nancy Drew Mysteries, as funny as that sounds.
And as much as I know that the way my parents spoke to me and read to me made me like words...it never made me like reading for myself. I have no clue why. My mother says its because I have not had the patience to find a subject or an author that just hits me...and I fall in love with. To be honest I really dont know.
I do think that as a child my parents never thought well we are raising the bar for her trying to expose her to grown up words...I think its just the way they spoke and they took it for granted that I would learn and understand it..And I did. I think sometimes we sell kids short..especially when they are very little...We dont think that a very small child can grasp big words or ideas and so we dont expose them to any. BUT I disagree with this strongly. I think small children especially are like sponges and will soak up any and all information presented to them if you give them a chance. And learn it much easier at that age than when they get older.
Maybe it would be a good idea to take a few of the top students who excel at certain subjects and give them extra credit points to pair up with some of the students who struggle. Make them sort of peer tutors...It gives them a chance to see the material from a new angle and help a classmate whos having trouble at the same time...
Just a thought.
hulabelly
Sometimes I think dumbing down your conversation happens with out realising youre doing it. Its a blend in thing to keep people from saying HUH? and whats that mean all the time?
Dumbing down tests is one of the worse ideas they have ever come up with. What is the point in testing at all if you are going to make it so that no matter what the students ability level or lack there of, they can pass the test.
Plus what about the kid who puts in the extra time effort and brain power to actually learn the material enough to be tested and pass. Doesnt seem fair to them.
I've come to the conclusion that the Army makes me more stupid everyday. lol
Today my gunner and I were having a little discussion about the Army when he said "You know, I thought I was a real moron. Then I joined the Army. And then I saw who I worked with and realized I'm actually pretty smart!"
It's very very sad... because it's very very true.
dreadcow
No they only want you to think you are, because they do not want you thinking for yourself...They want you to let others think for you..Its called chain of command. They sort of frown on free thinkers done they?
The fact you know your not stupid and can think for yourself has to be frustraiting. Just guessing.
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