Category: Discussions

My main views of education come from my experience in the school system, thoughts on the systems and how these experiences affected me and how I learned from them. I personally think some aspects of the American school system are flawed. A few way I think the system is flawed are in special education class and grades.

From my experience one way the school system is flawed is how classes are structured, what they teach and how they teach their subject. A main reason I think this system is the use of common core. According to google”The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy (ELA). … The Common Core is informed by the highest, most effective standards from states across the United States and countries around the world”. Think this is not a very good way of teaching mostly because not only does it put most of education in a box and tell you not to teach outside of it, it also puts a constraint on teachers to teach kids in a timely manner. This based on what I saw in School doesn’t work for everyone because not two students are the same and because of common core kids are left behind because they cannot keep up with the system.

One experience that changed my views on education is how being in special education changed me and how certain problems in school are stigmatized. A quick fact about me is that I have ADHD(Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder)  because of the ADHD I had to be in Special education class. While I could do the work the other “normal” could do and in some cases do the work better than them, at the end I was still in a special education class. Worst part is that the teachers would give me different work in elementary and middle School because I would do the work before everyone else but I still took medication, I am mostly well behaved and I do most of my work but as soon I don’t that they just asked me ” did you take your medicine today” any time I was different they always Said the granted I did not they them for that made me so they probably thought it wasn’t a problem and continue to do it. But because of that when I got into the group I had to explain myself to not only the teacher but other kids too. I think this made me better at school.

Now for college my main problem is just it seems like a scam. For instance, from what I hear, professors and lectures aren’t really there for you to learn. They just show you what to do and when you do it  if You need help with some you have to do it yourself or ask a fellow student for help. I also don’t like how short semesters are. I just think that is not enough to learn the skills of a certain subject in school considering that you don’t have to go to school every day. I say the best way to learn is repetition which is why I probably did so well in highschool. I think college is getting hard as it is hard to pay attention to school work from home. But the stuff I’m learning are things I’ve already learned. It’s probably because I’m not in school personally.

One Last thing is how useless secondary education seems to some people but that is only because they either don’t like school or see college as too much work. But in reality people who either pick up internships go to a trade school or do anything outside of college are technically secondary education. I say we need to change that when we say secondary education is immediately think college but anything that helps you to learn a skill to get a job after highschool is secondary at least to me.

My views on education are views that are unique to my based circumstances. I think there needs to be room for improvement in the school system and mind set. While I might think it is a bad thing for school can be a positive thing for someone else, all that matters at the end of school is that we learn.

 

 

The education system is a cluster of information that can sometimes be displayed as a positive thing but more of the time it can be negative because the information sometimes will not be delivered in a way that everybody can understand d i see this form time to time on all levels of education its like the system almost doesn’t care if you really understand the information just the fact of the matter that they are giving it out to you . but other students learn at a different pace than others 

 

An experience that changed my views on education was my high school at this “milestone in life” everybody moved on to the next grade and i also realize that almost everybody graduated even the ones that did not show up to class and missed school for days so i feel like in school to they put so much pressure on you to be perfect not caring about mental health and then leave you very stressed in the regards to living up to the idea of being the perfect “A” student when the reality of it is if you do the bare minimum to past your gonna move on to the next level just like the person who went all out and got like  99 plus average. I feel like back in high school the teachers would make you feel so bad if you did the bare minimum to pass when you technically did your job you passed right?  Given this information that I figured out for myself I always maintained a 83- 85 average to get the honor roll cause I figured out that’s where the bare minimum requirements were if I wanted to have an okay looking transcript for colleges. The reality of the education system is that you have to find a way to work and interpret assignments in your own way while trying to keep a good mental health. You will be fine because I feel like if your mental health is not there you won’t learn anything.  

 

In the education system some kids don’t get equal opportunities as others too sometimes it’s a hit or miss for example i was on the other kids who had all the exposure to internships , jet blue job shadowing and also got to go to square headquarters along many more instances where i was handed a opportunity to be ahead of the her in many instances. With This being said I feel like the education system would be a better place if everybody got these as options at least like allow them to reject these opportunities rather than not give it to them in the first place. Because these programs helped me alot in the real world which is what it should all be about in the end because majority of the time the classes that you take in school you probably wont ever need to know that specific knowledge again outside that class because it does not pertain to your career field. The program I was participating in was the Build NYC program. This really helped me with my speaking skills and writing skills which a lot of kids could use rather than the manipulation they face in school for not getting an A average . know i mention this before but i think the sole reason for this whole levels in education k_12 is to toy with your mental construct and only the strong will survive cause the reality of it is you have to find a way to make the education system work for your         

 

The standard for success is a very broad spectrum meanwhile my pairs at school were learning about how Christopher Columbus stole america i was in these rooms job shadowing people at these high paying office jobs that never even went to college i even had met this one guy that read 3 books and taught himself how to code. Then boom there he was getting paid very well at this job with an apartment downtown and if you know anything about downtown nyc it’s very expensive to live in these buildings. I was shown that i can pass in school but at the end of the day i need to be exposed to real world experiences  because i was learning something new every time i went on these endeavors meanwhile in school the information was basically being repeated even in college too but t a extent i feel like the disguised it as new information by over complicating things that we already know so now it looks like Chinese . Instead of this they should incorporate some things that we can actually use in the real world like classes on taxes or tax write offs of even stocks.

 

The motive should be to teach things that can be translated to the real world. They should almost make it like a trade school or at least have one class like I did that would give internships or job shadowing, giving everybody some real exposure to the workforce. It almost seems like they abuse the big brother concept where they are just watching over you waiting for you to make a mistake. With this being said not every teacher is like this but the majority is for example the teachers that are willing to listen to your voice of opinions on certain topics are very minuscule compared to those who abused the big brother concept. The times are changing and with this the age of information soon kids will be telling teachers that they have already heard and seen what they are saying so probably that will bring about some positive changes.

 

 

Throughout all of the elementary, middle, and high school my experience with language and learning was not too good. I struggled with so many aspects of language to the point I thought I was dumb and not smart enough for my grade level. My anxiety was also the main reason why I did so poorly. I was never able to focus or even participate because of it. I had plenty of teachers to guide me and teach me more about English and help me face my fears, but I was still not meeting grade level. My mom decided to put me in an IEP class thinking it will be easier for me to see a teacher one on one. Being put in an IEP class has its pros and cons but the class is overall very beneficial for students that are struggling in any subject.  

I began to see two different teachers around 3rd grade, my main teacher and the teacher that would take me out of class for my daily services. I was expecting to be removed from the class which made me extremely annoyed. That meant I was not going to be working on lessons with my friends and sitting with them in class. Each class had a set of students that would need services, so we all gathered together in the 6th period to meet with our IEP teacher. I never made friends with kids from the other classes so I did not know how to approach anyone. Before class started, each morning I would be sent to my IEP teacher and be put on this computer program that would help me with my reading. It was extremely repetitive! My IEP teacher would also give us homework on top of the homework our main teacher gave us which was stressful on me and the others. Although I was having a hard time enjoying the class, I did learn a lot of important things from my teacher that still benefits me today. My experience with IEP in elementary school was difficult but it didn’t matter to me in the end because my teachers and my mom were seeing progress. Leading up to middle school, I chose to stay in IEP because I was getting the help I needed from my teacher and wanted to continue receiving the same services.   

Going into middle school with an IEP wasn’t easy because the teachers did not know where to place me. Each class was based on the students’ level of learning. I was removed from a class and put into another class because of my learning disability. It made me feel like it wasn’t good enough. I started to realize that the students would make fun of me or the other students that also had IEP. Bullying can become a problem when in an IEP. Some thought being in an IEP was for dumb students who were delayed, but they did not know that it helped plenty of students like me with my anxiety and schooling. Middle school really opened my eyes and made me realize that an IEP was only to benefit me and made me appreciate my teachers and peers even more. Not only was I gaining so much from it, but I also built a deeper relationship with my teachers. My IEP teacher towards my 8th grade left a long-lasting impression on me. She was not only my teacher but a really good role model. I enjoyed seeing her because she would give me advice on life which helped me through life struggles. I was sad that I was graduating because I knew I would miss my teacher, but she still kept in contact with me throughout high school. 

In high school, I began to notice that I no longer needed an IEP for my last few years. My overall performance in school was better than normal. My teachers began to suggest that I be removed from IEP so my mom did what she thought was best and removed me. Being without an IEP  started to become a problem for me when I began to take my regents or any AP exam. I was always so used to having extra time on my exams to the point I started to depend on it. I’m a slow test taker and I needed way more time to finish my tests than the other students. During my SAT I had only limited time to take my test which led to me not finishing it on time and getting a very poor score. I was extremely devastated by this outcome because I knew that the SAT was extremely important for college. Luckily for me, due to covid colleges were making SAT scores optional. My AP exams also became a problem because I would never finish them on time and questions would be left blank due to my slow pace. Losing that extra time did not prepare me for major exams in high school which led me to feel extremely regretful. 

 My problem with IEP was that I was relying on it too much towards the end. Having that extra time on tests was good but it never prepared me for when I won’t have extra time on tests, for example in college. Another major problem I faced throughout the middle, and high school was the stereotypes students were putting out about IEP. It wasn’t easy hearing other students make fun of me and others in the IEP class, saying that we were dumb and not fit for the school. Made me second guess myself and my ability to learn which prevented me from actually trying and gave me even worse anxiety. Even my friends would question me about the class and ask me why I was in it. They knew why but just wanted me to feel bad about myself. Overall my relationship with the educational system has taught me to embrace certain academic problems and learn from them. Learning from it has helped me be more prepared for advanced classes in the future.