"There was a time when public education was the total responsibility of state and local governments...and they were held accountable bigtime for even the least of failure that became obvious in their systems. The federal government played no part in financial aid or in making rules and regulations covering it. When that changed, beginning somewhere in the 1960's, I believe, when the federal government got its foot in the door, promising that their aid would not impact on local administration, all hell began to break loose...and public education has been on the downslide ever since. The politicians in D.C. lie through their teeth about everything...and there's little to be done about it. So far removed, they obviously couldn't care less about what you and I, or anyone else, think or want about anything. It is, in my mind, the principal reason this great Country is facing so many problems this very day.

Get public education back into the hands of the local governments, and hold them accountable without their being able to throw up their arms by pointing the finger towards Washington, and public education, the most expensive in the world, may...just may...have a chance.

The federal government keeps wanting to control more and more...when they can't even begin to handle what they already have. It's my opinion...a distressed one for the young people who follow me. It saddens me knowing what I'm leaving them."

I found this response online to a similar question that my project proposed. As in most cases, it seems that nationwide regulations and changes are not as effective as localized ones by the local governments.

Ideal Classroom Environment:

-Class Discussions

-Small Group Projects/Activities

-Interaction with other classmates

-Less Note-Taking

-Teacher allows students to move around the classroom

-Visual Learning instead of straight lectures

Discussion and group based activities are difficult to fit into each of the different subjects in school. Here is a subject by subject analysis of how I think discussions can be incorporated in.

English: This is the easiest because most english classes already include some kind of discussion at one point or another. Discussions are particularly effective while reading a book for class so that each student can understand the subject material and ask questions about confusing parts.

Math: This is the hardest class to have any kind of discussion in and is the class you are most likely going to spend the period taking notes. To bring a group aspect to the class, perhaps students could get into note-taking groups and have each person focus on a part of the lesson. Then at the end of class each person could share what they learned.

Science: Again like math, science classes require a lot of note taking as there is a lot of information to be learned. My suggestion is for science classes to have interactive activities when possible. Having even more labs would help to keep kids interested as they usually get to move around and interact with others.

Social Studies: Another class where note taking is seemingly neccesary. However in history classes more then any other, reading a text book and taking notes is essential. I feel that instead of assigning notes as homework every night, students should instead be assigned to skim the section over and then discuss the readings the next class with fellow students so that everyone in the class has a similar understanding of the topic.

My peers seem to be in unison in stating that the best classroom activities are discussions or hands on stuff. I do tend to agree that the classes where sitting at a desk for the entire hour without any kind of interaction with the teacher or one another can be not only tedious but also draining. Sitting in the same spot for an extended period of time is not only boring but also difficult. Note-taking is an essential part of school but is very subjective in my opinion and each student can get a different thing out of a specific reading. Discussions are a great way to compare notes and confirm that everyone in the class is getting the main points down. Also discussions allow us to get different views and not think solely in a single mindset.

After spending the last week interviewing my peers, the most prominent classroom activity that seems to work is discussions. The interaction with others in class and the hands on aspect of this activity allowed my peers to not only express their own views to the class but also to hear the ideas of their fellow classmates. The technique is considerable better than lectures or note taking which were the most unpopular styles of educating. Over the next day or so I plan to interview at least one teacher to see what kind of teaching methods they use in class to keep kids interested in the class while still being able to get their subject matter across.

"I like how we have access to smart boards

but i dont like how there are some teachers who make you feel like you shouldn't ask questions or talk in class"

Another perspective by a different friend shows that having tools in the classroom like a smartboard that are both fun and educational are essential to the class being enjoyable. While not all school settings are able to have materials such as the smartboard, can still make use of tools like whiteboards to have a similar effect. The main idea is that visuals or interactive use of the board is enjoyable for students and makes learning more fun. My friend's second point is similar to the last post where students feel uncomfortable in class when it comes to speaking aloud. In this case however, it is the teacher that is causing the student to feel uncomfortable and not her other classmates as much. There must be a solution as to how students can have an easier time sharing their thoughts and answers to the rest of the class.

Another Perspective

"I like the environment that most classes create where students and teachers naturally are able to get along and work well easily. I don't like how sometimes students try to prove their intelligence amongst each other whether to get favor from the teacher or just to seem like the know it all."

A friend of mine said this and I tend to agree with it. In our current classroom environments, students are given the oppurtunity to answer questions or read aloud to the rest of their peers in class. This in itself can favor certain students who are not intimidated by the notion of speaking aloud to the entire class and also gives students the chance to stand out amongst their classmates. In an ideal environment, students should be able to share their ideas and answers in ways that are comfortable to them.

Further Reflection

Another thing that isn't all that fun to deal with is homework. I understand that it is a necesary part of cementing what is learned during the day with extra work. However, being assigned homework is always a downer and never something to look forward to. I feel that as the day goes on and more homework is assigned, students begin to feel more and more stressed over the workload as well as irritated that their free time after school is going to be taken up by more school work. What is a possible solution that could make homework fun? There is a game on the website OMGpop.com called letterbloks which I think is a great example of a learning experience that is fun. In this game, the player is given six letters and must make as many words as possible before the time limit runs out. Longer words equal more points but take more time to figure out. This game is not only fun and intense but also a good learning tool as players must apply their knowledge of words towards getting more points. If homework could be assigned in a form like this where competition is present then I think that students would be more likely to get to "work".

What I Want

The person I know the best is myself so presenting my views first in this blog should set a foundation for my research. I have enjoyed most of my schooling experience to this point in my life but there has been a few things that I haven't been too fond of in school. I think that a few things that could improve school would be to include some more fun activities in place of taking notes. The action is repetitive and can get tedious quickly. My solution to this would be to have some kind of computer activity or video game of sorts that test memory and enforce facts into the minds of students.

More to Come