Have schools been running out of things to teach the students

It has come to my attention that teachers and the school board have been running out of things to teach in HS. I m in 11 grade an in math and english i have been learning the same things over agian and i dont now about you it is getting annoying. back in 7th grade i learned about lines, rays, angles, slopes, and much more and im in geometry and im learning nothing new. Every year in english i always learn about grammer. Okay i understand that we need grammer but come on people we dont need to learn it every single year and it is the basics of english. i thing that is why more teens are jopping out of school in this past year. Dont call it stuberness or preasure it is because school is getting more and more boring. Science and social studies are classes that you learn something different because history always changes and scientist always find something different about plants animals and space.

hi, I'm canadian(from quebec) and here we often learn new thing, but we got some crappy book. In my geo class, we got of the map with the URSS...
I mostly learn thing from my teacher, not by the books.

The sad thing is, some teacher don't care about us, they gave paper, give homework and we are suppose to learn...Some teacher should be fired(those bad teacher)

Another thing, I got some useless class. Its called FCC=formation choi de carriere=Its to help us choose our job. But instead they teach us how to thing(thought control)I'll giv e an exemple from a test

ex: What mean a conflict to you?

A.a struggle beetween two person
B.Person who doesnt agree with the thought of the other
...

well i got the answer wrong, because I did choose the answer that was my point of view... that sucked.

ERRR damn class I hate those bastard, i failed the test btw

okay its not that the school has no money is that they wont use it for the students. all the teachers should get togerther and come up with new teaching matteial to challeng us. i dont do so well in school because i already learn it and it maes me sleep. If the school board cant come up with things to teach us, they should not even take the time to make more schools. im getting tired of learning basic math and english every single year. i know grammer though i dont like using it well and math this the greatest thing im good at but it is nothing new.

School is starting to suck

Well, first, highschool sucks. There's really no two ways around this, it's a pain in the butt. I've been out for over a decade, did a stint as a teacher, and still agree that, at least for most students, it's not a fun time. (That doesn't prevent us older folk from reminiscing about our "glory years" there, though. Selective memory loss is wonderful )

That said, there's a lot of repitition in high school courses largely because the teachers, at least in public schools, have to teach to the lowest common denominator. In English courses, for example, in most large school districts the teachers can't just assume that all of their students are familiar with basic grammar rules (and I'm not talking about the "who"/"whom" rules, but things like "how do you make the past tense for a verb"). When I was teaching French, I had a 4th year class in which slightly over half the students couldn't conjugate the present tense for the verb être (to be). Because of previous incompetent teaching, I had to spend several weeks going over verb conjugation.

So, lowest common denominator aside, are there other reasons?
Yep, standardized testing is causing a lot of re-hashing of information. The No Child Left Behind act had its heart in the right place, but it was rather poorly implemented. Before this law, there were a lot of different cirruculae through the states, counties, and cities. Some were good, some bad, but they were almost, and this is the important part, different. Some would teach algebra in 7th grade, geometry in 8th, pre calculus in 10th. Others would combine calculus and physics. There was a lot of variety. With the No Child Left Behind act, though, the government imposed its own vision of how education should progress, and so a lot of places had to go back and re-cover material just so their students would do well on the tests.
Though it won't do you any good, this should get better as time goes on and the various curriculae consolidate around the NCLB.

Third, somewhat related to the first point, is that if you're a bright student, school often isn't challenging enough to keep you entertained unless you work at it. This is as true in university as it is in high school, actually. Once you get beyond the "Do it because an adult said to" stage, you really need to take the initiative to make learning something worthwhile to you. Teachers don't teach "up" to the brightest students in class for a couple reasons:
1) The good: Teachers often feel that the brightest students are those that need the least help. This is, at least to a point, true. Above average students can usually extract something valuable from a textbook, or other source, on their own whereas the lower end of the bell curve often needs assistance to make information relevant and useful.
2) The bad: Bright students are scary. Don't get me wrong, they're exciting as well, but, just like hangliding, there's often a bit of an "oh crap" moment when you realize what you're getting in to We, none of us, want to look stupid in front of a crowd, and bright students make that a much liklier possibility, so a lot of teachers tend to avoid the truly exceptional students.


So, if you've survived all that exposition, congratulations, you're having an even more boring day than myself

One thing I can say, to the both of you in this thread so far, is find a sympathetic teacher and see how they can help you. They'll know the school system from the other side, and can maybe point you towards interesting programs or opportunities. They can also often help with getting you beyond classes that are covering things you already know. If you're lucky enough to have a nearby university, see if your school has any sort of dual-enrollment options, where you can take classes at the university and get both high school and university credit. My wife did this and ended up getting her undergraduate degree about a year earlier than she otherwise would have.

I can agree with you TNPM, english sucked. I took it 4 times in highschool and never wanted to take it again. The grim reality is if you go to college you will take it once (two semesters) again.

I can't say the same for math. While algebra and geometry are nap time because they are just repitions of everything you have been doing for the past 5 years, trig and cal are quite challenging. Math and science gets better in college. Though I am taking trig and intro level science courses, the offerings down the road are worth taking when you go to the next level.

If they don't have anything left to teach, what news things will they teach next? Sexual Positions?

hmmmm, maybe they should work more on spelling than grammar.

its not only in high school its for all grades other then pre and k because you realy dont do anything in those classes but for 3 and up its all repeating and it is getting BORING. in our school they are teaching forensic science but come on i know it is cool but people in my school wont do that for a career they will be sitting on their butts or sell drugs to kids which i hope that doesnt happen. if they do that why not bring back astonimy because the univers is always changing or have classes to teach kids to make video games because that is a billion $ indistry.


it would be nice that school teaches sex pasions

Anybody heard of a GED? A General Equivilency Diploma is by law in Pennsylvania the equal of a High School Diploma. Funny thing is that the GED is based off of an 8th grade education. If the diplomas are equal why did I go to school for an extra 4 years?

A few years ago I was tutoring at the local community college and I met a girl who took her GED between 10th and 11th grades, passed it, dropped out of high school and enrolled in college. When she finished her 2 years at the community college she transferred to Penn State for microbiology.

I have to ask what is the purpose of grades 9-12?

I didn't like grade school either, for pretty much the same reasons people have already stated. I'm really enjoying university, though. You can, to a large degree, choose which classes you take, and if they are classes with multiple sections (usually 1st or 2nd year courses) you can choose when you take them, as well. When I went to high school, you wrote on a list of paper the courses you wanted, and they made your schedule for you, which sometimes caused problems. (like the semester I got scheduled to write biology 20 and physics 20 finals during the same time slot... the school had to give a deferred exam to every student taking those two classes together, which was likely quite a few!)

I can guarantee you that the high schools can't be running out of things to teach, though. When I finished high school, I thought I knew quite a bit about math and physics and all the rest of it. I'm now four months away from an engineering degree, and I realize that I know very very little of what is out there, even though I know way more than I did when I finished grade 12. What I think is happening is that schools are dumbing down their content. I remember helping my little sister with high school math, and being shocked at how it was being taught compared to when I took it. Part of the reason she was having trouble with math was because her teacher's classroom examples had errors in them!

I'm starting to see the same thing happen even at my university in the engineering department. In computer engineering, students no longer are required to take electromagnetics or analog circuits, for example. I guess the program planners figure that our future computer engineers don't need to worry about radiation coming out of their hardware or ever need to make a voltage converter or build a circuit or something like that.

If I could do high school over again, I would take full course loads and take a few summer classes and not take a couple of the useless classes I took, like typing or that sort of thing. (although admittedly I thought I was registering for computer programming when I took that typing class... ) I know a few people who managed to finish high school in 2 or 2.5 years that way. If you are lucky enough to have the school recommend that you skip a grade, DO IT. When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my school recommended that I skip the next grade. My parents, who did not discuss this with me, told the school that they thought it was a bad idea, because it would separate me from my friends and the kids my age. They didn't even tell me the school had suggested this until years later. They should have done it, because 1) grade school is stupid, anyway, 2) at that age I had virtually no friends anyway, since I was an uber nerd and 3) being with kids a year older wouldn't make much difference; a year difference in age is fairly insignificant.

As a last point, I don't remember ever learning about 'grammer' in school, but we did spend quite a bit of time on 'grammar'.

Originally posted by JIMC5499
A few years ago I was tutoring at the local community college and I met a girl who took her GED between 10th and 11th grades, passed it, dropped out of high school and enrolled in college. When she finished her 2 years at the community college she transferred to Penn State for microbiology.

I have to ask what is the purpose of grades 9-12?

I didnt know you could do that! I always thought you'd have to be atleast a certain age to take the GED. Guess not...

The whole "dumbing down" thing can be traced back to bill clinton's education deal with UNESCO, which began having their people writing textbooks, and more or less helping to make the masses, will more depressed and dumber gradually.

Originally posted by I_s_i_s
I didnt know you could do that! I always thought you'd have to be atleast a certain age to take the GED. Guess not...

In Pennsylvania you can take the GED at age 16. You can also enroll in college at age 16 with a diploma or a GED.

Stereotypes. I have met people who sincerly believe scientist (very generic) are attempting and currently destroying society because they do not contemplate the socio-political consequences of their actions. Hum bug!

I also love the stereotypes that scientist (again very generic) are bald, white, coke-bottle glass wearing, walking calculators, etc, etc....

If you are bored, then may I suggest trying to make it interesting for yourself? If you have a term paper to write, then write two more pages than required. Make it a subject you would have to research extensively.

That said, if school is so repititious and boring, then why does your grammar and spelling look like you already dropped out?

If I may make an analogy:

School is to life as chores are to life.

The chores you have to do at home (washing dishes, garbage, laundry, etc.) are basic skills that should be learned to make the transition from being dependant on a parent to living independantly on your own without the Board of Health being called on you.

The "basic" grammar and spelling, as well as math, history, science, and even drama/choir all help you get ready for living as an independant as well. These skills are required to get better jobs than those who do not finish high school.

Boring? Of course! School is boring for almost everyone at one point or another! Covering a subject already covered? Read ahead! Put down the cell phone, quit writing messages to your classmates, don't sleep....do some extra credit.

But..in all fairness, you might want to really start paying attention to English class. Or, check out my thread for some quick spelling/grammar tips.

[edit on 22-1-2006 by Rouschkateer]
EDIT: For my own spelling and to add: Proofreading is a great skill to learn, too!

[edit on 22-1-2006 by Rouschkateer]

Originally posted by bsbfan1
The whole "dumbing down" thing can be traced back to bill clinton's education deal with UNESCO, which began having their people writing textbooks, and more or less helping to make the masses, will more depressed and dumber gradually.

While some of Clinton's "reforms" didn't help matters, the dumbing-down trend started before 1992, sorry. If you're seriously interested in the subject, I'd highly recommend both "Dumbing Down Our Kids" and "Cultural Literacy." If you'd like something a bit more technical, "Imperfect Panacea" is another excellent book, though a bit dryer than the previous two.

Originally posted by the news paper man
over agian and i dont now about you it is getting annoying. back in 7th grade i learned about lines, rays, angles, slopes, and much more and im in geometry and im learning nothing new.

Maybe you aren't in one of the accelerated classes. Maybe you should ask to be in one of them. You aren't learning trigonometry?

Every year in english i always learn about grammer. Okay i understand that we need grammer but come on people we dont need to learn it every single year and it is the basics of english. i thing that is why more teens are jopping out of school in this past year. Dont call it stuberness or preasure it is because school is getting more and more boring.

The kids that drop out usually aren't the ones that know the material so well already that they are tired of it.

i dont do so well in school because i already learn it and it maes me sleep.

You fall asleep during tests?

If you know the material well, and aren't literally falling asleep during the tests, then you'd be doing well. If you aren't doing well, then you don't know the material, and its kinda silly to say that you are 'bored' with it. If you want more advanced material, then you have to actually show that you have a strong handle on the basic material.

School is starting to suck

So? Its not there for entertainment. Your singular job in high school is to get good grades. Nothing else. School has allways 'sucked', but so what, its not supposed to not suck. None of this is going to change if you get into a college, its going to basically be boring, and if you don't do well with the introductory material, which is what the first year might entirely consist of, then you're not going to do well with the more advanced material and you're not going to even get to the detailed stuff.

As another poster pointed out, in college, you will have to take 'english' again, or rather, usually, you will have to take 'writing intensive' courses, these are regular courses, but you've elected to make them 'writing intensive', which means you have to write papers for them. Not necessarily take an english and grammar class.
So you might want to start bothering with 'tedious' things like capitalization now.

if they do that why not bring back astonimy

Whats the sense in teaching astronomy if the students can't handle trigonometry and geometry?

jimc5499
If the diplomas are equal why did I go to school for an extra 4 years?

Because they're not equal. People with GEDs have, effectively, a black mark against them. People with a basic diploma also have a black mark against them, in states where there are more 'advanced' (and I use that term relatively) diplomas, like, in NY there is a Regents Diploma, which is above a regular school diploma. If you don't have a Regents Diploma, people will look at you funny.

I have to ask what is the purpose of grades 9-12?

How many people with a GED have undergraduate degrees in microbiology also? The person you talk about is a 'go getter'. They made some smart moves, getting a head start on college, starting off with a community college and transfering (same diploma, far less money), but thats the exception, not the rule. In general, most people, if they stopped in 8th grade with only a GED, wouldn't be able to get into college, would start working at a job without much oppurtunity, and be stuck in that for a long while. Most people need the 9-12 education to prepare them for college, and to make it easier for them to get into college.

I'm curious how they could be "running out" of things to teach. How is that even possible?

For starters, since I graduated high school in 1996, there have been thousands of new historical “facts” to add to history texts. Every day there are new things to learn. How could they run out?

Next, English is a living language. It grows constantly (much to the delight of some and the chagrin of others). Just ask the folks at Webster who recently approved such gems as “McJob” for inclusion in the lexicon.

As for grammar, the idea is to drill it into your head so you will never forget it. In the nicest possible way, I must say that you need to stay awake and pay better attention. Again, I mean you know personal offense (though lord knows some may take it that way…), but your writing, spelling, and grammar are atrocious. Normally I don’t like to point out when folks have performed their writing tasks poorly, but in this case, since you insist that the material is boring because you’ve learned it so well, it must be noted that you clearly have MUCH more to learn. Others have tried to say the same thing, but much more evasively. I will not. Having spent several college years in creative writing workshops having my work ripped to shreds, I’ve learned that beating around the bush doesn’t help ANYONE improve. It’s better to just confront the issue.

I’ve read at least one post here that said English sucks and math has better course offerings in college. Well…I’m here to tell you that I thought they BOTH sucked in high school. In fact, I did so little homework, and paid so little attention, that I BARELY eked out a diploma with a 1.27 cumulative GPA!! It should be noted, that I am no dummy. I got better with age.

That said, I managed to get myself into college (GO TERPS!!), and proceeded to learn that there were tons of courses in every avenue of study. Some seemed boring, others interesting. For example, whoever said English was boring obviously never took the “Film and Literature as Weapons” course that I took, nor did they take any comparative mythology, or 19th century American fiction. Certainly not boring in the slightest.

On the flip side, because of my degree paths, I didn’t have to take much math. But, the math I did take, was SUCH a review of my high-school calculus, that I could have aced the final exam on day one (had I only known).

So, pay attention, dude, there’s lots to learn. There is a reason why you should pay attention to all this seeming repetition. One purpose is so that you can learn it COLD. That way, when you get to college, you can focus on CRITICAL THINKING, rather than rote absorption of facts. You can learn to analyze instead of memorize.

As my 8th grade algebra teacher always said, “learning is retention.” If you aren’t retaining it, you aren’t learning it, and given the quality of your writing, you aren’t retaining it. So, get your head off the desk and into the game. You’ll thank me in college when you don’t have to waste your time trying to remember formulas or puzzle out comma rules. You’ll get your papers and homework done in half the time and have more time for the most important aspect of college—BEER!

Finally, how can they run out of things to teach when they still haven’t started teaching the TRUTH?

LOL, exactly Hamburglar, they still have to teach the "truth" in schools!

One problem I see in schools though is the lack of new wordly facts/knowledge being intergrated into the school class structure, which I think would help kids that are in school understand the present world a little bettter.

I mean, I can honestly say that students can learn all they want in school, but it's up to the student to further seek knowledge out of school.

Originally posted by Mystery_Lady
hmmmm, maybe they should work more on spelling than grammar.

The school needs to review the rules for punctuation and capitalization, also.

[edit on 24-1-2006 by HowardRoark]