Step 1- Read all the comments from the previous assignment.
Step 2- Choose one comment which is thoughtful.
Step 3-
First, paraphrase the comment you are responding to: For example: “Ms. Rivkind thinks that…”
Then, write a question about the chosen comment. The question must be: clear, sincere, useful and be the sort of question which leads to more questions. The question you write must complicate the comment’s argument, make the reader of the comment you are questioning think deeper. Stir up some intellectual trouble.
Mr. Frederick Yen thinks that lengthening school hours and not the school year is a better way for kids to get a good education. He also thinks the statement "We are competeing for jobs with kids in India and China" which Secretary Duncan had said had nothing to do with the U.S. getting a better education. Frederick Yen believes that the Secretary only said that becuase he wants America to look like the better industrial country. My question for him is:
ReplyDeleteIf we legthen the school hours, then the teachers will have more time to teach more and therefore give more homework. If kids nowadays are working twice as hard to finish their homework, how do you suppose the kids will be able to complete this extra work in a shorter amount of time?
Ms. Ginzburg thinks that increasing the number of school days will help promote student education. She believes that the increase in school days can help a student better understand the topic in which they are learning. She feels that if the teacher explains the topic more to the student, they will understand it better. She also thinks that teachers should give study hall to students so they will have more time to study and learn. She says that in general, she agrees with Secretary Duncan and that students should have extended days of school, but with some adjustments.
ReplyDeleteMy question to her is: If the number of school days is increased, what adjustments can be made so that learning in class, completing homework, having fun with family and friends, and having time to rest, are balanced?
From the previous assignment given to us, Ms. Erika Lopez made it clear that she thinks that lengthening school hours would be the most efficient way to raise the grades of students. She may be right about the fact that this may give students more time to learn and fully understand things, and give teachers the comfort of not worrying about running out of class time, but there is a small thing that should be taken into consideration. Here is a question I've got; if school hours are lengthened and students spend all their time on class work, homework, and studying, how will they be able to explore different activities? If they don't have something that interests them, how can they grow up and go to a good college? They need to have something to study once in college, and after that something to work as for the rest of their lives, and if they don't have the time at home to try out different hobbies, how can this happen?
ReplyDeleteMs. Julia Dankov clearly expresses that she thinks lengthening school hours and therefore the school year is “utterly ridiculous”. She states that kids feel tired and annoyed with school, and by lengthening school, students will become more and more frustrated. I agree with Ms. Dankov, but not fully. Yes, kids are annoyed with school nowadays, but it’s in their best interest. They are affecting only their own future, no one else’s. School today is not that long so kids should at least provide effort to do well. Ms. Dankov also states that in order to help students do well, standards should be raised. My question is “If standards are raised, wouldn’t it just create more competition for kids who are excellent students and more pressure for kids who are trying their best to meet the standards?” Students who do not do so well will start striving higher, but this will cause them and other students to feel pressured.
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ReplyDeleteMs. Dena Samad said that rewarding teachers with merit pay and extending the school hours will not be affective in promoting student education. Yes in a way I do agree with her that this might not be effective. There are some cons of lengthening the school day like for example student losing interest. Also awarding teachers with merit pay may not be the best because some teachers may start taking advantage of this. But in some circumstances this may have to happen because how else will important things get done; for example giving students quality education. My question for her is if she was in charge of this situation and had to come up with a solution to the problem what would she say? If she didn't believe in awarding merit pay for teachers or lengthening the school day what new solution would she make?
ReplyDeleteMs. Ilana Urman thinks that instead of lengthening school days, we should lengthen school hours to enhance learning in each subject. I disagree because by making school hours longer, students cannot fully register what they have just learned in the long day. Longer hours may not work well with younger students who are in 1st or 2nd grade who have a shorter attention span than older students. Also, by extending the time, students are put under more pressure because they are being given more homework to review classwork, they may have to stay up longer to finish assignments, and therefore still cause the same amount of trouble extending school days. In this case, extending school days may be better. My question is "What's the point of extending school hours when it causes more problems than just extending school days?"
ReplyDeleteMs. Erika Lopez thinks that lenthening school hours could help promote education.She states that with more school hours, students could have more time to learn, and more time to understand what they are learning. This may be an effective method, but you must also take into consideration on how will you get the extra money to pay the tachers, and if it will be benefit the students. My question to her is "Will lengthening school hours really help the students, or will it just cause more stress, and make more students fall behind, or drop out?"
ReplyDeleteIn the previous assignment, Erika Lopez states that she thinks we need to lengthen school hours. She said "By extending school more students would have more time to learn and to fully understand things." I agree that kids will learn more and understand better, but they will also be very unhappy. We also simply do not have the money to pay teachers for all the extra hours spent teaching. Our economy isn't in its best shape right now.
ReplyDeleteMy question is "Do we want to make our children miserable, tired and hateful towards learning in hope that hey will learn better? Don't you think more kids will drop out of school?"
Erika Lopez stated that every American can’t be given a quality higher education; therefore, my question is, “Why so?” Teachers are following the curriculum that is set by the Department of Education and giving equal attention to all of their students. How much the students learn depends on their involvement and motivation. That’s why the ultimate challenge is to get all the students to participate in learning to their full capacity and help them achieve their highest potential. This can be done by increasing counseling and carrier guidance services to help the students understand how important the education is for their future. Therefore, I believe that every American student has a chance to receive a high quality of education, but the outcome will depend on the student’s level of motivation and personal efforts.
ReplyDeleteMr. Frederick comment mentions how he thinks school hours should be increased. He states "I believe the best effort to support student education is to increase the school hours." He doesn't say if he would enjoy the extra school hours. Many classmates of mine too don't mention whether or not they would enjoy the school hours. I also can't help but think when would they increase school hours. Would it be from 5:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. I think not many children get up an hour or half an hour earlier to go to school. Would it be from 6:00 to 4:00, 5:00, 6:00! This is just insane. Where would the time having fun go. You would have to start your homework immediatally. By the time you were finished you would already be having dinner! Then it would be around 6:30 to 7:00. There would be no time for games! Another point of mine is if a student is absent he/she would miss much more work. How would other people be affected by it. If you had doctr's appointments or dentist appointments all the offices would be packed.Many peoples jobs would be affected by it. Secratary Duncan didn't have extended school hours. That doesn't seem fair to me! Also Secratary Duncan talks about how you should get the best job he doesn't say how we should get the job we love. So Frederick, How would extra school hours affect people other then you?
ReplyDeleteEvelyn Rivkind wrote that increasing the number of school hours and days would benefit the students’ education. Teachers would have more time to explain certain topics and students will have extra hours to process the information. She also mentioned that not all students will like this idea. I agree that it may help student and that some students will disagree. However, if certain students will continue being rebellious and not study harder, this change will not have that big of an effect. This plan can’t be fully relied on because there can be various outcomes. A failure in this idea can cause money loss which can actually worsen the situation and the next solution would have to be a low budget one. My question is, “If this plan doesn’t work and money will be wasted, what low budget plan may the government try next?”
ReplyDeleteMs, Lopez states that increasing school hours will help students learn better. She thinks that lengthening school hours will give kids a good education.
ReplyDeleteSome kids live far away from schools they go to (or want to go to), if you lengthen school hours, kids might just have to drop out and go to a new school. Kids will be unhappy and that will probably increase suicide rates, and drop out rates. We also don't have that good an economy. Secretary Duncan wantsto give teachers merit pay, and paying eachers extra to work more hours probably will not benefit our schools (especially if they're serving free lunch like ours). Some teachers might even quit their jobs for that, and they could have been they "highly qualified" teachers secretary Duncan was talking about.
My question to Erika Lopez is "Should we put our economy on the line for something that may or may not work in helping students get a better education?"
Ms. Julia Dankov states that she thinks that lengthening school hours and the amount of months is strictly preposterous. (“utterly ridiculous”) She said that kids need a break from school and by lengthening it, students will get even more angrier and exhausted. I agree with Ms. Dankov, but not on everything. Even thought kids might get tired and mad, it for their own good. Nevertheless, simply raising school hours isn’t much. Our school hours are short anyway. Ms. Dankov also states that in order to make students do well, just simply raising the standards would do the trick.
ReplyDeleteI have two questions. My questions are “If standards are raised, school would get harder and kids would have an even bigger urge to drop out. Why would you raise the standards? My second question is “If this would benefit your learning ability, why wouldn’t you say for a little more hours?”
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ReplyDeleteIn Web Log #3, Mr.Yen stated that "the best effort to promote student education is to increase school hours".I agree when Mr.Yen says that increasing school hours is better than increasing school days/months.I only agree with this temporarily though since eventually increasing school hours will basically have the same effect as increasing school days or months. True, kids wil only be in school for 5 days a week/10 months a year, but for 8,9,or 10 hours a day. These extra hours add up, and most kids may dislike them.Also, this gives students less time to do homework, and without homework, it is hard for students to succeed in school.My question for Mr.Yen is instead of increasing school hours,days, or months, why not keep it the same and find a way to stimulate student's minds into working harder in school?
ReplyDeleteMr. David Nemirovksy talks about the students that try hard to get good grades. He said that when they get better grades, they are encouraged to learn more. My questions for him are this: What about the students that get poor grades? Some students try hard, but seem to get low marks on things like tests. Some students don't even try. How can we encourage them? How can we prove to them that they're smarter than they think they are?
ReplyDeleteIn the previous web log, Ms. Ilana Urman stated that by lengthning the school hour, not school day and year, children would get a better education. True, this would affect the chilrens performances optimistically, but this would too, make the children tired. The more school hours, school days and, school year there is, the more homework and projects and exams the children would get. Plus, the extra hours at school takes time away from children studying for exams and doing homework.
ReplyDeleteI would like to question what Ms. Ilana Urman wrote because one thing was unclear to me. Who is Secretary Duncan and why does he want this?
Mr. David Nemirovsky states that the best effort that promotes student education was to raise the amount of time students spend at school. He says that this is a good idea because students need to learn more and become more interested in school. I disagree with what he says. If children go to school for extended hours, how will be able to go to after school activities and do house chores, as you said? Students might lose interest in school and start cutting/dropping out of school. This may also increase student suicidal rate. Since I am contradicting with most of what you are saying, my question is, “How is staying later in school going to help students become smarter and more educated by practicing subjects for a longer period of time?
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ReplyDeleteMs. Ilana Urman states that students should have extended hours in school. She disagrees with the idea that school should be six days a week, and eleven months in a year of school. Plus, if the amount of school in a year would be extended, there would be more time for a teacher to accomplish a lesson or two with their students. She thinks that longer school days might make us feel pressured and tired. Ilana also states that some students with ambition will be able to stay in school. The other students that have no interest in school may want to dropout. Only the students with real ambitions will have a chance in staying in school longer and receive a highly qualified education.
ReplyDeleteMy question to Ilana is, "How can schools adjust so that they can have lessons and homeworks that are fun and educational at the same time?"
Ms. Michelle Zak said that to promote student education we need to spend more hours at school. It could benefit the teachers by giving them more time to explain new information and also benefit the children, giving them more time for learning. She wants to have extra periods at school to do homework or even to relax. My question is, why it should be done for all students without the differentiation on those who are doing well at school and those who need more time for catching new information?; why should students need to do HOMEwork at school if it should be a time for independent learning?; why can’t children relax in a home environment, go for sports or other activities which would have a positive impact on their mental and physical health, and lead to a better success at school?
ReplyDeleteMrs. Samad stated that "Providing every American with a quality higher education is an effort that seems to be the best way to promote student "education." My comment is that how are we to provide every american with a quality higher education. If we did that, than it would meen taking out every teacher and training them. That would take resources and money that the state doesn't have. Even if we didn't train our teachers,how would we encourage our teachers and students to try harder?
ReplyDeleteMs. Erika Lopez says that lengthening the school hours will help promote a better education for students. If school hours are made longer, then teachers will have a longer time to teach, and they will not be stopped in the middle of a lesson. If school lasts longer then it does now, children will have less time to do their homework, projects, or have free time to get a little break. Teachers will also lose time that they could use for marking tests, or checking their students homework, or just getting some relaxation from a long day of work. My question for Ms. Lopez is: If we lengthen the hours in a school day, wouldn’t most children revolt more about going to school? Making the school day longer would make children want to skip school or even drop out of school more then they may want to now. So lengthening the day would make students extremely angry, and they will probably decide not to pay attention or try, or get so upset that they turn to drugs and alcohol to help and calm them down.
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ReplyDeleteMs. Erika Lopez believes that lengthening school hours is the best way for kids to recieve a good education. She says that the teachers would have more time to teach the kids. My question to her is: do you think that our economy is in the right situation to pay all the teachers extra? We have to cut many jobs and if we want to the lengthen the school hours, we would have to cut even more jobs, just to pay the teachers. Is it worth putting so many people on the employment line just so that we could stay an extra hour or two in school?
ReplyDeleteMs. Anni Bangiev thinks that "providing every student with a high quality education is the best way to promote student education. When you encourage better standards and assessments for students, you believe that every student tries to meet those standards and pass the assessments but not every student may be trying." She says that the ‘outstanding’ teachers should get better pay. I agree with her when she questions what it means to be an ‘outstanding’ teacher. It might be the students who have a higher ability to learn, despite their teacher. My question to her is: if paying the teachers more money and making school hours longer don’t help to promote students education, what do you think the next approach will be to promote student education?
ReplyDeleteMs. Dena Samad stated that by providing every American with a quality higher education is the best way to promote student education. Although I kind of agree with her that by providing every American with a higher quality education is a great way to promote school education, how would you do so? I also want to comment on how she said that by providing “every American” with a higher quality education. How could you do so for every American? The part that I don’t agree with is that it will work for some student, but not for all students. School might become too hard for students and they will just drop out.
ReplyDeleteMs. Michelle Zak thinks that extending school days by a few hours would be the best way to promote education. She believes it could both benefit the teachers, and children. Teachers would have more time to cover information, and students would get to understand what they learned more clearly. I agree with her but my question is, "How can we get to enjoy ourselves and go to school longer at the same time without being too stressed out? Its true that longer school days would help our education, but with this we wouldn't have enough time to go to afterschools or study something we enjoy learning about."
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ReplyDeleteMrs. Samad stated that "Providing every American with a quality higher education is an effort that seems to be the best way to promote student "education." My comment is that how are we to provide every American with a higher quality education ,is this a great way to promote school education? How can we give every single American a higher education? That is millions of people and billions of dollars, we are still recovering from a financial crisis. This will only probably work for certain students some will think its too hard and the rate of people dropping out of school will increase. How will u encourage staff and teachers to do better?
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ReplyDeleteDear Ms.Frederick,
ReplyDeleteMy computer crashed Thursday with a virus.My mom had to call dell so they could restart the entire computer erasing all files.This took a couple of hours and I had to go to bed by time it was done.So i was not able to complete the web log.I do apologize and hope it won't affect my grade and understand if you don't accept it.
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ReplyDeleteJonathan Sperling states that making the school year 12 months a year, 7 days a week would be the best effort for promoting student education. I disagree with this because of the toll that that much school would take on students. Having to go to school for that many more hours a week, and getting more homework then we already have now would not be healthy. There is a certain point that you reach where you concentrate too much, and you stop retaining information. Weekends and summer vacation allow cool down periods for your mind, so that you do not reach this point. My question is... more school may have good outcomes in the long run, but when is it too much.
ReplyDeleteErika Lopez says that children going to school for a few hours longer could help to promote student education for many kids even though they may not like it. She says “By extending school more students would have more time to learn and to fully understand things. With the extra time teachers would have more class time to accomplish what they really needed to without worry of running out of time.” Even though I agree with her, I still feel that the few extra hours will push the kids even harder than before. Since kids already have lots of work and lots of homework in school now, a few hours would give them more homework, notes, etc and less time to read and do the homework. Also, the teachers would have to work longer and have to get paid more. With the current state of the economy and budget cuts, the school won’t be able to pay the teachers enough. My question is “How can we get students to have more school time to learn without actually giving more school time to them?”
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