Meza 1 Adrian Meza Ms.

Emily Parrish English 1010 1A 10-16-13 Education Interferes With My Learning "The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education," this was said by a brilliant individual, Albert Einstein. When I first read the quote I didnt understand what it meant, but the more I thought about it, I gained an understanding of what Einstein meant. Einstein was saying that students were trapped in a mold that teaches you the basics in education. The mold shapes the way every student thinks. It limits the creativity and individuality among students mind. The mold holds them back from developing and expanding their intelligence. Now, for me being a student for 14 years, I have seen different types of teaching and learning styles which has made me get a better understanding of what works best in gaining a student's intelligence. Schools are supposed to educate you, which means teach you what and how you learn. Once you have the education you can use your intelligence, which is the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills. Those students who get a better education tend to get better careers and do better in life because they are able to use their intelligence, but for those who do not get the same kind of education tend to struggle in life. Intelligence is a big part of todays society and the demand for intelligent people will continue to grow as we go into the future. The job market now requires more than high school education, but if your education in general isnt good then you have gained no intelligence. The structure of education we have now should be adjusted to better prepare us for higher education and help us acquire intelligence. Education is

Meza 2 more than just in school, it takes place in our community and homes as well. The education we receive now in high school restricts us from really acquiring the intelligence we need to succeed. To help change the system we have now, we must adjust the way our teachers and administration operate. Teachers and administrators need to create a good relationship with the students to create a more effective learning environment. For example, if a student is struggling and a teacher doesn't know, the student will perform poorly and fail. Students spend anywhere from five to seven hours for about ten months with teachers and administrators. Teachers and administrators have a big impact in the students life. The school should try to get teachers that are motivated to teach and administration that want to help the students improve. Students can tell when the teachers and administrators are in a bad mood, so why should the students want to be taught by a teacher who does not want to be there? Teachers and administrators should want to be in school. The school should consider changing teachers and administrators that do not enjoy teaching or enjoy helping students. I am not trying to say that all teachers are bad and should leave, I am saying we should try to help those teachers improve their teaching techniques. It is hard to try and help a teacher once the teacher loses his or her interest in teaching because it is a slow process for a teacher to go from excited to teach to being bored. One way we can help motivate the teachers to become better instructors is by paying them more, teachers now-a-days do not get paid for as much time and effort teachers put into it. If you raise teachers salary based on how well they have adapted in becoming a more effective teacher, than they should be compensated for their hard work. Teachers in the schools would get motivated and want to get to know all their students individually to try and create a bond with the student. Both teachers and administration should be able to listen to the students thoughts and be willing to understand

Meza 3 them because this would create a better understanding environment between students and school administrators. Communication is the key to create a healthy relationship. Teachers should also have more interaction with the students parents. This teacher-parent connection makes it so the parent can remind the student and help the student on homework or projects. Like in an experiment done by Harvard, Matthew Kraft and Shaun Dougherty found that communication between teachers and parents increased student involvement in homework by forty percent and class participation by fifteen percent. It also showed improvement in the students behavior by twenty-five percent. There are many different ways schools can go about improving the system, like how the students are given a lesson can change to make the lessons helpful for the students to understand. One thing teachers could try and improve on is to make class interesting, the more the students can relate with the material being taught, the better they will be engaged in learning and overall do better in class. If the teacher does not know how to make it more interesting, teachers should be able to ask the students their interests in how to learn in more effective ways. Teachers should also try to do different lectures or class activities for every class depending on the students best form of learning. For instance if one class learns better through visual slides then the teacher should make slide show presentations with pictures and examples. Teachers should also try to change and improve with technology to provide better resources for their students. Technology can show students different ways in acquiring information, other than just reading what is in the textbook. I had an interview with my eleventh grade English teacher, Mr. Johansson, and he said technology is a helpful tool we can all use, it makes it easy to acquire different resources and in a faster ways. During my time in his class, we constantly used iPads

Meza 4 for more than two-thirds of the school year. The iPads made it faster for us to acquire different sources on one particular subject that we were learning about. Getting away from textbook teachings also made us as students use more self-thinking learning. This does not mean that textbooks are bad, but teachers should limit the use of textbooks to improve students selfthinking. Students think in different ways depending on what happens around the student. Another big part of where we get our educational experience and how we get our educational experience is from the type of community we live in. The community helps shape the people living in it into who they are, what they believe in, and how they handle certain situations. The community sets the people living in it apart from people living in other

communities. People do things different and act in different ways based on where they grow up. The community changes depending on what era it is, and what is going on in the media. Based on a study done by the RAND Corporation, communities also vary depending on what the communities income, crime rate, tax revenues, and civic participation is in the community. When the community has a higher income rate, the community has a better educational system and it also tends to motivated students. As a result the communities get more help getting into a higher education because most of those students in good income communities already have it in their mind set that they are going to go further than just a high school education. On the other hand communities with low income and higher crime rate have more problems to deal with and as a result the students in these low income neighborhoods get a lesser educational experiences. With trouble going on in troubled, low income schools, administrations have to deal with trying to get the students out of trouble, like fights and drug use, instead of focusing on education. Peer pressure is higher in bad low income communities, but getting away from those types of

Meza 5 "friends" can give you time to grow and improve. A great example of getting away from your bad friends to succeed is in a movie called Stand and Deliver. The movie is about students that go to a school in East Los Angeles. These students have a teacher that pushes them to take AP Calculus after being their teacher for several years. These students separate themselves from their former friends and focus on AP Calculus. All eighteen students that take the test end up passing the AP test proving the schools administrators and the community wrong. This proved that although the community was not doing well in education, students and teachers can change it by being hard working and dedicated. Students and even the parents have to try and change the cycle if the student is not getting what they deserve, but the students and parents need to play their role in trying to get a better education. Students and parents cannot expect to get change in a better education if they do not push to improve themselves. Students should be taking responsibility in what they do and who they hang out with, because at the end of the day the student is the one who is going to be affected by the choices the student makes not the peers around the student. Students must try to put themselves in positions to succeed, and challenge themselves in taking more than just the required classes. Going above and beyond will help prepare the student for higher education. Students should be hungry for knowledge, students must be willing to attend and enjoy being in school. Students must be able be motivated to acquire knowledge and motivated to succeed in the future. Without motivation students will not try in school and fail or struggle later in life. Teachers can help build motivation within the students by giving the student frequent positive feedback, giving the students assignments that are neither too easy nor too difficult, helping the student find personal meaning and value with the material, creating a positive atmosphere, and

Meza 6 helping the student feel like they matter in the educational community, based on an article by Karin Kirk about a book called Tools for Teaching by Barbara Gross. Students need to be open to other peoples opinions and listen to what other people have to say because this can build the way students think and see things in life and education. Students have to be prepared for starting school by having the essential supplies to do school work like paper and pencils. Students must try to gain or improve their time management skills to manage school assignments and projects. If students leave assignments and projects until the last night it is due, the level of quality of the assignment will be lower. The students must be willing to put time and effort into school work to get the best grade possible. Parents have to be supportive and helpful in getting their child through school. Parents have to be aware in whats happening in the students school life and life in general, because if they are not aware of what is happening, how can they help the student? The University of Washington noticed that 81% of students were likely to graduate high school if their parents express high hopes for their future and solid expectations for their performance in school (University of Washington, 2008). The article also brought up that students needed sources to prepare for college, and most important, they need support from parents and mentors (Washington). To build students intelligence, schools must adjust what schools are teaching the students. Schools are good at teaching English, reading, and arithmetic (Tupac Shakur), but we need to focus on other diverse subjects to build a variety of tools for the student. Schools should have classes on using and understanding technology with different programs such as windows and apple products. This would make students flexible in different technological programs. Teachers should try and inform students on how to understand what our politicians are talking about and

Meza 7 what they mean. According to a NBC article, 40% of people in America do not vote. A big reason why people do not vote is because they are not educated in what politicians are talking about and what they represent. If schools inform students better on politics, the students can then vote for state legislators that can help the educational field. We also need a class that shows the students how college is. Teachers say it is completely different than high school, so why not have the teachers show us why it is different and how it is different? In schools students have a chance to get a class that prepares you for college, Avid. The problem with the program Avid is that students in the class think its boring, if they made it interesting and fun kids would want to be in the Avid classes. Students should be shown life skills like choosing car insurance, filling out tax forms, using and filling out checks, and where to go when wanting to buy a house and how to choose a payment plan. High school graduating students struggle when they leave high school and go into the world on their own. So why not make a class in high school to better prepare us students for life? Students can go through a trial and error processes, but if schools can help prevent trial and error then why not have a class that prepares students better? Schools should try to make some these preparatory classes required to help the students future. The way districts give grades and let kids earn credits is something that needs to change. Schools and the districts should change the system on how a student gets a 4.0. Students should be able to get a higher GPA if the student takes challenging courses. Anyone can get a 4.0 if they take easy classes. In an interview I conducted with an administrator, Mr. Cooper, explained me that he had a friend that took easy classes in high school and was a great test taker and scored high on the ACT. My friend went to school at USU on a full ride scholarship because of his 4.0 cumulative grade and good ACT score. Although he was a 4.0 student, he was not taking

Meza 8 challenging classes to prepare him for the university. He got a 0.0 the first two semesters he was there and later kicked out, (Cooper). Schools should have higher expectations for the students to make sure the student is better prepared for college. Giving the students the power to choose the classes they take gives the students a chance to slack off, (Johansson). State tests should be changed to better fit the students individually. The state should consider making it so students could have a more visual, more hands on, or more reading wise test depending on what the student performs best at. Test like this should be given for classes and state tests as well to improve test scores. States and schools need to give assessment tests on what the student know and need help in, instead of trying to see what teachers are teaching..., we need to outsource and see different types of educational structure to try and fix our public schools structure, (Johansson). Reviewing what works in charter schools and private schools would be helpful in trying to get public school system to improve. Public schools can use the blueprints of charter schools and private schools to see how their classes run to try to do as well as they are doing with their students. Private schools have proven to produce college ready students. A part of it has to do with their strict standards, private schools have higher demands for high school graduation requirements. On a study done by the Council of American Private Education, or CAPE, 88% of private school students applied to higher education, like colleges or universities, versus 58% of regular high school students. CAPE has also proven to work on increasing education because private schools have created a safe environment with fewer fights, drug and alcohol abuse, tardiness, and a higher parental involvement. Charter schools have also proven to control fights, drug and alcohol use, and a higher parental involvement by being strict. Being strict has proven

Meza 9 to create success in students education. According to Cheryl Wetzstein, from The Washington Times, some Charter schools have a system called Knowledge is Power Program, or KIPP. 95% of kids in the program are African American or Latino and more than 90% of all the students graduate high school, according to the KIPP website. This program is made up of low-income students has seen overwhelmingly positive academic improvements (Wetzstein). So they must be doing something right, right? If we take both private schools and charter schools model for education, we can improve the system for public schools. Education structures should be changed to develop students intelligence and help students think for themselves. To change our educations structure we must adjust the way our teachers work, help the community around the students, create more parent involvement in students life, build student motivation, and change the way we give grades and credits. By adjusting and changing these points we can create a better educational surrounding and create successful citizens.

Meza 10 Works Cited

Carroll, S. N. page. 09 Oct 2013 <http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/documented_briefings/2008/RAND_DB56 2.pdf>. Council for American Private Education, N.p. Web. 06 Oct 2013 <http://www.capenet.org/benefits.html>. Earnest , Cooper. Personal Interview. 01 10 2013. Einstien, A. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/a/alberteins110208.html>. Ghose, Tia. N.p. Web. 11 Oct 2013 <http://www.nbcnews.com/id/49701718/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/whypercent-americans-wontvote/#iit=1381936122449&tmr=load%3D1381936122142%26core%3D1381936122418 %26main%3D1381936122434%26ifr%3D1381936122449&cb=0&cdn=0&chr=utf8&kw=Democracy%2CMichael%20McDonald%2CNews&ab=&dh=www.nbcnews.com&dr=http%3A%2F%2Fusmg5.mail.yahoo.com%2Fneo%2Flau nch%3F.rand%3D2912psg749c5t&du=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nbcnews.com%2Fid%2F 49701718%2Fns%2Ftechnology_and_science-science%2Ft%2Fwhy-percent-americanswontvote%2F&dt=Why%2040%20percent%20of%20Americans%20won't%20vote&dbg=0& md=0&cap=tc%3D0%26ab%3D1&inst=1&irt=0&jsl=139297&prod=undefined&lng=en us&ogt=description%2Cimage%2Ctype%3Darticle%2Csite_name%2Ctitle%2Curl&pc= men&pub=ra4e2092356d7f5a5e&ssl=0&sid=525eabfa74f3f5a1&srpl=1&srcs=1&srd=1 &srf=0.02&srx=1&ver=300&xck=0&xtr=0&og=url%3Dhttp%253A%252F%252Fwww. nbcnews.com%252Fid%252F49701718%252Fns%252Ftechnology_and_sciencescience %252Ft%252Fwhy-percent-americans-wontvote%252F%26title%3DWhy%252040%2520percent%2520of%2520Americans%2520w on't%2520vote%26site_name%3Dmsnbc.com%26type%3Darticle%26image%3Dhttp%2 53A%252F%252Fmedia1.snbcnews.com%252Fj%252FMSNBC%252FComponents%252FPhoto%252F_new%252 Fpb-120927-iowa-vote-jsw-

Meza 11 01.standard.jpg%26description%3DThe%2520United%2520States%2520may%2520be% 2520an%2520iconic%2520democracy%252C%2520but%2520every%2520year%2520m any%2520Americans%2520don't%2520bother%2520voting%2520at%2520all%2520%2 5E2%2580%2594%2520regardless%2520of%2520lower%2520turnout%2520caused%2 520by%2520events%2520like%2520Hurricane%2520Sandy.&aa=0&rev=123888&ct=1 &xld=1&xd=1>

Johansson, Clete. Personal Interview. 30 09 2013.

KIPP, . N.p.. Web. 05 Oct 2013. <http://www.kipp.org/about-kipp>.

Kirk, K. N.p. Web. 12 Oct 2013. <http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/affective/motivation.html>.

Kraft, M. and Dougherty, S. N. Page. 09 Oct 2013 <http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/mkraft/files/kraft__dougherty_teacher_communication_j ree.pdf>.

Wetzstein, C. N.p. Web. 10 Oct 2013. <http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jun/22/charter-schools-get-a-good-grade/>.