As a part of the discussion about how high schools should change to meet the educational needs of all students, we cannot forget to consult the students themselves.
On March 30 I had a good discussion with each of my children on the subject and it was quite interesting.
I asked them how they feel high schools should change or what would make a better learning experience for high school students.
In their comments, as you will see, they said teachers should employ a variety of efforts so lessons can be much more compelling to students.
My son David is 26. Jared is 21 and in college. Rachel is almost 17 and a high school junior. Each of my children have regularly made more A's than B's. All are from the same high school-not JCHS-but one that is trying to be innovative as evidenced by its implementation of career academies about six years ago.
But their high school alma mater, like most in America, is far from perfect and still occasionally utilizes an antiquated classroom structure.
I wrote down what my children said verbatim. I told them I would probably write a column based upon their input, but you should know they spoke their mind without any prodding or coaching from me. All I had to do was ask and then listen. Here are some of their comments.
Jared: "Different people learn differently. You ought to have hands-on learning for some. Some people can't focus all the time on a traditional lecture."
Rachel: "I would tell teachers "Don't sweat the small stuff.' I know we have to have rules but sometimes teachers take it too far. Sometimes I want to say, "Why so serious?'" [She laughed].
Me: "Where did you get that "Why so serious?' quote?"
Rachel: "The Joker said it in the movie The Dark Knight."
Me: "That is good!"
David: "I feel like all through school I was only learning one or two things a week and I was too bored with it. If I could have worked at my own pace I could have been done with it and moved on to better things."
Jared: "I honestly wasn't terribly challenged in high school. A lot of the time the teacher didn't seem interested. They would just throw up a PowerPoint slide and have us copy it down. That was boring and not interesting. I feel like activities to get students engaged more is effective - maybe make a game or something. I know some students don't care and it can be hard for the teacher to motivate them to learn. I guess they need to just mix it up and keep it more interesting."
David: "One thing in particular is that pop quizzes are not a bad thing. It would keep you interested and keep you studying the material constantly. It could be for a grade or maybe it wouldn't be. One day you could come in and the quiz could be a short essay. Another time it could be about ten questions. You wouldn't have to do it every time, but it would help students stay prepared. One of those pop quizzes could be where you randomly select a student to give a short speech, maybe 30 seconds or a minute long. You could maybe choose the student with a roll of the dice or something. That would keep it fresh."
Jared: "I think having students do presentations over a topic is great. ... A student has to take it upon himself to learn something. In high school the only time I got in front of class was in speech. It would have been better to do one or two presentations in every class. I feel like being able to get up and talk in front of people is important. I think that's going to be important in your job, whatever that is."
David: "Sometimes I felt like class was a waste of time. There were several instances where I felt like I could ace the test if they would just give it to me. But they made me wait and do other things until it was time to test. I could have moved on."
Rachel: "School is 20 percent learning and 80 percent being baby-sat."
David: "If I was done with my work and would get something out to work on from another class they would make me put it up. So I would just sit there."
Rachel: "They tell you to use your time wisely and then they won't let you."
Me: "Maybe in this column we should use that "Why so serious?' quote from the Joker."
Rachel: [Smiling] "I think we're going to have to."
David Wilson, EdD, is one of the assistant principals at Jefferson City High School. You may e-mail him at [email protected].