Student Life in School and at Home

1. Student Life in School and at Home Ginny, AshLynn, Jamie, Tabitha, and Katherine

2. DELAY AND SOCIAL DISTRACTIONS • Philip W. Jackson,author of Life in Classrooms, says that the teachers are typically very busy, students are often caught in patterns of delay that force them to do nothing. • Teachers spend most of their time giving out things: paper, pencils, art materials, science equipment, booklets, erasers… G I N N Y

3. Students · Students sit and wait for the materials to be handed out, for the assignment to be given… · Students get very frustrated having to ignore social temptations, of acting as though they are isolated despite the crowd surrounding them.        GINNY

4. Watching the clock • In classic study of schools John Goodlad found a fair degree of consistency in how time is spent in different activities. • 2% of time is spent in social activities  • 5% to behavior management  • 20% to routines  • 74% to instruction T A B B I T H A

5. In Goodlad's study the one most astonishing findings was the enormous variation on efficiency with which different schools used time. He found 6% of time in elementary schools was spent on reading and at high school level it was only 2%, but with listening and lectures had increased from 18% in elementary to 25% in high school. Research had showed that when more time is allocated to subject matter learning the student achievements increase. T A B B I T H A

6. The teacher as a gatekeeper • Phillip Jackson reports that teachers are typically included in more than one thousand verbal exchanges with their students every day. A function that keeps teachers busiest is Phillip Jackson term gatekeeping. When teachers are gatekeepers they will determine who talks, when, and how long. Two thirds of classroom time is used by talking and it is by the teacher. In typical "pedagogical cycle" teachers structure questions and react to student comments when asking a question the teachers will wait less than a second for students answer. Teachers interact less and less with students through grades.  TAB B I T H A

7. The other side of the tracks • In the 1960’s Talcott Parson analyzed school as a social system and concluded that the college selection process begins in elementary school and is virtually sealed by the time students finish junior high. • He also suggested that future roles in adult life are determined by student achievement in elementary school. • In 1929, Robert and Helen Lynd , in their extensive study of Middletown, concluded that schools are essentially middle-class institutions that discriminate against lower-class students. • August Hollingshead discovered that approximately two-thirds of the students from the two upper social classes but fewer than 15% of those from lower classes were in the college pre program. • Robert Havinghurst reported that nearly 90% of school dropouts were from lower-class families. • Some racial and ethnic groups value cooperation and teamwork, yet school norms frequently stress individual, competitive modes of learning. A S H L Y N N

8. The power of elementary peer groups ·Raphaela Best found that children “organized their own intense, seething little world with its own frontiers, its own struggles, its own winners and losers. It was a world invisible to outsiders, not apparent to the casual observer.” · In the 1st grade children begin to look to adults for safety. · By second grade, boys begin to break away from teacher dependence and to place more importance on their peer group. ·By third grade, boys were openly challenging teacher authority. ·Girls spend the first few years of school helping the teacher, not switching their allegiance to the peer group till around fourth grade. ·The gender wall blocking boys and girls from interacting is stronger than barriers to racial integration. · Elementary school sociometric measures predict social adjustment better than most other personality and educational tests do. ASHLYNN

9. vocabulary • Homogeneous classes- The belief it is safer for students with similar skills and intellectual abilities to learn together.  • Tracking- Students of different abilities are assigned to different “tracks” of courses and programs. • Jeannie Oakes’s Keeping Track(1985/2005) was a scathing indictment of tracking, adding momentum to the effort to detrack. • Detrack- Eliminate tracking practices from the nation’s schools. • unremarkable revolution By the 1990s,only 15% of schools had official tracking polices, down from 93% in the 1965, a quiet but persistent change. • Ability grouping- sorts students based on capability, but the groupings may well vary by subject. • Sociograms – provide insights into social life of a class. A S H L Y N N

10. The adolescent society • Since the 1960’s, many policymakers have advocated that middle school, generally grades 6, 7, and 8, should be a time when children have a chance to adjust to puberty. • One principal notes, “The challenge for us as middle-school educators in the age of high-stakes testing is to encourage teaching for understanding while addressing the myriad of social and emotional issues.” G I N N Y

11. Middle School: A gendered world • 400 middle schoolers were asked to identify the “best and worst things about being a boy or girl.” • Students unequivocally had more positive things to say about being a boy than being a girl. • Male advantages focused on physical and athletic prowess. • Nearly 1 in 5 students wrote “nothing” to describe the best thing about a girl. G I N N Y

12. High school: lessons in social status • Ralph keyesresearched by asked many people, both famous and the obscure, about their high school experiences. • High school was remembered as a castle system of “innies” and “outies”. • Quarter of a century later John Goodladreached a similar conclusion; senior high school students were preoccupied not with academics but rather with athletics, popularity, and physical appearances. • 7% of the senior high school students said that “ smart students were the most popular” G I N N Y

13. Our children, your students Family Patterns • Nearly 2/3 of children today live in 2-parent families. Wage Earners and Parenting • 1960, fewer than half of married women with children between the ages of 6 to 17 worked outside the home; today, 8 in 10 do. Latchkey Kids • Children who carry a key on a cord or chain around their necks to unlock their home door. • These children are often from single-parent homes or families with two working parents. G I N N Y

14. Our children, your students Divorce • Children living with their mothers are 5 times more likely to live in poverty than living in a married household. • Teachers should give children the chance to express their feelings about divorce and let them know they are not alone. Poverty • The one in 5 American children living in poor families are among the poorest in all developed nations. Homeless Families • America estimated one million homeless children are urban, of every racial and ethnic background, and face significant school challenges. G I N N Y

15. Children: at promise or at risk? • In the mid-1900's teachers main concerns for their students was talking out of turn, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, cutting in line, and violating dress codes. • Now just a half a century later  teachers student concerns so the stunning changes that have happened in society: drug and alcohol abuse, pregnancy, suicide, rape, robbery, and assault.  J A M I E

16. DROP OUTS • Poor students are six times more likely to drop out than more wealthy students. • Students that do poorly in school even from as young as first grade are more likely to drop out. • The main reason for drop outs are that classes are too boring and students don't feel academically engaged. • Other students are to worried about pregnancy, family issues, or financial concerns to worry about school. • Many educators believe that the drop out rate can be reduced through early intervention, early literacy programs, one-on-one instruction, mentoring and tutoring, more relevant curricular materials, service learning, and family involvement.  SEXUALITY AND PREGNANCY • Rates of pregnancy and STD's in this nation are the highest in the industrialized world, and may attribute the problem to the lack of a coherent sex education program. JAMI E

17. SUBSTANCE ABUSE • U.S. has the highest rate of teen drug use of any industrialized nation in the world. • Substance abuse can range from alcohol and chewing tobacco to inhalants, cocaine, and LSD, to food abuse, from dieting to obesity. • Today's youth grow up in a world were it is routine to reach for a prescription bottle to enhance performance, to focus better in school, and to stay awake or calm down.  • Programs such as D.A.R.E. (drug abuse resistance education)  are used to help youth understand the facts about drugs and cope with peer pressures. D.A.R.E. costs schools little and is mostly funded by local police departments. YOUTH SUICIDE • Everyday 14 adolescents (mostly males) will take their own lives. BULLYING • Bullies seek control over others by taking advantage of imbalances in perceived power, such as greater size, physical strength, or social status. • Bullying doesn't just consist of physical violence it also has to do with verbal assault too.  J A M I E

18. vocabulary • affective student needs- the overall needs to educate and insure a child to be academically successful • youth charter- a charter that encourages young people to move from from dependence to independence  J A M I E