My students are dumb...just completely and utterly dumb

[Anonymous]

This is a bit off track but I'm sure others are seeing this too.

What I've noticed with our teens is that since getting smart phones in the past 2-4 years (they got them in 9th and 8th grades so quite late compared to peers/today's younger kids), they now have the attention spans of gnats despite their strong critical thinking skills. I really wonder if they will be able to find and succeed at jobs if they don't deal with this somehow. We are trying to figure out yet again how to get them to consider the issues around phones which are so integral to their school work and busy lives but such a distraction during their free time.

Also I agree spelling isn't an indicator of critical thinking. The engineers in my family are notoriously horrible spellers while the artistic types aren't. Both groups have high critical thinking abilities.

I do feel for teachers and all they deal with but spelling is something kids need help with for years and OP, as others stated, you should be marking papers and requiring re-submissions. I have yet to see a teacher in high school return any sort of writing assignment with corrections and meaningful comments like ours did, plus kids are not required to write as many essays anymore. I think problem is not just the kids.

[Anonymous]

I hope you're trolling and not really a teacher.

-teacher

[Anonymous]

Sadly, that's most of this country.

[Anonymous]

You should watch an inspirational documentary I saw recently called 'Election'. Get out of the small town you're in and move to the big city. Southern Maryland is your problem.

[Anonymous]

Just keep marking off all their misspellings, grammar issues, punctuation issues. That's how kids learn. Remind them that many people will in fact judge you for your spelling and grammar and punctuation, even on Twitter and Facebook. (my educated friends certainly do.) I know it must be really frustrating for you, but you have an opportunity to make a real impact.

We had a soccer ref over the weekend who made the games into teaching moments. He was very patient with the kids, thoroughly explained each call, had them redo any throw-ins or other things that didn't go right the first time. We got a little impatient (the games ran long) but I think the kids really learned from him.

[Anonymous]

I teach in Fairfax County, and it's the same deal here. I don't think they're stupid, I think there is a lack of motivation/effort/experience that contributes to no background knowledge.

My students thought Mount Vernon was a mountain, and Chile was in Europe. They are 8th graders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach in Fairfax County, and it's the same deal here. I don't think they're stupid, I think there is a lack of motivation/effort/experience that contributes to no background knowledge.

My students thought Mount Vernon was a mountain, and Chile was in Europe. They are 8th graders.

Teacher here. That made me chuckle. We can blame this on the non-existent content curriculum in elementary schools. My son studied "communities" in elementary school social studies for K-3. WTH? Why can't they learn actual history and actual geography? Everything he knows about geography, he learned from me. It's sad. Now he's in private school and he learns actual "stuff" in social studies. It's his favorite class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My severely dyslexic middle schooler spells poorly, even after years of tutoring. Someone said to me the other night that we may have to accept that she will always be a bad speller.

Despite the spelling, she is bright and eager to learn. Her teachers understand that, and help her thrive in school.

I hope she never runs into the likes of you.

Same here.

And I'm actually a fan of social media. Getting my severely dyslexic child to read for fun is a non-starter, although DC loves audio books. But DC will text friends and I've watched DC's spelling of certain words improve dramatically just from this practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I teach in Fairfax County, and it's the same deal here. I don't think they're stupid, I think there is a lack of motivation/effort/experience that contributes to no background knowledge.

My students thought Mount Vernon was a mountain, and Chile was in Europe. They are 8th graders.

This. Same in MCPS.

There are some motivated, hard-working students. But I would agree that about 75% of students are just completely not motivated.

Yes, teachers can improve motivation, but it also rests on the students' shoulders.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in Fairfax County, and it's the same deal here. I don't think they're stupid, I think there is a lack of motivation/effort/experience that contributes to no background knowledge.

My students thought Mount Vernon was a mountain, and Chile was in Europe. They are 8th graders.

Teacher here. That made me chuckle. We can blame this on the non-existent content curriculum in elementary schools. My son studied "communities" in elementary school social studies for K-3. WTH? Why can't they learn actual history and actual geography? Everything he knows about geography, he learned from me. It's sad. Now he's in private school and he learns actual "stuff" in social studies. It's his favorite class.

This. When I was in school we were given explicit grammar lessons about homophones, and exercises to reinforce the lesson. Our papers (both the homophone exercises, and later compositions) were graded.

Here (MCPS), grammar is not taught in a systematic way. Homework is typically not graded. Moreover, in curriculum meetings, I've been informed that teachers (at least on the elementary level) are instructed not to correct all errors in a composition, because it is too discouraging for the student. I have actually been told in those same meetings, that while there are many ways to teach students new vocabulary (like having the students act out the word), the one way they felt didn't work was for the students to look up words in a dictionary.

MCPS is so focused on teaching "higher-order thinking" (an admirable goal), that it isn't teaching enough basic content for students to think about or skills, like grammar, to effectively communicate their thoughts.

[Anonymous]

College prof. here. It doesn't get any better. My students can't write or think. They are surprised when they get a redlined paper back with a reflecting grade. I expect cohesive thoughts presented in an orderly fashion that makes a point. Most of my students cannot do this.

Since I teach college I do not allow them to submit for regrades. It's hard to understand their point when you're scratching your head trying to read and reread a paper.

As for thinking, forget critical thinking. My students expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter and then expect me to follow up with them. They fail to read the syllabus and somehow think that a deadline is merely a suggestion not an actual due date. Every semester a number of students are surprised that a paper is due or that a quiz is coming up. I know the dates are out there because many students know these events are coming. And the ones that ask how they were supposed to know a quiz was coming make me shake my head.

Of course during evaluations I am the worst professor they've ever had. I don't make exceptions and I grade too harshly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in Fairfax County, and it's the same deal here. I don't think they're stupid, I think there is a lack of motivation/effort/experience that contributes to no background knowledge.

My students thought Mount Vernon was a mountain, and Chile was in Europe. They are 8th graders.

Teacher here. That made me chuckle. We can blame this on the non-existent content curriculum in elementary schools. My son studied "communities" in elementary school social studies for K-3. WTH? Why can't they learn actual history and actual geography? Everything he knows about geography, he learned from me. It's sad. Now he's in private school and he learns actual "stuff" in social studies. It's his favorite class.

This. When I was in school we were given explicit grammar lessons about homophones, and exercises to reinforce the lesson. Our papers (both the homophone exercises, and later compositions) were graded.

Here (MCPS), grammar is not taught in a systematic way. Homework is typically not graded. Moreover, in curriculum meetings, I've been informed that teachers (at least on the elementary level) are instructed not to correct all errors in a composition, because it is too discouraging for the student. I have actually been told in those same meetings, that while there are many ways to teach students new vocabulary (like having the students act out the word), the one way they felt didn't work was for the students to look up words in a dictionary.

MCPS is so focused on teaching "higher-order thinking" (an admirable goal), that it isn't teaching enough basic content for students to think about or skills, like grammar, to effectively communicate their thoughts.

This. There is no grammar and spelling. Luckily my child is picking it up and we supplement at home but it amazes me how little he actually learns. No social studies or science (or very little).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in Fairfax County, and it's the same deal here. I don't think they're stupid, I think there is a lack of motivation/effort/experience that contributes to no background knowledge.

My students thought Mount Vernon was a mountain, and Chile was in Europe. They are 8th graders.

Teacher here. That made me chuckle. We can blame this on the non-existent content curriculum in elementary schools. My son studied "communities" in elementary school social studies for K-3. WTH? Why can't they learn actual history and actual geography? Everything he knows about geography, he learned from me. It's sad. Now he's in private school and he learns actual "stuff" in social studies. It's his favorite class.

This. When I was in school we were given explicit grammar lessons about homophones, and exercises to reinforce the lesson. Our papers (both the homophone exercises, and later compositions) were graded.

Here (MCPS), grammar is not taught in a systematic way. Homework is typically not graded. Moreover, in curriculum meetings, I've been informed that teachers (at least on the elementary level) are instructed not to correct all errors in a composition, because it is too discouraging for the student. I have actually been told in those same meetings, that while there are many ways to teach students new vocabulary (like having the students act out the word), the one way they felt didn't work was for the students to look up words in a dictionary.

MCPS is so focused on teaching "higher-order thinking" (an admirable goal), that it isn't teaching enough basic content for students to think about or skills, like grammar, to effectively communicate their thoughts.

+1

MCPS does not teach grammar and punctuation. It is pathetic. No grading on homework and no emphasis on grammar/punctuation.

Where are the kids supposed to learn that?

We taught both kids this at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:College prof. here. It doesn't get any better. My students can't write or think. They are surprised when they get a redlined paper back with a reflecting grade. I expect cohesive thoughts presented in an orderly fashion that makes a point. Most of my students cannot do this.

Since I teach college I do not allow them to submit for regrades. It's hard to understand their point when you're scratching your head trying to read and reread a paper.

As for thinking, forget critical thinking. My students expect everything to be handed to them on a silver platter and then expect me to follow up with them. They fail to read the syllabus and somehow think that a deadline is merely a suggestion not an actual due date. Every semester a number of students are surprised that a paper is due or that a quiz is coming up. I know the dates are out there because many students know these events are coming. And the ones that ask how they were supposed to know a quiz was coming make me shake my head.

Of course during evaluations I am the worst professor they've ever had. I don't make exceptions and I grade too harshly.

What class do you teach? Is it a writing class? English? History? Humanities?

[Anonymous]

My DD gets straight A's and figured out her own eyeglasses prescription and can do other things that blow my mind. But she will do the dumbest things without thinking through the consequences, like playing with food she's eating and then getting it all over the floor.