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One-Minute Writing of the Day:
Writer: Fanny Fanackapan
Freedom of Thought - in every subject, being given the opportunity to use imagination and think out of the box would be of benefit. In English allow children to create poetry, not learn the rules of iambic pentameter. In mathematics, being given the opportunity to use math to create or solve a problem. In science - being allowed to imagine a better future or a fascinating past, not just making sure chemical equations balance. It is not enough to just know, children must be allowed to think, understand and imagine.
Congratulations, Fanny Fanackapan, on another win! I loved your idea and the examples you gave!
54 comments:
Relevant skills: Most of the stuff coming out of schools these days is completely useless. It goes in one ear and out the other, because there is simply no use for the information once they leave the classroom.
MANNERS! People have far too few manners these days. Common courtesy (and common sense) are no longer 'Common'!
Effective Communication: This is a huge weakness across the age, and not limited to youth. We've lost the ability to live with disappointment or express it. Too often the reason you pick up on news reports where there has been another case of domestic violence, or worse a person murdered at the hands of a so-called loved one.
Oh no, you got me started! If I were allowed to pick another, it would have to be financial management. Teach us to live with what we need instead of what we want.
Work ethic: Nothing should be a hand out. I think they should scrap scholorship programs. I've known too many people that work two or three jobs to make their college goals a reality. If you want it bad enough, you'll work for it. Not steal or expect it. Work for it.
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more about diverse religions and cultures in school. And how to live in harmony with the mix that is our world.
TOLERANCE AND UNDERSTANDING
I think what we need today is to be able to tolerate other cultures and other belief systems. I think most conflict resolution attempts in the world have failed due to lack of that.
reading if you can read you can teach yourself anything or at least find someone who can teach you
about GOD and character
Self-control.
Imagine being able to actually drive when the light turns green instead of waiting to see who's in such a dang hurry that they run the red light.
Imagine peace and quiet in the 10-items-or-fewer line when the cell phone talkers realize not everyone wants to hear about Aunt June's latest trip to the doctor.
Imagine life without road rage or flaming retorts (online or in person). Fewer drunk drivers. Less litter.
And more kindness. Even when it's not deserved.
Independent thought. This includes how to follow written directions, without having to ask for help; how to ask "does this answer make sense?" when they've solved a math story problem (e.g., realizing that the $45 you calculated as the cost of a Twinkie probably means you did something wrong); how to intelligently question claims heard in the media; how to actually learn from what they read instead of needing it spoon-fed...
@K -- EXACTLY! Before I scrolled down, that was the word that came to my head. And I know we sound like our mothers, but honestly, people! Teach your kids some manners!!
Self Reliance. You know, that thing the rest of the animal kingdom seems to understand. You are supposed to be teaching your children to take care of themselves because, believe it or not, you will not always be here to take care of them.
Thanks for using my prompt! I'm enjoying reading all the answers. And here's mine:
A respectful attitude toward authority, with a healthy dash of skepticism.
We are remiss if we do not question authority's legitimacy - think of the Abu Ghraib soldiers or Nazi guards, just following orders.
But we should all grow up with the expectation that we will treat authority with respect (even trying to remove an incompetent authority figure is more effectively done in a respectful, rather than an angry, manner.) i worry about some of the students I meet who greet any rule or request with an eye-roll and rude, angry words. If they are ever stopped by a police officer and show this kind of attitude, they are likely to find themselves in cuffs - or, worse, a victim of brutality brought on by the power trip of one of those officers who give police a bad name.
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more about personal finance in school. No program adequately teaches students about budgeting, taxes, retirement savings, interest etc. We are graduating students and telling them they can make it in the world without providing them any information on how to survive financially.
They should know the impact of carring a balance on a credit card. They should know how spreading out payments increases interest. They should have an idea of what is more economical - buying or leasing a car and how to figure that out. How to complete their taxes. How to save for retirement. How to save at all. Imagine if we had taught everyone this 20 years ago. Would we still have the same economic crisis today?
There is no need to fill in the blank. The sentence is complete.
Street smarts. I do very well in school but lack any street smarts. If someone were to mug me in an alley, I would have no idea how to defend myself. Textbooks can only teach you so much.
I am in total agreement with Amy Louise...Amy you took the words right out of my mouth (head)! Lord Byron is great, the Roman civilization taught us aqueducts...good to know, the ability to figure the third angle of a triangle by calculations of the two known angles...useful...but from a practical standpoint especially in today's economy...students need to know the basics...balancing checkbooks - stock market decisions-budgeting...these are skills necessary to survive today's financial onslaughts for themselves and their future families.
Dan
Personally, I don't think the problem is with the schools. Teachers have their hands full every day with rude, violent and uncivilized children. I think the world would be a better place if students learned from their parents how to respect their elders and not argue with authority.
Teachers are there to teach our kids the necessary knowledge in order to survive in today's world. Kids today take school for granted and parents expect teachers to teach the kids EVERYTHING. Many parents today don't want to be bothered with teaching their children manners or the difference between right and wrong. Teachers should not be the main disciplinarian in a child's life.
Three cheers for teachers!! They have the hardest job in the world and in my opinion, the greatest job in the world - they are teaching our next generation.
more about life and how to live it, some people have touched on somethings I would include here - finances and communication skills for example. Also life bureacracy, how to vote, register a birth or a death etc. Also how to live an environmentally and economically sustainable life.
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more music in school.
Music is a language that everyone speaks. Its part of our culture. Music is a way to share your story with the world.
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more about self-awareness in school.
According from the speaker of the seminar I attended to, she said when a person knows herself everything goes well. Life is unfair. That's how it is but if you know yourself well, you can adapt to life's changes easily and be able to handle challenges you meet in the future.
She said, what you think, you feel, and what you feel, you do. So choose to be happy and strive to be happy.
Everything that's up goes down and everything that's down goes. But it's alright because you got yourself, you can balance your life and you can start it all over again.
common sense
My Teacher Hat! I love your answer and I would add to it respect in general! Not only respect to authority, but respect to their fellow beings. Respect to their peers and to other people's property. Respect to their family members and also to others who serve them. Respect for other people's beliefs. If everyone could learn to respect each other, this world would go on much more harmoniously!
I also agree HEAVILY with Bobbi!!!
In too many schools, there are kids who like to victimize their peers with rude remarks and put downs. I wish kids could learn more about being better human beings with welcoming, compassionate hearts.
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more about what life is all about in school. Perhaps they can be taught with real life examples that they can relate to in any subject. I think they would learn the subject more and put it in perspective so they can later apply it (if applicable) in their own life. I find that the children today what to know how does what I learn in school relate to me? to my life? etc. Why should I want to learn this or that?
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more "compassion, empathy, respect for themselves and for others, and tolerance" in school.
The world can be changed one student at a time. Who knows what great leaders will arise from a school that teaches those attributes?
Fiction and Creative Writing! Reading about other people's lives and thoughts really fills in a lot of "blanks" that are lacking in your own life experience. And learning to express your own thoughts helps to give you a better understandig of yourself.
-laugh-
If the students simply left schools and we all had an Alice Cooper-like burn 'em all down party! I say this as a 25-year educator who has seen what our factory schools do to human beings, turning them not into the creative, Rebellious souls they were meant to be, but into machined cogs.
Please read John Taylor Gatto, Ivan Illich, and many others for the proper perspective on schooling. Thanks.
Creativity. Schools today are pushing standardized test and the memorizing of information that students no longer no how to even apply that knowledge. I have always learned the most from classes that lead us use our own minds and way of relating the information.
I agree with H.K.! Compassion, empathy, respect for themselves and for others and tolerance". Maybe a little customer service to!
Freedom of Thought - in every subject, being given the opportunity to use imagination and think out of the box would be of benefit. In English allow children to create poetry, not learn the rules of iambic pentameter. In mathematics, being given the opportunity to use math to create or solve a problem. In science - being allowed to imagine a better future or a fascinating past, not just making sure chemical equations balance. It is not enough to just know, children must be allowed to think, understand and imagine.
Math is the language of the universe. Daily, I encounter adults who struggle with the very basics of life - who lack the capacity to understand the relationship among the myriad moving parts of the world because they lack a fundamental understanding of the underlying language of math.
I have to agree whole-heartedly with Butternut Squash. Teachers are given a short amount of time to teach only what will be on the standardized testing. They don't have a chance to teach at the speed that the class is moving, spending more time on a difficult subject when needed. Even the youngest grade schoolers are shuttled from room to room for special classes and multiple teachers. The students spend more time in the hallways and settling down after the move than they do learning.
I think the world would be a better place if students LEARNED MORE in school.
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more enjoyment of learning in school.
When I was in school I just wanted to get it over with. Now I wish I had taken advantage of all the opportunities that I had. It is so much harder to juggle a job, family and still find time to enrich my knowledge.
Think for themselves. That is to say, take the time to think things through, consider the outcome of your actions before plunging in headfirst, don't let a bunch of talking heads do the thinking for you. Do your own research, instead of relying on others to do it for you. Be a citizen of the world.
Math.
Math makes your brain work. If you didn't know math you wouldn't know how to count, you wouldn't know what one plus one is, and you wouldn't be able to do your homework. So, you should learn more math in school and have more fun with math!
-From my seven year old daughter, Maggie
My fill in the blank has been done- see Bobbi (hooray, woo hoo, clapping my hands and nodding my head while reading yours) and HK! And Maggie's got a good point too, :).
delayed gratification
Bobbi--I TOTALLY agree with you. I am a preschool teacher and there is only so much I can teach a child. Being taught how to respect others and themselves starts and continues at home.
Now that I got that out... Problem Solving skills. If children learned early on how to deal with problems without using violence or without getting frustrated, then as an adult they will be able to handle any hurdle that comes their way.
To learn about the use of... 'initiative'..and 'logical thinking'.
Modern technology does it all for them, the skill has been lost.
My phrase would be COMMON F---ING SENSE!
Too much of life is now dependent on technology instead of using one's mind in a logical and reasoning capacity. Automation is nice and all, but it robs most of us of our common sense and creativity.
Check out the application of that lack at http://apersonissmart.blogspot.com
So many answers are things that the parents should be teaching at home. Teachers can't teach self control, there isn't time. Teachers can't teach manners, again there isn't time.
I like that they should learn to read because then they could teach themselves anything.
They also need to learn public speaking. So many children/adults are afraid to speak up/publicly that their opinions are never heard. Many great ideas may never be heard because of this fear.
I think kids should learn more about the basics in school. Math and problem solving with math. Reading and discussing what they have read, the ideas presented. Spelling and why a word is spelled the way it is. The causes and results of science. Social studies (or geography as we used to call it) and civics so they will have a better understanding of the news they hear. This gives them a solid foundation from which to grow. The respect for teachers and others needs to come from home and should be taught to them by example. If a teacher has a classroom of respectful students ready to learn, just watch the great job he or she can, and will do.
I think the world would be a better place if children learned more at home. I feel sorry for their teachers being expected to right all the wrongs in the world... As a vet we often point out there are no problem dogs, only problem owners. We fail our children - they need to learn things like manners, self esteem, and financial skills, from their primary role models, not the tv, the computer, or random teachers...
... about physical well being.
Feed the body right, exercise it right, live a longer, happier life.
The cost of health care drops, the self-esteem of the world goes through the roof.
People spend more time outside exercising, at farmer markets, and reality TV goes the way of the dodo.
Ah to sleep, perchance to dream...
...if students learned more about food and nutrition in school.
As students learn to make better choices about food, obesity levels may drop, health may improve.
Children could perhaps lead their families in growing some of their own food, making basic recipes from simple ingredients, and enjoying the process of preparing and sharing real food.
Today's writing prompt fits neatly with my post today on my blog. I'd love you to visit - you're most welcome!
The world would be a better place if students learnt more about gardening. I've just killed yet another 'easy-to-grow' plant. RIP Fang. (Our ex Venus Fly Trap).
Compassion, although isn't that something that we, as parents, should be teaching them? So many parents don't have the time, energy, or desire to really teach their kids anything.
I did see a show on Oprah years ago where this couple went into a high school and held a workshop for one of the grades. What started as a bunch of cliques that were quick to put each other down, turned out to be individuals who finally understood that they were all struggling with one thing or another. At the end, they had laughed together, cried together, and shared their most private secrets. It was awesome!
Ethics-One thing that doesn't cost a penny
Simply...
I think the world would be a better place if students learned more about money and the responsible use of it in school. Unfortunately some parents are ill-equipped to teach this vital lesson.
Let me add... there are many GREAT kids out there, doing GREAT things with their lives.
Need an example?
High school student saves NYC $3 million!
http://www.kidswhoinspire.com/node/18
Having been out of school a few years now, I agree with a lot of the comments suggesting money management/financial skills. Here are a few key things that I wish someone had told me:
If you can't afford it, you don't need it.
Your credit score is what lets you buy things, not the credit cards in your wallet that are causing you to have a bad credit score.
Your friends don't pay your bills or put food on the table... unless your friends are your roommates. Don't feel pressured to loan money or be the cool person who treats everyone on payday. Its okay to say, I can't afford it.
Its also okay to say no to expensive dinners and social gatherings [and by expensive, I mean in comparison to my cheap minimum wage high school job that barely covered my car & insurance.]
As for non-money related, I only have this advice: If you're going to master any subject in school, put English at the top. Speaking articulately and writing eloquently & grammatically correct on scholarship applications, job applications, internship applications, letters to editors, customer service surveys, and even thank you notes, is an excellent asset to take with you into the 'real world.' If you're like me and didn't finish college, it helped alot! :)
...human values...
Freedom of thought - FANTASTIC post idea!! Critical thinking and imagination and creativity. With all of the pressure of standardized tests this is sorely missing. That thought and foundation is the basis for the creative writing company that myself and my partners have started: Think It Ink It Publishing (www.thinkitinkitpublishing.com). We offer professionally illustrated wordless picture books in which kids write the story and become authors. Like a story starter we offer professional illustrations to spur creativity, imagination and Yes, freedom of thought! Thanks for the inspiration!
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