HopeMoore.com

I’m in FrontPage class and I hope they don’t get me to do the in class work..we are learning CSS positioning on images..

ha..haha..hahahahahaHAHAHAHAHA!!HA!!HA!!HAA!! *HACK* *cough* *clears throught* excuse me..

Call the Doctors

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while because lately I have been reading the Columbus Dispatch and yelling at my laptop screen..

the people who make these stupid educational standards SUCK!!! Did they even talk to child psychologists?

When I was in school, we had the 4th Grade proficiency test and then had the 9th Grade proficiency test in 8th grade and then was lucky enough not to have to take a 12th Grade proficiancy test..on the years we had proficiency tests, HALF the year was devoted to fact learning where we had to remember facts about history and science and crap..I did fine in them, but almost failed writing..HELLO!!!! Proficiency and I.Q. tests SHOULD NOT have writing sections that ask you to write a letter to a friend..student’s (like me) will write with slang and bad grammer and I don’t think kids should be penalized (sp?) for their culture exposure..

I went to Children’s Academy (sp?) and they taught us letters and reading in Kindergarten..my parents taught me how to read some words before then..and in Kindergarten, we had 3 levels of reading and I don’t remember any real negativity..it was “Great job!” or “You’ll get it!” “You need to work on it a little more.’ but nothing really bad..I was in the top class because my parents taught me early..

Then, I went to Ashville Elementary in 1990 for first grade..I was 6 like most of the other students..but they just began teaching reading in FIRST grade!! I still don’t think that’s TOO bad, as long as they were exposed to it before they entered school (you know, like being read to at bedtime or something)..I was at a 3rd grade reading level because I was taught advanced reading in Kindergarten..But still everyone else seemed to come out fine learning how to read in class at 6 years old..

I used to tutor 2nd and 3rd grade kids in 4th and 5th grade and the 2nd graders read quite well..of course they (just like most people, even in high school) read..like..this..with..slightly..choppy..speech..I don’t see anything wrong with that! It’s the ability to read that’s important..

BUT NOW they have gone off the deep end..and they’re gonna drown some kids..

First, I read about people waiting until their kids are 6 or 7 before they let them go into Kindergarten..GRR!! The younger the kid is, the easier it is for them to learn!! These folks are making it harder for their kids! Some people don’t teach reading and math until they enter school..and that’s worse!

Then I see articles about how they will give proficiency tests to Kindergardeners to pass before they can go on to first grade..so the first experience these kids have of the school environment is extreme pressure and a pass or fail mentality and if you fail, you suck-type thing..

They expect 5-6 year olds to read well and read something in different speeds and conversational-like english..I know college students who are like, geniouses that can’t do that..they also want them to be able to draw a map of their environment and associate maps with places..Um..I think it’s known by most child psychologists that it’s normal for kids to take a couple of years to understand maps..

in my psychology class they showed a young person (I think it was 3-5 or 6 year olds) can not understand that when something is hidden in a scale model of an environment, how it is connected with the actual sized environment..they could not find something like a teddy bear behind a pillow when shown a scale model of a bear being put behind a pillow in a dollhouse..however, 7-8 years olds can..

Little kids think differently! Even when it comes to shapes..a shape that adults would normally draw as a square with a cross, children would draw as 4 separate squares..my cousin couldn’t draw triangles until he was 5 or 6..and he would start in the middle of a line, rather than a corner that adults would start with..

Also, now, they are going to make kids take more proficiency tests, such as the 10th Grade one that students have to pass to graduate..MEANING there will be more emphasis on fact learning, rather than concept learning (which I think is more important) and in some places, art and technology classes are being cut to make more time for fact-based classes such as History and Science..HELLO!! the arts and technology classes are as just as important! It would suck to see a computer-illiterate 9th grader..

I think testing is fine, but testing should be about concepts, like rather than remembering the admendments, ask why they were so important..and still make it multiple choice..my Cultural Diversity teacher did great with this! He would mostly just lecture about things and the reasons and ask us why we think things are the way they are and stuff and then his multiple-choice tests were designed to test KNOWLEDGE and not MEMORY..you were given a situation and you had to answer based on lecture notes..I like that because I can now understand things better now than if I was just asked to remember facts..remembering facts is for “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” and remembering concepts is for LIFE..

I think that schools should test, but they shouldn’t pressure the kids so much to pass their tests..there is test anxiety and it sucks to see smart people with it be held back because of low test scores..

Internship Update

I’m still lazy as all get out..I’ll finish my portfolio tomorrow and send resumes out Saturday..

NOTE TO EMPLOYERS: I’m sorry, but PLEASE be more laidback! Luckily, most of the Columbus companies seemed open to new people and ideas..like the one I REALLY liked was “Send us your resume, We’re looking for restless minds”..I also love their designs (because they are photography-driven and emphasize composition, like I like doing in my designs lately)..there was another site that sounded open to anyone that would help do certain things rather than strict standards..

The sites that sit there and say “Must have superior excellence in databasing, coding, web design, multimedia design, print design, photography, marketing, and retail management” drive me nuts and they ask for 3-5 years of experience..so I have to wait another 1-3 years?????? WHATEVER!! Plus, finding a person who is great at ALL those things is pretty much impossible..I’m rare cuz I’m trying to be great at web/graphic/multimedia design, coding, AND photography..I’m TRYING..but it’s going slow..people here at CSCC don’t understand coding and they don’t teach databasing (so I’ll have to teach myself) and photography is an elective..I applaude those like my friends, who want to or did take photography and are working with it as well as graphic/web/multimedia design..you can tell in their designs that they understand composition! so yeah..I know too many people who are just coders/databasers a.k.a. tech heads and people like my FreeHand teacher who are design heads where they rock at design or maybe even photography, but have no clue about coding a site..also, where are you going to find someone who claims to have superior excellence? I’ll never have that..and most designers I know don’t go arond and say “I’m the best!” so yeah..

so wish me luck..I’ll give a free plug to whoever (if) they hire me..and even if the one I love (that’s next to campus *grin*) doesn’t hire me, I’ll plug ‘em because they appearently rock..

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 27th, 2004 at 6:31 pm and is filed under Theories, College Life, Web Design, Rants, Children, News Items. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.