Losing Faith in the Public Schooling System

[Agema]

I remember last year we got this poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". I thought it meant something that different then what the teacher thought. It was the first time I had ever seen that poem and we had thirty minutes to look at it and write three paragraphs about it. So I though it was about the fall of a golden age or civilization because it mentioned stuff like garden of Eden and Atlantis. I gave a good theses and backed it up with supporting evidence. Then it turns out it was about the changing of seasons. So I thought "Hey I did what the paper told me to do, tell what you think it is and then support it with proof" Well I was wrong because the next week (The teacher was a lazy ****) I got it back with a C- stating that "You're interpretation was wrong". Last time I checked there is no "wrong" interpretation of a fucking poem. Sure the author may write it for a point he sees at the time, but why am I wrong for seeing it in a different light? It is like saying I was wrong for seeing the wrong end of an optical illusion.

That's actually complete and utter bullshit, who is your teacher to say what interpretation is correct? Often times even the author doesn't even know, and the poem is completely objectionable.

That is what I told her, but she is so fucking nuts and stupid that she said "No Dylan, you are wrong the poem is about what I said". No fucking lie.

Interpretations can be wrong. I mean, the poem's clearly nothing to do with space travel, and all the creativity in the world wouldn't defend saying it was. For the most part, though, some interpretations can very much be more right than others.

In this case, you've understood that it's essentially about the beauty of youth and ageing to an inferior form. More strictly, it's about Spring turning into Summer, there's no reference to Autumn or Winter. With the mention of Eden and its connotations of innocent bliss, you might like to suggest it could refer to the beauty of an innocent child reaching jaded, knowing adulthood.

There is nothing in the poem to imply a civilisation: Eden has pretty much no literary connotation with civilisation. Secondly, most nations and cultures don't have their golden age right at the start of their existence, yet the poem clearly links golden with starts (dawn, first green, etc.) I would say your interpretation was a poor one (sorry!). I do sympathise that calling it flat "wrong" is unnecessarily harsh, and not taking a little more time to talk you through is very unhelpful.

 

[Sewblon]

I am homeschooled. I never had any faith in public schooling to begin with.

I would like to know more about that.

Do you mean you want to know more about homeschooling, or about why I had no faith in public schooling to begin with?

The former, please, if you don't mind.

Allot of organizations put together curriculums for us to use, sell us textbooks and organize field trips for homeschoolers. You can forgo those and just buy books and other supplies online obviously. You do need one parent/guardian to act as a full time teacher, my mom was basically my teacher. I learned math from the Saxon math books and how to read from Hooked On Phonics, so far as I know they worked. You could probably get more information by searching for "homeschooling" in Google than you can by asking me.

 

[Spitfire175]

How about this? [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bx4pN-aiofw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.riemurasia.net%2Frasiatube%2Fview.php%3Fid%3D22847&feature=player_embedded]
From an European point of view something IS wrong. Go figure.

 

[FinalHeart95]

My english teacher did not know who John Steinbeck was

Excuse me as I pick my jaw from the ground.

I got two three hour detentions because I called here an ignorant dumb ass who didn't deserve any authority what so ever

That's astonishingly bad. Where's your school?

Kinnelon New Jersy

wealthy town too, you'd expect them to hire good teachers but they spend all their money on random drug tests

Same here, our school has money spewing out it's asshole but decides to buy new computers for the entire school every 2 years rather than decent teachers.

Our mayor put in a turf field for our high school's football field which the voters TURNED DOWN in the budget. Meanwhile, the school DOESN'T HAVE FUCKING AIR CONDITIONING!!!

This mayor is the biggest fuckwad ever.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

I am homeschooled. I never had any faith in public schooling to begin with.

I would like to know more about that.

Do you mean you want to know more about homeschooling, or about why I had no faith in public schooling to begin with?

The former, please, if you don't mind.

Allot of organizations put together curriculums for us to use, sell us textbooks and organize field trips for homeschoolers. You can forgo those and just buy books and other supplies online obviously. You do need one parent/guardian to act as a full time teacher, my mom was basically my teacher. You could probably get more information by searching for "homeschooling" in Google than you can by asking me.

Thanks, I very much appreciate it.

 

[Ultracake]

I went to a public school, and it aint done me done me no 'arm whatsever! If'in ya'll be askin me i think you be askin for a kick in the tooth. Iffin ya be scusin i need ta harvest mah turnips... (/sarcasm)

But yes, i was public school'd

It was however a DECENT public school at least.
I lost faith on the first day though.. as usual

 

[Drummerstixz]

I found out on two different occasions, the first when I told my science teacher I wanted to be a musican...then she tried to tell me that by cutting open a frog and getting an A in this class it would help me play better...and when they took money out of the school budget to replace the sodas and candy in the vending machines with juices and healthly food...instead of using it for you know...new supplies or better equipment.

 

[aruseusx]

Be thankful that other students wont bring your mark down with your education system.

Chemistry observation questions. I only knew what they meant a few weeks ago when it is coming end of the year when I am failing chemistry because I wasnt told what to do and was expected to figure out for myself as well as everyone else.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

I have to say the problem with public schooling is the money problem, but it isn't lacking money.. It is the political predicament. The government grants more money if the school has enough specialties programs.. What kind of speciality programs? The no child left behind act. The greatest american evil. They spend vast amounts of money to bring the lower, the ones who may or may not want to learn. This being the disabled, the slow, the ones that don't want to learn. While I do say they should be offered an education, they shouldn't be treated special. It shouldn't be the schools problem.

Imagine if all the money spent on the no child left behind act, would be moved..


But, student apathy also is a horrible problem in US schools.

 

[SimuLord]

But, student apathy also is a horrible problem in US schools.

Why wouldn't it be? Kids aren't stupid. They know they can skate through public school with a minimum of effort, jump through bullshit hoops to get at least a B from their idiot teachers, post a 3.0 as a direct result, then put real effort into the SAT, join a few school clubs where they never do a damn thing because "extracurriculars look good to colleges", and once their pretend responsibilities are done for the day, they can go off and get high and get laid.

And even if they COMPLETELY fuck it up? Speaking as someone who was a D student in high school, I say "that's what community college is for".

If there are real penalties for apathy---if those students are put into a track where all they can get is minimum-wage jobs unless they apply themselves---I think you'd see kids straighten up and fly right faster than you could say "ha ha, look at Bart, he's gonna work at Krusty Burger someday."

 

[oppp7]

They renovated my school. But instead of newer, better science labs and such, they just remade everything EXACTLY AS IT WAS BEFORE.

 

[lacktheknack]

I still have faith in the public school system... except for propaganda in the Social Studies curriculum.

 

[KapnKerfuffle]

You're lucky you had a band class. Plenty of public schools have cut their music programs. It seems like public school isn't very public, in that it isn't funded like a public service. Many schools are at the mercy of their how much funding their citizens can muster with their tax base.

 

[ElephantGuts]

Hahaha "losing" faith? where have you been?

I was about to come in here and say exactly this, so, yeah.

This.

 

[El Poncho]

Well i'm taking French which the the teachers are already struggling to get through the course with and the school cut the periods 4 a week to 3 just so I can get an extra period of something I haven't been told about and still can't figure out.

 

[AlexFromOmaha]

In elementary school, I learned how to program computers. The best private elementary school in town did not offer anything similar.

In junior high, I took an aeronautics elective. I learned to read a Jeppesen, could calculate flight routes in both airspeed and landspeed, and was taken up to fly a Cessna. The kids in the private school sure didn't get that chance.

By the end of high school, I'd learned calculus and statistics, got a well-rounded science education, became nearly fluent in a foreign language, won a couple debate tournaments, and helped carry an Academic Decathlon team to the national competition, leaving the much-hyped private high school back in Nebraska, pouting.

By the end of my undergrad, I'd learned to force bacteria to mutate and synthesize drugs.

And now, after 18 years of mostly state-sponsored schooling, I'm in a private school. I'm enjoying their research grant money and they're enjoying the benefits of what the government provided to me for free for 13 years and cheaply for five more.

So, to everyone who posted above, nitpicking about something and saying you're "losing faith" in public education? Yeah, you fail. You'll get out of it what you put into it, and if you're going to use some self-righteous posturing over someone's mistake to justify trying less, or just scooting by, or just getting the grade, or whatever, then I'm sure there are enough people just like me at your grade level who will happily take the spot you're giving up.

 

[SimuLord]

Alex, I don't know what kind of public schooling you've got where you grew up (sounds like you grew up in an area with excellent schools---kudos to your parents for choosing a good place to raise their daughter), but in cities like the one I live in, the public schools are so thoroughly awful (50th out of 50 states---yay Nevada!) that unless you can afford to send your kids to private school or, better yet, move to another state, the kids don't stand a chance of getting a quality education from schools that are poorly funded and taught by incompetent teachers who can't get jobs in other states (or private companies that pay more money---Nevada teachers are very poorly paid.)

I'm in a public community college here, and while I certainly appreciate the fact that someone like me who made a total hash of his childhood can get a second (third, actually, but who's counting?) chance at education, I'm strongly considering doing my graduate-level work elsewhere, where I can get more prestige to get a better job out of college (I'll be 37 when I graduate, so I don't have the benefit of youth on my side.)

 

[Cliff_m85]

My Biology Professor didn't understand the difference between Evolution and Abiogenesis. He also didn't know what a scientific theory was. The whole semester was spent with me vocally correcting him or just gritting my teeth when he fucked up again.

 

[Mozared]

Good topic. Time for me to think about the perks of my schooling for a bit. What did I learn? Lets see.

-To speak German; I could do it alrightish before, but 5 years of learning stupid German words did in the end improve it slightly.
-To somewhat speak French, or at least to be able to understand it when a Frenchman speaks slowly or when it's written down.
-About 3 or 4 small rules about the English language I didn't know yet, things like "I is always capitalized".
-Realization that people like Goethe and Descartes where not in the least bit overrated and indeed fucking brilliant.
-A bit more insight into the American government.
-Loads and loads of history - no denying here. Before I went to 'high school' I knew barely anything about what the real history was like, now I know a fair deal about literaly every period in history from hunter/gatherers to the ancient egyptians to the romans to the middle ages to the golden age to the 1700/1800's to the first and second world war to the end of the cold war. I can actually visualize the evolution of men throughout the ages, having a fairly good image about "what happened".
-The process of Osmosis, which I can't explain corrently but of which I more or less know what it means.
-To be able to read the Greek alphabet.

And that's about it. I barely learned anything from my lessons in Dutch, Geography (though no bad words about my teachers there, they were all brilliant - they just told me stuff I already knew and I enjoyed discussing it with them), Mathematics and Religious Studies. Nothing about the Dutch grammar was interesting enough to remember and all famous old Dutch writers seem to suck, I remember jack all about Mathematics and I never need more complicated stuff than percentages and I generally knew more about specific religions than the religious studies teacher, though it was interesting to have him lay down specific questions of life and watch my classmates answer them.


And now that I look back at the OP I'm guessing I misread it the first time and this wasn't exactly what you were asking for, but screw that, I didn't just type out this whole post for nothing. Either way, to make it more relevant; I have to akknowledge I did learn some things from being schooled, even though I'm pretty sure I could've used the time in a better way.