I Blame Yale...

"Seldom is the question asked 'Is our children learning?' " - George W. Bush

How can we be expected to answer this question (without smirking), when the very person asking it is constantly lowering the standards by which we measure what it means to be an educated person? Check out this informative explanation of what it means to be a sovereign nation. I find it interesting that the current leader of the free world graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in the world, but does not posses the grammar skills or sense of how to form a rational argument to support a point that I would require of a student looking to successfully complete the fifth grade. Is there not an English requirement at Yale?

I am beginning to see the consequences in my classroom of observing the role models that lead our nation.

As part of the end of fifth grade, my students need to complete an Exit Project. It is basically a research project in which each student chooses their own topic and means in which to present what they have learned. The purpose of the project is twofold: 1) to work on oral presentation skills and 2) to demonstrate that many of the skills we have been learning can actually be applied to things that they find interesting.

The presentations have begun and there was one student that left me feeling discouraged. During the research process, I conducted a conference with this student about his research. It was a little thin. Each main idea was supported by one detail. I showed him some examples of what other students were doing and explained the need for a variety of details to support a point. He seemed to get it and I was off to the next student.

In the end, the student followed the lead of our president and explained to the class that coins are made the following way: "They are pressed from a plate. A plate is used to make them. Each coin is formed from a plate. And the coins get their design from a plate." At least he conjugated his verbs properly.

A teacher's work is never done. Oh, wait, it will be on Wednesday! Three days is enough time to teach him how and why he needs to rework his presentation.

-Brad