How Prepared Are Students?

This week’s content and articles were one of the more interesting ones for me. There was a lot of interesting information and it really made me think. I believe that it is very common for educators to think that they only need to be teaching things like math, reading, writing, science, and more. However, if teachers also threw in there things like budgeting, taxes, being a good member of society, and more, it would make more well-rounded students. A lot of people feel that after they leave high school and enter the “real world” they are not as prepared as they thought they would be or should be. School is a very important part of people but it is not the only thing they need to learn and make a priority.

Throughout this week’s reading, it mentioned a lot about the important things outside of school. It also talked a lot about how school is not for everyone and maybe not everyone needs to attend school as long as others or to be successful. There are many people who do not have a college or even high school degree and are very successful. Education is more for some people than others, but everyone does need a foundation of it. My husband got his associates and diesel mechanic degree in two years. Half of those two years was hands on working at an internship for an AG equipment company. That was definitely a great program for him and he did very well. However, I do not think he would enjoy going to a four year school of just straight academic courses. He is successful now, even though he did not go to a traditional college.

Another thing that stood out to me was the article “9 Elephants in the Classroom that Should Unsettle Us”. As educators we need to acknowledge that just because we teach our students the required curriculum that they may still not be prepared for leaving home and going into society on their own. It does not mean we are bad teachers but it just means that we need to teach other concepts as well. If students are feeling bored, what can we do to challenge them or change that? The “curriculum” is almost an educated guess of what we things students should be taught or know. Technically we do not know 100% that what we teach our students is what they need to know to be successful.