As a teacher I thought I liked block scheduling until we went back to 7 period day. The day goes by so much quicker and I get more covered over the year than I did with block.

 

I've never experienced block scheduling from the teacher side, but I preferred it as a student. I believe we had block my junior and senior years, which would have been 94-95 & 95-96.

What about high school drop out rate? Do you recall programs in place to in the schools to minimize that?

Looking waaaayy back...

 

On the positive..

 

1. No computers. Occasionally those in higher math were permitted to use calculators. Otherwise we had to use memorized math properties. Research was done in the library. I know computers are essential these days, but there is something to be said for memorization and working things out in your head. Can’t tell you how many times I have been out shopping and a young clerk can’t figure out what 30% off a product is without a computer to tell him/her. Yes...I am old.

 

2. All school doors were open all day with no need to worry.

 

3. Parents backed teachers 100%. Discipline problems were minimal.

 

4. Almost every kid walked to school which was an adventure in itself.

 

5. Sports were competitive, but not like today. No one played year round sports. Kids were encouraged to play different sports and actually had time to play outside...and our parents made us go outside. Athletes having knee and shoulder surgery was very rare.

 

6. The only phones we had were on the wall at home. No distracting phones in the classroom. Having an answering machine was a luxury. Can’t remember ever missing an important call.

 

7. Bullies had their fights in the school yards or made anonymous hang up phone calls. Victims could go to the safety of their homes. Today, with social media, kids can’t get away from it.

 

On the negative..

 

1. Title IX. We didn’t have it. Boys’ sports were a priority. Girls sports were an after thought. Basically girls got the boys’ leftover stuff and gym time when it was available. Looking back, I can’t believe that we accepted this as normal.

 

2. As others have mentioned, the ability to take college courses in high school. Not only did we not have this, girls were encouraged to pursue secretarial, teaching, or nursing professions. Even our school guidance counselor didn’t take girls’ education seriously.

 

3. Mainstreaming. Children born with Down’s syndrome or other intellectual disabilities were sent off to a special school. Bringing children in with disabilities into the system has been challenging, but over the years, I have seen many positive outcomes for both challenged students and “regular” students.

 

I am sure there is more, but that’s all this brain can kick out one one cup of coffee so far.

Edited April 11, 20197 yr by Beechwoodfan

I graduated from high school more than 15 years ago now and know precious little about how high school works these days.

 

But I feel like I've seen a lot of schools go from being resistant to technology to embracing it. You can go too far and think it solves all sorts of problems it actually doesn't, but it's interesting to see schools try and figure out what it's good for.

 

What's the percentage of schools out there that are embracing coding as part of the curriculum?

As someone who works on a college campus in a financial institution, we have to get financial literacy requirements in high school like yesterday...

 

It's been my experience that most of the issues with handling money have been a consequence of will, not of education.

 

What things in personal finance do you think people aren't being taught that they should be?

Looking waaaayy back...

 

On the positive..

 

1. No computers. Occasionally those in higher math were permitted to use calculators. Otherwise we had to use memorized math properties. Research was done in the library. I know computers are essential these days, but there is something to be said for memorization and working things out in your head. Can’t tell you how many times I have been out shopping and a young clerk can’t figure out what 30% off a product is without a computer to tell him/her. Yes...I am old.

 

2. All school doors were open all day with no need to worry.

 

3. Parents backed teachers 100%. Discipline problems were minimal.

 

4. Almost every kid walked to school which was an adventure in itself.

 

5. Sports were competitive, but not like today. No one played year round sports. Kids were encouraged to play different sports and actually had time to play outside...and our parents made us go outside. Athletes having knee and shoulder surgery was very rare.

 

6. The only phones we had were on the wall at home. No distracting phones in the classroom. Having an answering machine was a luxury. Can’t remember ever missing an important call.

 

7. Bullies had their fights in the school yards or made anonymous hang up phone calls. Victims could go to the safety of their homes. Today, with social media, kids can’t get away from it.

 

On the negative..

 

1. Title IX. We didn’t have it. Boys’ sports were a priority. Girls sports were an after thought. Basically girls got the boys’ leftover stuff and gym time when it was available. Looking back, I can’t believe that we accepted this as normal.

 

2. As others have mentioned, the ability to take college courses in high school. Not only did we not have this, girls were encouraged to pursue secretarial, teaching, or nursing professions. Even our school guidance counselor didn’t take girls’ education seriously.

 

3. Mainstreaming. Children born with Down’s syndrome or other intellectual disabilities were sent off to a special school. Bringing children in with disabilities into the system has been challenging, but over the years, I have seen many positive outcomes for both challenged students and “regular” students.

 

I am sure there is more, but that’s all this brain can kick out one one cup of coffee so far.

Great stuff!!

Forgot about the impact of Title 9.

 

The mainstreaming has been a huge difference—and the growth of special education teachers and departments.

 

Agree on technology. I hate, Hate, HATE the cell phones and the entitlement that comes with it.

 

And agree 100% on calculators. Students are taught how to find a common denominator on the calculator. Few can do it with pencil and paper.

Oh yeah, one last thing..I had a sibling that truly struggled with school. Teachers basically passed her because they knew she tried SO HARD, and was a good kid. There was no screening for learning disabilities back then. I often wonder how she would have done if today’s screening and intervention had been in place. She turned out ok in life, but there might have been fewer tears and frustration doing homework at night.

I am curious to hear from the teachers out there about libraries. In my day libraries were in constant use. Elementary kids checked out books and took them home to read and older kid used them for research.

 

When my kids were in school 10 years ago, they had reading time in elementary (never brought books home), and used the computer for research. Seems to me actual libraries with books are becoming unnecessary. Am I wrong? I also wonder if school textbooks will go away completely if they haven’t already.

It's been my experience that most of the issues with handling money have been a consequence of will, not of education.

 

What things in personal finance do you think people aren't being taught that they should be?

 

- What a check is, how to write one, how it works (younger generations)

- Credit; how it works, what does affect it, what doesn't, how certain things affect your credit

- The difference between loans and grants

- Fees at financial institutions

 

If I really thought about it I could come up with more. People of literally all ages that have extremely limited financial knowledge in general, it's troubling.

I am curious to hear from the teachers out there about libraries. In my day libraries were in constant use. Elementary kids checked out books and took them home to read and older kid used them for research.

 

When my kids were in school 10 years ago, they had reading time in elementary (never brought books home), and used the computer for research. Seems to me actual libraries with books are becoming unnecessary. Am I wrong? I also wonder if school textbooks will go away completely if they haven’t already.

 

The middle school one my grandsons goes to has no text books. Everything is on iPads.

- What a check is, how to write one, how it works (younger generations)

- Credit; how it works, what does affect it, what doesn't, how certain things affect your credit

- The difference between loans and grants

- Fees at financial institutions

 

If I really thought about it I could come up with more. People of literally all ages that have extremely limited financial knowledge in general, it's troubling.

 

I had a class similar to this my junior year at Whitley back in 1974-75. Can't remember the name of it, though.

- What a check is, how to write one, how it works (younger generations)

- Credit; how it works, what does affect it, what doesn't, how certain things affect your credit

- The difference between loans and grants

- Fees at financial institutions

 

If I really thought about it I could come up with more. People of literally all ages that have extremely limited financial knowledge in general, it's troubling.

Had to give my juniors a math writing assignment for their school writing portfolio. Since we were learning about exponents at the time, I gave them 2 different investment scenarios that they had to write about. I found out quickly that my students had no idea what these terms meant: interest, compounding, quarterly, and that the number of years means you don’t get the money until the end.

Financial literacy > all Algebra, IMO.

Agree to a point. But people forget that Algebra teaches logical thinking and problem solving skills—even if you never ever use Algebra again for the rest of your life.

I am curious to hear from the teachers out there about libraries. In my day libraries were in constant use. Elementary kids checked out books and took them home to read and older kid used them for research.

 

When my kids were in school 10 years ago, they had reading time in elementary (never brought books home), and used the computer for research. Seems to me actual libraries with books are becoming unnecessary. Am I wrong? I also wonder if school textbooks will go away completely if they haven’t already.

School librarians today may as well be computer teachers, as well.

Great stuff!!

Forgot about the impact of Title 9.

 

The mainstreaming has been a huge difference—and the growth of special education teachers and departments.

 

Agree on technology. I hate, Hate, HATE the cell phones and the entitlement that comes with it.

 

And agree 100% on calculators. Students are taught how to find a common denominator on the calculator. Few can do it with pencil and paper.

When I went off to COLLEGE my parents splurged on one present for me. A calculator on which you could add, subtract, multiply and divide. As a special function, you could get a square root.

 

And the the price was only $79.95!