What would you like to see taught in public schools?

[ewoodard]

As a teacher, I would like to ask a fairly simple question of all on this board.

What would you like to see taught at all public schools in this state? I would like specifics on each subject if possible. You can access the current standards at www.sde.state.ok.us/Curriculum/PASS/default.html, this will give you a listing of each subject and the PASS skills for each.

Thank you for your input, and I am doing this for my own informantion only.

[Easy180]

Personal finance courses every grade from 8-12

[exvagabond]

I'd like to see a Religion class taught that covered the world's major religions. It wouldn't really be able to go in depth but maybe it would help foster more of a respect of those whose beliefs are different. Also I think a foreign language should be required for all four HS years. Don't know how realistic these are, but I don't see how they could hurt. Knowledge is power & I do think education is the core of our future & we ignore it at our own peril. BTW, thanks for doing a job that I'd love to do, but don't have the temperment for!

[okclee]

Personal finance courses every grade from 8-12

You beat me to the subject;

I would start at an earlier grade, never to early to teach personal finance.

[Thunder]

Also I think a foreign language should be required for all four HS years.

Not possible. Deaf students will not be able to successfully pass. They will literally fail. And, no, an interpreter will not be able to translate in this way. There are foreign sign languages, but deaf students should not be forced to take vocal foreign language classes.

[stick47]

Dodgeball and shop class would be my picks.

[kevinpate]

Beginning in grade pre-K, part and parcel of every class day, through college and into any workplace orientation, with quarterly refreshers, should include civility training.
Please and thank you and raise your hand before you speak just isn't enough, and one needn't look very far to see why it would be useful.

I do realize this ought to first and foremost come from the home front, but simply put, it doesn't happen, and it seems unlikely it ever will, and since forced sterilization isn't exactly on the menu, finding a way to avoid the failures of common decency in yet another generation just seems like something that ought to happen.

Sadly, I'm not trying to be funny.

[Joe Daddy]

As a teacher, I would like to ask a fairly simple question of all on this board.

What would you like to see taught at all public schools in this state? I would like specifics on each subject if possible. You can access the current standards at www.sde.state.ok.us/Curriculum/PASS/default.html, this will give you a listing of each subject and the PASS skills for each.

Thank you for your input, and I am doing this for my own informantion only.

Vocational courses, meaning real world technical skills training. Many students are simply not college material. Welding, auto mechanics, oil rig maintenance, electrical, etc where a graduate has a chance at a living wage right out of high school. What ever happened to VICA? (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America) I guess it's Skills USA now. http://www.skillsusa.org/about/history.shtml

Do the high schools in Oklahoma participate in Skills USA? From what I hear, about all the vocational classes in the metro are limited to wood shop.

[skyrick]

Reading. So many people today are functionally illiterate. My favorite teacher was Mrs. Russell in 4th grade. She reinforced the reading habit I developed at home. I'll always remember her.

[ewoodard]

Joe Daddy, currently juniors are allowed to enroll in vo-techs as concurrent enrollment with their high schools. Oklahoma has one of if not the best vo-tech systems in the state. I agree more students should take vo-tech classes.

Skyrick, I agree that many people are illiterate today, but I promise you that reading is taught in every school in the state as part of No Child Left Behind as it is one of the scores that schools are graded on. The other is math. What I feel we are dealing with is students with parents who do not value reading for enjoyment so they don't pass that on to their kids.

As for the other posts, thanks for the info keep it coming. I am truely interested in learning more about what everythinks about this.

[Joe Daddy]

Joe Daddy, currently juniors are allowed to enroll in vo-techs as concurrent enrollment with their high schools. Oklahoma has one of if not the best vo-tech systems in the state. I agree more students should take vo-tech classes.

Thanks for your reply ewoodard.

I challenge the statement, however, made by other's I've spoken to, not just you, about our vo-techs being "the best". The best compared to what? Having experienced the VICA, now Skills USA in another state in the early 80's, I can say that the local vo-techs are no comparison to that program being held in-house at local high schools.

I'll give you a couple of examples. In the high school I graduated, I got my 400 small block engine rebuilt by the automotive shop class. The program was that good. The building construction class performed small projects for the local county and state government. I was in the welding and machine shop class and I personally was assigned projects for the local government. A student, for example, in the welding course that spent 3 years in the program could get certification in Arc, MIG, TIG welding and go straight to work for a pipe fitter, steel construction, etc. at a journeyman wage. We sent students to the Industrial Olympics every year in different trades.

I think far too much time is spent in schools today, nationwide, in attempting to prepare nearly 100% of students for college. All one has to do is look at the statistics to see how futile that is. This is a great thread, and I'm not being critical of you personally when I say I feel it is a cop-out (again, not you) when people say "sure...more kids should go to vo-tech"....and that's the end of the consideration. I've been to a vo-tech or three, and I have to say I'm not impressed with any of them compared to the high school vocational program I attended over 25 years ago. Vocational education seems to increasingly get the brush off today, and I think it's a fantastic opportunity that state boards of education should get back into.

[Jersey Boss]

Physical education, world cutures(instead of rteligions) personal finance, communications or public speaking.

[ewoodard]

I do agree that the vo-techs should be part of the school. The only one I know of is Mid-Del. They have their own vo-tech. My son went there for CAD and had a job in less than a month. I also believe that most of the vo-techs we have in this state are top notch from what I have seen from my former and current students. The problems is that most vo-techs are located many miles from the home school that the kids have to ride the bus for an hour or more to get there.

I agree 100% that not all students are college material. There are some that simply do not want to got to college. They wnat to get a job right out of high school. I also agree that vocational ed does not get credit and I would like to see sophmores be able to enroll. This way they could get 2 years of in class training, then spend one year (senior) in an apprenticeship program with a local company to get on the job training in their chosen field.

[skyrick]

Skyrick, I agree that many people are illiterate today, but I promise you that reading is taught in every school in the state as part of No Child Left Behind as it is one of the scores that schools are graded on. The other is math. What I feel we are dealing with is students with parents who do not value reading for enjoyment so they don't pass that on to their kids.

I'm sure you're right about parental involvement. My mom and my maternal grandparents, who lived down the street, were avid readers. I remember my favorite birthday present, when I turned 4, was a subscription to Humpty Dumpty magazine. In elementary school I subscribed to the Summer Weekly Reader every year.

However, I have two daughters, 32 & 28, and, while the eldest reads as avidly as I do, the youngest only read enough to get through high school and college. She did get her Bachelor degree with a 3.3 average, but I doubt she has picked up a book since. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure my 15 month old grand-daughter loves to read.

[DeluxeOK]

Home Economics and Parenting classes are very useful - it's too bad many programs have been cut already in this area - and I'm not just saying that because they are a couple of the subjects I'm certified to teach.

[PennyQuilts]

Civics, personal finance, home ec (including child development), math and foreign languages. And at the proper time, literature. I also agree that shop is an excellent class and they ought to start it earlier than they do - but I know there isn't a lot of room in the curriculum.

[ewoodard]

I'm sure you're right about parental involvement. My mom and my maternal grandparents, who lived down the street, were avid readers. I remember my favorite birthday present, when I turned 4, was a subscription to Humpty Dumpty magazine. In elementary school I subscribed to the Summer Weekly Reader every year.

However, I have two daughters, 32 & 28, and, while the eldest reads as avidly as I do, the youngest only read enough to get through high school and college. She did get her Bachelor degree with a 3.3 average, but I doubt she has picked up a book since. I'm going to do everything in my power to make sure my 15 month old grand-daughter loves to read.

I applaud your efforts in trying pass on a love of reading. I need to also state that I think the other reason many kids don't read is the fact that video games, and TV offer faster gratification. the images are moving and the words are spoken. Many of my students have a hard time visualizing material or abstracts.

Please don't let this topic stop now as I am really wanting more imput on this. The suggestions given are great, but how do we implement them into the current classroom with all of the mandates now in place? I for one would love to shop put back into all schools, as it would reinforce math classes.

[PennyQuilts]

I I need to also state that I think the other reason many kids don't read is the fact that video games, and TV offer faster gratification. the images are moving and the words are spoken. Many of my students have a hard time visualizing material or abstracts.

This.

[Midtowner]

Not possible. Deaf students will not be able to successfully pass. They will literally fail. And, no, an interpreter will not be able to translate in this way. There are foreign sign languages, but deaf students should not be forced to take vocal foreign language classes.

Y'all suck at music too.

Pretty sure the system could work around it.

[HewenttoJared]

Most tics that are considered controversial in political circles have so much bad info floating around that i think pseudoscience should be addressed directly.
Creationism
Climate denial
Vaccine denial
Homeopathy
Astrology


Spend your time on what will remove the mst bad info from the world. We're smart enough, we're driven enough, we just need the tools to identify when someone is bulling us.