I wish my school would give us a more detailed music subject. Even though the teachers of Music are great, I wish we had a bigger area dedicated to music. Music is art is a way to express yourself, it is important for us to study how music was developed and how it is present still nowadays in many varieties. I would make an undersigned with all of those topics I discussed in this journal and turn in to my director, complaining that we should have a bigger area for music.
In my school, I believe we learn many basic ideas about how life is going to be. We hear every day that we should learn how to work in groups or that we should be able to talk in public. And during my many years in my school, I like to say that I have learned that very well. But, as I said in the beginning, that is only the basics. I believe schools focus a lot on preparing us for a test instead of preparing us for life. The school concept that we know today that you learn English, math, science, and others, was invented during the industrial revolution when they needed to create workers, but things should be different nowadays. The world has evolved, and the schools have not. Today the schools force you to sit down and memorize something that even the teachers know you will never use in your life. So my idea for the schools is this, once you have reached a particular level of learning, like high school, a million doors of opportunities should open up to you. Once you have got to this part of your school life, I believe all classes should be elective. I think this because, at this stage of your life, you at least have an idea of what you might do after school, so you won't waste your time having to memorize something like really complicated chemistry when you are going to be a lawyer. In my opinion, the school method is completely outdated, and it needs to evolve quickly. Otherwise, you might waste a lot of your time doing something for literally no reason at all.
While I do believe the school I attend has been doing a good job at teaching its students the basic essentials, we are still bound to graduate with important knowledge lacking. Through high-school, we are not once taught how to handle our money, how to live by ourselves, or how to care for our mental and physical health. Beyond what one needs to know to survive the early stages of adulthood, I also feel like many of us are not stimulated to reach our full potentials. You see, today’s education system needs, without a doubt, to change its ways. Instead of being influenced to use our creativity and pursue our own learning methods, each and every one of us is forced to do nothing but sit, listen, and memorize information. Rather than being evaluated according to how productive we’ve been, we are currently being graded in regard to how much knowledge we managed to soak up to a certain day. How is that supposed to help us in next stages of our lives?
I think there are a lot of things schools are missing. They should teach us how to handle money, and taxes show us some basic survival techniques, fore exemple how to start a fire to let us warmer and what berries are eatable.I think a lot of things we learn in schools are more like "remember this" but that we're never going to use again after we get out of school. And somethings like math were helpful, but now a days we are surrounded by technology and almost everyone one in the world has a phone, but that doesn't means that we wouldn't learn math we would now how to countesure some thing and even learn algebra because maybe one day you would need it. I also think students should be able to choose what they want to learn more freely, and that teachers should be more flexible. And maybe they should be less focused on homework and teaching us to procrastinate, and maybe teach us our rights as a human.Or we could have more hands on work, like gardening or cooking. Of course, I don't expect schools to starts teaching students these things, because when it comes down to it, society doesn't want everyone to succeed.
When I think about seeing my friends and teacher again, I feel happy and excited. Nowadays, my school is in the online classes mode. It's very different, but as always, we have our goals. My main goal is to get grades over 90 and know how to adapt to other circumstances: hybrid mode, online classes, or even normal mode. Every school year, I usually wake up at 6:00 and take a shower, then I use my soccer team shirt, eat a bowl of cereal and milk and then open the computer to start a whole new year. When a school decides to start the hybrid mode, I will be extremely happy but nervous, because we never experienced that in my school. We need to be patient because one day we will be able to go back to school, play with our friends, and eat lunch together. Patience is the keyword for the pandemic.
I think the school could add e-sports as an elective class. I think it would be essential to add e-sports as a class, because besides e-sports helping the development of group work makes you think about different strategies, different ways to do something in the game, the way to get to the enemy, etc. And it helps with group work, makes you meet new people, develop social interaction with your colleagues, each one has an important role. By making everyone have their role in the group, we can take advantage of each skill and talent in the group. After this brief explanation, we can see that there are many advantages, for example, strategies become more comprehensive, and knowledge becomes more complicated.
My school is, from my point of view, doing a good job. They prepare us with the disciplines we need most for our academic life, although there are some disciplines we may need to evolve and become great and independent citizens. There are exciting electives, though my only wish is to choose between more than two options, yet I understand it is due to timing.
Moreover, the things I have commented on, If I could choose to add any course to my school schedule, it would be tough to choose. My favorite options are Astronomy, Poetry, and Ballet. In my opinion, art helps us evolve and succeed, and it is accurate that it has helped other students before; for that reason, I choose Ballet and Poetry. Also, I adore most of all that beautiful yet frightening mysterious constellations, planets, black holes.
In conclusion, I gather school prepares us for our academic lives and general knowledge; however, we could acquire some different skills and invest in some of our talents.
Throughout our high school experience, we learn basic arithmetic and literature skills. We have engraved the quadratic and slope formulas into our brains, as well as what the nucleus and mitochondria are. As the world changes and as new technology evolves, future job opportunities change. It’s important to take classes such as history and english to have those basic skills and knowledge about the world, but classes like physics and calculus only benefit you if you are thinking of having a job that involves those skillsets. I barely know what credit is and I certainly don’t know anything about loans and taxes. I’m going off to college in less than two years but I have no clue how student loans and debt works. My school offers basic 101 courses on these topics but there should be more class that will help you better prepare for the future.
A course that I think would be good for schools would be cooking. Because I believe that cooking is an essential technique for our lives, and a cooking course would teach us how to cook, so that when we grow up, we would not need help to cook in our homes or when our parents go to work we’d know how to cook, and we wouldn't have to wait for them to get home to make food for us. Some course we do it, but with time we stop practicing or doing, but cooking no, we would take this with us for the rest of our lives.
In school, I wish I could learn about how to make the world a
better place to live in. In the world, especially right now, there are many people who are suffering and going through a lot. There are people that may be going through depression, losing their lives, or trying to survive. I wish that in school, I could learn about different ways to help others. The worst feeling is wanting to help, but feeling like there’s nothing I can do, so I wish there would be opportunities where I could contribute. I would also like to learn how to get along with others, because changing the world cannot be done alone. I would like school to teach us important life and relationship skills like being honest, kind, generous, and loyal. Even if it may be something small, I know that if we were taught these things in school, we could all contribute to something small, and change the world. Something that seemed impossible can become possible if we work together.
I am fully aware that my school offers many courses that fit most of the student body’s interests. However, I feel that there should be more classes related to your future like learning how to pay taxes, tips on living alone, how to help with a friend with a mental and/or physical illness, how to apply to jobs/internships, social skills, etc. In my honest opinion, I would much rather have my parents pay to go to school so I can obtain skills that I will use for the rest of my life, than have to learn to use the quadratic formula which I will never use in my life after high school and college. We shouldn’t be required to take classes that, #1 we aren’t interested in, and #2 we will not being using it in the future.
With the world increasing in different careers that one can take, students should be given the luxury of having the opportunity to take courses that, though may not be a core class or a world language class, a class that will provide them information on a topic of their choice. For me, a topic that I would enjoy is a course such as “Adulting 101”, a class where you get to learn how to pay taxes, how to budget, how to do laundry, and how to do an interview to name a few units. Basically, this class will be everything you need to know once you move out of high school, and no longer have the constant guidance of your parents.
I would convince my school to create this course by showing them the high interest in this class, as when I go onto social media, it isn’t rare to see posts where college students wished they had this so they knew how to pay rent, maintain a social life, etcetera etcetera. As previously stated, they would learn the things that our parents always did for us, or guided us through certain activities. As a result of this class, we would be able to become more independent and learn the world around us without the reliance on anyone else.
My school has been pretty great at providing traditional courses and extracurricular activities. I mean we have classes such as astronomy, where that isn’t really a course that is offered in many other schools. They also have classes such as culinary, accounting, and fashion marketing.
In the article it asks,
"What additional courses do you wish your school offered?"
I would enjoy having a class about a lot of things. Still, if I could choose what I learn it would be a game-changer i would like to work with wood and learn how to cook and architecture. I would also want to know some self-defense like martial arts, but in general, it would be awesome but the only thing is you would have to be mature to do this kind of thing. In the end I think the school should offer more choices.
We’ve got a lot of great courses offered at Glenbard West, however like almost all high schools we lack courses that teach crucial life skills like taxes or just situational things. Learning math could be crucial if you’re going to do something in the engineering field, however if that’s not your goal then you should not be required to do it. I think a cool class would be life situations where it puts you in a tough situation then you have to solve the problem or figure out how to respond. People always talk about school smarts vs. street smarts and I think both are equally as important. Anyone that is successful in what they do can have a conversation with anyone they’re around and they know how to keep them intrigued.
I would enjoy having a class about a lot of things. Still, if I could choose what I learn it would be a game-changer i would like to work with wood and learn how to cook and architecture i would also want to know some self-defense like martial arts, but in general, it would be alsome but the only thing is you would have to be mature to do this kind of thing.
answering the questions
school: American school of reef Brazil
I would like to learn economics because I think it is important that we start to learn to manage our money early.
with the argument that it is important to learn to manage our money early.
my school offers courses just to study anywhere in the world, learning languages for example
like the example of the languages I gave, we learned to speak to people from all over the world, favoring our relationship with people
I know my schools offers so many great courses, a wide variety that many other schools don’t, but I wish schools in general offered more courses to teach students life lessons. Yes, what they teach us in school is critical for our future, and if you choose to go to college is information you need to know but there’s so much more to life than the typical English, chemistry, math and history class. Classes are so broad that students can not choose what they’d like to study. Given the option English vs. AP English is not the same as taking a course called “Shakespeare’s Novels”. A widely known fact is that the education system is so long overdue but instead of keeping that idea in mind, it’s time for a change. With the world we now live in a change is necessary to our system and we need more hands on topics that will help us more in life than just the basics.
Since the beginning, I was never a big fan of school, to be honest, I'd rather watch all the Dora the Explorer seasons than to learn about greek mythology. The fact is, school is undoubtedly the most significant turn of events in our lives, the school not only prepares the students for the future world, but it also builds up the type of person we are today.
It hasn't affected me in any way the need for a change in the education system as in relation to more school work, which is something that I really don't care about, it doesn't matter if I have one or 99 assignments for English missing, if I have to do other stuff which is not school-related, I will do them and leave school-related problems as the last option.
I try to avoid talking about things like this, as I feel like I'm not mature enough to put an opinion out there, but here's what I think, my school has a lot offer when it comes to electives, and after school classes, however, people don't feel like that's enough. I can understand that, as with the current world, with all the technology, people are starting to work with things that once were impossible to live a sustainable life.
I feel like there should be a way in which school would teach us a way to get money with the internet. And no, I'm not talking about playing videogames 24/7, I'm talking about getting paid for creating a specific software, marketing, selling digital products, digital designer, and much more.
2
I believe that my school already offers excellent classes and electives. However, I believe that they should offer more courses to help us more in our daily lives after school is over, with courses such as cooking, personal financing, how to invest, mental health, and others. These courses are all essential for someone that has left school. The finance course, for example, would explain how to take care of your money, how to spend your money so that you never run out, in what you should spend your money, how to spend less money, how to invest your money, also the course would teach you what are: mortgages, banks, credit cards, loans, insurance, investiments, and more. The objective of the class is that the student can have an understanding of the financial world. And with this knowledge, make better decisions. Students that leave school and know nothing about the financial world have a bigger chance of running out of money because they don’t understand how to manage their money. Courses like this are essential for real life.
Ideally, the school should be an environment where people develop knowledge based on their interests, strengths, and weaknesses (being aware that those evolve through time), consequently making them excited about learning. So predetermine their interest by adding classes in their curriculum, it is not the best way to do it. Honestly, I wonder why there are still that many people arguing that the solution is to insert real life situations and problems towards students. I am not sure that this format of reasoning by analogy is the best way to promote a fairer system and environment aiming the student's happiness and engagement. Instead, I prefer to reason by first principles, setting mutual views (if possible) on what we, as a society, really want our children to learn and practice. I believe that the main problem with school is the lack of its system's adaptation, not just throughout the years but also how the whole machine's operating system has adapted when encountered problems. I need to report my respect and fascination regarding "The Hand of Man" project. Those types of inventions promote evident progress and it opens the door for other students' innovation. Concerning my school, I believe that they are in constant progress towards giving students the best experience, offering them different electives and advanced courses, many times giving people the liberty to explore complex subjects, such as having the opportunity to write this text.
It is a widely known fact that the education system is long overdue for a change; in fact, it has been the same for centuries. The world evolved with its science and technology, yet the thing we rely on the most seems to be frozen in time. Students are no longer being prepared for their future at school; in reality, many of them graduate without understanding basic and essential subjects such as personal finance, first aid, or sex education.
Of course, it is important to learn science, math, history, english, and so on, but students should have more options than that. How do colleges and universities expect us to know what major we want, and consequently, what we will spend the rest of our lives doing if we don’t get to explore all the possibilities in school? The total student loan debt reached $1.3 trillion in 2016, an average of $37,172 per student (Student Loan Hero). This is a decision that students are supposed to make fresh out of high school and can have retaliations that will haunt them for several years in the future, yet no one taught them that.
I believe learning is a different process for each student, and no one should be forced to study something that won’t have an impact in their future when they could be spending their time learning about things they are interested in or want to pursue a career in.
1
Is knowing the entire periodic table more important than self-care, when suicide is the third leading cause of death between ages 10 -24 in the world? We students all around the globe often face a variety of problems, which can include stress, anxiety, depression, etc. Yet none of us are taught how to deal with it in school, where we should be learning life lessons. Schools should teach people how to manage time, cook, have self-control, and many other things that help us face the real world. Think about how the world would be incredibly better if our future generations knew how to do those things.
According to Harvard University, the key to success is self-control and emotional health. So, why aren't we learning that at school, doesn't it want us to succeed in life? Learning grammar and language art is important, but it should be equally important to learn how to manage your time. This is adaptations of courses with a larger variety, and bigger utility in all schools would lead to numerous advancements in society nowadays.
My school should not offer any other courses and there should be no other electives as new teachers and new skills would be necessary for that. In terms of electives, after school classes and activities, they should be eliminated completely; with technology being a growing feat nowadays, schools should have no problem with students doing things at home and being graded on them. Allowing all those limited classes to be new and varied choices for the sprouting youth and their ever changing interests. For whatever the student picked to research and dwell on in various areas (that would be graded as different classes) they will be able to learn what they themselves like and find important.
This option would be suggested to the school as an impossibility, requiring too much investment would not be real. Allowing students to have more time for themselves and follow interests the alumni won't feel overworked. Enjoying most of school while also absorbing what they are learning more independently. It would accomplish things that normal schools don't, like how to do things without having to follow all guidelines, and instead creating your own. All dependent on the student, the course is as real world as people want it to be. Having the free will to choose any option that allows some form of dedication and research the students will all at least be linked with one real world issue, of great importance or not.
7
I believe that school is essential to all children but doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone wants to go or enjoys learning. Extracurricular classes are fundamental to students, and each one of them has different interests. When schools provide certain activities, it not only enhances creativity but also gives students a bit of relief and happiness. My school’s extracurricular activities are quite mediocre and lack a bit of elective with real-life scenarios, such as home ec, or financial education club, etc. With these activities, students will have a better idea of what life is after school and how to handle certain situations. These clubs are an example of classes that are worthwhile, fun, and somewhat necessary for survival.
Ideally, the school should be an environment where people should develop knowledge based on their interests, strengths, and weaknesses (being aware that those evolve through time), consequently making them excited about learning. So predetermined their interest by adding classes in their curriculum, it is not the best way to do it. Still surprised with that many people talking about real-life problems and situations. I am not sure that this format of reasoning by analogy is the best way to promote a fairer system and environment aiming the student's happiness and engagement. Instead, I prefer to reason by first principles, setting mutual views (if possible) on what we, as a society, really want our children to learn and practice. I believe that the main problem with school is the lack of its system's adaptation, not just throughout the years but also how the whole machine's operating system has adapted when encountered problems. Schools, like any other organization, have faced many issues throughout its existence, imagine leading maybe society's biggest concern, education. Concerning my school, I believe that they are in constant progress towards giving students the best experience, offering them different electives and advanced courses, and many times giving people the liberty to explore complex subjects. I hope that someday, we will create the best and most adaptable system that considers every variable, and at the same time, be able to see the big picture.
Students at a young age should be able to choose what to learn based on their interests and skills. Most schools do not teach students the necessary skills like cooking, doing taxes, and changing a simple tire. Therefore, schools should have essential skill classes such as basic things adults will face in real life, rather than know the value of "X." My school offers many diverse elective options where you can practice the one that best suits your personality. The most popular electives in my school are photojournalism and studio arts, but I still believe school should offer electives with skills we will genuinely use in our adult life and when we get out of our parent's house. At the beginning of high school, all scholars should be able to have classes they are interested in, which will be useful for them. At this stage at school, a traditional school curriculum should be put aside, and valuable information should be taught. In conclusion, schools should focus on teaching students what will truthfully be used rather than things we "should" learn based on traditional thinking.
I think that our school should be more like the schools in the USA because they can choose their classes and by that the students that know what they want to do do when they grow up can choose whichever classes according to what they want to study, the classes that we have are of course essential for us but I think that we should learn cooking and these types of classes for our future not only for college but to when we have our own house and these things, I think that our school should focus a little bit more on that.
I believe schools around the U.S should provide courses that actually teach students daily skills or skills that will be needed in the future. Providing financial education and cooking classes are some examples of essential electives that every school should provide. Many students, including me, are interested in courses that will somehow help them after they leave school. Providing those classes would help prepare the students for real life, not only a test. I heard several stories of people telling me that after they left school and entered college, they had no idea how to pay taxes, or even prepare a simple meal. My school does an excellent job on providing daily skill classes. We have programming and financial education courses, for example. However, if they could add more electives that taught us essential life long skills, I’m sure students would love it. To conclude, I think schools should add as many courses as possible that could actually teach their students life long lessons.
I think my school has outstanding options for courses that students should take. Like all schools, teaching and helping students is fundamental. But I don't think our school has prepared us for the future. Some classes that we have will be useless in the future. We won't use them for our future job. We should make the students for the real world, and they should see that nothing is perfect and comfortable. How will we know about the real lives studying for tests and presentations that some teachers don't even correct or give the grade? They need to know how to pay bills, work with responsibilities, think out of the box, and see that our society is not perfect. Classes of critical thinking and financial courses would be essential to help the students, and they would be more prepared. The aptitudes that we need to have the option to think are changed and incorporate perception, examination, understanding, reflection, assessment, deduction, clarification, critical thinking, and dynamic. Thinking plainly and deliberately can improve how we express our thoughts. In figuring out how to examine the sensible structure of writings, basic reasoning likewise improves perception capacities. Money-related preparation gives the administrators across various positions the ability to think regarding their work's monetary parts. It permits them to enhance their procedures after some time so that it lessens costs and improves effectiveness.
I think the school could add e-sports as an elective class. I think it would be essential to add e-sports as a class, because besides e-sports helping the development of group work makes you think about different strategies, different ways to do something in the game, the way to get to the enemy, etc. And it helps with group work, makes you meet new people, develop social interaction with your colleagues, each one has an important role. By making everyone have their role in the group, we can take advantage of each skill and talent in the group. After this brief explanation, we can see that there are many advantages, for example, strategies become more comprehensive, and knowledge becomes more complicated.
Most schools do offer extracurricular activities, but are they diving deep enough into that? In my opinion, most schools are not. As kids and teenagers, there are many skills we need to work on to face difficulties in the future. The majority of schools do an excellent job preparing us for the knowledge we will need to have for the future, nevertheless knowing something is not the same as understanding it. We have to push ourselves every inch to be capable of dealing with what is awaiting us. There is no way we can foresee the future, but we can prepare ourselves for it. However, if schools offered more opportunities to explore different things, it could help students when finding the career they want to pursue, for example.
It is a challenge for every school. Schools would have to adapt in many ways, but we would all be part of that adaptation; that way, schools would know how we feel so that they could help us improve every day. We all know what a struggle it is to define our profession. While we are growing up, it does not seem like something hard; we pick something that sounds fun. Nevertheless, after we grow up, it does not appear that easy anymore, and schools could be such a good help with that, just by implementing a broad extracurricular program including classes that could develop skills to strive in an ever-changing world. That way, schools would have their students ready for the bright future that awaits them.
My school has a amazing job teaching us. But I think that we must have more electives because I don't think we have a lot of options. I think that the electives that have in my school will not help me in my future, I think that the school could think a little more about our future. In my opinion the school prepare us very well to the subject but in the elective I think that they could get more prepared and make more options for us to choose.
The American School of Recife does an incredible job with all the students. But, in my opinion, like all schools, we have many things to improve and develop. First of all, I think that school should prioritize teaching and learning and not just grades, students should not study just to take a test or do a project, they should study to keep the knowledge for the rest of their lives. I also believe the school could explore more of the students' abilities, with a wider variety of classes, such as finance and economics, fashion, cooking, etc. Besides those these things that can help us in the future because some people will follow specific careers that will need these subjects, or at least will be helpful if we had; this can leave us more prepared, advanced, and help us know what to expect when we go to college, or even in a job. I don't think that just regular school subjects are enough, I believe that exploring each child's brain and their skills are fundamental to encourage them to try new things and see what their real abilities are.
Education is an enlightening experience that raises our society's future members and leaders; however, for far too many minority students, the educational system has left them feeling like outsiders. Those who are different don't feel accepted, or are misrepresented in the curriculum. Therefore, schools should offer mandatory classes on the struggles faced by minorities, such as the LGBTQ+ community, as well as on equality.
The current curriculum is not fulfilling its job of illustrating the reality of many around the world. Equality and diversity, or multiculturalism, should be regularly discussed topics, enabling growth, and cultivating conscious citizens. Furthermore, most people are uninformed of our world's history of white supremacy, and discrimination is commonly portrayed as a concept of the past, even though many still face it daily. This ignorance is due to negligence in our educational system. Students should be encouraged to be open-minded, and courses on equality and diversity, should be provided. Scotland, for example, is soon to become the first nation in the world to teach LGBTQ+ history, in an attempt to tackle discrimination and homophobia (The Guadian). This, as well as courses focused on other minorities, will help students feel safe and accepted. Additionally, it will create mindful world citizens who will fight against prejudice and be aware of others' struggles.
The majority of adults spend more than 12 years in school learning about subjects such as algebra, chemistry, and history. For us teenagers, it's no different. The one constant thing in our lives is going to school and learning about a variety of things, some interest us while others don't. Although the topics we cover in school are important and can be seen as crucial background knowledge for us to have going into our future, there's so much we do not know about that can make us prone to making disastrous mistakes that could have been avoided if we were taught to know better.
Applicants in an interview are asked multiple questions about what our strengths are and how we would handle a problem that needs to be taken care of immediately. We need basic communication skills so we can verbally discuss how they can benefit from adding us to their team. Schools need to prepare us to act professionally, help us understand how to handle our money correctly, and how to take care of ourselves physically, and mentally, along the way. While there are classes to teach us about some of these obstacles, schools need to make sure each student is taught enough practical skills that they are successfully prepared for their future. Basic understandings of how to cook, maintain your home, and pay the bills are simple tasks students need to know. If schools are supposed to give us the best chance at becoming successful adults, why aren't they giving us all the tools?
I think my school does a pretty good job of offering different elective options. But, I think they could put more options for us to expand our horizons—practical classes, like cooking or sports. I believe these ideas link with the real world because, during quarantine, even us teens and kids, had to learn new things, like and cooking. For me, if I had already taken that class in school, it would have been easier. I want to take cooking classes.
Cooking is an enjoyable and educational activity for everyone. It even makes us more responsible, because we learn how to do things by ourselves. In my opinion, its fun to learn to cook new recipes, especially sweets! Cooking is a hobby that many people practice; it's so much fun! That would be something I'd look forward to in my daily routine.
School is unquestionably necessary for all kids and teens, teaching us all the mandatory subjects, such as english, math, science, etc. Those are obviously crucial courses, and that should be taught and explored in school. However, in-real-life situations aren't very noticeable when observing schools' preparatory system. Schools should teach their students critical-thinking, as well as implement activities where decision-making and social skills are worked on. Complications involving anxiety and depression can also be a huge obstacle when trying to succeed in the real world. For that same reason, activities involving aiding students' mental health could be a fundamental element in learning.
All of the things listed above, though, should be carried out in an engaging approach, always making things enjoyable for the pupils. In conclusion, schools should consider adding more fundamental pursues; that reach out way further than only the principles of learning.
My school does an outstanding job of teaching and has great courses and extracurricular activities that will help us a lot in the future. Still, I realized that our electives and extracurricular activities should be more explored for when we take a step forward in the future because sometimes, the school teaches us things that we might not even use.
I think that my school should offer courses appropriated for what we want to take in the future; For example, business, politics, economics, and many others.
We should learn this kind of topic because it is essential for us, students, to be introduced to this before college. Schools should be more focused on preparing their students to be ready to face real life.
My school provides a great variety of courses and actives to take, we have some basic electives like arts and programming, and we can also choose to take Spanish and French classes along with some others. These options are interesting and have value to them, but sometimes I think that there could be something more.
When people in my class are asked what they think would be an excellent course to introduce to our school, most will talk about a class that teaches us how to handle financial problems like how and why to invest in a particular thing, or how to start a business. I believe that those are indeed crucial things to learn before beginning adult life that would help us make the best decisions when it comes to money and personal properties.
While I do agree it would be awesome to have the option of taking classes on this subject, I would prefer if the school were to give us a course which helps us think of the best steps to trace to achieve our dream job, and if we don't have one yet it could help us find the one that suits us the most. This class could also teach us more about how college works and how adult life is different from our current lives and give us the best advice on how to handle this change, a bit similar to Advisory classes, but ones that we could take aside from the required subject.
Do schools trigger the will of students to learn? I'm a huge believer that education is the key to an admirable society and life; however, many people only realize that once school days are already gone. Throughout school, those people are only able to look at the subjects as dull and uninteresting, instead of focusing on the growth they can provide. Nevertheless, each person always has at least one subject that triggers their creativity, interest, and focus; they can go from arts to biology, to english, to philosophy, to math.
People have different personalities and, consequently, different interests and different ways of learning. As long as the school system keeps teaching children only the mandatory general information in an old-school method, the children will never be able to fully explore themselves and their real passions. That's why schools should always keep innovating and adding topics that will truly fit the student's personality and trigger their love for learning. (+)
@Maria Clara M
(+) I studied in a traditional school all my life until I moved to an international school in 7th grade. Once I started exploring that new curriculum that contained photojournalism, studio art, french, business, ecology, or whatever I wanted to learn, I realized what I've been missing. I'm aware that my current school isn't the best school of all in regards to the variety of topics, for, of course, there may be better ones throughout the world. Still, even the slightest contact with this variety made me see education in an entirely new way.
Fortunately, my school's curriculum had a considerable match with my personality, and I was able to explore my passions out of there. Yet, there are infinite types of character, and several topics could be included to explore those. Exquisite examples of topics that could be adopted are "How to Adopt a Visionary Mind," or "How to Use your Abilities in Favor of Social Services," which would establish terrific values and skills in all kinds of personalities and trigger the mindset for opportunities and love for education. Notwithstanding, hundreds of other topics could be created and would do the same; as the article states, "the sky is the limit."
My school has an amazing job teaching us. And i personally love them. But i think we should have more things that will help us in the future, how to improve ourselves, and that will help us a lot. Because sometimes school teaches us a lot of subjects that we might not use in the future that much. I think we should learn more about, an example is bussiness. Its really important for our future, because we can already prepared, and know how to properly save our money, and use it correctly. Cooking is also another great example, we should learn how to cook the basic things, so we start to be more independent, and help people in our house as well. All of that examples will help us improve our knowledge, and be concient of anything that comes into our way in the future.
I believe my school offers engaging classes where one can build robots with legos, create stunning videos and yearbooks, sing their hearts out during band, speak fluent French to the waiter and order a croissant in Saint-Germain Deprès. Yet, I don't think the school offers enough survival classes. As teenagers, we gain maturity only with time, and school should keep up with that. Sometimes, even though there are several options for classes or electives, it can still not be enough, since they are all related somehow. I believe that schools should provide fundamental courses that will help individuals mature, such as cooking, financial education, and health. I am proud to say that I can prepare a savoring dinner with an exquisite entry, delicious main dish, and a delightful dessert. But I am ashamed to say that I do not know how to do my laundry, cash a check, pay taxes, make a bank deposit, or save a friend while choking.
It is not only essential to know first aid techniques, select nutritious meals, but adopt healthy habits that will teach us lessons to deal with issues, and become more independent as we grow. After all, it is absurd to arrive in college, knowing how to solve incredibly hard math problems without being able to do simple daily life tasks.
Today many schools fail to have subjects that teach the students real-life matters. Studying for tests is very different from getting a job, which is why schools should offer electives that are related to real-life issues. For me, Financial Education is a curse that every person needs to learn in their adult life. The curse would teach students how money is made, spent, and saved, as well as the skills and abilities to use financial resources to make decisions. These decisions include how to generate, invest, spend, and save money.
Financial education is essential to any school; every student should understand the value of money, and the way the economic system works, since to interpret financial news and its implications is a virtue. Academical environments must adopt more curses that teach things that students will use in their daily lives; schools use the same methods of teaching that they used years ago, however, the world is changing, evolving, and schools must do the same.
I think schools all around the world should add more subjects. These subjects should be about what you do in your real daily routine. Things such as cooking and economics are fundamental to almost everyone’s life, I’ll even risk myself to say that it is even more important than subjects like biology for the majority of the population. By adding these types of subjects, schools would prepare students much more for their grown up lives. I’m not saying that schools all around the world are wrong in teaching these actual subjects, but I’m saying that most of the things we learn in school aren’t in fact what we need.
When you analyze a phone for 20 years ago and then analyze a phone from today, you see a considerable difference, progression, and technological advancement between both models. But when you look at a school from 20 years ago and compare it with a school from today, almost nothing changed. Today things are constantly changing to adapt to this new world. I also feel that schools need to change some subjects. For example, most people will never use your knowledge on igneous and sedimentary rocks, but you will need to pay bills, make money, and, most importantly, deal with life. Those things are not thought, but do you know what is, arts! What do you think is more important, creating your own business or knowing who painted the Monalisa? Think about that! As said before, things evolved, and schools did not.
School is undoubtedly essential for all kids and teenagers; we learn math, science, grammar, etc. But are we ready to become world citizens? Have teachers taught us how to face real life? In my opinion, schools shouldn't be just about academic lessons, but also about dealing with the world.
For about a century, almost everything in the world has changed; technology, cars, and even fashion! But a simple thing that students deal with every single day of their lives didn't change, and this thing is school. Every student in the world knows how to solve for "x," but do they know how to manage money or pay a bill? The answer is no. Essential things that we will actually need when we graduate aren't mentioned!
If ten years ago, schools improved and added self-defense in their curriculum, thousands of women wouldn't be murdered, hurt, or harassed.
If schools change, students will graduate with confidence, ready to face real life, not afraid, and knowing what to do.
My school does an excellent job of teaching, but I realized that they could add something that would add more to our future after reading the article. They could use the opinions of economics, finances, and other things we will use every day in the future. We, students, understand that we need to learn math, science, history, and other stuff we have classes every day, but our school should use things to help us in our adult lives.
The school does not prepare us for the future! Why am I starting with this quote? Because in my opinion, the school makes us spend much time in subjects that in my opinion most of the information we learn in it will just be transformed into "fun facts" that we have learned. Of course, learn biology, physics, history is crucial, and depending on the path that we choose to follow, some of those subjects will be more useful, but the school does us spend much time in some subjects that the information I have learned will be useless in my life.
The absence of courses and classes of things and pieces of information that will be crucial in our lives is worrisome. In my opinion, it is inadmissible a student get out of school without knowing how to pay taxes, declare income tax, and how to make a contract. They must build a workforce with consistent skills developed since childhood so that we don't have to deal with more unemployment and inequality in the future. According to the National Survey of Financial Education in Schools, 81% of students who have financial education spend part of what they receive and save another part for plans.
Some kids and teenagers have unique abilities and qualities that, in my opinion, the school should be the place they should be encouraged to explore and develop. The lack of creativity in school has, makes us focus more on the study and do homework of physical science than to develop an ability that most people don't even imagine some of them have.
My school does an excellent job teaching; they provide some electives by our preference and style, with excellent teachers. But I think some subjects that are "mandatory" in our day by day in school are not so useful in some job in the future. Schools, in general, should give the choice of some classes starting High School, because most people at that age already have a little notion of what they want for the future.
Schools should offer a course related to finance, business.These are some courses that we need in the future, no matter the job we chose.
My school does an excellent job teaching; they provide some electives by our preference and style, with excellent teachers. But I think some subjects that are "mandatory" in our day by day in school are not so useful in some job in the future. Schools, in general, should give the choice of some classes starting High School, because most people at that age already have a little notion of what they want for the future.
Schools should offer a course related to finance, business.These are some courses that we need in the future, no matter the job we chose.
Over the decades, the quest for a permanent educational curriculum yielded the perpetuation of old-world values in denial of systematic development. Global competencies now require skills such as creativity and critical thinking; as a result, subjects need to evolve and adapt to students' changing needs. Schools should offer a wider range of classes, as multiple life topics aren't covered, most importantly being medical skills in first aid.
Regardless if one is administering CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation), treating a Heimlich maneuver, handling an allergic reaction, applying a defibrillator, or delivering basic care until help arrives, first-aid techniques can save lives. As reported by St John Ambulance, "every year, 140,000 people die from injuries and sudden illnesses who could have had a chance of survival if they had experienced immediate and effective first aid." When an emergency strikes, having basic first aid practical knowledge could make all the difference, engraving a boundary between life and death. The school setting is ideal for this medical training, helping students stay safe and ready to assist classmates and families. Thus stimulating students to provide help, first aid lessens fatalities and ensures safety for everyone.
5
School is unquestionably essential, but I think they could do a better job preparing kids for their future and helping kids explore their passions. School has taught me that to be successful and meaningful in the future, I should always have good grades, which led me to be more focused on gettings A's than learning. I'm used to reading, memorizing, and forgetting because I know that I will probably not use it after school. But why spend time learning things that I will eventually forget rather than something I will need in the future. At school, I've heard so much about universities and how to get into them, but not much about what I will do after college.
I know many different types of rocks, but I don't know how to buy a house or pay bills. I think schools should teach students about emotional intelligence, economics, major worldwide issues, and more. As for extracurriculars and electives, we should have a variety of options for kids to choose from because they are unique and have their passions.
We, students, learn a lot in high school, and indeed, we can be the best in our professions, but are we ready to be world citizens? After school, we know how to solve equations, understand periods in history, and interpret novels; however, the most valuable lessons we are keeping are not academic. A more beneficial school curriculum includes the theoretical parts, and mandatory regular subjects joined with real-life experiences settings. Those lessons should consist of what is learned at home that could be incorporated into the classroom. When a kid or a teenager, everything is handled easily; however, it doesn't work that way in real life. Teachers and parents need to challenge the children to go beyond and learn that life is much more than just reading, memorizing, testing, and repeating. Especially after all the circumstances, we have passed due to the pandemic, the schools have proven to the whole world that they can adapt, and now it is time to adjust to the society's wills. The school should teach us how to manage money, work hard, make big decisions, and, most importantly, know how to struggle, fail, and persevere as we work together in a community. Undoubtedly, any one of these will be useful in some phase of anyone's life, even though it is rarely discussed in school. As a fantastic teacher used to say, "If you go out of this class knowing the dynasties and the periods in history, amazing! But I am much more worried about the type of citizen I am forming you to be."
Schools can sometimes fail to prepare their students for the real world. Life is not only about knowing how to find “x”, what the 15th president of the United States was, or whence to distinguish active from passive voice; it is much more than that. Of course, these pieces of information are necessary to acknowledge, however, don’t you agree that there are so many other things out there to learn that would be more useful in the daily than these types of learnings?
Instead, schools should teach their students fundamental skills, such as self-defence. This type of ability would not only intensify students’ self-confidence but also help them identify and prevent acts of crime and the likelihood of bullying. According to Orion Security, “over 750,000 students in the U.S. aged from 12-18 years have directly experienced violent crimes”. Teenagers would be able to avoid most of these situations if they learned self-defence.
Our world has changed that’s clear if you compare a car, a building, or a phone from decades ago to a modern one; it is an enormous difference. However, resembling a classroom from the 50s and a class now, we don't see a significant difference, we are being taught the same curriculum our grandparents were. Sure we know how to solve for X, we know how to format a peel, we know how to differentiate the times in history, know what osmosis is. But does we know how to do our taxes, how to buy a house, and how to survive the real world?
According to the educational system, in general, schools do a great job, they teach us the usual subjects, which for the schools if you know them it's basically a synonym of "intelligence," and that's the problem they judge our knowledge from tests and quizzes, but it goes far beyond them that. They are forming workers, not citizens. In school, we should be taught how to cook, how to do first aid, personal finance, relationship values, manners, and time management.
The education they give us is irrefutable, but we left school without knowing one percent of what the world hold for us.
Schools must teach students about economics, such as how to invest or the basics of buying and selling properties. Learning about investing from an early age is crucial for adult life. Investing can help people make money, but it can also help students understand current trends in today's political climate. For instance, if students observe political trends, they will be able to know which current companies are good to invest in and which to avoid.
Economics is also the gateway to make money in life. Buying property is another vital element of adulthood. If students know how to buy and sell property, they will gain a valuable asset early on in their lives. This will enable them to be less prone to make mistakes relating to inadequate investments when buying a property in their adult lives.
In addition, economics puts to practice a plethora of information about making money and how to start businesses. Not only does economics prepare people for possible bankruptcies and how to recover from them, but it also teaches people how to avoid scams.
Overall, students will be able to overcome challenging problems in the future by learning about economics.
1
My school has great courses and extracurricular activities that will help us a lot once we take a step forward into our adult lives. However, I wish they had after school classes that would be appropriate for what we want to take in the future. Some of these courses may include financial, business, and some other courses that could give me a head start on what we are going to learn in college. I also think that this would be a beneficial thing because some students don’t know what they wish to be in the future. They could use these classes as an experience to try them out and see what they are most interested in.
Another course that I think the school should offer is about extracurricular activities that are related to art, such as drama classes. There are a lot of kids and teenagers that love acting. Some of my friends, for example, love it because drama is a form of how people can express themselves. Before deciding which one will be our chosen career, we can change many times, so it is interesting for us to have millions of options before we make the final choice.
I think my school should offer courses that could help us in the future—for example, business, how to manage our money, emotional intelligence, and politics. I wish I could learn more about these topics because I will need it when I get out of school.
Sometimes I feel like my school teaches subjects that I will never use in the future; I think schools, in general, need to pay more attention to topics that are important to their student's future.
My school should have an investment course because I and many others are absorbed by the contents of investment and economics. I will explain in detail why learning to invest would give an advantage in life and in university.
Firstly, learning how to invest can help people make money. When students go to an economic University, students will already be used to the investment market. The investment market won`t be something new for them. Secondly, it could teach students that unfortunately, the world is not perfect and that in the investment world it has scams and the investment course could explain how to avoid the scams in the investment that seems good but its a scam.
According to investor Kleber, “ it would make students more prepared for the world, and the course will change the student thinking about the world, the student will have an investor thinking and an opened mind for the world and for new investments.” this quote represents that after the course the student will have an open mind for the market and new investments.
English, Maths, Science, and Geography are certain subjects taught in schools that are beneficial in our everyday lives. However, there are numerous other lessons that are essential, and that must be taken into consideration by schools all over the world. I wish schools would consider teaching first aid to students, from a young age. According to a St John Ambulance survey, “Every year 140,000 people die from injuries and sudden illnesses who could have had a chance of survival if they had experienced immediate and effective first aid.” They also stated that only 1 out of 10 people could or would administer CPR if someone needed it, while others would immediately call for emergency, and by the time the paramedics arrived it would have been too late. Furthermore, if schools honestly realized how critical knowing the basics of first aid is, students could really make a change to our future and maybe one day save someone’s significant life. In Wales and Ireland, this is already the case with first aid being a compulsory part of the curriculum, while in other countries it’s not even being thought of. If the “reason” schools aren’t open about teaching first aid because the curriculum is already full, then they should cut a class that's not as prominent, in view of the fact that first aid/CPR can literally save a person's future.
My school offers great courses that come with amazing teachers, but I realized that the electives and extracurricular activities are not as explored as I believe they should be. Students should be able to explore the infinite possibilities they have, by that I mean to be somehow introduced to situations that will often occur throughout their future lives. Economics and finances, for example, should be a lot more explored than they are because they are both things that a person will need in life, even in the slightest way. Optional courses aimed at college life should be available to students that are interested in knowing a little bit more about each of them. Doing this can also help students decide on what they like and in what branch they want to follow in life. Schools should be more focused on preparing their students for real-life matters, not only to graduate school.
One thing I wish my school would offer more would be more discussions about world problems because us kids are the future of the world. Because of that, we have to be introduced to some problems today because if not when we graduate we won't understand anything, and whats going on in the world. The second thing I think we should learn about is finances. When we grow up, we will have to know how to manage the money we make, and we will have to learn how to study the stock market, or how when you leave your money in your savings account, it increases the amount of interest each month, etc.
How come schools tell students in the early stages of their lives that they need to have an impeccable academic curriculum in order to succeed, but never teach them how to cope with the enormous amount of pressure and stress they are submitted to in the process? Students are never taught the right way to deal with their workload without feeling overwhelmed or how to manage their anxiety before a test or presentation. Not knowing how to address those feelings adequately leads many students to be constantly tense, stressed, and can even lead to the development of mental disorders later on life.
Thus, it is not surprising that half of all mental health issues start by the age of 14 (WHO); after all, students are overloaded with information and expectations and have no skills to handle those in a healthy way. Therefore, mental health should be included in the scholar curriculum as a mandatory course, since it is a crucial and life-longing skill. During the classes, students will learn how to manage stress and anxiety, how to recognize what they are feeling and identify symptoms of a possible disorder, and ultimately, they will learn that it is ok not to be the best, especially when such commitment represents a risk to their health.
Like many others, my school has a psychologist that students can go to when they feel like they should; however, such assistance is not sufficient since many students will not reach out for help for not recognizing they need it.
2
How come schools tell students in the early stages of their lives that they need to have an impeccable academic curriculum in order to succeed, but never teach them how to cope with the enormous amount of pressure and stress they are submitted to in the process? Students are never taught the right way to deal with their workload without feeling overwhelmed or how to manage their anxiety before a test or presentation. Not knowing how to address those feelings adequately leads many students to be constantly tense, stressed, and can even lead to the development of mental disorders later on life.
Thus, it is not surprising that half of all mental health issues start by the age of 14 (WHO); after all, students are overloaded with information and expectations and have no skills to handle those in a healthy way. Therefore, mental health should be included in the scholar curriculum as a mandatory course, since it is a crucial and life-longing skill. During the classes, students will learn how to manage stress and anxiety, how to recognize what they are feeling and identify symptoms of a possible disorder, and ultimately, they will learn that it is ok not to be the best, especially when such commitment represents a risk to their health.
Like many others, my school has a psychologist that students can go to when they feel like they should; however, such assistance is not sufficient since many students will not reach out for help for not recognizing they need it.
From what I understood from the article, there are many things that we could improve at my school. My school does a phenomenal job showing and instructing us about essential subjects like Science, Math, English, History, and others. Yet, our school should also train us about things we will require in our future, such as covering duties and what we will expect contingent upon the occupations we decide for our future. At the point when we get to secondary school, our school should offer courses like medical training for those who are interested in medical school and other academic training for what the future brings us.
From what I understood from the article, there are many things that we could improve at my school. My school does a phenomenal job showing and instructing us about essential subjects like Science, Math, English, History, and others. Yet, our school should also train us about things we will require in our future, such as covering duties and what we will expect contingent upon the occupations we decide for our future. At the point when we get to secondary school, our school should offer courses like medical training for those who are interested in medical school and other academic training for what the future brings us.
Have you ever stopped to think about how much time you've spent doing useless activities? Such as browsing through social media, trying to memorize a dance from TikTok, or even spending countless hours trying to learn a concept from a subject you know won't be useful for your future life. School teaches students that good grades are a signal of a successful life, but what about when we get to the real world? Is this a correct assumption? Nowadays, students crave more and more to learn about economics and personal finance. Learning how to manage your money is one of the most important aspects of adult life, how come such knowledge isn't taught in school?
With a personal finance club, students would be immersed in the "adult life" that has been so feared. Complex topics such as; budgeting, banking, insurance, mortgages, investments, retirement planning, and tax and estate planning would be discussed or understandably introduced to the class. It is believed that schools play a significant role in "preparing students to be future world citizens," and the personal finance club would be the first step to achieving this goal.
The personal finance club is expected to positively influence matters dealing with the personal security of the next generation. If citizens want the world to change, their starting point should be rebuilding the school system, so that children learn from civilization's past mistakes and try to establish solutions.
1
Have you ever wondered what the school's role is? It is said that it prepares students for life. But is it actually doing what it's supposed to? Are we graduating prepared for our adulthood? In my opinion, we are not. Our interests are not being as explored as they should be, or are not even an option. I believe schools should be less limited when it comes to electives and after school programs. It should expose kids to situations that can be useful in their daily lives.
For those interested in fashion, it would be great to have an elective to improve their skills in drawing and sewing. Culinary arts, personal finance, basic automotive engineering, or learning how to play instruments would be beneficial classes that many students would opt to take. They are not only fun but will also have a significant impact on each student's lives in the future.
School thinks it's essential to memorize formulas and learn equations when, in reality, many adults have no idea how to invest in the stock market. Students are ending up memorizing information for the test and then forgetting everything in the next day. I believe each lesson we learn at school should be something that will be advantageous for our future. If it is not, what is the point of getting good grades but not knowing how to manage your own finances?
American School of Recife does a great job with courses and extracurricular. They have very diverse and challenging activities, where students can learn new sports, instruments, dances, and singing classes. The school can improve, but they have a very well organized base of curses. One curse they can try to establish in school is the acting lessons, and acting is excellent for kids. It allows them to express themselves in different ways, and acting lessons would open new doors for new curses and extracurricular.
Asking students about their opinions about their curses can help American schools do new extracurricular activities where students would
participate with more passion.
Question: What course or courses do you wish your school would offer? Why? Give us as much detail about your proposed course(s) as you can
The courses that I would like to have in my school are Economics and also business class. For example, I want to do business and economics in college, and I want to be introduced to this before college. I also would enjoy a lot learn cooking. Because I love cooking, I like to cook meat or do spaghetti.
In the Economics class, we would learn about investment, how to invest, and how to manage your money. In business class, how to manage a company and how to influence people, reading the book: "How to Win Friends & Influence People" by Dale Carnegie. In cooking class, we would learn how to cook basic things, like rice, meat, spaghetti, and etc.
Education is ever-evolving, and especially during such modern times, it should change and grow as it needs to adapt to new technology and skills required to function in society. The school curriculum should not only teach students the subjects that have been present for decades, but also educate the teenagers on real-life skills they will need after leaving high school. A study done by the AACU discovered that merely 55 percent of students in high school feel ready to enter the real world; however, that number should be much higher. There is a multitude of skills that should be taught in classes to prepare students; for example, the student should be taught how to manage their finances when leaving high school, since an overwhelming number of students end up with thousands in college debt, and students should also be taught other things like how to do taxes.
However, economics isn't the only important subject that is lacking in schools. Sex education is probably a essential thing hormonal teens should learn,but it's still not being taught adequately; Students should learn about contraceptive methods since it's a very efficient way to diminish the number of teen pregnancies. It is also crucial to learn about consent and what the student should do if raped or sexually harassed,since it's unfortunately a common occurrence.
There are still other skills that should be in the curriculum like how to apply to college, basic first aid, etc.
3
Schools should give students the liberty to be a part of a course of interest. Many schools lack electives that include significant fields of knowledge. These fields can range from computer science to investment courses. New courses can help students explore their interests and choose a future career based on the topic. Fortunately, some learning institutes are considering some of these ''unique'' interests as part of their enrollment program and department, such as the National Association of Collegiate Esports, the Robert Morris University Illinois, and Parsons Paris school as exemplified in the article. Since additional courses are crucial for developing the student's mindset and goals, the school's curriculum should include them.
I wish my school offered more courses related to technology. Learning about technology gives us an extra advantage, on career or life, since we interact with it daily. These courses can include; computer science and video editing. To convince my school, I would first contact the principal and explain the advantages of working with computer-related activities. By working with computers, students can be more prepared to elaborate on a project such as a slides presentation and edit a video. Some teachers in my school give us the freedom to choose our research topic. My proposed course revolves around the growing world of technology, which is improved every day, and several people depend on it—this world branches into electronics like computers.
In school English, Maths, Science, and Language classes are the essentials classes that benefit us in our daily lives. Instead of those classes, we also have social study, art, and PE, based on students' interests. Although those classes are essential, the school should pay more attention to the future development for students, why? Student's futures are built when they're in schools, if the school doesn't provide well-being scrutiny before the college, they're facing the problem of bewilderment in society issues. Society isn't that simple as we thought, it's super deep, a careless move may well trigger an all-new debate and conflict. Therefore, the schools should afford subjects like finance, design, engineering, marketing, cooking to have one more way in the future. Somehow everything they learn right now will become some necessary part of their life. Nowadays, parents take most of the responsibility, for example, the documents that need to be signed, taxes that need to be paid, and everything used in our daily lives. In the future, a lot of stuff will flash, they should know how to face the problem without their parents, and learn to distinguish right from wrong, if they determine freely, it will only bring more confusion for them. As Malcolm X said, "Education is our passport to the future because tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today." After they grow up, they'll have their own family, they're going to start taking all of those responsibilities.
Do you know how to do laundry? Have you ever ironed your clothes? If there was fire, would you be able to manipulate the fire extinguisher properly? Probably not - most children are never required to do so. However, as you move out of your parent's house and into a new world of dirty laundry, wrinkled clothes, and responsibility, these skills soon become necessary. The lengthy struggle to learn basic householding skills could finally end if only schools added a new class to the curriculum: life skills education. In such course, students would learn practical, everyday skills, as already mentioned, cleaning and emergency responses, but also how to do your taxes, cook, budgeting, first aid, etc..
"There are obviously two educations. One should teach us how to make a living and the other how to live" (James Truslow Adams). In the former, school succeeds; in the latter, it still needs improvement. Thus, life skills education becomes a fundamental class: why let young-adults spends years struggling to discover how to live and how to manage everything when we can teach them beforehand?
7
In Schools, most students think that their grades will determine their further and the rest of their lives. But that not true their scores do reflect the actions and studies but that does not mean they don't have potential. For examples, electives can show what the teachers don't know about their students and what they enjoy and their potential on what they wont to become and learn that's why electives are so important they help the student get closer to their dreams and help teacher connect and learn the best way to teach and make it fun for them to learn. In the American School of Recife, there are electives but that not a lot and won't make the teachers connect with students because if the students are not happy and don`t like any of the electives they still have to do it and that will not help the learning because the teacher won't find out what they like and see how they work when theirs something interesting and fun that will make them not have a smile and all will not focus on what they're doing. They should put something new that will help in life cooking and more stuff.
1
One of the major issues the world is currently dealing with is poor adolescent health and wellness, not only in high school but also in college, as many teenagers know nothing about culinary and nutrition. As youth takes on the responsibilities of life and even move out of their parent’s house, it becomes apparent the importance of learning how to cook and know about nutrition. However, the lack of that knowledge often leads to occasional snacks and unhealthy habits, increasing the rates of obesity and chronic diseases among young adults.
By providing food and nutrition classes, schools would grant life-changing information, covering the food system, cooking, and nutrition education. The school system would immediately grow healthier lifestyles among teenagers and provide life-time skills. As proper nutrition often correlates to productiveness, this program would increase learning readiness and academic achievement, besides practicing basic math skills, such as weighing, measuring, counting and tracking time, and the gain of social skills developed by students team-working and communicating.
I think schools should teach how money works, taxes, how to choose a great job, buy a house, managing a business, etc. I think that way because these are one of the things that we are going to need most in our lives. It is really important to know how money works because a lot of people do not know and will just spend it all on things that aren't worth it. Not saying that your parents can't teach you those things but, there are a lot of kids who don't have parents and with that, the school turns into their only source of knowing how the world and things work. The rest of the things like I said we should know them because we will need them throughout our lives. There are a lot more things that I could've said that school should teach us but those are the things that I think matters the most!
Students always learn subjects in schools that they won't need in the future, but have a minimum knowledge of all those subjects is necessary for our life. However, I believe schools should focus more on offer classes that are more relevant according to the career the student will follow, which will turn the courses more interesting for the students and also help them eventually. Unfortunately, schools forget about teaching the students the crucial things that they will need for life. For example, how to cook, how to invest money, how to provide first aid, or how to defend yourself.
People usually ask themselves, "why do we go to school? I will not use this subject during my life". Therefore, many schools nowadays are teaching new subjects that are going to make a difference in our academic life. For example, in my school, we have AP (Advanced Placement) classes that teach us any subject we want but at the college level. Furthermore, we also have the electives that allow us to learn about ourselves and the world and encourage us to develop valuable life skills that stick with us throughout our lives.
In the article, Katherine asks, " What would you like to learn in school if you could learn anything? ". I believe that every school should teach how adult life works. Such as learning things like budgeting, paying bills, credit cards. If schools were already taught a subject like that, I believe that most students would drop school more prepared.
I think my school offers many essential courses that are very important to the student's futures. In my opinion, some Elective courses at my school could be replaced by courses like Economics and Investment classes. If students don't learn the basics of investing at an early age, they run the risk of making huge mistakes with their money in their future that could potentially lead to them losing it all. These courses could also be important to students because it will teach them how to manage their money and spend it wisely.
In my school, we have a certain variation of activities, but I wish they would add more activities, and give us more options on what we want to do, for example, if we want to concentrate more in sports in the future then that certain student should be able to take more classes, that are related to sports. I believe that my school is already doing a pretty good job when it comes because it has more activities than most school, but they could do better if they asked the student what they are interested in and wish that they could make some modifications, and remove the ones that the students do like. To convince my school I would make a survey and give it to the students so we can show the school what we would like, I would also do some research on how this could impact a student's future and then present it to the school.
It is common knowledge that schools are places where most learners are inclined to believe that their grades will determine their futures. Even though their scores represent responsibility and efficiency, most modern academic institutions produce great test-takers, not prominent citizens. I dare say that the American School of Recife has outstanding teachers and courses. Like many others, electives such as French, Spanish, Yearbook, and Studio Arts are available. However, I hold that these classes are not sufficient to stimulate students to discover their vocations.
The absence of courses that illustrate how professions work makes it hard for pupils to fulfill their destinies as whatever they wish to be. I firmly believe that a Professions Course is of vital relevance to students. In this class, learners would experience how distinct jobs work. They would study the skills required by each profession and discover their talents and weaknesses. Few are the students who mature early enough to identify who they are and what they aim to be. I find it outraging to trust hormonal and disoriented teenagers to decide what careers they wish to pursue with only the primary understanding of them. We live in an age where determined and innovative personalities lead our nations; those who do not grasp these skills are unlikely to succeed as professionals. That is why students must discover their passions at a young age; to ingress adulthood with expertise, knowledge, and maturity.
Basic subjects should be mandatory for all the schools. However, I firmly believe that the students could have the option to choose to do more classes about something that they are professionally inclined. For example, the students at Robert Morris University Illinois, e-sports are part of the athletic department. With more options, the students can know what they like the most, making it easier for them to decide their careers.
My school is doing a good job, because of the electives, that gives us a variety of subjects like Studio Art, Photojournalism, Robotics, Community service... But on the other hand, there are many areas that we could explore, like a business club that is a very recent and modern topic that I would like to have more knowledge about it and I don't. The importance of this diversity of subjects is gigantic. Besides helping the students on their professional path, it also helps us make our own choices and be more independent.
I understand that school is balanced for you to learn all abilities you need for your future. My school includes exciting electives, indeed, but I would add more options. If I could add any class, it would be a hard choice indeed. Poetry, Ballet, and Astrology would be my prime choices.
Schools should stick with some core classes, like math and English, which will be meaningful for our career; they should also add some unique programs. Schools should offer programs that students could be passionate about or even relate to their future jobs. It could be enjoyable and healthy for schools to add sports courses like golf, baseball, or even rock climbing several times in the week. Students should be on the path to deciding their careers in school, so discovering something you are passionate about in school would be life-changing. In my opinion, schools should obligatorily have two core subjects, many courses that students could be excited about, and two sports classes that students could decide. Schools might agree with the courses I offer because they are about two things that schools care: the students' future career and the students' health. Schools should care about molding the students' future and introducing them to the subjects they want to pursue a career. My school every year is getting better about sports and also electives. My school also has some limitations, but they always try improving. My school doesn't offer a wide variety of courses for the students to choose from, but my school creates some new classes every year.
After reading this article, I have realized that my school might not have as many electives as I'd like. As it says in the report, schools in the US have a vast option of electives, like cooking, woodshop, entrepreneurship, arts, athletics, etc. In comparison, my school has only a few basic choices for electives like Studio Arts, Photojournalism, Robotics, Spanish, and French, and I think they should add classes that might help us in college and in life. I can't say there are no good options because my school does a great job with the rest of the subjects. However, I think there should be a way to make more classes for learning new things like cooking. The skills that you develop in a course like this can be notably beneficial, and students will learn recipes and tips that can help them throughout their whole life.
I feel that my school does a great job of teaching us the basic, “important” subjects. However, I believe that it could be better at adding subjects that will help us as students understand the world around them. One subject in particular is ASL, or sign language. Around 1 in 20 Americans suffer from hearing loss or are currently deaf. If we had the opportunity to learn their language, it would open up a whole new world of communication. It is a great opening to new friends, jobs, and connection that I feel schools aren’t paying enough attention to.
I wish my school would offer a course about something that we would like to study in college like if you want to study business, so it will be a class that would be one day or two in a week, and you could explore the curs that you would like to have in college. If you don't know what to do yeat each semester or year, you can change like electives. This course will help us have an idea of which profession we want to follow.
Our school does a fantastic job teaching us about basic subjects like Science, Math, English, and others, but I believe our school should teach us about things we will need in our future, like paying taxes, cooking and what we will need depending on the jobs we choose for our future. When we get to high school, our school should offer courses like cooking and finances so that we can do better in the future.
Not every student has the privilege of having parents who have time and patience to teach their child how to take care of house tasks, such as using a washing machine, cooking, sewing, paying taxes, or starting the power generator when there is a fail or a storm. That is why schools should include daily life activities in classes, those duties might seem very simple at first, but they are essential for life, just like math, science, and English.
Learning math, science, and English is fundamental for our future. Schools should also teach us how to be good citizens, finance ( investing), and being independent. School is preparing us to get a good job, but they also should prepare us to be good people and make the world a better place in the future. It would help us to know how to use money, to invest and paying things. If someone whats to be a restaurant chef, does the school teach us? No, it doesn't. Schools should do more exotic things like cooking, racing, or interviewing.
I believe that schools should add classes that would prepare us for our adult lives and even our future jobs. One example would be Personal finances class. This class would be really good to prepare students for their adult life in dealing with stressful bills, smart ways to invest money, saving tips, taxes, and how to manage debt. Another class I believe would be a good idea in schools is sustainable living. In this era of scary climate, I think that teaching students how to live a sustainable living would do a great impact on the planet and maybe revert the climate right now.
I believe that schools should add classes that would prepare us for our adult lives and even our future jobs. One example would be Personal finances class. This class would be really good to prepare students for their adult life in dealing with stressful bills, smart ways to invest money, saving tips, taxes, and how to manage debt. Another class I believe would be a good idea in schools is sustainable living. In this era of scary climate, I think that teaching students how to live a sustainable living would do a great impact on the planet and maybe revert the climate right now.
My school does an excellent job of teaching. However, it does not prepare us for the future. The school could offer courses, for example, entrepreneurship, leadership, and economics. These are things we will use in our daily lives in the future. Of course, we need to understand a bit of science, mathematics, and history, but studying other skills for your adult life is more important for a successful life. Schools do not explore the students concerning their hobbies—sports activities, electives, and after schools are great for the development of students and fun after hard studies.
I think that we learn a lot of important subjects in school like Science, English, Math and many others, but there is some important knowledge that we only learn in adulthood like how to invest, pay taxes and cook, and as a student, I would like to learn these things in advance so when the time comes I'm already knowledgable about these topics and won't get overwhelmed right at the start.
My school does an excellent job at teaching. However, it does not prepare us for the future. The school could offer courses, for example, entrepreneurship, leadership, and economics. These are things we will use in our daily lives in the future. Of course, we need to understand science, mathematics, and history, but studying other skills for the future is more important for a successful life. Schools also do not explore students concerning their hobbies. Sports activities, electives, and after schools are great for the development of students and fun after hard studies.
It would be great if schools could offer classes focusing on getting into college and future college experiences. Many students go into high school, not knowing the requirements for graduation, what a college essay consists of, what to expect from college, how extracurricular activities affect your college application or even the process of graduating college. This class could help students prepare themselves for college and make them feel less stressed about meeting the requirements. The course should be optional and available after freshman year. It will not only permit the student to be better prepared, but it will assure them that they still have time to understand college expectations and time to get their plans for the future together.
I think that school should prepare us with other classes that everyone will need in the future, for example, finance class. Our schools could add different courses into the school curriculum as a diverse class, where we wouldn't have more stress and have to study as harder as to the other ones. The financial, investment, cooking, and many other courses could be only for high-schoolers or even after school clubs; it would already help a lot, and that way, no one would do something they don't want to.
Schools these days should add classes that are more relevant to the students' futures. For example, if someone wants to go into a career as a chef, they don't need to learn as much about science, or PE. Most schools claim that they are properly teaching students how to prepare for their future, but if kids leave school not knowing how to do taxes, or get the job they want, they aren't being prepared enough. That's why there should be more politics classes, cooking classes, medical classes, film classes, design classes, accounting classes, and others like that.
@Lilly N I agree with this point made how students should be able to have classes more aiding towards there future. However I feel though the reason they have some of these classes as requirements is just so they have a sort of basic understanding of certain materials. Furthermore, I do wish they had more classes that would help for ones future because it only helps those kids and gives them a heads up before college.
Schools around the globe have been teaching the same subjects for centuries. Regarding the change of different things like technology or communication throughout the years, why haven't schools around the world changed so drastically as these things have? As science evolved, how did people find more about how no two people are the same, yet schools remain to have a "one size fits all" teaching approach for everyone?
School should be a place to arrange and project a person's future. Students should be able to have autonomy in choosing the classes they want to take. For example, implementing classes to learn about personal finance, sustainable living, and public speaking would benefit a student's professional life in a way where perhaps a subject like music would not. Like all other systems, education should match the rate of transformation that the world is continuously having. If no alterations are to be made, students will not be ready for "real life" tasks and challenges.
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Students should learn in school the basics of being an adult. Most of them know that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 but they don't know how to pay taxes, how to properly write a check, how to buy a house, or fill out a resume. So what is school teaching them? To learn about life or to only get 4 hours of sleep because they were not even learning but just memorizing a textbook about something that happened 500 years ago for a test? That the test that they studied for 10 hours is more important than their mental health? Some schools are making teenagers/kids hate something that they should love, which is learning! Basic subjects such as math, history, science, etc. are important but they should be reached in a way that students will like to learn and not just memorize. And the older the students get, the more they know what they like and what they want to learn about, so the older they get, the more freedom they should have in choosing what they actually want to learn about. Something that is super important that they learn is to take care of themselves such as how to be an independent adult and to socialize, be strong, and take care of their mental health. Also to be more respectful because not everybody has great parents that teach them everything. And taking care of the world because there is only one Earth and if schools educated the kids correctly, the future world would be a better place.
I think schools should start teaching students courses that will benefit them in their adult lives. Things like medicine and economic courses are perfect for students who want to have a better future than usual. The major problem with our education system is the information and knowledge that schools teach to their students. Instead of teaching history that teaches us about the past, and math topics we don't need, like shapes, they should explain things that will help us like cooking, etc. School teaches us knowledge, but life requires wisdom. A new survey shows that Americans only use 37% percent of the information they learn in school. I am from Brazil but studied for two years in Florida, so I know how the educational system works there. Henceforth, students should be able to choose which course they want to learn to build their future. Don't let anyone build or decide your fate; you need to know what is best for you!
Schools around the US should add classes that are more like hobbies such as cooking, more sports activity since a lot of people enjoy them. And have courses about the economy, in which it will dramatically help us in the future. Learning subjects like math and history are essential to us, but we should focus more on the hobbies of everyone. For example, if someone wants to be a musician. He should focus a lot on music, not study all the time about the geometry of science.
Understanding Math, Science, English, and History are important for our everyday lives, and depending on the jobs we want some may be more important than others, but nothing is more important than knowing how to invest, how to pay interest and how to get ready for everyday life things. In school we should hold home-economics classes, where we learn how to cook, use a checkbook, do finances, buy houses, and take care of something other than ourselves. Our schools today set us up to be the best in our professions, but how are they setting us up for the world? How are we going to not waste our money making horrible investments, but instead put our money to good use where it’s needed? A home economics class is just what the children of today need to understand the financial and lifestyle to be successful because many grow up learning these things as they go.
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I wish more school did esports because its getting big and a lot of people can make a name for them self and make a living off steaming on twitch.
Schools teach a lot of good things but there are some things that i think schools teach. I think schools should teach how to do taxes or how to get a job. Or a cooking class. Schools should also teach how to drive a car.
Some schools teach you how to drive but you have to pay for drive ed. My school had a class where you learn how to do your taxes and how to start a saving account and others things that will help you in life but that was in my senior year.
A course of animation. It’s good for those persons that like to watch animations, series, etc. And more people have more possibilities to learn something new and that it could help people to find new jobs or even create their own animations and can get awards. It would be great for their animation skills and now how to work in a computer.
While my school offers some interesting classes, I feel that they could add many more. I noticed that every school year fun new classes are introduced but immediately taken away due to the school not prioritizing them and not putting effort into following through with them. I’ve tried sculpture, psychology, creative writing, everything--but the classes always disappear a week later. I wish schools prioritized classes that students would actually enjoy instead of boring electives nobody really wants, but gets put into anyway. If more artistic and fun classes were added and actually kept, I think school would be a lot more fun. Classes like philosophy, psychology, and cultural arts really interest me, and I think they’d be a great addition to our electives/social studies classes.
I also feel that many other classes could be introduced, and I hope we get the opportunities to take some new classes like you mentioned, those sorts of courses should be encouraged to students and the school needs to prioritize their students. This could bring a much better experience to students and provide us with something that we really enjoy being a part of and have interest in. I do like the idea of more fun classes, but I also feel that there's a need in courses that aim to prepare us for life as adults. I'm sure this has been thought enough times already by students, but I feel the school system needs to be a bit more directed towards this subject, it would be an amazing addition for the students to know better how to be prepared and make it through the struggles that may come to them, especially the first while that they've taken full control of their lives and have to rely on themselves.
We wish the school would offer courses like Home Economics can help students learn precise measurements when it comes to cooking and how to prepare meals and nutrition facts. Medical Exploration can help students learn first aid like cpr and learn more about medicine to explore the career in the medical field learning about the body etc.
I think we should have a gaming course since it would bring the attention of more kids in schools and they can have a chance of getting a gaming scholarship. A gaming would be very helpful and useful since it can build cooperation skills, and leadership skills that can help them with real world problems like getting a job.
I would appreciate a support on performing arts and just the arts in general, because I feel like students are more expressive these days. And many of us love to be seen and heard, the main way we do this is with art.
I think we should have a gaming course since it would bring the attention of more kids in schools and they can have a chance of getting a gaming scholarship. A gaming would be very helpful and useful since it can build cooperation skills, and leadership skills that can help them with real world problems like getting a job.
I would want my school to give students stylish learning classes because they are unique and fun. I would convince my teachers so they can talk about it with other teachers so that they can make it happen.
A “gaming” class would be a good course because not only will unathletic students have a better chance in earning a scholarship, but it can help building leadership and team-work skills that many jobs look for in an employee.
I would convince my school to add this course by telling them it will help with funding, give students who have no hope in getting recruited to any sport a chance. Also, Give students opportunities for scholarships to good schools.
I personally wish the school would provide an astronomy course. The reason I would like to see an astronomy course is due to the fact that all my life I have always had a love for anything that involves astronomy. And I believe others such as myself can benefit from a program such as this.
Playing video games is always fun and playing them at school and actually get a scholarship from it is just amazing. I feel like to have a program as such as e-sports would really bring most kids attention towards school because everybody loves a good and competitive video game.
I don’t schools should add one course, but instead add multiple courses that students can alter based on what they want to learn. Schools could add classes that go in-depth about certain lines of work and jobs. I think those would be beneficial because it would help with choosing a career. It can help students learn about educational things that they choose. If schools add courses about jobs, then people will have a better idea of what the job consists of and is necessary for it. Schools should have courses that educate students about careers, jobs, and work.
I wish that we could learn about classes that we need for jobs in the future. I want to be a dentist so I wish i was able to get into more in depth sciences in math and only do that versus doing more history and english and electives. If I could go ahead and finish my high school sciences and go ahead and take an even higher level one science that would be amazing.
If the system was more specific then I feel like people would be more set up for success. I know there are still people that don't know what they want to do so they could do the normal topics. My friend wants to be a computer engineer but the school does not offer a high level computer engineering class.
For people that want to go into any medical field they should offer a High level anatomy or chem. I need to take these in college but i dont have the option to take them until i get to college which I wish I could just take it now.
@Charles Walker
I also think that schools should teach more about career related things. Knowing things like that would help once students start working. Schools should have options of courses that go in depth about certain lines of work.
One course I would like my school to offer is education. Just like how education is taught in universities. There are plenty of people in high school that have a dream to pursue the career of a teacher and maybe teaching people on how to teach or tutor might be a good opportunity for those students. Giving more chances to tutor younger grades and learning new strategies as a teacher will definitely be beneficial. Also, since teachers know how to teach, teaching how to teach would not be so hard for them as it is their job and they just need to share their experience. Maybe a possible solution would be that a few teachers rotate and teach their method and perspective of teaching to students rather than one particular teacher teaching how to teach.
Offering this type of course will be beneficial to the school environment. This course may have students tutor others after school or even encourage these students to help out others who are struggling in class. This is definitely a considerable effect on the school environment. In addition, it could also give students an opportunity to actually test out if they would want to commit to being a teacher and pursue the career later on in their life before going into university.
My school right now is offering a variation of the course I am proposing. We have a class called PAL which is supposed to become a teacher assistant for a semester. However, nowadays students abuse this course to maintain their GPA and get an easy A.
I wish that I could learn about more specific topics in within the science field. For example, I would love to have the option to take classes such as Organic Chemistry, Genetics, and Engineering. This would allow me to be more exposed to essential classes I need to take in my future as I am on the path to becoming a doctor.
@Sara
As the article says, students are more interested in more hands-on things. I think if teachers go in-depth for multiple topics and use hands-on things students will learn and have fun. A lot of classes could be more interactive and still be educational.
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A common problem I and many others face at school is the lack of interest for our classes. No matter how good the teacher, or how important the subject, grades (and behavior) can easily slip in a class you don’t enjoy. And while sometimes teachers can find ways to make the class more interesting, boring classes are often inescapable. I’m lucky enough to go to a school that offers many elective classes to fill the gaps between required classes.
From Ceramics to Network Engineering, my school offers a wide variety of elective classes to choose from. Many of these classes are AP level, allowing you to earn college credits. Others may be accredited, such as Cisco Networking. Regardless, my school does a great job of offering courses that both educate and interest me.
I wish my school offered more courses that prepare us for the future. A money management class, time management class, class about taxes, or cars, or homes, or basically anything that we will need to have knowledge about should be offered at school. Most of the classes that we are required to take aren’t helpful to us once we graduate and should not be taking the place of ones that will ultimately help us when we are adults.
I also wish my school offered more honors and ap level electives. I would like to take some fun classes to take away from the daily stress of all my other classes but it is hard to do that without ruining my GPA. There are many electives that I am interested in, but cannot add to my schedule because of how much it would drop my GPA and class rank.
@Skye Solomon Hoggard has many electives that we are able to take but I agree when you talk about how they are GPA droppers. I would also be happy to take a personal finance class or a Microsoft class but I know it will drop my GPA and I know that it's not worth the risk.
@Skye Solomon personal finance or accounting? We have those.
I understand having different electives, but i don't necessarily agree with having different types of English classes because students need to become well rounded and learn what they need to learn in order to become successful intellectually for their future education. My school has lots of the hands on courses that were listed, but when it comes to the ones listed when talking about the arts and athletics, it is different. There is dance, but there is not a dance class, unless you are an athlete. For example, band has a competitive group and a non competitive group. If dance and other things could do it this way, students could join what they want without having to pay for lessons if they are in a lower economical class. For example, they could have a piano class, a dance class (different ones, like contemporary, tap, hip hop, and ballet), guitar class, singing, and etc. These classes would be classes that don’t require auditions or try-outs, they are just simply there for students to figure out what they like and to find others who enjoy the same thing as them. My school has a 30 minute class called advisory that is basically like a study class, but one week we join a class that we are interested and go to it for the next two weeks on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are lots of different things for almost everyone, things from art to guitar to yoga to just simply walking. Therefore, we do have extracurricular classes, but we do not have a wide enough variety of classes.
School is a learning core for students. It is important for them to learn basic things about life but things that interest them. Career guidance is not taught in my school properly and does not help students choose a career that suits them.
Therefore, I would like the school to have some classes depending on the skills of the students .. such as painting, music, dance, sports , directing, screenwriting, writing , with films or anything else. This way students will happily take their time in school because they may not have time to deal with those they love at home or this may help them to orient themselves in the future.
School is good for us as human beings to do something different and who knows what results we can get from it ..
School is a learning core for students. It is important for them to learn basic things about life but things that interest them. Career guidance is not taught in my school properly and does not help students choose a career that suits them.
Therefore, I would like the school to have some classes depending on the skills of the students .. such as painting, music, dance, sports , directing, screenwriting, writing , with films or anything else. This way students will happily take their time in school because they may not have time to deal with those they love at home or this may help them to orient themselves in the future.
School is good for us as human beings to do something different and who knows what results we can get from it ..
School is a learning core for students. It is important for them to learn basic things about life but things that interest them. Career guidance is not taught in my school properly and does not help students choose a career that suits them.
Therefore, I would like the school to have some classes depending on the skills of the students .. such as painting, music, dance, sports , directing, screenwriting, writing , with films or anything else. This way students will happily take their time in school because they may not have time to deal with those they love at home or this may help them to orient themselves in the future.
School is good for us as human beings to do something different and who knows what results we can get from it ..
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School is a learning core for students. It is important for them to learn basic things about life but things that interest them. Career guidance is not taught in my school properly and does not help students choose a career that suits them.
Therefore, I would like the school to have some classes depending on the skills of the students .. such as painting, music, dance, sports , directing, screenwriting, writing , with films or anything else. This way students will happily take their time in school because they may not have time to deal with those they love at home or this may help them to orient themselves in the future.
School is good for us as human beings to do something different and who knows what results we can get from it ..
I wish my school had a classes on Film and Cinema. Movies are one of the most popular forms of entertainment but rarely do you watch movies schools. Our school system requires kids to read classic pieces of literature from the Odyssey to To Kill a Mockingbird, however classic movies like The Godfather and The Graduate despite both forms of media being able to have complex stories and themes. Personally, I think films have been more influential in society than books, yet in high school we never watch or get to analyze movies.
I like movies because of how much detail goes into movies — the cinematography, themes, score, and costumes. Movies have a lot of nuance and the visual medium of storytelling often resonates more with me than a book could.
First off, it baffles me how little my generation of fellow students know about Politics, History, Economics, or even popular culture. I think the American education system should broaden its curriculum and teach children a wide variety of things. I also think that a child should only take classes that they themselves are good at and enjoy. Then they can find a profession in the field. I'm not saying that we should have popular culture classes but I am saying that we need to deepen end pool of what is commonly known.
I wish that I could learn about philosophy in school. Most kids today have absolutely no direction in their life. The majority have either rejected Christianity or do not fully believe in it. Without direction from Christianity the children of today have nothing to guide them. They recognize that nothing we do in this world matters, that we are simply intelligent monkeys stuck to blue marble in the infinity of space. They recognize that in 100 years no one will know who they are and they might as well not have existed.
Many of kids that recognize this fact try their best to ignore it and go through life with the fact that nothing matters in the back of their head, a few recognize the futility of it all and decide to spare themselves the pain of life, fewer still decide that if nothing matters they might as well try to buy themselves a couple more hundred years of remembrance and spare a couple others the pain of life.
We need to replace this utter apathy with something deeper. We need to replace it with Seneca, Marcus Aurelius, and Nietzsche. Give those who have rejected traditional Christianity a purpose through attaining the ubermensch and becoming the best person they can possibly be. If we do nothing then tragedies of apathy will continue to occur to the masses which have no deeper purpose.
@Anders Olsen, I too see the issue of people having apathy about the fact that whatever they do in this world will not matter. Philosophy will give them a direction and something to believe and hold onto. Through Christianity, people can have a purpose and believe in something important. Also, Philosphy used to be taught as a part of education in the past, and its ideas of higher thinking should at the very least be introduced to students, so that they can form their own opinions. I think that as you said that we need a purpose, and that this can be found in philosophy. In these classes students would be able to look at the world and can decide if they reject or believe in the ideas presented to them, but everyone should be shown this knowledge if only to question their own beliefs and grow as a person.
Unfortunately, I don't go to a school with a lot of electives and the freedom to choose the ones that interest me most. If we had additional courses in our school all the kids would have something important and love to woke up.
I wish my school had courses about direction, script and cinema. It's very interesting for young kids to find out if they love cinema and what they want to get involved in. There are many kinds that don't have the opportunity to do things and school can provide this to them. Also, school should be more creative about topics and additional courses like psychology class. Many kids are in a lot of pressure of school class and personal issues and this course could help them talk to someone and get rid all that stress.
So, I would love our school do additional courses and gave us the opportunity to choose the ones that interest us most.
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My school already provides a number of different classes. We have many extra-curricular classes to choose from, such as arts classes, sports classes, and classes that explore different aspects of a subject. One class I wish that was mandatory at my school is a life skills class. A class that would teach students about bills, taking care of a home, and doing every day adult tasks.
A class like this should be mandatory, or at least available, for every student. Many kids go to college completely unprepared for college and life afterwards. Schools focus so much on learning things from textbooks and cramming students' minds with information that they could be the valedictorian and not know how to pay bills or do their own laundry.
Making classes more inclusive for people with all kinds of interests is very important. In the article, Robert Morris University Illinois is put in the spotlight for their e-sports program. Team members of e-sports teams can even get scholarships at the university. Classes like these and classes that will give students information that will help them in the future can make schools more inclusive all around and more enjoyable.
@Sophia Caparelli I agree with you because half of the stuff they teaching us right now is sort of useless. We really need to get taught how to pay bills,how to survive without technology,and how to improve your credit score. School will be useful at this point I would love to send my children to school everyday at that point
It is known that the school system and generally the "culture" of education doesn't differ from each country. The main courses that are offered by school are mathematics, history, science, foreign laguage, arts. First of all, I would propose that the above courses could be offered by school in a different way. The children must understand and "conquer" the knowledge. Furthermore, these courses must be became interesting for the children and I consider that they have to avoid the simple memorize. For example, a way can improve the system is the following; the children could teach the course that were taught last time.
In my opinion, another important and interesting course, which would be a course of the others main courses in school, is the theatrical game; the organization of theatrical performances from the children and the teachers with topics which would have to do about the daily and social cases or problems, it would be a special course. So the children could be taught the main social cases that they confront in the future with an interesting way. Finally, they would be the protagonists in the school's performances, but in the future will be the main characters of the real facts.
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My school offers a lot of electives to do with creating. We have art classes, ceramics classes, engineering classes, and a plethora of others. If my school offered more classes that I’d want to take, I wouldn't have room in my schedule for them. We have only four classes in a day, and I’m more focussed on getting the classes that I need to graduate. Even if I did have room in my schedule, I don’t know what I’d want to add because I’ve never had to think about it before. I’d probably just choose an existing elective and be done with it.
I think that maybe we should have more classes preparing us for college. Instead of having us take all the classes that everyone else is taking, like English or history or math, we should be allowed to explore lots of different classes to find out what we may like to major in. Maybe there should be an extra year just for that instead of throwing us into college and hoping that alongside our required classes we were also taking classes that interested us. Some people probably view high school as a required gateway to college, and they probably think they already know what they want to do, so they don’t explore other fields, but when they get to college, they may find that they were wrong. If someone thinks they want to be a doctor their whole life but never gets to experience what it’s like before going into the medical field, they could find out they faint at the sight of blood. We need more time to find our interests without pressure.
Lately I have been feeling confused when thinking about school. All I do is work and work. Harder and faster towards my next goal. I never have time to work on... myself. Honestly, I wish there was a class about mental health or time management.
I notice that my friends struggle with the same things I do. We really on each other for help but sometimes that isn't enough. Especially with how busy we are. I think a mental health class would be really good avenue to help with these problems. Being able to learn about and discuss mental health, which many people deal with, would probably gain a lot of traction since it is such an untouched topic.
Other than that, there isn't really much else at my school that I want. I am happy, as I can be, with the classes that I have. When the article talks about classes for esports and design, I feel giddy knowing that classes are starting to evolve more. Those classes offer more choice, which is better for everyone. I think choice is the way for people to really find there talents instead of being forced to take certain classes.
I feel as if my high school supplies a pretty nice variety of classes. The online catalog is definitely larger than the list of classes offered with an in-person teacher though. My biggest concern for the desire for more specific subjects would be money. If a group of people wanted to get a class that teaches you how to prepare a specific type of food, they are going to get less priority than other classes.
I love to do drama at my school and that department has been in place for a very long time yet newer classes still get more funding. The way money is distributed among classes is unfair. If there was a newer and more obscure class that has started, they deserve to have what they need for a proper learning environment.
My high school already provides substantial amount of extracurricular and electives classes that we can take. We just added another class to our schedule called “Buzz Time” where we can choose from hundreds of different classes. These classes range anywhere from tutoring to knitting to baking. Each grade gets a day to sign up for a class then we go to that class three times a week for two weeks.
High schools should provide a wide range of classes for students to choose from. Kids as young as sophomores in high school are expected to know exactly what they want to do with their life, and if they don’t know they are seen as immature because they “don’t care about school”. However, without providing those extra classes, there is no way for students to find out what they want to do. By supplying a variety of classes, students are able to take different classes to find out what they do and don’t enjoy.
By allowing students to choose from a range of different classes, students are able to choose classes that better suit the career they want to pursue. Providing these classes will also grant students the ability to make sure that what they are wanting to major in is the correct fit for them. This will cause less students to change majors which will ultimately benefit them even more because they won’t spend as much money on college tuition.
@Lucie Van Roekel Buzz Time sounds like an amazing idea for other schools! Being able to try something new for about two weeks is perfect for students. We are at a time in our lives where we need to figure out what we might enjoy studying in the future. Even finding things we can do to relax is nice. Being able to test out something for a short amount of time is a perfect dip in the water. You can see if you like it and if you don't there is no major commitment to it. You try on different hats to see which ones fits you just right.
I believe that my high school does an excellent job of offering students many different varieties of classes and extracurriculars throughout the entire school year. We have such a multitude of different AP classes, Honors classes, and electives that students can choose from, that I really don’t think there could be another topic that a students would wish to have. I also believe that school is meant to prepare you for college and beyond, so I don’t necessarily believe students should just get to learn whatever they want. While it is important to offer students the chance to pick a few elective classes and the level in which they choose to pursue the mandatory classes like math, science, English, and history, I do believe that high school is meant to teach good learning habits and to prepare you. Knowing this, I think that our school has everything students need to be successful for college and beyond.
I wish my school would offer a shop class, almost everybody will drive a car in their lifetime and the info you get from that class could potentially save you hundreds of dollars or even your life if the situation is bad enough. It could teach you how to change your oil or tires and that simple thing could change a whole lot. It would just be your simple shop class, where you learn about parts of cars. My school already has a whole bunch of classes, such as foods, cet, drafting, as well as other things. We have a pretty good selection of extra curricular classes. Adding a shop class to my school would be super relevant to today’s world because we are always in need of transportation and learning how to fully utilize cars would definitely improve the well-being of people in both the short and long term.
I think that it is important that schools offer a diverse range of electives. My school does a decent job of offering electives, but they could do a better job offering more. We have electives ranging from cooking classes to photography and that’s about it. I think that schools should ask the kids what kind of courses they would like to see offered at their school. In the article it states that “schools at all levels regularly tinker with their curriculums to be more relevant and interesting to students” (Schulten , 2019). Schools should offer more real world classes, classes that discuss current events, help you apply for college or how to pay taxes. These courses can also be offered online if they can not find a teacher who is qualified to teach the course. The author says “Parsons Paris, a nonprofit school that is a division of the New School of New York City, is suggesting its new online program” (Schulten, 2019). These online programs make these courses available to all students who are interested. This new style of classes also makes it accessible to anyone at anytime.
I would like my school to offer a variety of stuff such as real-life related like such as like paying house mortgage or rent, how to own a vehicle and importantly how to fill out your tax refund paperwork. These are more important than some of the stuff we learn in school such as reading books that aren’t gonna show us how to live our daily lives after school, I understand that reading books is good but those books should be somehow helpful for us in the future. Having to take unnecessary math classes is also what I don’t like, instead of those particle unnecessary classes such as geometry, school should sub in bills and housing as part of that. I am not saying to remove geometry class but students should be able to pick what they would take as a credit. Some students future career needs geometry maybe and so the geometry doesn’t have to be fully taken out of high school but instead, there should be more classes. My school is doing good work by providing students who know or have a hint about what they want to do in the future by initiating “ district career tech programs”. “There are more than 400 active spaces for hacking and making in North America” (Schulten, 2019, para.6). I chose this quote because it shows that there is room for more activities and also that there are many different types of stuff that can be put into those active space.
@Ashmita The focus on the introduction of classes that could be more helpful to our future jobs and livelihood is something worth more importance than the geometry we learn as you said. Classes like geometry in their own respect are helpful, but there’s so much more that could help you in the future. The jobs that require these unique formulas are unique in themselves in that they seem so specialized for certain set of jobs. I like how you incorporated a special program from your own school to give some insight.
Personally, I think the most important class or course that our schools could prioritize would be courses that help us to determine our profession goals. Courses like this do exist, but they are not widely recommended or made known. Classes like career management should be more available to students. Yes, we need to learn about history, math, science, English, and so on, but all of this is being taught to us for the sake of our futures. What good will this education do if we have no concept as to what we want to do with it?
A class called career management actually does exist at my school, but I would’ve had no idea were it not for a chance scheduling error. The class is on level, so the counselors aren’t quick to recommending it. Too often school administrators over-stress working for the perfect GPA. Obviously GPA is important for college acceptance, but a mere average should not discourage students from learning about all the different possibilities in their future. I ended up in the class for a couple of days while I waited for my schedule to be fixed. I will never forget what the teacher announced to the class when describing the course curriculum. He said, “This is primarily a freshman and sophomore class. Really, if you are a senior or junior in this class, there’s no point in you being here. It’s too late for you guys.” As students, we should be taught about the different choices waiting for us. It should never be too late for anyone. There’s no time to waste.
@Olivia Tank I agree with you that classes like Career Management should be more available in our schedules, but the issue is the reputation they have. People know that classes like that aren't going to be particularly hard, so they take them to get an easy A, not to figure our their future career. This ultimately fosters a very lazy and uncaring culture in the class, making the class pretty much useless.
Teachers of these classes need to reform as much as possible to to attract hard working students that are actually interested in the class, not kids who have no interest but don't want to work hard. I believe that this is the fatal flaw of our education system and needs to be remedied before anything else can be.
(1/2) My schedule is all consuming. I wake up at seven, trying to give myself as much sleep as I can after finally finishing my french project at midnight the day prior. Usually I stretch after waking up, sleepily getting my clothes on and clipping my hair back. I read or write whilst eating a small breakfast, trying to get tomorrow's s work finished so I won't have to do it later in the week. My classes consist of French III, Advanced Dance, Math, Chorus, English, and AP World History. After school ends, I get something small to eat from the grocery store within walking distance of the school, and head to ballet. I teach a class of five and six year-old girls, helping to instill the basics of the technique at an early age. Truthfully, most of the children's mothers probably signed them up for classes to expel some of their pent up energy; which then falls on me to deal with. I try and finish my math homework in the fifteen minutes between their class and mine, then claim my spot at the barre and dance for another three hours. I get home at 9:15 and only now can I eat dinner. I use this brief interval of peace to talk to my family, and after cleaning my plate I drag my twenty pound backpack up the stairs. I evaluate what I have to do.
@Matalin Bloomfield
(2/2) Usually one or two assignments, half of another that's due Friday. I shower, usually singing to practice for chorus or running French flashcards in my mind. By now it's around 11:30. I wash my face, brush my hair and my teeth, do a couple of Pilates exercises and say goodnight to my parents. Usually I read a few chapters before bed, but lately I've been studying for my finals. I say goodnight to my parents and text my home school friends, hoping that they'll quiet down a bit now that it's twelve thirty.
Overall, I'm happy with the content of the classes I take, I just wish I could be part of more activities that I never have the time to do outside of school. Creative Writing, Sign Language, Communications, Psychology, Anatomy, Cooking, Ancient Literature, Dance History. The list goes on.
Many of the courses I just listed are offered at my school, I just feel that there isn't enough time in the day to take them.
Additionally, I feel that every student should have some form of Time Management class. School life, home life, social life, and sleep are not too easy to balance on your own. I've always done a decent job at it, but some form of training in this area would greatly improve my grades as well as my state of mind.
I wish schools would offer more classes that actually deal with life after high school. It would be a lot more beneficial for somebody wanting to go into the medical field to take classes specializing towards that rather than taking calculus. I feel like the school system, while making you more well rounded, pours unnecessary time into teaching people information they will never use. We could cut down on resources and make the schooling system shorter by specializing students towards a profession at an earlier age.
@Henry Leonard
I agree with you on this; while these courses you speak of are sometimes available they are often pushed to the side and given insufficient resources. I'd love to take a class on cooking or finance but I'm too afraid of hurting my GPA with an on level class that I never will. I wish these classes could be brought to the forefront of the school system so that I may be more prepared for life after high school.
At my school, Hoggard High School, we have variety. We have the "traditional" classes and some of the not so basic classes but its really about whether or not you can get into the preferred classes. It makes it hard when the school or facilitation is not big enough for the demand. In my area I think we need another high school which would help alleviate the pressure on the counselors. These counselors deal with so many kids and not all the teachers have permanent room. We have teacher that use other rooms during planning periods and class full to the brim of students. When classes are this full, it makes it very difficult to get into your desired class.
In the article is says that "students who haven’t responded to traditional textbook-and-work sheet learning are excited and inspired about making". I am one of those students. I would so much rather go outside and do thing lesson then get a worksheet handed to me. I am a visual/physical learner and when teachers hand me a lesson plan and expect me to go from there, I don't always do well.
I would love to have a "real life class". A class that would teach me how to file my taxes, how to deal with loans and credit, and much more real life situations. Yes, we have classes like Personal Finance but those classes don't always cover life problems.
(1/2)We have a variety of courses at our school, but it is very hard to get into the ones you want. We have 2100 kids, so satisfying everyone's schedules is pretty difficult. Most of the time it's not the fact that our school doesn't teach certain classes, it's just the way they're run. We have teachers who don't even have classrooms and have to bounce around to a different one every period, which limits the engagement the teachers can have with the students. So, while we do have classes we can take, we still have a narrow window of possibility.
We have a class called Theory of Knowledge at our school, but it is for IB students only. I would love to have a philosophy course option that is open to all students. Students could get together and talk about the world and how our ideals fit it and why our ideals do. There’d be a teacher to help us learn about philosophy, but most of it would be engaging in conversations about mind-bending things. It would give everyone an opportunity of self-discovery (if they let themselves enjoy the class) and a chance to make connections at a deeper level. Most people say that philosophy is a worthless class- it is if you’re looking for a job outside of education- but it helps you grow in ways you wouldn’t have suspected. I would argue that the course leads to an overall connection to ourselves and our peers that we simply lack in a 2100 student school- it creates an awareness and understanding of other people’s views.
School has never felt like a problem to me before. Sit through lectures, hang out with friends, do your homework, and you get an “A”. High school has been more of a struggle. Hour and a half periods that seem to drag on, hours of homework every night, no time to hang out with friends. Now I'm at a point where if something doesn't interest me, I struggle to find a way to make a good grade in the class. Half the courses I'm taking I don’t even like, but the classes that I do enjoy and want to dive deeper into aren't considered to be “honors classes.” The stress of having non-honors classes count towards my GPA worries me. What if my dream school decides not to accept me because I took an art class, which is something I'm passionate about, but is only worth 4 points to my GPA? Students then sit through classes they have no interest, leaving them conflicted to what path they want to take in the future.
Schools such as Robert Morris University Illinois and Parsons Paris have programs for students to learn more and have hands on experience in the fields and subjects they are interested in. Students are excited to learn and dive into new understandings of the things they choose. Passionate students become influencers that make a difference. No powerpoint or guided notes can teach a student how to find excitement in the things they do.
Drones, technology, and robotics are only some of the many courses that are offered at my current school but continue to go unprovided at my previous school. The electives offered at that school were highly limited with only a small amount of classes focused on engineering and technology. Most of my classmates went with their “second best pick.”
Currently, I am attending a school that funds and sponsors a variety of classes. The classes offered are not only great in quantity, but also in quality. Some of the classes offered range from astronomy to psychology or civil engineering to creative writing. The school also provides and promotes after school clubs and organizations. Some of these clubs include an American sign language club, engineering club, and reading club.
By schools providing a broad range of classes and clubs, students are able to experiment and find their likes and dislikes for future reference in narrowing down career choices. Students require this experimentation in order to advance their understanding of different fields of study and to know what opportunities there are. Providing these classes is important, but the quality of the class is just as important. Instead of a school striving for either quality or quantity, schools should both strive for quality and quantity. We need a movement of “makers” in schools across the nation, who can look for new ways to teach and new classes so that students can experiment with a variety of academic disciplines.
Despite popular opinion among some teenagers, what you learn in school can very effectively prepare you for life. I admit specific details about books and history such the path of the ancient Silk Road or a quote from Shakespeare might fade away. However, the process of learning and thinking deeply about a topic or book will help in real life.
Non-STEM classes used to feel useless to me. However, as I climb in grade level, subjects like English and History are more focused on big ideas and deeper meanings. This year, we read Fahrenheit 451 in English, and my initial thoughts were that it was a simple novel. But, the more we analyzed it, the more I realized the genius of Bradbury and how there are messages pointing to bigger themes throughout the book. The book makes me question society and some of my own values. It was like pealing an onion. Without the chance to dive in and evaluate literature, that book would have just been another dystopian novel.
Nothing can perfectly prepare you for the world, but school gives you a good toolbox to help you solve problems and think deeper. It teaches you to think, look more critically at things, and consider other perspectives. It is not just about WHAT we are studying, but HOW we are learning that prepares students to make a difference in the larger world.
My school is pretty good at giving options when picking electives and classes. The only downfall is some of the informative electives are in level which for a lot of students brings down their GPA. One class I did get the opportunity to take is personal finance. Out of all the classes I have taken in my entire school career, this class has been the most informational and the one I will remember the most. All though it was a textbook style class the actual information was very helpful.
The airtight lesson plans and scripted lectures in core classes is what is wrong with our school systems. There is no heart and therefore no life lesson which makes the class useless in the long run.
If I could suggest one class to add to my school it would be honors current events. This class would help teens stay aware of what is going on in the outside world. Teens would be less focused on themselves because they could understand how other people are living or simply what’s happening in our government.
While we have a variety of classes offered at Hoggard I often wish there was a class that taught us life skills we will need in the future. For example, I didn’t know how to do my own laundry, cook anything but pasta, work a credit and debit card, or pump gas until this year. While these may sound like common tasks, when a parent does this for you you’re whole life and then you move away for college it can be hard. I still am unable to send a letter, change a tire, jumpstart a car, work my swiffer sweeper, transfer checks, or even change the batteries with a screwdriver. All of which will be necessary for my future.
Students with courses including coding, hacking, fashion, and video game design all of which prepare them for their desired futures in the passage are much like some of our students here. I take health science and do HOSA in order to move into our schools CNA program because I would like to work in the medical field. However no matter how prepared I am for my future education, nothing changes the fact that I still cannot put money in my own bank account.
I honestly don’t have a lot of complaints about the courses my school offers. At Hoggard, we have your normal core classes offered at a variety of levels, as well as music, arts, and elective math, science, English, and history classes. Many of the art and music classes even qualify as an honors credit once you get to the higher levels. I’m tempted to say we should have a life skills class to prepare us for tasks such as paying bills and buying/using insurance when we become adults, but classes like home economics and personal finance cover those main bases. However, by registering for those types of classes, you take away periods that could be devoted to core classes and sign up for credits that are sometimes on-level, at least initially.
If there was one such class that covered all of those adulthood-tips, I think it should be a requirement like (or instead of) the gym credit. I, like probably a lot of students, avoid these types of classes because I’m scared the on-level credit will hurt my GPA, or scared that colleges seeing Ceramics and Personal Finance instead of Calculus on my résumé will decrease my chances of getting into my dream colleges. Having such a useful class (unlike gym-- we literally just walked laps in gym) be a mandatory credit would cause many students to be prepared for impending adulthood.
I saw a video a while back, I never confirmed whether it was true or not, but it said that in Japan they taught their students up to second grade I believe, moral values in school, as part of their academic system. In other words, they taught them respect, dedication, and tested them on scenarios that required them to use moral values to solve moral situations. This is something I wish school would teach to students at their young age because not every student has a good parental example that teaches them these, and therefore it affects the way they act with others and their whole perspective on life. This then affects communities and societies.
I wish we had a class at my school about the stock market. Obviously, we have things like civics and economics but these classes only take a brief look at the many different parts of the different markets in the world. Seeing as so many people are going to go on to invest money in the stock market at one point in their life, I think it would make sense that we educate out students about how to make sense of a stock chart and some basic tools that can be used to evaluate where a stock is likely to move. This will set up our youth with knowledge of how to properly handle their money once they make it into the real world and will expand beyond the very basics on the market covered in classes like personal finance.
In order to to convince our school to offer this course, I would ask the board to think about how many people they know who currently or at one point had invested money in the stock market. It seems like most people in our society have been in possession of stock at one point in their lives, so if we have so many people who are going to be putting their money into the market in the future, shouldn't they have a basic understanding of how to make a smart investment?
My school offers a wide selection of courses, including STEM courses and life skills courses. I think they just don't do a good enough of job of advertising them. Many of the classes are online or at a nearby community college and a lot of the students don't know about them. Our school is also very overcrowded so there is no way to satisfy every student's individual wants. Even with the overcrowding, I think my school does a good job providing as many electives as possible. The only thing I think they could improve on is more computer based classes such as advanced coding and design. In a world becoming more and more reliant on technology, I think the public school system needs to catch up. In a coding class, students would learn about data structures, algorithms, and compilers, all necessary for basic coding. It is worthwhile because students will need to know how to operate computers as they are becoming more relevant in everyday society.
My school provides students with a variety of electives. However, budget issues within the district have caused class restrictions and even several cuts completely. A school curriculum should involve as many possible interests that students may have and expose each individual to their career choices. This would involve all the core classes, performance and art classes, technological classes, etc. The courses that are unfortunately not provided at my school are those that may help students with financial or life skills. Although I understand the skills involved in these topics are integrated throughout each class, it would be useful to dedicate independent courses to something like financial strategy.
Because my high school does offer many various electives to fit career choices of students, I have had to take honors and AP classes that feel useless in the moment. I believe that one of the main ways that schools could change is not only focus on what we “need” (although that is negotiable) but also on what we as students want. This would create a harder working student body with a newly found passion for school and learning.
In the attached article, a New York fashion program is being incorporated into a nearby school so that students can educate themselves on this field if they wish to pursue it. I wish my school would offer more classes more honed in on one hobby or professional field such as guitar and culinary classes. Although my school already has numerous elective programs it needs to still keep these classes refreshed as our generations changes and develops new career paths and interests entirely.
I feel as though often times my high school fails to understand the importance of learning real world values and morals that will track with us for the rest of our life. By adding more fun and interesting courses, they would not only be giving students the chance to be challenged creatively as opposed to just being challenged in a linear fashion, but also giving them a reason to enjoy school and increase in their learning.
In NC the entire math curriculum contains topics such as geometry and algebra. These topics have been confined into Math 1, Math 2, and Math 3. Other subjects have divided the curriculum also into various numbered names. When being asked what your next class is, would you rather say History 1 or Human Studies in the Early Americas? Of course, you would pick the more worldly option out of curiosity.
A friend of mine from Marylad mentioned how his high school provides Macbooks and for his gym class, he would be graded on a solo gymnastic routine. In pure shock I realized my school doesn’t even have a trampoline. This relates to the New School in New York mentioned by the article, which allows students to experience French design. Both schools are farther north, and have a much larger budget in school funding.
Below the articles title, it states that the sky’s the limit. I disagree. Your opportunity in education depends on your location, and the wealth in your area.
This is proven through my experience in education of non-existent field trips, teacher shortages, and worksheets. Just west of Wilmington lays Columbus County, where the library is filled with decomposing textbooks from when my grandmother was in school. This example is small compared to the many, states experiencing far worse in education.
Therefore I admire the idea and push for progressive classroom environments, but that seems as an option only for the wealthy.
Schools and the content taught in them could definitely be better and more humane for both the students and the staff. Why do you have to stick to the inside of the lines when the lines only give you a two dimensional figure?
Public education usually has to follow a strict syllabus and guidelines. We learn exactly what is on the final exam (ridiculously made so it’s deprived of individuality and meaning).
This year was the first year where an english class gave me freedom, an opinion, and the right to write for myself (no more robotic essays that forbid the word “I”). I think it’s about time that the traditional schools stop being so traditional.
Allow artists to channel their feelings in the type of art classes that they’re interested in, allow the kids who know what they want to do have in line with calculus and literature to gain experience in a class in their field before they get swirled into college. Even if classes cannot be offered physically at the school, it would be sufficient for students to have access to them online (like Parsons Paris’s online program).
If you ask me what I want to learn in school, I don’t feel the immediate need to add anything. I just wish that more communication and connection-making can happen in classes instead of the manual-following lectures that usually happen.
The courses offered at my school are rather standard. I wouldn't say that any of them are very interesting or out there. I have always taken an interest to math and science, so naturally, my schedule contains most of those classes, plus the mandatory English and history classes I have to take. I have never taken a liking to history, and always found it very uninteresting. However, upon taking my current history class, I have found a topic that I wish I could explore more. Whenever I have a spare moment, I go to my mother and ask her to tell me all that she knows about Chinese history. Coming from Chinese decent, my mother has a wide variety of Chinese history embedded in her brain. This asiatic history is fascinating and is something I could listen to all day long. If there was one course I wish my school offered, it would be asiatic history. I could learn more about myself and my family through it, as well as be challenged.
I went to an elementary school with around 20 kids in the whole grade that focused on hands-on learning. This type of experience-based learning was truly engaging and helped to focus my jittery young mind on abstract subjects like math that mattered little in a time of play dates and bedtime stories. As kids mature, they still enjoy the hands-on aspects of learning despite the belief that it is something lost with age. I learn more from a lab or through an engaging and funny presentation by my peers than a lecture. To create “maker” places is important in all aspects of learning despite age because it provides a time where students can solve real world problems without fear of being imperfect.
In classes where one listens to power points and fills in guided notes, the information enters one ear and exits through the other and I have to re-teach myself the material before a test. In contrast, I think a socratic environment where students can debate and view different perspectives as well as strengthen their own is more beneficial. Perhaps a time could be designated for students to have the opportunity to debate about current events and express their opinions as well as be exposed to others. This would create a “maker” environment where students can actively discuss real world issues and simultaneously strengthen their understanding of the subject.
The education system puts a lot of stuff in our heads. Most of it we forget within the week of learning it. The people who decide what we learn think their curriculums are objectively reasonable, helpful, and relevant. An incredibly small amount of what we learn is actually this. In my life, I would like to be able to contribute to change in the world, but my education is so lacking that I enter a stand-still. A place where I have a goal, idea, and motivation, but no place to go from there. The skills we learn in school are designed for a life in the workforce, but the reality is, our world’s problems are so beyond that.
I feel like I, and many of my peers, would greatly benefit from a class specifically teaching about activism, in many forms. The focus being simply: how can we successfully make a change? Also, where can we find resources? The current educational institutions offer no support at all, yet they claim to create a new, young, passionate generation of learners, but look at our humor culture. Its sad and nihilistic. “I want to die.” “That makes me want to kill myself.” Maybe if they offered specific education about channeling our passions and ideas to make actual change, people wouldn’t feel so useless and weak. If our generation is going to have a voice, we need to be taught how to use it.
My school provides students a very standard set of classes and electives compared to most schools in our state. The only class I consider out of the ordinary is our course on Horticulture. But what I see that school is under preparing students for is computer coding. Our school is lucky to have a few courses in coding. But I don't think that having coding courses as electives is merely good enough.
We need to make sure that kids are at least somewhat fluent in coding at an early age. Too many of our students in our world today are coding illiterate. So many of our everyday tasks are built on successes in coding. We use computers every day! Coding is such a useful skill that kids can utilize to create programs and technological solutions in the future.
If we want a school in the modern era. I think it's time that we bring the tools for the modern age.
@Jeffery Austin I agree that schools need to be brought into the modern age. If you really focus on the changed, chalkboards have been replaced by whiteboards or smartboards and laptops and technology are usually more favored than textbooks, but the way classes are conducted are still extremely similar to the ways even 80 years before.
I also agree that schools should focus on preparing a student for their interests at a younger age instead of them only allowed exposure after they reach college. I also think that mental health days should be a focus, because more and more high school students and college students report cases of anxiety. Schooling and life are more fast-paced now, but the pressure exerted on kids are doing the opposite of helping them succeed.
I think schools should teach more students about LGBTQ issues and topics. Most kids in today's age are apart of the LGBTQ community and need to know it's safe for them. People in general need to learn more on the struggle of LGBTQ people!
To convince my school to add this to our list of electives, I think that I would need more people to agree with me to add the course to our electives list. I think that this course is worth offering in schools because many recently graduated students don't know about simple life concepts. This could include what interest is when buying a car, what a mortgage is when buying a house, or even tax, title, and license (TT&L) when buying a car from a dealership. I think that this could benefit students because schools tend to “tinker with their curriculums to be more relevant and interesting to students” (Schulten, 2019, 7). Who would not want to take a class that could benefit you for the rest of your life?
(2/2) The class is important simply because it allows us to form our own opinions on something rather than just bubbling a, b, c, or d. This way, when we go out into the world we are able to continue to learn from our experiences instead of freaking out that life isn’t a multiple-choice question.
Although my school does offer many various electives to fit students interests, I have continuously had to take higher level classes and it seems as though my schedule is always full of classes that never really challenge the creative side of me. I think that one of the most crucial things as teenagers that schools can provide us with is the opportunity to be learning academic values, but also creative and imaginative values as our young brains are rapidly developing.
As mentioned in the article, a fashion program in New York is being incorporated into a nonprofit school so that kids will have the chance to take a class about fashion if that's in their field of interests. I wish my school would offer more classes similar to this such as guitar classes, piano classes, and other classes that would be more appealing to students who want to have a class they they can actually enjoy and fall in love with instead of the same old same old core classes.
I feel as though often times my school neglects to realize the importance of learning real world values and having experiences that will follow us into our adulthood lives. By adding more fun and interesting courses, they would not only be giving students the chance to be challenged in a different way, but the students grades in other classes would probably rise because they have that break-time during the day in a class they look forward to.
@Sadie Dunne, It would be cool if we could have some guitar or piano classes! We do have orchestra and band, but there's only one period for orchestra, which hindered me from taking that class this year since it is during the IB period. I think that a lot of people in our school lack any sort of enthusiasm for anything at school- whether it be friends or taking an interesting course. By integrating student's passions into the curriculum, it would give everyone an opportunity to have an outlet that would alleviate some of the stress that we have. And I believe you're right about saying our grades will rise- so much of our lives as students is go, go, go- especially those of us without cars since we have to be dragged along for the other events that our siblings are involved in. This class that students would look forward to would allow us to breathe in between classes and improve our overall mental health.
My school is very overcrowded, because of this it is near to impossible to fill everyone's interests. For the past several years the curriculum hasn't changed meaning society has evolved and adapted, changed and accepted new ideas yet the school system fails to recognize that doing the same thing over again and not changing anything will likely not teach and appeal to any teenagers. I wish my school changed things up a bit, read a different book did a different project, try to connect every chapter with real world problems instead of putting our heads down and just getting through the information. These past two years the biggest thing that will help me when I become older is figuring out interest. I think it would be a more memorable learning experience if we were able to do more hands-on projects or activities so we are able to experience it and not being told the outcome without figuring it out ourselves.
My school offers many STEM-based classes, but it does offer art classes. But many are confined to a space. We have many classes that are based on science and maths and we are offered courses at a near-by college. So overall I would say that my school is heavily STEM-based. Although we do offer classes for liberal art, they just aren’t as prevalent in many students’ schedule. If I had the space I would love to take music classes, but I just can’t. I would also love to take astronomy and learn in depth about our universe. Taking a class dedicated to learning about space and all the research going on around it. I think that there is more to space than what many people think and the class would be a great way to educate more people on the endless possibilities that lay just outside of our orbit. Many students, including me, want to make sure we have the requirements done first and then surpass them because it “looks good for college.”
Offering basic life classes would help the student more in life. They would be able to face a common challenge thrown at them, rather than not knowing. A seminar even, just on basic life stuff might just one day be helpful during college. My high school does offer a lot of classes but many students just don’t know about it or it’s online, so not many students try to take the class. The most important role of a school is to nurture a student’s interest and how can they if not enough courses are offered.
I wish my school offered history classes that would actually be interesting to take. I am taking AP World History, and I must say that it is not what I was expecting at all. The majority of the events we cover are extremely boring and the more interesting ones, like battles and conflict, are briefly talked about it. From what I’ve learned I can say this: I like history, but I don’t like taking classes on history. I would love to have a class that would just talk about the battles from history, and a class that covered the more interesting parts. Obviously what’s interesting is subjective, but I think everyone can agree that learning about the farming techniques in central America is much more dreadful than the Battle of Thermopylae.
A history class about human conflict would be awesome to take. A class about wars, battles, tactics, and weapons would be fascinating. To analyze the different combat styles from history, and to see how they changed with technology developments, now that sounds like a history class I wish to take. The history department often gets a bad reputation for being irrelevant, after all why should we learn about the past when we are only moving forward? To put it simply: history is essential to avoid our mistakes. Looking at the conflicts in history may give us some insight to what led to them, and hopefully we may be able to avoid a conflict in the future.
If it were up to me, my school would have more political science, economics, and government classes. Government and politics is what I love to learn about most and introducing that into a school environment would only increase this love in me as well as other students.
High schoolers will either vote in a few years, or are old enough to vote, and yet, most high schoolers have no idea what their political beliefs are or even how the political process works. As someone who has been steeped in politics my entire life, it is unbelievable to me that people do not know which political party their views align with and frankly, don't care.
The article mentions how being a "maker" can increase participation in schools. I believe this can be applied to the study of politics and political history by having students research the parties and find their own beliefs and where they lie on the political spectrum. Doing this will not only increase poll turnout come election day, but also create more educated and passionate voters who feel like they have a stake in the political system and a voice to make their opinions heard.
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@Cooper Hyldahl The world is full of opinions and ideas on certain matters and one of the most popular as you mentioned, is politics. Everyone has a different way of thinking and weather that comes from family influence or real life contact everyone's opinion needs to be heard. Politics is something that really matters because the world is forever changing meaning that to keep up with life we need to keep our ideas watering the plant political structure.
We learn about the past, only the past. Its history, so I understand, but is the past so important? The past has happened, why do we need to learn about all the thing who already have happened? Why should we learn about Titanic?
I think we should learn about the future. We can’t live in the past, we need to live in the future! Learn about how we can make the world a better place! What we want to be when we grow up, what kind of job we want and how we want our lives to be. That is much more important than learning about all the things that happened in the past. As early as 10-12 years we should be outside of class, asking relatives to join them at their job to try out different occupations. Sitting down and have math does not help you finding out what you want to be.
@Mathilde I can see why an education entirely focused on the past may not be very appealing or seem very relevant, but I think history classes and classes with heavy focus on historical topics are essential to a complete education. I agree that an education that is one hundred percent past focused should not be the goal or in any way ideal. It would be a great disservice to students to not acknowledge topics of the future and current events. However, I still believe we need a healthy balance between all three. The present and future may seem like the most obviously relevant times, but the past is just as relevant. There is a reason “history repeating itself” is a cliche. As humans, we have tried to ignore history before, and we only manage to repeat our mistakes over and over again. If we do not address and become familiar with the past, our futures will be overrun with preventable faults.
I agree that an internship or visiting program regarding potential professions would be extremely beneficial to students. It’s perfectly fine to not quite know what we want to do in the future, but it’s not alright to be entirely uninformed in all of our options. Many students who leave high school with hopes of a certain profession in the future don’t have much legitimate experience or knowledge of that profession. Many base their decisions off of “hunches”, the job “sounding fun”, and maybe nothing at all. Career management courses should be taken more seriously in our educations.
In school i wish for a lot of things that we could learn about like esports instead of having to learn an extensive amount of a language. If we introduce some new classes into school, and not require so much english or foreign language classes, then students could take their core classes and then choose other classes for electives, such as art or esports. Instead of starting to branch off towards the career you want in college, we should start that process in highschool, letting students take classes that help them reach the careers they want. Instead of taking like eight years of extra college debt and expenses, take four of those years off in high-school by taking medical classes in high-school.
I wish schools provided more classes like home ec and financial classes. These are the small things that students are missing in schools that can better prepare us for the larger world we are getting ready to live in.
Now, I know that these classes do already exist and that you can take these classes in high school, but that’s only if you want to. Just simply want to. Some of these classes should be mandatory to graduate high school. Your not going to know how to pay a bill, let alone write one or balance a checking account by just going with the flow. YOu have to be taught this information and practice it to know what you’re doing. This seems like simple knowledge to most adults, but that’s because they’ve been taught how to do said tasks.
The other thing to pay attention to is if the class is honors or on-level. This is important because students get caught up in their GPA. Students won’t take certain classes because they will hurt their GPA rather than help it like an honors level class would do. So, these classes that are essential to take to succeed in life, should all have some sort of higher level class than just on-level.
I truly think that we should have financial classes be of priority in the school system. It will help students better prepare for life, it won’t cause students to panic when they’re faced with these obstacles, and it’s a class that is normally passed up on because students don't think they need the class because it’s not mandatory.
My school offers a variety of elective courses to meet everybody’s needs. They even give the option to double enroll and take classes at our local colleges. That sounds amazing until you actually take the course, if you even get to. Our courses pile up with all the required ones for college which most of us are not interested in at all not do we thinks it’s ever going to help us get where we want to go. Also, Teachers are just teaching to prepare us for an exam, and it’s not their fault because that’s what they have to do just like us, students, have to sit in a class that has nothing to do with anything we want to be or do. They are supposed to teach by a curriculum. The whole system is broken.
Parsons Paris and the e-sports scholarship are an example of what everybody should be doing. It’s not hard to do. It’s just baby steps, but instead the system is focusing on drug testing and all. Most of us actually go to school to make a future and learn, but we’re just caught up with the small group of kids that want to cause trouble. It’s starting to feel like we’re just being held captive instead of freely moving. I, personally, love to learn, but I’m getting sick of school. I go to school and it’s the same boring thing everyday. I’m not interested in what I learn half the time, and when I take interest and ask a question, I’m given a vague answer followed by “But we’re not going to go to deep into that because it’s not going to be on the test.” What’s even the point anymore?
One big issue with the public school systems is that the curriculum is outdated. If we don't ever have to use something, why learn it. If we have technology that will eliminate the need for learning certain things, why learn them. It’s almost as if we are preparing to go back in time before anyone had a cell phone, a calculator, and internet access. While there are certain things that still need to be taught such as geography, history, and why we do certain things in math, we need to learn new things such as coding, networking, and space exploration. These are the things that will be prominent in our lifetime not how to write in cursive and use excel.
I really think that these schools mentioned are doing the right thing in preparing their students with skills for life. Woodworking is an age old trade but we still need good carpenters today. Who else is going to frame your door or build your deck. Scripted lectures and air tight lesson plans are not good for students as they often don't get updated for years.
Esports and gaming has been a huge thing for years and just now schools are starting to accept it into their curriculum. I would argue it takes just as much effort to be an excellent gamer as it does to be a good football player. Outdoor sports are the pastimes of the 20th century. Computer games are the pastimes of the 21st century.
In my experience I don’t often enjoy the classes I take. They are usually about things that I don’t really enjoy doing, but have to because I am required to or because I have to get a higher GPA. I reluctantly take classes that I honestly don’t like, just to appease these things, without ever questioning if I even want to take the class or if I will ever apply the knowledge I learn from it in the future. The idea that all students should be able to take the classes they want to is an excellent one, but would not work in our school system, because schools can’t appease everyone’s desires. However, I believe that schools need more classes that apply to specific job options, so that kids can take the classes they want to like certain business, technology, medical, engineering, and mechanical classes they want, so they can get a good idea about what they want to do as a career in the future. I also think that these classes should be provided in both honor and AP levels, so kids will not have to sacrifice their GPA to take the classes they want. Adding more types of these classes will help engage students more, and allow them to do things that suit their interests.
I personally would like there to be more medical classes at my school, so I can see if becoming a doctor is something I would like to pursue. Also, to get some information and practice in some of the things I might need if I were to take pre-med classes when I get to college.
Taking an art class is one of my favorite times of the day. Even though it may not have the best credit or won’t be put on my college resume, I still enjoy the class, and I feel bad for the people who skip over electives and pursue the higher credit. I’d love to learn about how to live life independently. I know schools offer finance classes and such, but I want to know how to live life successfully. People forget to talk about simple things like changing a tire or getting a schedule.
We need information as students to be able to choose career paths and with ideas like a video, lecture to help get their ideas out there, or being a maker to create innovations. A standard method is teaching to the test, and teachers will say, “Don’t worry about it because it’s not on the test,” but sometimes stepping away from the regular curriculum is helpful.
One of my English teachers threw the curriculum out and instead taught our class how to write. Even though North Carolina never will test writing fluency, I will use the writing skills every time I sit down for a college essay. Learning should be exciting and allow us to grow in knowledge, but when the school system forces specific credentials and cares about the test scores instead of allowing students to explore their interests.
@Hope Heinrichs
One of the things I'm really glad our school has is a large variety of electives. So much variety in fact that I sometimes question the need for certain classes.
Nevertheless it helps have a relaxing and interesting elective in between all those required classes that give pounds of homework.
In fact one of the things I find the most upsetting is that we need to take required classes which take away the schedule slots for things I would love to learn.
Art class is also my favorite class because there really are no rules except put your best effort into trying. There's so much creative spirit and free liberty to do whatever you want. Which is why I love it when core classes add projects involving art.
Personally I think our school is doing well in offering a variety of courses, but they seem to have a problem with putting people in those extracurricular courses that they want. All I need to be happy is an Art class.
@Hope Heinrichs
I entirely agree with having an art class, and the happiness it brings me. Mostly art class gives me time to reflect on myself. Having an hour and a half to draw, and paint within a school day is all I could ever ask for.
I have been deprived of art due to my schedule this semester and I miss it greatly. Without the class itself, I find myself only creating art through doodles or a project that requires it in a different class. I wish the time to take an elective you enjoy wasn’t looked down upon in the race to college. Especially art, due to it’s everlasting importance throughout our history.
My school offers a mixture of basic classes and a few exotic electives, like foods, astronomy, ceramics, woodshop, weightlifting, dance, etc. But I do think that the options are limited and I would like some cooler classes and a wider variety cause most of those things don't interest me that much. I would really like a class to be for real life situations, where you can learn about living on your own, how to make a little money, social skills, some basic cooking, and just normal things everyone should know how to do even like changing a tire.
I think that if schools broaden their class options that it will make the learning environment more fun and intriguing for kids and that students will get more out of their classes.
My idea of a class with broader subjects would be to see a child run class. My idea for this would be that kids choose their own subjects and help others learn that topic. So, if I wanted a video game class I could teach that class to anyone who wants to learn. The benefits of this are that students can learn about a topic of their choice with other people who find the topic interesting. The disadvantages of this is that it is possible that some kids feel as though they are left out if no one joins their club. Overall, I think that the advantages outway the disadvantages.
I wish my school offered more creative classes like dance and theater or more inclusive classes such as LGBTQ+ history, black history, or music history in the 20th century because it would be so much more interesting and more informational rather than regular history that repeats itself every year. I also wished my school offered classes that would be more beneficial in life after high schools like learning how to pay taxes, how to change a tire, what to do and say in an interview, etc. If I and other students had the opportunity to take these classes, we would be more prepared for adult life. Schools should look into offering classes that can be fun and informative that they usually don’t offer. Even silly hobbies like video gaming can help students learn good hand-eye coordination, help them in sports or even get them interested in engineering and web design. Especially sports related video games. These video games, known as “e-sports”, “are part of student affairs; some schools place them within an engineering or design program” (Schulten para. 4). These games can help athletes and athletics train and improve their game and form. With everything that’s evolving and changing in the world, maybe changing either how we learn or what we learn can be crucial to our future education and career field.
If you could pick what you learn about in school, what would you pick? As a student I wish schools would give us classes to take about responsibilities we have as adults. I want to learn how to do taxes, how to take loans, how to start a retirement fund and so forth. In school I am learning the basics of proper english, the history of my country, and what chemicals do. Yes, those are needed in my future but I also need to know the responsibilities of an adult. High schools should allow you to take classes that will help you succeed in the job you want to do. In New York they offer online classes that will help you in your future job. For example, “Parsons Paris, a nonprofit school that is a division of the New School of New York City, is suggesting its new online program, ‘Inside the Business of Fashion and Luxury’”. My school offers fun classes like cooking, art, and music. We also have a personal finance class that teaches you how to save your money and use it wisely. My school provides fun classes to take throughout your high school career but I would love and thrive off of classes that taught me the responsibilities I will need when I am older.
@Faith I agree that we need to take classes on how to be a responsible adult. It is incredible that we throw people out into the world expecting them to do great things when we don't teach them what they need to know to actually be able to do those things. I think that what Parsons Paris is doing is great and should be integrated into public schools all around the nation as well.
I think that schools can always offer more relevant classes would be important to the students attending. When being asked about what courses they should add there is one that sticks out in my mind and that's ASL or sign language. A whole group of people in the United States have no ability to communicate verbally and I feel it's a missed opportunity to teach people how to communicate in other ways. However it is never too late to add things like this into the curriculum. As is says in the article “What Topics Do You Wish You Could Learn About In School” that “Schools at all levels regularly tinker with their curriculums to be more relevant and interesting to students”(Schulten, 2019, para. 2). Some people may think it’s old and outdated to have schools teach sign language and with inventions like cochlear hearing aids that deaf people have what they need to live normally with the rest of society. This is not the case and there should always be room in school curriculums to help people learn an important communication skill.
@Keith I think learning sign language at an earlier age would have benefits. Students, when they would become older, would be able to comminute with more people. It would be a helpful skill to learn for future job purposes. In North Carolina, I know that we have a school for the deaf. I personally think it would be interesting to learn signs because the communication style is totally different. Hands instead of using your mouth. I wonder how quickly students might pick it up. Would muscle memory be incorporated? But overall, I think that learning any kind of language in school is always beneficial to a student.
@Keith
I would love to see an ASL class and I believe that it should be an option as a language you can take. I don't count it as old school because it is still a language that many people use unlike Latin, which is a dead language and still offered at my school. More language options should be available at school whether it be online or in a class. Along with offering more languages, studies have been done and proved that children are able to learn languages easier at a younger age. I believe if we start having more language options available for middle school students then there would be more of a benefit from learning a foreign language, like ASL.
I wish but am also grateful for the opportunities I have at school. I wish school could prepare us with more life classes and how to basically be pretty well prepared when you graduate. I feel like majority people who graduate are scared and confused because they don't know the next step to life or what to do."Do you go to the kind of school with a lot of electives, and the freedom to choose the ones that interest you most? The kind of school where you can opt to take, say, “Race and Society” rather than just “history,” (Schulten 2019 par.1). I wish at my school we had these kinds of classes. I think students would really enjoy classes that they chose from rather then taking basic classes. If schools did this it would make students care about school for once because it would be interesting for them and make them want to learn about whatever class they took.
At my school I feel like we have a wide variety of interesting courses available to us. We have AP classes, honors classes, music, art, language, and much more. Our school’s goal is to have a class of interest for every student. This ultimately is a good thing, but the biggest problem is that very few students have the room in their schedules to incorporate classes of interest in their school day. Throughout our four years in high school there are many core classes and required classes that all students must take in order to graduate, though many of these classes are important like math and English, others can argue that some of the classes are not a necessity to have taken prior to graduation. If our school was able to cut back on some of the requirements, there would be more room in students’ schedules to add interesting classes that may reflect the major they choose to pursue in college.
Although the academic classes offered at my school are traditional, I believe that my school is doing a good job of offering a different variety of elective classes. These electives are meant to expose us to different potential college majors, the arts, sports, etc. While my school does offer an elective in fashion, I believe they could do a better job by teaching it more like a college class. The idea of having a relationship with a college that offers majors in fashion, such as Parsons School of Design, to provide online classes meant for high school students would be ideal. Actually getting to see what these college classes are like and getting to do some of the projects would be a great way for a high school student to see if a major in fashion would be a good fit. One area I think my school is doing a great job is offering different levels of dance class. This allows students who have never taken a dance class to see what it is like and to have the opportunity to work up from beginner to advanced. They also get to perform on stage at a dance show, perhaps for the first time. Students who already have experience in dance are able to learn choreography and how to teach a class.
My school offers a wide variety of electives but the classes aren't always taught well and teachers don't put much effort in them, which makes many of the classes an easy A without learning much about the topic. I think we should have a business class say if you want to start your own business, or a marine biology/zoology class, I feel like these would be fun and also keeping kids involved and maybe helping them pick a career choice. These classes could help them understand how life works with more hands on and can also be mixed with other marine sciences. This class could be fun and since we live near the ocean we could take many trips down to the beach to do more hands on experiments. My friends and I would enjoy this class because we are hanging out at the beach almost everyday and i feel like it would be interesting to learn about different things that happen in our diverse ecosystem.
I think it’s very important for schools to offer classes that interest their students. My school offers several hands on and cte courses that many students find interesting. Some are eligible for honors or AP credit, and many students take advantage of those opportunities to bring up their grades.
I’d be interested in taking social studies classes based on the histories of minority groups, and why they’re important, and I’d be interested in taking a class in painting or environmental art, but I’d only be interested if these classes were offered at an AP or honors level. My school does have lots of classes that I’m interested in, like ceramics or sculpture. Classes that students find interesting are important, and students should take advantage of them.
Our school has a wide variety of electives for students to choose from. We have a good arts program and great athletics. Of school is one of the best in our state, for athletics. We have so many electives to choose from at our school but I think its sometimes hard to know just how much our school offers. You can take such a wide variety of classes but my school doesn't really show you all the options you have. I think it would be great if they have an assembly or something to show and talk about how many classes we offer. So that these fun and inspiring classes are more accessible to students.
A course that I would like to see in schools that I would enjoy is more construction or agriculture-based classes. I think classes that help you learn more and gain experience in those fields would help a lot with jobs and be fun too. I could make a pretty good case to why they should introduce more courses like this into schools. It would be a great way to learn skills you could put into a job and getting an extra start would make it a lot easier or if kids cannot afford college they are still getting pre-knowledge on a career. Also, it could take place of other electives that basically don’t do anything for you in the future and don’t serve much purpose.
My school does a pretty good job of having fun classes that people want to take but that also give them knowledge and serves a purpose later on although I do think that they could always do a better job with this and oi think most schools can and should. Most of the courses i take or have taken have not been very involved with real world situations. Although there are some exceptions most classes focus on the curriculum and dont try to relate much to real world issues or situations.
I feel that all schools should provide a range of different classes for all of their students. The things we are interested in is not all the same. So I think schools should take the time and try to offer things that can apply to interests of all of their students so the students can have a class they will look forward to enjoying.
A class that should be brought more of is e- sports. Yes, it may seem like a video game but it actually can be very helpful for students to get a chance of even a scholarship. This elective that is less popular and other electives that aren’t so well known in school can be very helpful because it might give others an interest in something they thought they might not like before and do now, and just giving a benefit in a scholarship.
I believe it’s very important for a student to be involved in activities that just help them relieve stress and think without boundaries. Being a Junior in High School, I have realized that I need to really start thinking seriously regarding my career. Although my school offers tons of different extracurriculars, I still haven’t felt satisfied with a class that paints my future career. I understand that every student is different and there are millions of different options out there, but as time changes, schools should really start to incorporate new classes or techniques that inform us about what careers hold importance at present and the future. By doing so, we will be able to decide more quicker, have a better understanding and not only be aware of what will benefit us, but more importantly, the World.
My school offers a good variety of classes. We have sports marketing, fashion design, horticulture, dance, and more. We also have special classes like honors, AP, IB, and Human Studies.
What I do think my school could improve on is offering higher level elective courses. I would like to take a class that prepares me for real life financing and such, but the only class that touches on that subject is on-level. I would like to have an AP financing class so that my GPA would be able to remain higher. There are other electives at my school that I would love to take if only they were harder and weighted more. For example, I would love taking a photography or film class. I think this would be very beneficial to students because we would be able to be challenged in our elective course, making the best of every moment of school, rather than taking an easy, filler class.
I think that it’s great to have hands on classes. It Makes learning fun and you get to see how what your being taught really applies. I don’t think it should just be in places like woodshop or art I feel like we should get hands on situations like labs in science classes. So this whole article about the makers was really interesting not only in the fact that they were incorporating hands on things but how they had grown people to the idea and their actual success. In students saying that this type of learning worked for them and really helped them comprehend what was going on.
Yes it would be nice to have more diversity in classes because we do have them but they never are really required or if you take them you feel as if you are behind academically. So I think it would be great if we saw a change with creativity requirements happen, but that’s probably just a me thing.
To my knowledge, Hoggard High School does not have any special classes that students can take except for the occasional career management or fashion class. Even if a student wanted to try out for a nontraditional class, it’s looked at differently than an honors or AP class.
The main issue is nontraditional classes being weighted differently. If only my school added more honors options that incorporated new subjects like business and entrepreneurship, coding and tech based classes, and animal sciences that didn’t need hard requirements. I would enjoy my classes a lot more if they helped towards what I actually wanted to do with my life and at the same time were useful for GPA.
Freshman year when I was signing up for classes, I sat down with my councilor and told her that I wanted to take yoga. She insisted fervently that I should stick to doubling up in math. I was upset that though she thought I could go further with doubling up classes as fast as possible, I had to leave behind classes that I actually wanted to take. Now, since I’m doing IB next year, I have no chance to take any classes other than the IB requirements.
Though there’s no e-sport clubs at Hoggard, I’m glad that Robert Morris University is taking something that their students love and making a team out of it. By combining an exercise regiment, breaks, and team communication skills, their team is more valuable than many of the traditional classes I’ve taken that just teach by the book.
I wish my highschool offered a course on medicinal sciences. I have already taken the science courses the mass of students have taken: biology, earth and environmental, chemistry, but none of them are remotely close to the course I have in mind. In the course of medicinal sciences students would be exposed to small scale operations such as stitching wounds closed and then safely opening them again. The students would see first-hand the importance of precision and concentration that doctors are capable of because it would be taught by a retired surgeon.
I would convince my school that medicinal sciences is a necessary course by bringing data to them about how useful doctors are in today’s world. A high demand for doctors in shown by countries across the world because the 10 year job outlook is 14%. I would also present to them the importance for everyone to know basic life saving procedures in the case they were stranded and could not get to a hospital immediately. This course would teach them how to reduce external bleeding on their body and simple tricks that can save lives like CPR.
My school system does an excellent job offering courses at our high school. I am currently involved in a Six District Educational Compact made up of six high schools in my area. Each high school offers different programs such as athletic training, cosmetology, nursing, and culinary classes. I am currently involved in the Teaching Profession Program where I get experience of what I will learn in college and hands on experiences. Many students are involved in these programs, “a growing group of students who haven’t responded to traditional textbook-and-work sheet learning are excited and inspired” (Schulten, 2019, para.6), and our interest in school has increased. I am learning different aspects of teaching that I never knew existed.
I believe schools have so much to offer, that they have left out the required knowledge to make it in this world. In my school, we have a lot of electives that you can choose from. A few being Core and Sustainable Construction, to Theory of Knowledge. Its very important to know what you want to do when you get older, but not knowing the basics of how to take care of yourself or even a family because your school didn't teach you what taxes are and how to pay bills is quite sad. To my understanding of electives, they are "fun facts" about the subjects you are interested in. It's excellent great to know, but i don't need to know that Genghis Khan's grandson's name was Kublai when instead I could learn how to fix a flat tire. If I could start an elective/course, it would be all about how to manage your life- knowing how to deposit checks, do taxes, pay bills, how to set up a bank account or even simple things like fixing a light bulb, getting ready for an interview, buying furniture, what happens when your car overheats. I believe this is what high school should be teaching us so we don't make these mistakes in the future.
I recently responded to an article where I mentioned race. That’s a topic I wish we could learn and talk about more in school. I understand some people won’t be able to have this conversation without getting mad and accused of saying something racist, like politics and teachers not being able to talk about them. I just feel everyone should know about Hugh McRae and Emmett Till, half the people reading this probably never heard of the 2.
In one article that talks about makers it says, there are more than 400 active spaces for hacking and making in North America. I like how a science teacher eased it into her classroom. Her name is Carolyn Barnhart and although it was a change to her class, it benefits them wether they know it or not. I say this because makers being turning something into what you want. Not being told do this perfect don’t do this, just seeing how you do without being told what specifically to do and how exactly to do it. Independence really.
When it comes to class options at my school we actually have a decent amount of different types of classes to take depending on your interests. These classes are typically high demand and can be kind of tough to get into with limited spots. At my school seniority comes first when classes are being selected so even if you’re super interested in a certain elective and have the full potential of doing great in the class but you’re a sophomore and you’re up against a senior, the senior will get the spot. This can be very disappointing to an underclassman who is trying to take part in something that they think they could possibly have a future career in. Schools, especially high schools need to work on having more availability when it comes to classes.
After reading the article It made me think, do other schools have these opportunities or are these even possible? Regarding the question asked in the article, “Do you go to the kind of school where you can opt to take, say, “Race and Society” rather than just “history,” or “The Dystopian Novel” instead of just ”English”?”. I've never heard of something like this, at my school and every other school I’m familiar with English courses are required and there’s nothing you can replace it with unless you want to further your learning with classes like AP Literature. Even though my high school offers a variety of interest classes there’s a lot that still needs to be done with furthering the selection.
I think it would be fantastic if schools offered skill development for athletics. If student athletes could spend a class period a day studying films, learning proper technique, and practicing skills the athletic teams would be stronger. By studying films from previous games you can help determine what teams would do. I could also study my personal films and help discover what went wrong in certain situations. I would love to study more about proper technique because it would help with skill development. During this class athletes could also practice to prevent making the same mistakes. In addition, this would allow student athletes to become better and possible get financial help in college. Just as e-sports, “have become a gateway to college scholarship money” (Schulten, 2019, para.7), athletics can offer an equal amount.
I have always wished I could learn about things that might be a little more useful in the real world or something I am more interested than some of the traditional courses or requirements given. One subject I wish they taught was morals. A class that teaches you how to be a good and decent human being. This course would stop bullying and give students the knowledge about acceptance of every different kind of human being even if they aren't the same as you. In the related articles, it discusses the many different popular things in our world today that teachers are implementing in the classroom. I think this is a very smart way to keep teens interested and engaged in class. This also helps the education system stays up to date with our constant developing world.
I think there are a lot of things schools are missing. Such as how to handle money, and taxes. Basic survival techniques, how to start a fire and what berries are edible, for example. Or maybe even how to start a business and not get scammed. I think a lot of things we learn in schools are more like "fun facts" that we're never going to use again. And somethings like math are helpful, but as long as you can count/ calculate money and measure things, I think everyone should be okay. I also think students should be able to choose what they want to learn more freely, and that teachers should be more flexible. And maybe they should be less focused on homework and teaching us to procrastinate, and maybe teach us our rights as american citizens.Or we could have more hands on work, like gardening or cooking. Of course, I don't expect schools to starts teaching students these things, because when it comes down to it, society doesn't want everyone to succeed.
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In my school, I feel that we are given a good amount of classes that we are able to take, like honors and AP classes. They have lots of electives so you can learn about things you might be looking to major in college. The only problem I have with the system of classes is the requirements for core courses. I don’t have the room in my schedule to take classes on topics I would want to learn at my school. For example, I want to take the AP psychology class, but required classes like English and Math, take up most of my schedule. It is nice that our school offers music and language options because I know some schools don’t. If our school had more class options though, students would be able to choose classes that they are interested in learning about for college, or to see if that topic is something they would like to pursue in the future.
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My school is somewhat a big school of at least 2,300 students. I believe that no matter school size the school should provide a variety of classes so that every each student takes a class they’re interested in. My school definitely has a variety of classes and is still adding on. There’s even a beginners level and advanced level for many classes. The courses have a wide spectrum like art has ceramics, drawing, painting, ap art, art history, sculpting, etc. Music has different levels of band— symphonic, Jazz, marching—, choir—treble, chamber—, orchestra. There’s tons of business courses, interesting science courses that are out of the 3 basic science courses—biology, chemistry, and physics— like anatomy or astronomy. It’s too much that I can’t even list because I’ll be rambling.
One problem with my school and I feel like many schools who do provide many electives is those classes are not required. I wish I was required to do an art class each semester so I would have to take it. Instead, I sacrifice that spot for courses like AP Biology because the perception of the school is to take hard classes and prepare for college. Although, taking like art classes to me is enjoyable and stress-relieving.
My school does have various extracurriculars, but not enough. There are plenty extracurriculars that should be added when thinking about students after high school. How are we supposed to know that the career we are interested in is the path we want to take? How am I supposed to know if I will be successful if they do not offer the class I am interested in partaking—and possibly have a career in? I would like to take an interior design class, but my school does not have that class available. I believe that it would be a great idea to have a survey to fill out in order to hear what classes the students believe should be added; then look at the highly requested ones and go from there.
Although my school provides a variety of courses and extracurriculars spanning from music to art to engineering, I still feel there could be more. My school lacks proper medical courses and this really negatively affects me because once I graduate from high school, I'm hoping to go into the medical field. Even though there is a medical club where you learn about how life is going into the medical field, I still believe that my school should have electives of different medical fields so that I can find out which specific medical field I am interested in. Also medical electives would give me an advantage for when I do go to college as I will have some preliminary knowledge. It would be fairly easy to convince my school to add these courses as many students at my school are looking to go into the medical field, but it would probably be hard for the school to execute the plan as they would need completely new teachers.
I wish my school offered more specific courses that helped you find a career. My ideal course would be a wide variety of problem solving and deep thinking about careers. Included in the course, students would research career jobs in need so that when they start thinking of subjects to major in they will have an idea of some careers that have been decreasing lately. This course would also have sub units where you were able to spend a week at a time learning common adult knowledge. My high school, for the most part, does a great job of giving courses on some of the most relevant household necessities. I feel that those are a whole semester long though. Yes, my school offers a sewing and fashion class, but I am not interested in a whole semester long class for that. With my offered course you would have a week of sewing so that you had a bare minimum knowledge of sewing. The goal after the week of learning how to sew would be if one day you needed to fix a hole in a shirt, you would be able to sew it. Another week in class, you would be learning about the overall view of taxes. We could even take one week to receive the knowledge on how to fix a flat tire. Basic adult living concepts like those are needed in a course but as a sub unit so that you would have more knowledge after leaving high school. I believe my school is doing a good job but there is definitely room to improve and become more efficient with our courses offered.
As someone who attends a small school where a good amount of the classes are taught by a coach of one sport or another I wish there was more of an emphasis on the arts. The arts program at my school while filled with talented teachers who do everything they can with what they are given it is generally small compared to the other schools in the county. While other schools have auditoriums, our theater department is confined to a single classroom with props and costumes stuffed in every space available. When other schools have many art classes available for all the students who wish to delve into the many facets of art, we have some students like me who are unable to make a spot in an art class and are left to take a online art course.
I love my school. I wouldn't change to a different one for the world, but being the aspiring artist that I am these grievances sometimes don't make it seem worth it. My only wish for less academic driven classes at my school is to expand the already existing arts program into something much more.
My school does a decent job of offering more specialized classes, at least compared to most schools. We offer classes like oceanography, horticulture, and health care to supplement the classes we are all familiar with. The majority of the more interesting electives my school offers are more STEM based which I think is great because it is the largest growing field but we should also have more classes offered in the other subjects. For example, we only have English 1,2,3,and 4. What about a class that is focused on public speaking?
I wish my school would offer classes that would teach us skills that will be necessary once we get older such as learning to pay taxes, file a mortgage, and how to invest in the stock market. We have business classes like "personal finance" but all we do is stare at computer screens, fill out web quests, and do kahoots. One problem with a lot of these electives is that if we took them, they would actually bring down our GPA because they aren't honor or AP level so even if the class may better prepare us for the future, it can actually hurt it by lowering our GPA, which lowers our chances of getting into a good college.
In school, the main thing I would love to learn more about is current events. While some teachers do incorporate some current events into their lessons, it’s mostly just passing statements about the same few things. An entire curriculum just about what’s happening in the world at the present moment would definitely be my favorite class time. Although I also love learning about history, current events that are even still happening feel a lot more riveting than 200-year-old wars between people who have been dead for centuries.
3/3 Even so, this class would help me monumentally in the future! I want to become a doctor, particularly a Gastroenterologist, so taking courses solely on nursing and anatomy would be a huge benefit to me. Additionally, as I mentioned before, horticulture is just something that interests me and I would like to know more about. But the stress pushed on me by family and friends to be the best, or top five, in my class outweighs and oppresses these interests. Even classes more relevant to life in general, like learning how to do taxes or cook or babysit, would be beneficial for me and most other students I know, yet they are not required or high enough level to focus on.
In all, the needs of students must be met and accommodated for, and schools need to realize that more subjects than just history, science, math, and language.
One course I wish my school would have would definitely be computer programming. I feel like it would not only help me but many other people as well. Programming has become a widely popular job option. The course could teach you how to program basic games or tools. I feel like this course would be a very viable option and one that would not waste money either. My school lacks education in this certain subject. Though we do have a Robotics Club, I don't feel like that is enough. Other then that robotics club we do not have many classes in technology. In my grade there is only one class per week that is related to technology which I think is too little seeing that we need technology for so many things nowadays.
@Jack Zhou I feel that a computer programming class would be very beneficial to any school willing to implement it. I personally have never really explored the realm of coding but I still find it very interesting. I have a friend that has written an innumerable amount of code for a website he is in the process of making. Although I do not understand what he is doing as he writes the code I still enjoy watching him translate his thoughts into the language of computers. I would love to see a class like computer programming that would give him the opportunity to thrive in the school setting.
2/3 I agree wholeheartedly with the fashion and luxury program that the New School of New York City is implementing; if a student is interested in this instead of traditional things, they should completely be allowed to do that, and have the schools support in doing so.
Additionally, I believe that making classrooms more dynamic is also a helpful tool in engaging students. While I personally learn better through lectures and textbooks, I know many of my friends who struggle with this way of learning. Programs such as the “makers” program and other hands-on learning activities help appeal to a wider group of students, and make learning more fun for everyone. As Carolyn Barnhart realizes, not everything needs to be lectures and worksheets; sometimes to truly learn, you must be actively doing the things you are trying to understand. Even splitting the classes based on learning style - one for people more inclined to textbooks and one for people more interested in hands on learning - would be beneficial if properly executed.
If I could have a subject to learn about specifically, it would either be horticulture or health science. While my school does offer a health science program, these classes are honors, and do not fit my pre-assigned track.
1/3 Personally, I attend a school that gives a great variety of electives to choose from. Everything from art to drama to horticulture is available, but in reality, I can not take any of these classes. I, my parents, and I feel like everyone in my life has extremely high expectations of my grades and GPA, so while these classes are available, they are either on level or honors, which will “hurt me” more than help me. Often I find myself wishing I could take a class like that - wouldn’t it be so cool if I could draw, or learn how to grow a garden and take care of plants! I would enjoy it much more than pre-calc or AP US government, and I am actually super interested in plants. But for me, and many of my friends, the GPA standards are set so high that it really isn’t an option to realistically take these classes and maintain the standards set for me.
One thing that I think would be really beneficial for students would be to have the arts taken more seriously. In general day-to-day life, I believe that having the ability to simply draw is more important than being able to calculate the angle of a triangle or do complex calculus equations. And it should not stop there; if a student is interested in dance, music, or a variety of other activities that fall under the category of art, those interests should also be fostered. It should be a requirement that students participate in the arts in some way, because this develops a more open-minded, well rounded person.
Recently, there has been a lot of discussion about the impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump. The New York Times has had topics about this as far as I know. I think it would be nice if we had a class about current events. Many of us don’t watch or can’t watch the news at home, so it would be nice if we could learn about it in school. Last year in 6th grade, my school, Julia R. Masterman, made us watch CNN every morning as a routine. That also gave us updates about what is happening, so I think this is a good thing we should add to our mornings again!
At my school, there are actually many classes that aren’t offered. We have the generic electives such as art, personal finance, or Microsoft word- but there honestly isn’t much of a variety of classes to take that would prepare students for the real world ahead of them. With a class like “Microsoft” or “Powerpoint”, in some cases students might just take it in order to fill a gap in their schedule, and might not actually enjoy it. The popular electives that the majority of the student body enjoys almost always gets completely filled up at the start of school, so getting into a class you truly want to take can be difficult.
In the related article, many schools have come up with pretty unique opportunities to offer to their students such as: e-sports, coding classes or fashion video lectures from France. Having interesting classes like this open up many windows or opportunity for kids to try new things out and possibly find something that fits them, and they enjoy it too.
While the fun and unique classes are great, I feel like schools should also include more classes to better prepare kids for the future- and example could be a money management class. After high school, most students will have gone through without taking many classes that will truly prepare them for the future- so having a variety of those types of classes is a good thing too.
School is a great learning environment for all ages, and kids who have the privilege to go to school should take advantage of this.
Though I think education is one of the most important tools to have in life, in this day and age teenagers are moving faster and faster, and attention spans for most are definitely getting shorter. We are definitely tired of sitting in a class room for 90 minutes, listening to a teacher talk the whole time, while we sit there fighting sleep.
I feel that teachers should take surveys and ask the students what are different topics they want to learn and then make them engaging. Sitting down for 90 minutes is not the move and teachers should invest more time into what the students want to learn and also need to learn to make the classroom environment more enjoyable. Such as talking with e-sports. Students who and engaged with video games analyzing film and enjoying what they are learning everyday. That is what the classroom should be about. Engaging and giving scholarships to students doing what they love and applying themselves in the classroom to the best of their ability.
Like other schools, the school that I go to does not offer a wide variety of courses to enroll in. If I had a choice to enroll in any course, it would be woodworking due to its application of making things from scratch and using your imagination. Woodworking offers another creative outlet for students in addition to other standard courses such as art and music. The course would leave you with a set of power tools and you imagination, with an outcome of a finished product that was once only a vision in your mind. I personally have a keen imagination so I think that woodworking would be the right course for me.
I think my school should offer courses like sewing, basic plumbing, how to fix a tire, and several other courses that many adults and even kids could apply in society. These courses could potentially save them money in the future on basic things. For example, instead of having to call a towing company to fix a flat tire, or bringing your clothes to a tailor, or calling a plumber, you can learn the basic skills to tackle these jobs on your own. It is the simple things in life that we are not taught and expected to learn on our own. Also, like stated in the article, entrepreneurship would be a great life skill to learn. More and more americans are starting their own businesses and I believe that is great for today's society.
If I was interested in fashion and clothing, I would definitely want my school to offer the online program from Parsons Paris, “Inside the Business of Fashion and Luxury”. It is great they are now offering a program like this, because it can help interested students learn about the career they are interested in.
One thing I wish we learned in school was how to create a board game. Playing board games with my family is so much fun, and I really want to make one of my own. It would be a really interesting course as you could first learn the history of board games, from chess and checkers to Catan and Scythe. Then you could learn the different mechanics of fun games as you play them and learn strategic thinking. Then you could learn the probability of games. Then finally you would make you own board game. This covers a bunch of educational and creative topics in a fun way.
My school offers a pretty good amount of electives, but not good access to them. The popular classes get filled up quickly, and you might not get into the class you are interested in. I also wish that our school offered a wider variety of courses, such as esports and salesmanship. Courses like these would help prepare us for jobs in the future.
My school isn’t doing much to offer extracurricular options for learning. The clubs that are created for these kinds of learning are usually not well known, and have low attendance. Even if my school has clubs like a coding club, or a video game club, I don’t know about them and would not be able to attend them because of sports.
I think that more clubs should be created that teach about jobs and the real world. I also think that schools like mine should try to spread the world of these clubs more, and allow them to happen on times when students are more available, such as lunchtime. This way students can learn about the topics they are interested and don’t have to deal with conflicts.
I believe that the school I go too is doing somewhat of a great job offering a range of interesting options for learning with extracurricular activities. We definitely have a great variety of opportunities. But I have to say most of the sports are for the high schoolers and that’s the down fall. The sports they offer are amazing and I want to participate but sadly I’m in middle school, but in a couple years I’ll be there!
When I was choosing my electives for my first year of high school I found an elective that really interested me, animal science, only to find out it was available for another school. It bummed me out to find one of the few electives that caught my attention wasn’t even available for me, I've also found out lots of other people that go to my school were interested in it too. To me biology does make up for not having animal science to an extent since it teaches about genetics and possible outcomes of breeding pairs.
I would want animal science to be offered at Hoggard because it would get those who are interested in anything animal related get started learning about things that might help them in a career they want to pursue that involves animals. I think if my school was going to offer some new electives that they have the students vote on ones that they are interested in instead of offering ones they think students might like.
The main course my school should have is a stress management class that could take place around twice a week. Coming from a grade obsessed school, many students face stress throughout the school day which I think is a major problem. The level of stress students face can eventually impact a student’s daily education & health, which makes me believe that this issue should be acknowledged and solved in my school district. Addressing stress could be achieved through a course, a club after school or perhaps short between-class meditation periods. I believe that schools should invest in not only the knowledge of students but their mental health as well to provide a full education.
One course I wish my school offered is a course on different mythologies. I love Greek, Egyptian and Norse mythology and I would enjoy an option to learn more about it. My school doesn’t offer many options for what classes we have. Masterman is a STEM school, so there aren’t many options for creative kids. We get to choose between French and Spanish for our language and high schoolers get to pick their preps, but that's about it. I would prefer if Masterman offered more optional courses for middle schoolers, because not everyone stays at Masterman for high school.
I wish our school would offer more political based classes. Politics are a big part of our country in there are a lot of people who are very uninformed. These classes not only can inform you on whats going on but can be party based. Students could use this as a tool for when they turn 18 to be informed on politics. They can start to find a political party they agree with or disagree with and to learn more about it. These classes could be helpful so kids aren't just getting the opinion there parents have they can learn to have there own voice and speak for what they believe in. Also these classes could help kids from our school want to get into politics or government which is good. It always looks good for a school to produce government officials or politicians. I would convince my school by using the points above. Politics are very powerful and instead of making them a big elephant in a classroom it's better to talk about them.
It feels as though in the blink of an eye, students go from petite kindergartners to high schoolers. Within this fast period of schooling something important is missing, self-identity. Schools focus greatly on the basic subjects, but lack coverage on topics/clubs that I know would have helped me figure out myself, and what I wanted to do when I was older. I’m only in the 7th grade, and my parents already expect me to know what I want to do when I grow up, but the lack of school-based assistance has left me clueless. Clubs that are out of school might help figure out what you want to do when you grow up, but if you’re like me, it’s not very easy to know where to start. Plus, let’s say you think you want to have a job in the medical field, what clubs can you join to help nourish that idea? Probably none. However, if schools offered a program where students could pick topics for special classes, or something similar to that idea, that would help find the missing puzzle piece for you.
At my school, we only get to learn languages in 8th grade. Also, we can only choose from two languages. Yes, French and Spanish are nice languages, but I kind of wish we had more of an option to choose from. I feel like we should have a language at our school for every continent(except for antarctica) That way people can learn a more diverse set of languages.
I feel at school they topic we learn about are limiting the success of students. I think that if topics like time management and study skills were taught in schools it could seriously benefit students because it shows students the importance of organization and working hard when doing school work which I think is the most important thing that a person can do. Topics like how to manage your money I think is extremely important for everyone's future and is something that is rarely talked about in school. Overall I think that schools need to pay more attention to skills that people won’t use on a test or in there job.
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@Leonard Vekker I don't think school is the best place to have subjects for little tasks like time management and study skills. Those are more of personal tricks to keep yourself on track of work you already have. School should be used for engaging students in possible career path and educate them on as many possibilities as possible. Schools like Parsons Paris offered their students different programs to give students the ability to dive deeper into career opportunities. If your looking for a class to each you money management because that is a concern of yours, classes like economics, personal finance, or some variation of those classes can be found in most schools.
I wish that schools offered classes that will help you with your life and independence out of school. These classes would show you methods of saving money, managing credit, and paying taxes. The school doesn’t do a good job of preparing you for your future in adulthood or your life in college. This class would be called something like “Life Skills” or “Preparation for Adulthood.”
The article talks about colleges that are endorsing video game teams. These players have access to “athletic trainers and are put through light fitness training.” E-Sports (Electronic Sports) is a growing industry that has been growing in both popularity and wealth. These students practice from 4:30 to 9:30 pm with a one-hour dinner break. I believe that in the future we will see many more programs like this as the industry continues to grow.
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@Bennett M, I think the idea of having a "life skills class" is a wonderful idea, because many things that are found outside of school that we aren't taught, including, as you said,"saving money, managing credit, and paying taxes". I think some of these things can be found in economics and personal finance, but I think a class that gives basic and practical skills to students to prepare them to be able take care of themselves after their education has ended is important, especially to those who will be taking student loans, so that they understand how to pay it off and whether it is the correct option.
I wish our school would offer esports. My first reasoning is it would give more kids a reason to go to school. Instead of staying home and playing video games they can go to school and get their highschool degree with it. Second it give more people opportunity. With e sports kids that aren't playing sports like football,baseball,lacrosse, etc. they have an opportunity to get more scholarship money to get into college.
I would convince my school to make them provide a e sports program is opportunity. Esports would give more kids a chance to get a scholarship and bond with new people. It allows more people to want to come to school too because they have a class where they just play video games.
At my school there are not really any options of extra classes you can take besides French, and Spanish in 8th grade. I wish I could see extra classes such as economics or life skills like cooking. In addition, I would like to see classes that focus on solving a problem, like an entrepreneur class or a building class. I feel that schools should consider what people would like to learn or do than just going over the basics of what you need to know like math, literacy, science, and social studies/history.
I wish that my school provided mandatory courses that helped us develop compassion. I believe that offering these classes would actively create a better future by teaching people how to respect people of all backgrounds. The class could incorporate sensitivity training with education on different cultures. I think that this would not only be helpful, but also a fun and stress-relieving outlet for students.
Schools may argue that they provide a plethora of topics and electives of different subjects for students to choose from, but there are only a few electives that are honors classes.
Getting accepted into a good college is more competitive than ever before, so the school system is indirectly making decisions for their students for what classes to take through providing honors versus on-level classes to students.
Honors students typically will look to take all honors courses, so whether they are interested in the class or not, they will still pick the class because it is an honors class. For example, someone who has an interest in cooking may want to take the Foods Course, but won’t because it’s only an on-level course.
I wish school was structured more like college, where you can pick whichever class you wish to take and build your path to your future career through these classes and your decision on taking these classes won’t have any negative impact on you as a student.
I do think that providing more opportunities to make school more interesting for students is important because students will want to come to school more if they are interested in what they are studying. Even if it is an online class, like the one Parsons Paris is suggesting, these classes could provide students opportunities that they otherwise wouldn’t be able to get unless they went abroad.
I think it is important for schools to offer a range of all different types of classes. Students have many different interests and I think it is important that the schools try to have activities that cater to all the students’ different interests.
One example of an activity you wouldn’t typically expect to see in a school is e-sports. While some might see this activity as just kids playing around on video games to some it is very important, and can even be an opportunity to get a scholarship for college.
Schools need to offer a large variety of activities, because things some see as meaningless can be very meaningful to others. Some of these less known activities that aren’t in most schools (like e-sports) can have opportunities for money for college, and allow many to become well rounded students.
I have thought greatly about this subject and some courses I believe would be beneficial to learn in school are job help/resume writing, paying bills, buying a house, and driving courses. These would all be high school courses probably, but there are others that could be taught in middle school. Writing a resume is a difficult thing to do, so having a course on it could help high schoolers who have jobs, and also kids who can keep the knowledge for later use in applying for jobs. Paying bills goes with buying a house, or apartment. This is a basic skill to be learned and Is vital in having an apartment or house with heating, lighting, etc. Finally, Driving courses are important because if you are learning to drive in high school, you have to do it on your own time, and that can inter fear with school work.
I think the school I go to tries to offer classes that will interest students but most of them are just electives that we will take if we need an easy A. Students are more focused on taking classes that will look good to colleges and classes that are challenging even though they may not be interested in them.
I wish my school had more classes about psychology and more specifically, how autistic kids' brains work. I would also like to be able to take a class that teaches how to deal with paying off a credit card, keeping track of money, or how to do your taxes. Just classes that we would actually be able to use in our future lives outside of high school.
The Maker initiative sounds very interesting. Creativity is for the most part gone in schools and is almost discouraged so it is good that this organization is helping kids be creative and think outside the box and make school interesting.
Reading about different high schools around the country and what courses they offer made me a little jealous. The high school I attend doesn’t offer fashion, video games, or a coding class. These classes are the clubs in our school, however not many people attend the clubs because they aren’t offered during the school day and many students have homework, sports, or extracurricular activities to do.
I wish my school offered a film course for aspiring directors, producers, cinematographers, and even actors. With a film course many students can attend because there are multiple jobs that are needed to create a film. Actors who take drama can put their skills to use, make-up artists can practice their work on the actors, and even students who take art can make props for the film. With these jobs the directors, producers, and cinematographers can practice their skills with a real opportunity. This course also allows writers to create a story and see it put into action which can further their imagination and storytelling.
Overall, I believe a film course should be provided in all schools because it is very inclusive and it provides many opportunities for students who want to go into the film industry.
Of all school activities, there is one that I would love to do but my school doesn’t offer it. This activity is woodshop, the art of woodworking. In woodshop you get to form and design objects out of wood. Although this is dangerous for school because of the razor for cutting the wood and hammering in nails, it seems fun to me because I have always taken a passion for woodworking. Woodshop would also provide good gifts for holidays and special occasions. Instead of having to buy a gift from the store, you can carve out or shape wood into a good present. The only downside I can see to this is the danger.
Maurice Vetri
Julia R. Masterman
One course that I wish was offered somewhere in my school would have to be an ESports corse. According to a research in Canada and the US which did a study with 98 varsity ESport programs, it found that these kinds of programs have gotten people a total of around 16 million dollars. You can also have a very successful career playing these kinds of video games, making millions of dollars for simply being good at these video games. During these programs you can develop your skills so you can become a better ESports player.
Maurice Vetri
Julia R. Masterman
One course that I wish was offered somewhere in my school would have to be an ESports corse. According to research in Canada and the US which did a study with 98 varsity ESport programs, it found that these kinds of programs have gotten people a total of around 16 million dollars. You can also have a very successful career playing these kinds of video games, making millions of dollars for simply being good at these video games. During these programs, you can develop your skills so you can become a better ESports player.
My school does an outstanding job in the extracurricular club area. Almost everyone I know is in a club, and they all love it. My school has over 25 different clubs to offer, and they are all so different, which can be appealing to so many different people. In my three years at Masterman, I have participated in 9 different clubs, all I enjoyed so much. There are so many more clubs that still appeal to me that I can join. Masterman has so many various clubs, and there is no possible way that you can go to all of them.
Like many others, I wish my school had courses that would help me in the real world such as a cooking class, a class teaching me how to handle my finances, or a class that taught me how to register to vote. The reasons for these classes are self-explanatory a cooking class would teach me how to cook a healthy meal so I do not have to live off of fattening fast food meals. A class on how to handle my finances would teach me how to avoid wasting my money on pointless things so in the future I would not be forced to constantly be in debt. A class on how to register to vote and how to stay informed on politics would help me to one participate in a fair and free election and two to find a candidate that truly speaks to me.
At my school, There are after school activities where you can go to learn about anything you would like to learn. There is also foreign languages that you learn, but that isn’t until 8th grade. I think that 8th grade is too late to start learning something new, because then you don’t have enough time to finish learning about it. There is French and Spanish, but I don’t know if you can choose which language you want to learn.
Read, memorize ,test, repeat. This is the common pattern for many high school students in todays day and age. Many teachers are becoming more and more lazy, giving up teaching for worksheets or textbook reading. Students don't learn this way, after a test they tend to just forget everything that they have just learned. This is not how school should be. It should be a place to truly learn things that will help students to become active citizens and better people in the world after high school. By giving students more active projects, like creating things or drawing, it lets them connect the information that they are leaning with the projects that they are creating. In turn, making them ACTUALLY remember and take in what they are learning . Teachers need to start to see that the methods that they are using are not beneficial, and start to turn to more creative methods of learning.
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For a public school, my school does a pretty good job in providing courses for students with different interests, while also ensuring students take the required courses which all students need to take in order to graduate. My school has implemented several special programs which cater to different students interests, such as the American Studies Program, the Human Studies Program, the IB Program, and the Stae Program. Besides the special programs, my school offers unique and more specific classes students can take, a few examples including oceanography, ceramics, and drafting. In implementing these kinds of classes and program, my school helps students find what they’re passionate about, which can be of great help when deciding on the career paths they want to take in the future.
I wish my school would offer classes in the dramatic arts, such as acting or dance. I’ve noticed that a lot of people like to sign up for the school play, but only two middle schoolers this year got callbacks, and I think that if Masterman offered a class in acting that would happen to more of us instead of 50 or 60 kids in the ensemble. It would include instruction on choreography, singing, improv, memorizing lines, and other aspects of theater/musical theater. I also think the school should improve the art program it already has since over the course of my three years at Masterman it has stayed roughly along the same course with little variation.
I think that a class about video games would not just be fun, but also potentially beneficial. As stated in the article, certain students can receive college scholarships for esports, and so learning how to get better at games in school could benefit your future. Video games can also help relieve stress coming from other school subjects, and help people to get better at teamwork, as most esports games require working with a team. Having a place to play video games in school could also allow people without a game system at home to play video games. Overall, I think that a class based around video games would be a great school subject.
At my school, we have tons of extracurricular activities, community service opportunities, and we learn about social issues and our community in classes. Normally, this would be a really good thing for most schools. However, I feel that is has gotten to the point where our school actually focuses too much on non-traditional learning. In particular, for the past three years I’ve been at my school, we have never actually learned English grammar. We never learned what a pronoun is, when to use “whom”, or how to use semicolons. Instead, we’ve used “english” class as a class to study social issues and do projects on community service. I’m not saying it’s bad that we are learning so much about current events, but I just wish we could actually learn a bit more in school.
I wish that all schools in general would offer classes about things that we need to know about during and after college when we live on our own. For example, things like how to pay taxes, or how to buy a house, how to manage our money, or things like that would be useful to be taught in school so we know for the future. Maybe in 10th or 11th grade or earlier, we could learn these things. I think these things are important because I’ve heard about people just getting out of high school and then not knowing what to do after that because they weren’t taught the things they need to know. On top of that, a lot of people come out of college with student debt, which makes it even harder for people to live by themselves, so I think it would be nice to be taught some things that will give us an idea of what to do once we’re out of college.
I am not really sure how my school is doing teaching us about these things. I learned a very little bit about financial literacy at the end of last year, but that didn’t help that much. Other than that little bit I learned last year, I didn’t really learn much about this. I don’t know if there will be anything in high school, but I hope there is.
Electives. Unfortunately, electives are one of the many parts of school that I am sadly missing out on, and even though I realize it now, there isn’t really anything that will change my mind on the matter. I would love to take a craft class or an art class just to see if it is something that I would enjoy. I would love to play video games for a scholarship. The sad thing is, because I am trying to compete with my GPA and give myself a fighting chance to get into Ivy League schools, it is detrimental for me to take any of these classes.
I am going to be completely honest. I love video games. And the article about video games and scholarships filled me with envy and I really wish I could do something like that or be in a competitive environment just to see what it was like. But to split my focus into another extracurricular activity, especially one that my parents would not appreciate, would come with too high of a cost. All of the “nerds” at school trying to keep their GPA high and get into high schools and do well on standardized tests and are practically hermits at times studying want to take all of these classes and wish it was possible, but sometimes things need to be sacrificed.
Honestly, I wish school would teach us social skills and cooking, things that would be important in the real world. While I doubt that learning about the history of the United States for the billionth time will aid me as I age and become independent, having practical skills such as cooking and social skills will. I think many students may struggle with social skills and although it would be quite boring to take such a lesson, it would really be beneficial in any future career. Cooking is something that is a necessity, as I assume most people would prefer not to starve in college. I think classes like these could serve as a useful tool to everyone both in the future and as of now.
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I wish my school offered a course on black literature and history. I’ve been a student for over 10 years now, and not once have I had a teacher assign a book written by a black person for the class to read. Not once have I had a teacher invite us to analyze poetry by Maya Angelou or Nikki Giovanni. Not once have I had a teacher give us speeches delivered in the 60s by prominent black leaders for rhetorical device analysis.
I’ve been reading books by Black authors a lot this year. I’ve learned more about my culture and tradition and history reading in my free time than a classroom has ever attempted to teach me. I wish my school offered a class on Black literature because I wish that my interests in my culture would be formally cultivated. I wish to further my knowledge of who I am and where I come from, but because of my school’s limited catalogue size, I cannot do that.
If my school cared about helping me learn and grow as a person, they would see that cultivating and encouraging people like me to learn about more world views than those of century old white people. The view of english and literature that schools such as my own currently provide is limited and sparse, and I would appreciate the opportunity to take a class that for once acknowledges the presence of black literature in the world.
I wish my school would offer a shop class, almost everybody will drive a car in their lifetime and the info you get from that class could potentially save you hundreds of dollars or even your life if the situation is bad enough. It could teach you how to change your oil or tires and that simple thing could change a whole lot. It would just be your simple shop class, where you learn about parts of cars. My school already has a whole bunch of classes, such as foods, cet, drafting, as well as other things. We have a pretty good selection of extra curricular classes. Adding a shop class to my school would be super relevant to today’s world because we are always in need of transportation and learning how to fully utilize cars would definitely improve the well-being of people in both the short and long term.
There are so many courses I wish I could learn in school it would be almost impossible to list them all. For simpler courses such as learning how to manage insurance, taxes, and how to make a bank account to bolder courses such as photography or a course on how movies are made. As a teenager who is learning how to be independent and function in a proper society, I mainly wish that my school held courses on how to manage life after college, such as how to properly manage money, or how to buy a house or pay rent.
Although I feel as though it is necessary to take those types of classes, reading the article, I saw that there was a class called “stylish learning”. I love fashion, and I believe that having classes that highly interest you are good for you. It makes you want to learn and it motivates you to work harder if you really care about something. I strongly believe that it is important to keep kids interested and this is one of the main ways to do so. Being interested and working hard in school can lead you to a better future. Motivation is the main path to a successful future, and that can be maintained by having kids do things that they care about, including classes that are vital to your education.
Some of the topics that I wish that I could learn about in school include, financial management course and a self-esteem course. I say this because I feel like schools don't teach enough classes that are hands on and can be used outside of high school. If I had ever had access to any financial management course I wouldn't have had to learn about how to get scholarships or earn money by myself or through other people or websites online. This class could also teach students how to navigate during their college or young adult years without having debt into your late adult years. Moving on, I wish that my school taught a self-esteem class, because many people, especially in high school lack confidence in themselves. If students had an easy access to a way to get help or advice on how to uplift themselves then things like teen suicides and anxiety and depression would decrease among teens as well. Overall, I wish that schools would focus more on real life topics that can benefit everyone, having to do with or without academics.
I wish that my school would offer courses that could be used in the real world. For example, a cooking class or a class on how to pay bills/ taxes. Last year in social studies we did a financial literacy unit, which taught us how to write checks and manage money. I think that my school i doing an ok job at offering a range of interesting options for learning. We have a robotics club and many other different clubs.
What course or courses do you wish your school would offer? Why? Give us as much detail about your proposed course(s) as you can.
I wish school offered an optional class of one of your choosing per semester: Home economics and Financial literacy. You could choose to do one in one half of the year and the other in the other half of the year. For the home economics, you would learn how to cook and other simple things you should know when living in a house. This is very useful because knowing how to cook can very much so benefit your health and other skills can save a lot of money. Financial literacy class would consist of learning how to deal with money, how to pay taxes and get a job, how to get a credit card and which credit card company you should use. These are all very important because most people leave school without knowing these skills everybody needs to know to be a functioning adult.
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Some courses I would want my school to offer would be real life situations, taxes, and public speaking. I think public speaking should be taught not for me but for others as I know some people have trouble with it and need someone to teach them to calm their nerves. Public speaking I think has been looked over and really many kids struggle with it. There needs to be specific teachers teaching these students how to speak in public, it will take time but hopefully they will be able to speak their emotions in situations. Another class would be an economic class where kids would be able to learn how our economy works, and how to deal with bills, checks, bank accountants, and taxes. The last class I would propose is real-life situations class which would help kids who have trouble with expressing how they feel, or controlling their emotions would learn ways to calm themselves down and be able to communicate better with other people. This would create more bondage with more people creating tighter bonds basically.
I wish my school offered more foreign language choices because I want to learn German but my school only offers French or Spanish, and some gaming or coding courses so I could learn how to do more stuff on the computer which is important for my generation. If I told my school the importance of coding, and other languages, like getting a job in computer programming, and going to Germany which has high human capital (invests in education heavily) so we could study abroad in Germany getting us a good education.
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@Brycinea Stratton I agree. I also wish Masterman had more language options, and coding courses. Much like you I want to learn Swedish, and coding so I could get a job in the tech industry, and be able to travel to and communicate in Sweden.
I wish that my school offered a class in teaching kids. I know that being a teacher may not be the best paying job, but it’s a good job if no other job offers interest or hires you. I want teachers to teach us their secrets, and understand more about teaching, rather than just what I observe. If I were to convince the principal, I would argue that you could find any teacher to teach it, as it’s just their knowledge on how to handle students, and what you have to do to become a teacher. My school does have some interesting topics like African American History, but nothing hands-on. That would be another thing that I would love to have at our school. Some of my friends are tactile learners, and I want them to also grasp everything that the teacher teaches us about.
I wish that my school could have more athletic activities for middle schoolers. I know that high schoolers have a bit more options but there’s not a lot that interests me. We start learning a second language in 8th grade but my school only offers two languages, French and Spanish. Even though I’m okay with those two, I still want a variety to pick from and to explore new cultures. That’s another thing, learning about new cultures could help a lot of people since we will all be traveling at some point in our lifetime and we don’t’ want to offend anyone. In short, I just want the school to have more sports to offer, languages, and more classes on cultures around the world.
Schools should allow kids to express themselves more often when classes that aren’t the everyday basic class. Though as amazing it would be to have courses that include gaming, fashion, and out of the ordinary lectures, it would cost too much money. With the lack of funding that go into public schools, getting money for any of these would be proven very difficult. I believe that my school has room for improvement but does an acceptable amount to provide us with courses that could get us on a path of career opportunities. It’s amazing how colleges are offering those who have an interest in gaming. Showing that with the growth of new interests expanding, there comes along a new generation of job linings, and educational opportunities. Other schools that are paving the way towards newly made courses are allowing the students and people of today experience true adventure and learn more while doing so.
I think that my school should have more classes that let students express themselves via thigs like art. Currently in my school, there is only an art class that uses general mediums such as colored pencils, paint, clay, etc., but I think that there should be classes that teach things like cooking, woodworking, sewing, and things that students could do for fun. I think that this would also allow students to do things that they find interesting and get knowledge about things other than things like math and social studies without stress.
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Students should have the opportunity to decide what classes they can attend, it will almost definitely lead to the prosperity of students. Most schools offer the four main classes, science, math, social studies, and english. But these classes are not always what interests students the most. I know that in my school I always look forward to my prep classes, such as gym, music and computers, but maybe if my school offered more courses that focus on the interests of students, more students will look forward to school.
@Ana Sorrentino I think that the ability for students to chose some of there classes is a major part in middle school that most schools don't have.
part 1
What topics do you wish you could learn in school?
Revised comment: I feel like when I am signing up for classes I don’t choose the ones that interest me the most. If I did that, I would be in trouble. I think most people my age are looking to take classes that benefit their gpa, or classes that set them up for their future jobs. Most of the more “fun” classes that Hoggard has are put into clubs, which you have to attend after school. It is hard for me to participate in stuff outside of school because I play sports and am involved in the volunteer program at the hospital.
I think that my school, Hoggard, offers more of the basic classes with the exception of dance and ceramics. I hear of other classes that schools out of town offer, and most of the time I am jealous. Every since I started singing “Wagon Wheel” with my step dad while he played the guitar, I have been very into music. I started playing when I was about nine and joined a band at the music school that I took lessons at. I was the lead singer and have just been going from there. Last year I took chorus and it was something that I really enjoyed, although I do wish Hoggard offered more music classes. I think that a lot of students would be interested in taking something that takes their mind off of homework and stress for an hour.
part 2
The article talks about how teachers are starting to involve video games into class in the design program, and possibly even sports. They create healthy competition, not to mention the fact that they have become a gateway to college scholarship money. At a University in Illinois, esports is apart of the athletic program. They have practice Monday through Thursday from 4:30-9PM, which is a lot longer than most varsity sports even practice. This allows for people to become serious about things that they truly enjoy, whether it is expressing it with blood, sweat, and tears, or not.
For students to be able to start pursuing the courses that they want they need the option or permission to be able to. Students should be allowed to start choosing classes in middle school to start getting ahead so in high school they can choose more classes that are more suited for their future. I feel that with the more time the schools should add more computer based classes for programming or even hacking, classes to learn how to build machines to help in this ever changing world. A type of Programming/ AI class that can give many opportunities for students to learn and gain experience for STEM based careers
I think that there should be a course about taxes, bills, checks, saving money, debt, interest, and mortgages. This class should be called,” Money Management. ” It would teach you how to do all these topics, save money, and when the appropriate time to do approach it is. I believe that this course would be very beneficial because it is something that everybody will have to deal with or do in the future. You would only take this class 2 times, in the higher grades most likely. This is so you won't forget any important information that you receive so you can apply it properly.
Part 1-
Allowing students to have the option of choosing their own classes and offering classes that comply with the interests of the students in the school is essential to the success of the students. Every school offers the four core classes; unfortunately, these subjects are typically not what engage students the most. The majority of students are interested in topics that are not covered in the curriculum of these classes such as 3-D printing, technology, coding, and computer science. If schools could offer more courses that meet with the interests of students, the dislike that many students have for school would significantly decrease.
The fact that some colleges are offering scholarships for video games is really intriguing to me. This is proof that schools and colleges are transforming their demands to cope with the interests of millennials. Since the majority of teens are into video games, schools are beginning to incorporate competitive video-gaming into their curriculums. I believe that this will serve as encouragement for many teens to remain in school due to the fact that there is now a program that is not focused strictly on academics. The e-sports program will open the gateway to many teenagers who are not into academics and who would otherwise drop out of school.
Part 2-
The “makers” program is an excellent one to incorporate into a school’s curriculum as many students wish to have a technology-related career in this digital age. Teaching students to 3-D print objects is an excellent skill because in the future, we may be very dependent on 3-D printing. Many students who are interested in medical professions could be interested in the “makers” movement because they could learn to design and 3-D print artificial arms and legs for those who have lost body parts. The “makers” program, along with the e-sports program, open up opportunities to a myriad of students and all schools should offer additional courses that interest and inspire the student body.
The school I attend already covers a broad selection of interests, including drama, art, ceramics, drawing (specifically), engineering, digital design, creative writing, and many more, so I think my school is doing a pretty good job of offering diverse courses. These varying options can sate the appetite of many students, as there is no shortage of choices. It doesn’t have a, for lack of a better phrase (and also a gross oversimplification), “Fashion Class” like Parsons Paris, an esports class like many, or a “makers class”, but there are still many diverse classes to take.
As my school has such a broad variety of classes, I want for not in the selection of classes that suit my interests. There are no classes that I would like to have that I couldn’t already take. My cup, as the saying goes, runneth over.
At my school, we only get to learn languages in 8th grade. Also, we can only choose from two languages. Yes, French and Spanish are nice languages, but I kind of wish we had more of an option to choose from. I feel like we should have a language at our school for every continent(except for antarctica) That way people can learn a more diverse set of languages.
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My school does a pretty good job of teaching a wide variety of things. I personally would like there to be a cinematography class. I have always had an interest in film and camera work, but if there was an easily accessible way to study it, I’d be all for it. I feel like students would take the class because it would be an interesting class, but for the students more serious about it, they could learn more about what they may want to pursue as a career. I have to teach myself how to do camera work and editing, and can’t just show up to school and learn more about it.
While some classes may be offered and some may not be offered, there is always a class that will catch a student’s attention. I am taking Adobe Visual Design because it caught my attention. Some of my friends are taking AP Government and Politics because it catches their attention. We all have different interests, and while we may wish a class would be offered, we can always find something we like.
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In classes, you need to be involved in the learning to best comprehend it. In the article, it says ““The kids need to be solving real-world issues in our classrooms, not just taking notes about it, not just reading about it,” she said. “Science is dirty. Science needs to be messy, and we have to be confident enough to get messy.”” You can’t just look at something to truly learn it. You need to be involved in the learning. You need to actually experience the learning by participating in activities that engage students. Classes that have you actually using a program, doing experiments, or doing things hands on, give you a better chance of truly comprehending a topic.
My school has a variety of electives, from art & theater based to computer based. As far as my own future plans, I am glad my school has a graphic design elective class which can help with my portfolio. We have a range of creative art classes, such as applied arts, fine arts, and photography. We have classes surrounding media & technology such as graphic design, tech drawing, computer science, TV production, etc. We offer business and financial classes such as accounting, criminal & business law, and financials. There is always room for improvement, however, the wide variety of electives in my school is enough for students to choose and learn creatively.
I believe that at my school an extensive amount of diverse courses are offered. The courses offered are geared toward a variety of different academic levels and cover a wide range of subjects. Due to the fact that my school offers an extensive assortment of courses students are enables to explore a variety of different interests at different levels of academic difficulty. This will ultimately benefit their academic experience by tailoring it to the individual.
I wish my school offered AP classes that are more interesting, such as AP Marine Science. I also wish they had more classes that revolved around science. I want to pursue something with science, so I want to take a variety of AP science classes before college. I also want to take more science classes so I can have a better idea of what career I want to pursue.
I think that my school does a good job of offering a variety of courses. I believe that they offer a lot of different courses for all different types of students. They also have several different clubs and the opportunity for students to create their own club.
I would love if my school offered classes such as a pottery class. The class would experiment in different kinds of pottery, making bowls and cups or even sculptures or whatever comes to the students' minds. I would also love if astronomy classes were offered; I have always been interested in the stars and space in general, but we never learn about that in high school.
My school has a variety of options of classes to choose from. It has many variations of the core classes and multiple different styles of elective classes. I am mainly focused on STEM classes which I feel are more prominent in my school. I think that some more art-based students may find that there are fewer options for them when compared to math, science, or business-centered student.
My school does a good job with creating very diverse classes and extracurricular activities. Every year they are adding new, different types of classes for each subject. In terms of extracurricular activities, my school has a diverse club selection, and basically any club that a student or teacher wants, the school will approve of it. Also, every year my school adds new, different classes. For example, next year my school is adding a class on abnormal behaviors, such as serial killers and cults, which is a very diverse class.
School offers a lot of very interesting subjects but I would like to see your home ec class and the class teaching students how to do taxes. Right now they’re teaching math that no one is ever going to use again unless there are math teacher which is not good. Students actually learned how to do taxes they will be ready for life and college which is ahead of them. As for home ec most people don’t know how to cook including me so knowing how to cook and knowing table manners would be extremely educational. Big dot. That’s just my opinion but it’s correct.
I fell that the classes we take need to be more refined to what we need in the real world. Although I can see the importance of certain classes it is extremely important to prepare the young adults for the real world
I wish that my school would elaborate with their electives. We do not have a lot of variety as for hands-on electives such as art or tech drawing. I would love if we had a wood shop, ceramics, or even an additional physical education like dance or yoga. Most of our electives are additional AP classes or extensions of the four core classes. I feel like electives should be a time to relax and digress from the regular stresses of school instead of piling more work onto the agenda.
What course or courses do you wish your school would offer? Why? Give us as much detail about your proposed course(s) as you can.
I wish the school would offer study skills because I want to learn new ways to enrich my learning. I feel like with new methods of studying and learning new organization will help me in my educational experience. Although this may not be the most exciting type of class, I think it would be beneficial to me as well, and my classmates as well.
I would like the school to offer more major based courses like real lectures or give you the oppurtunity to pick a direction so they can help you other than just art.
I think schools should offer more classes to the students. Classes that teach you how to do your taxes should be a more popular option in high school.
I wish my school offered more music classes. I would love to learn more instruments or have in school singing lessons. I would like to learn guitar. Other classes I would like would be other psychology classes as I would like to major inn psychology.
My school offers a mixture of basic classes and a few exotic electives, like foods, astronomy, ceramics, wood shop, weightlifting, dance, etc. But I do think that the options are limited and I would like some cooler classes and a wider variety cause most of those things don't interest me that much. I would really like a class to be for real life situations, where you can learn about living on your own, how to make a little money, social skills, some basic cooking, and just normal things everyone should know how to do even like changing a tire.
I think that if schools broaden their class options that it will make the learning environment more fun and intriguing for kids and that students will get more out of their classes.
I really wish that schools would push for more creative and artistic programs. I've loved every art class I've taken, but I wish there were more. While it's good to have more practical classes, pushing creative classes can give students a good outlet for creative expressions. Students may not choose to continue the arts into a career, but the ability to express ones' self is really important.
The elective I am taking this year does not sound fun in any way, shape, or form. It’s AP Government and Politics. All of my friends have said to me, “Why are you taking an AP? You are only a sophomore.” or “Why are you taking an elective history? Just take art instead.” Since the start of highschool every class I have taken has been a main academic course. Most of my peers take 4 electives a year and they are usually dance, chorus, art, etc. But frankly I have no rhythm, can not sing for the life of me, and hate drawing… so why would I take classes I would positively fail?
My goal is to go to UNCW for dual enrollment my junior and senior year. That means that I can’t spend my time taking electives when I need to make sure I have all of my science and history credits done by June 12th.
Then came my savior. APGoPo. In this class I actually learn how the government works. In civics last year I had the tip of the iceberg, the basics. In this class, I fell off of the iceberg into the complex waters of our nation's government. Just because AP gov isn’t a career class doesn’t mean it doesn’t teach me valuable life things.
I think my school does an okay job of catering to student’s interests. Going to my school has opened up my eyes in career choice and I'm sure it has with my peers.
I may not be learning about fashion and luxury like the students at the New School of New York City or learning how to play Esports at Robert Morris University, but I am still enhancing my learning.
I feel that my school does a pretty good job at providing different kinds of career and life helping classes. If I had to suggest a topic that should be looked into and treated with more respect it would be cooking, which at my school is called ‘Foods’. Everyone loves this class because I quote “It’s an easy A and my friends are taking it.”
I have not taken the course but many of my pals have and they have told me different things about it. A lot of people take it if they just need to fill a gap in their schedule or if they figure out a bunch of their friends are in it. Most people look at it like a social hour and do not see the purpose of why it is actually being taught. I have been into the classroom once and it is filled with cooking utensils, high-top tables, cookbooks, stoves, microwaves, etc.
I would love to ask the school to look into ‘Foods’ with deeper meaning because I think that it is a great course that can benefit you and teach you things that you will be able to use for the rest of your life. I would ask them if they would maybe be able to donate more funds to foods or hire another teacher or maybe assistant even because I know that with children cooking it can be very hectic and cause a bunch of stress on a teacher. I think that with a little more help they will have a better chance of helping these kids learn lessons that will make their lives easier in the long run.
I think outside of its core classes, Glenbard West does give a lot of options for electives and career courses. There is the technology center of Dupage where students can go and take classes, and there are also business and art classes students can take. There are some courses that deal with skills you need later in life, but there could be more. It would be nice to see classes that talk about things you will need to do outside of college, things like taxes, mortgages, interest rates, subjects that play a big part in everyday life. Those are the courses I’d like to see and take, courses I know that will help me long term, not classes mainly like math that won’t be used unless you go into a certain career. I think school should be more career focused rather than just the traditional core subjects. Lots of college students today happen to change their major a lot, and this could be less of a problem if school taught more valuable, long term skills classes. All in all, I think Glenbard West is doing a good job, but things could improve a little.
My school already does a good job at catering to many kids’ interests. We have an astronomy class, band, dance, psychology, foods class, and many others. Though some aren't offered to everyone. We have a program called IB which lets students, usually higher in academics, take a wider spread of classes. Such as theory of knowledge. So if I could choose a class I would make that available to everyone or to study greek mythology which has always peaked my interest.
If I could however change something about my school I'd take away textbooks. Like in the article How ‘Makers’ Make the Classroom More Inclusive they say how hands on is missing from some schools, I completely agree. Many students I know love to do things that include their brain, working and doing things that require your hands, or interesting lecture on subjects other than ‘Us History’. We’ve heard it all before. Reading out of texts book an answering questions bore students today and we don’t get anything out of it. I’m not entirely sure how to make this happen but I would do everything in my power to bring back the life in schools.
Although there are classes that specialize in certain areas of artistic abilities or scientific studies, there are still some odd-ball things that I think would be fun to learn about in schools. I’d love to learn about different industries and how people can work their way up the ladder to being a well known model or even a businessman. Maybe a class that could prep soon to be college students on how to get by on small amounts of money. Even a class that takes you to places to volunteer or tutor so that you can help people while learning. I don’t know about the logistics of these kinds of classes, but I just think that they would be nice options for people.
In school, I would love to learn about Greek Mythology. It is like an amazing book series, only it isn’t a book and it is a story told by people thousands of years ago. There are many characters and places; many events and objects. There’d be so much to learn about. It would be very fun to act out different moments as a play, in my opinion. I wish my school had more diverse subjects instead of the basic math, science, literacy and social studies.
If I had a choice to put one class in my school it would probably would be an advanced coding/computer science program. My school technically already has something like this but it is not an advanced course and uses more basic coding programs. I would like there to be an advanced course so that kids who are a bit ahead of the coding course at my school, or who like coding a lot would get extra time to work on coding and improve their skills. The course would encompass coding using a few different languages, overall advanced computer science, and maybe once in awhile a visit from a professional coder to learn about using it in the real world.
I think that Glenbard West does give a lot of options outside of the core classes -English, math, science, history-, there’s a lot of different art classes/career courses available for students to take. Something that i wouldn’t mind seeing would be a class on how to do things like apply for jobs, pay taxes, spend money and other such things that become an extremely important part of adult life. These really aren’t taught in the classroom and often time isn’t taught too well at home either usually leaving students using YouTube and Wikihow as their main resources. I’m sure there are classes outside of the school environment that you can take to develop these skills but it would be nice to learn this along with you math classes because, those other skills will defiantly play a role in the future of the student where trigonometry wont even be spoken of. Classes that prepare you for the daily life to come outside fo high school defiantly should be a course in schools, after all in job of a school is to give the students the best opportunities outside of school as possible, and skills like knowing how to get a job and spend your money would defiantly help.
I would want our school to learn about things in life. What I mean my things in life is how to pay bills or cook or even how to buy an apartment. This is good for a school setting because most things you have to teach children when their young or they won’t understand it later on. It would be worthwhile because it will help them as they go through life and just will help in general.
There is an online program offered at a nonprofit school called Parsons Paris in New York talked about in the article “Stylish Learning”. The online program is called “Inside the Business of Fashion and Luxury” offers access to leaders in the world of French design and luxury. I would love to have this course available to me. I have always taken a profound interest in fashion and I think this course could give me great insight.
My school has a career management course that is very insightful to me because I am looking to go into owning a business after I go to college. In my career management class we learn how to navigate job interviews and finding what career field we would like to go into based upon interest. I wish my school would offer a course on music production. I am very interested in producing music as music has always been quite calming to my soul. Technology can be used to produce sounds that can be mixed together to produce songs and I think that is amazing. To learn to do these things in high school would be valuable and a great advantage to anyone interested.
I would convince my school to offer this course by simply making and conducting a survey of how many people would like to learn about the process of producing music. I see kids listen to music everyday and I know a handful who have software that allows them to create sounds with their laptops. It would allow for more kids to explore their interests overall improving kids attitudes towards school.
I really like this article because i think schools should get the student views on the classes and more classes that students can take and get rid of some no one takes. I have lots of ideas of classes that would help kids in the future and help shape them as a person but I can't give my views on it because the school does not ask.
For the writer of “Video Games Are a Waste of Time? Not for Those With E-Sports Scholarships” i really like this article section and I want to read more. To me the video game world is looked past and it's a huge thing know everyone has video games or wants them which this can open new jobs in the E-sports. It talked about how At Robert Morris University Illinois they have a gaming team that's a sport and thats huge if all schools had that it could change lives people who normal are quiet will come out and join and talk. This could have huge benefits in socialization people who play a competitive game will make call outs and learn to talk to others.
Other classes they could add would be classes dealing with cars or boats or even planes which in high school I don't have that option yet. This is something that can e a job or just a great skill to have to save money or help others.
I wish my school would offer a music theory class. As a musician, music theory is not only interesting to me but also something I will need in college, so having more knowledge now will help me then. I’ve talked to my orchestra teacher about it, and he shared the same sentiment I have, that it is unlikely. None of the music teachers have another block they could use to teach, and they aren’t going to give up others for a course not many people would take. So, I have to accept the fact that anything I learn I will have to teach myself.
The courses my school offers seem like normal classes, nothing particularly interesting to them. I think we might have some cool art ones, but I don’t take art classes because I don’t have the time in my schedule. Scheduling seems like the biggest problem to my; with only 4 classes a semester, there isn’t much space for electives. This semester, my only non-core class is spanish, and next semester it will be orchestra. I need a minimum of 4 core classes, then I’ll take 1 language, and probably a semester of orchestra, and that leaves me with 2 slots-assuming I don’t double up on anything like I’m doing this year. Even if the options were there for me, I wouldn’t have the time for it.
I wish I had classes bringing in 3D printers like in the article. I imagine classes like chemistry would be even more engaging. Although I already find it interesting imagine if we were printing out molecules!
With the growing horizons of new careers coming in especially with the technological era that we are in, school curriculum should be based more around that. I don't mean including computers in math class or taking a test online. I mean full classes based off of making money online, cinematography, photography, creative writing. Trade classes such as welding or carpentry or fashion design could also be an elective that helps
1. Kids that don't know what they don't know what they want to do after high school discover what they want to do and other opportunities.
2. Kids that DO know what they want to do in the future can take classes aimed at what they want to do instead of sitting in a Microsoft Office class or a Parenting and Child Development class that they only take as a filler class to get the elective credit.
Teachers should follow Carolyn Barnhart's example also in making the core classes that are normally taught with dull videos, lectures, and PowerPoint slides, into more hands on learning opportunities and science is the perfect place to start that educational revolution.
My school has a very large amount of electives to choose from. Best part my schools even lets you choose which ones you take.
My school’s surplus amount of electives is really beneficial for me and other students so that you don’t get stuck in boring classes that nobody wants to take.
CTE care special electives that are more guided towards careers or hobbies. CTE classes are types of electives I really like taking but often. I have taken CTE classes before and really enjoyed them. I feel as though it breaks up my day and gives me something fun to look forward to.
Although my school has lots of electives we don’t give our general course classes fancy names like stated in the article. I think that idea is really interesting but im not exactly how I feel about it.
One class I wish my school had is photography. I mean you can join yearbook and take other pictures of other people but I feel having a photography or digital media class would be completely different. I want to learn how to take and edit pictures and what all the fancy buttons are for on the huge cameras. I believe this class would do extremely well since photography is a common hobby. I think learning to get a perfect crisp photo on a camera is something everybody would enjoy.
If my school were to add new courses, in my opinion i would try to pursue them to add more money managing and economics classes. I believe that in the economy and community that we have today that is one of the most important skills you have to know for not only yourself but our family as well as you age. My school of hoggard highschool already has the basics like business and finance but i believe they should offer more in depth options and clubs outside of school for the kids who want to take this further in life.
If i were to explain to the school board why we need to add these options I would include the facts that we need to learn more about how the economy works and how the basics work of money managing instead of leaving these individuals out to dry when they start working for an income and don't know how to save ad spend smartly. This is just my own opinion but I believe that if you have a better understanding of how society and the economy work today it will help you vote better, save better, and make better financial decisions.
After reading the article “How ‘Makers’ Make the Classroom More Inclusive” I think I understand more what “making” in the classroom is about. Like James Bacchi I was a little unsure of what it meant exactly. He grew up working is his dad’s garage and was a hands on learner.
But today a lot of kids don’t know what’s that like. Most kids don’t even think about being a hands on learner because they’ve already got their hand on their phone. They don’t have to be a hands on learner because they can just look up the answer to most questions.
I think “making” in the classroom is a great way to get students engaged and have more creative thinking. Not all kids respond to worksheets and textbooks and web quests. Some students need to think outside of the box first.
I think that high school is the second most important four years of your life. High school prepares you for the rest of your life and gives you the basic social skills you need to live a good life. But I often find myself wondering how my parents balance things in their life like taxes, mortgages, rent, things like that. I wish in high school curriculum taught would teach us things we actually need for the rest of our lives so we don't have to figure it out as we go on with our life. Here at hoggard high school we have a personal finance course and a class that teaches us basic microsoft but i dont think students should have to go out of their way to get the education they need.
My high school offers a few electives like personal finance or a Microsoft Word training course but there is very little room in our schedules to take them. I think that having one period a day to take a true elective would boost students motivation and would create better focus in core classes.
I have a friend whose school offers a self defense elective, and I think that this would be something that a lot of people could be interested in. I like the idea of a yoga or pilates class, or even a home economics elective. I think that classes with hands on activities like Carolyn Barnhart mentioned in the article could benefit students. Even a video game or a fashion course that was mentioned could raise a lot of interest from students.
There are lot of different options for electives, and I know that some are more practical than others, but no matter what I think it's important for students to add in a class that they can enjoy, and one that doesn't induce stress.
Just two examples from what the article said about rock climbing and esports related classes is something I’d be very interested in. Rock climbing gyms here are expensive as well as sparse and you don’t get as much help from the more educated as they’re off doing their own things. More related to the esports is that I love playing video games in my spare time and feel that I’m at least decent at it, so maybe I could actually do something with that.
Making a case for the creation of these classes would probably be the hardest part as you have to convince them and have them take you seriously in the first place. Esports could open many opportunities to those who could have them and those who have the potential to reach those places to get jobs. Rock climbing is less of a worthy class to introduce as people might not want to put forth effort and training to get to a professional level and it’s probably a class made for a select few, but it’s still something that opens opportunities for students who really desire that.
My high school gives a very wide range of class opportunities and hands-on experiences due to the college level classes available while still in high school. I went on a field trip to the Cape Fear Community College to explore some of the potential professions we could take on and that we could do while still attending high school. One of the seemingly major areas was car repair and mechanics as those were the building and classes we visited and learned about.
I believe schools should offer more culturally diverse history courses. Ever since middle school, my history classes taught me about different European and United States history from George Washington to both of the World Wars. While some of these topics were interesting to learn about, I always felt like those were the only topics that were taught to us. I've noticed this during my freshman year when I took a world history course. The class was interesting and knowing more about the histories of different countries other than the USA and Europe made me excited to learn, but after that, I went back to learning about European history the next year and US history my junior year. While some cultures were sprinkled in the courses, it was mostly about wars and states that were obtain by the Europeans and America and rarely anything else concerning the different aspects of their history I believe that having courses on other cultures' history, like Africa and Asia, would engage students into learning something new that they didn't know, get students to become more culturally fluent, and reduce stigmas and stereotypes that many countries today are still battling with. In the United States, we are a very diverse country with different cultures and knowing that many of these cultures' rich history is not being taught in this day and age is odd and these courses should be offered.
I propose that schools should offer courses based on life-long lessons and education about the world, especially the world outside of school. As my father always puts it, "School teaches us 1/3 of life knowledge, but it does not teach us the other 2/3." In this context, 1/3 is all of the academic curriculum, while the 2/3 not being learnt in school are the development of social & people skills, specifically ways of dealing with family, friends, enemies, acquaintances, and strangers, the way to handle superiors and subordinates, especially in an office environment, and ultimately how to survive in the world. A course possibly named "Life Skills", based upon the content being taught, would consist of much of the content enumerated on above. Currently, schools have counselors, and other forms of support in order to guide a student, but once a student has gone to college and left the school, it will be unlikely they receive further guidance. Consequently, students' futures tend to be jeopardized as a result of such a lack of essential knowledge needed in order to to reach your full potential in the world. Schools should implement such a course in order to further facilitate and enhance a student's education, but more importantly guarantee a stable social and financial future. Depression affects about 20% of adolescents by the time they become adults. People become depressed when they feel hopeless for their future. Such a course would dramatically counteract depression in teens.
This article is about what topics students wish they could learn more about in class. In my opinion, I wish that we were able to learn more about real world things. Such as taxes, time management, and how to manage your money. I do think all the subjects we take are important but I feel like we need more classes to actually prepare us for our life. If these were topics that everyone learned more about in school new adults would not be as stressed out when it comes to the point when they have to live on their own and make sure they have enough money to eat the next day. I just think this would be a very helpful class. Although there are some options like this in highschool, I think it should be a required credit.
In the day and age where everything and everyone is being replaced by computers, we need more people who know how to construct and control them before they take over the world, and that all starts with our generation.
While my school already has some classes like computer engineering technology and networking, I feel as if the school should offer more unique and advanced classes in the areas of robotics, programming, and IT. If more schools offered classes like these, kids would more readily be able to keep up with the changing economy.
Our generation should be exposed to technology because it will make everything more productive which in turn stimulates the economy in a positive way.
I think that my school should offer more variations of the classes we already have. Instead of english, I would take something like History of the Sci-Fi Novel. This class would talk about the normal stuff that we do in english, but apply it to what some may say is a more entertaining subject. We would learn how to write a persuasive essay about topics that apply to the novel we were reading, which would be a classic sci-fi novel that helped shape the entertainment industry. We would talk about the cultural impacts of the sci-fi world that we all grew up with. Taking regular classes and stretching their horizons could make school more fun for many students who usually have trouble paying attention.
I also think that we need more classes that apply to our real lives. I want a class that teaches me how to be an adult. It would help us learn to pay taxes and bills. I know some people who are in college that don’t even know how to address an envelope.
In one of the articles I read, It talked about something called a maker space. I think this is an important idea to add to our curriculum. I believe that all students should have a place to go where they can just make things, even little things like 3D printed dinosaurs. Teachers can even take activities that they would normally do in class and bring them into the maker space. They could make learning more hands on, which would in turn make learning more fun for students.
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As a student who goes to a “generic” high school there are many classes I would attend only if they were an option. I would like to see more computer related classes such as coding or programing. Living in today's society we are able to see how much we depend on electronics. Life will never be the same as it was in the past, in today's generation we read using electronics, we shop online, we use google maps to get to places, we text and call to talk to people, some people even date online. Roughly 70% of the world's population carries a cell phone.
If the future revolves around technology shouldn't people understand how it works and how to create their own businesses or apps online? The majority of things we are learning can be found with a few taps on the computer in your pocket, if this is the case we need to learn to be more creative and be able to operate a computer. Not just knowing how to do the simple things, but how to code and program.
My school feels slightly outdated compared to some of the fancier high schools out there. My school does have a few computer classes but nothing too extreme. I hope to see more options in this category in the future.
@Dakota Snyder
The future is changing, with new technology coming to light and advancements in industry like never before. School aren't doing much to help their students keep up with the pace of life. They just teach us about history and formulas and a bunch of stuff we may never use once we get out of school. What we really need is, like you said, “computer related classes”. Classes that will teach us to use and understand all the new technology that’s here and have yet to come. But I also think schools should teach us how to make a living when we can’t depend on our parents anymore. When we live by ourselves, pay our own bills, buy our own groceries. They should teach us how to manage our money, get well-paying jobs, how to negotiate with clients and other people. Essentials to make our lives a little better than what it might be without them.
I believe it’s very important for students to have the opportunity to gain knowledge on topics they are interested in. My school provides a significant variety of classes which I am greatly appreciative of but I wish that it was mandatory to a course that highlights valuable life skills. Although such courses are provided, students tend to take mandatory electives and classes they are interested in before even thinking about a choosing a course that would help them outside of school. If students were obligated to take classes such as culinary, AP micro/macro, human relations, accounting, business then they would graduate much more prepared going into not only college, but life after college.
At my school, there is not much freedom of the courses we can take. There is a bit of flexibility senior year, but other than that there are mostly required courses depending on what math or language level one is in. At times I get frustrated knowing that there is so much happening in our world, politically and environmentally, but we are stuck in school for seven hours everyday with minimal conversation and explosion to the important issue going on right now. I believe that we should be required to take a variety of subjects in high school to challenge ourselves to topics we may not have understood prior. But at some point we need to learn about the environment around us so that our generation can be the one to make it a better place. We are told that we are the future and the world is in our hands, but how is our generation expected to fix a world that has been suffocated by human existence before us when most high schools don't teach us how? In order to fix climate change, poverty, racism, terror, hunger, and any other issue currently impacting the lives of billions of people every day, high schools need to be educating us about them. I think algebra II is important, but right now, my priority is to understand the route of important issues and current events so that I have the power to make a difference.
My school has a wide range of classes and clubs to join and do, however I wish the school had more classes that taught us how to be adults. We have classes like financial literacy, however I wish there are more specific classes that will teach students how to file taxes or write checks, simple yet overlooked things.
My school already has a pretty good variety of subjects and electives to choose from like marine, cooking, fashion, economics, criminal and business law, etc. However, I feel like there still isn't enough classes about things like taxes and buying a house and life skills that are needed after high school or college. I feel like there also should be more of a choice of which classes you should take, for example if you wanted to take gym or not and that it would not be a necessity. I wish we had more classes based off of politics and government and getting into more topics like that and criminology. Or more electives based off of topics like chemistry. I do believe that our school does do a very good job in adding in more extracurriculars and electives and adds a range of opportunities.
The school I attend offers a multiplicity of electives; however, I find that there are some areas in which the electives are lacking. Firstly, there is a lack of specific music related courses. Aside from piano, choir, music theory, or rock history, there is little that is offered. We should have guitar, drums, and other instrument-based courses that can teach students how to play music. Another area that is lacking is in the English electives, where strides must be made. We lack courses such as philosophy, or the history of the English language, or even a course on specific writing movements, like romanticism or post-modernism. Science electives are plentiful and very specific, along with math electives.
Additionally, the learning environment should also be elective. Some students do not want to read, or learn by listening to lectures, and would rather experience the class hands-on, if applicable. Why would you read a textbook when you can perform the task yourself?
Student choice can lead to students developing responsibility and independence, which also leads them to succeed outside of the curricular environment. Therefore, it should be encouraged for students to make choices regarding their education to promote growth in and out of school.
My school offers many options from STEM options, business classes, law classes, and medical classes. Even our school does not satisfy what you want to learn, there are free vocational schools that can be more targeted towards what you want for your future.
I would love to learn valuable life skills in school such as how to do bills, the mortgage, change a tire, and more. I feel that this would be a very helpful elective because a lot of students are in the dark with these things. If us students were able to take a course where we learn such valuable life skills, we would be successful in the start of our independent lives.
While my school has a lot of electives, I wish we had more. We used to have classes like wood/metal shop, and it seems not many schools now have these classes. It would even be helpful if we had a class or portion of economics where we learned more about taxes, how to handle our money properly especially in and after college, how to find a job after college/highschool, mostly things that we need for daily life after we finish school. More art classes would also be great in my opinion, we have two general art classes that people take for their 5 art credits, and those who genuinely want to go into art as a career or college path dont get into these classes because of this. Overall, it would be helpful to have more classes that would help us in the future after and during college.
My school does a decent job at offering a wide range of courses geared towards certain skills or careers. A good portion of the specialized electives are just half a year but are there and offered in addition to vocational opportunities and full year courses for other certain classes. My school offers courses from forensic science to cooking as well as vocational opportunities like cosmetology or electrical engineering. Although many of the electives in the school are stem driven, a good amount are not like graphic design, stagecraft, or effective oral communication.
I wish my school offered more specific electives. Although we do have plenty to choose from, I wish they offered more courses that were narrowed down instead of being so broad. They could do this by making the more specific electives half years, that way more students would get the opportunity to take these courses. I think these more specific electives would be beneficial because students who are unsure what they want to do in the future can test out a range of different subjects. It would also be beneficial to students who do know what they want to do because they could take the specific courses that would give them an advantage for college and so on.
There are multiple types of classes that I wish my school would offer. We do have many different electives, though there is no class that is specifically tailored to today's society, besides economics. I would love to have a class that goes and follows the issues going on in the world today and to have a general focus on world relations. It is important to know what is going on in different places, even if it does not always specifically effect you, so this would be a great class and I feel lots of students would be interested in it. Another course that would be good to have is a sports/physical therapy class. This would allow students to really get to know and understand their body and allow them to get a better understanding of different kinds of injuries and how to fix them. Something I have thought of going into as a career is physical therapy or going into sports medicine, so this would allow students to work with hopefully a trainer that could give them insight on what they do and how they go about different injuries. There are lots of athletes in my school, so having this would allow them to take better care of their bodies and work to fix small injuries they may pick up in their sport(s) or life in general.
I understand wanting to learn things you're interested in; but I say it should be required for people to learn basic adult tasks. For example, you should learn how to do your taxes, people learn this through their own research or from parents. Another one is basic banking, you should be able to go into a bank and know everything you should know as a consumer to the bank. People should also know basic laws, for when you get pulled over, or when you get arrested. You should know federal laws that would affect you, and state laws too.
I wish my school had more specific classes under each topic like history. I do not enjoy history, but I think that if I was to study a more specific topic I would enjoy it more. This would also help me in the future because if I know what I want to be when I grow up I should be allowed to take more specific classes so I am not wasting my time.
My school has a wide range of electives to choose from, whether it be carpentry, multiple levels of Spanish, and even oceanography. My school also offers financial literacy and even classes that can lead to careers, such as marketing. But, to be honest, this does not satisfy me. Even in core classes I do not feel like I am getting the most out of it that I possibly could. While it is hard to do, I think year long classes are more beneficial than semester long. You are able to really get to know your teacher, delve deeper into topics, and spend more time on the curriculum to get a stronger understanding of the material. I do not think electives should be year long, but I think us as students would strongly benefit from year long core classes.
I also like the idea of "making" classes. Instead of traditional learning styles of boring books and busy work, teachers, such as Carolyn Barnhart are making learning fun by ditching the boring strict teacher plans and making learning an interactive adventure. I wish that some teachers at my school would use this method instead of sticking to the script, because I think it would help me pay attention more, and I would look forward to coming to school, knowing that my teachers are striving to make learning fun, instead of making it a chore.
@Carter Osborn While going off the script and just winging it as a teaching style might be fun for the kids, but is extremely stressful for the teacher. There have been so many times in my classes where teachers try to interact and have fun with the kids, but they all just end up making jokes and being obnoxious. The teacher then calms everyone down for about 5 minutes, until the class gets out of hand again. Doing this over and over every single day would be extremely exhausting for a teacher, and will eventually drain them of will to teach.
@Carter Osborn While going off the script and just winging it as a teaching style might be fun for the kids but is extremely stressful for the teacher. There have been so many times in my classes where teachers try to interact and have fun with the kids, but they all just end up making jokes and being obnoxious. The teacher then calms everyone down for about 5 minutes, until the class gets out of hand again. Doing this over and over every single day would be extremely exhausting for a teacher, and will eventually drain them of will to teach.
The courses that I wish my school would offer are a more diverse selection of electives, such as wood shop, etc. At my school, we only offer a very specific set of electives, which do not cater to every student's interests. Many are geared towards students in the STEM fields, yet for some students such as myself that aren't interested, it is difficult to find certain electives that I enjoy, and that will help expand my interests and fields of knowledge.
I wish our school offered a current events course. I feel that it is important that students are well informed about what is going on in the world. Everything about current events affects the lives of students, so we should be offered a current events class.
I wish that my school offered more classes for life skills. It currently offers a cooking class, but there are other things that we should know like wood shop, how to do taxes and other financial literacy topics, and automotive maintenance.
I really wish that my school offered a full year advanced placement class for forensic science. I really wish to pursue this as a career choice, and I feel that since it was only a half year standard division class, my teacher was not able to really teach me all that I wished to learn. While my teacher was excellent, and actually inspired me to pursue this career choice, she was not able to teach me all the things I am sure she would like to teach me in the short amount of time we had. I would love to have more hands on experiences, and to really explore all the fields of forensics for more time than just a couple of days, barely scraping the surface. I find it extremely interesting, and I feel that other people would enjoy it as well.
@Gina Rivera Hi Gina!
In my opinion, high school is some of the most important four years that prepare you for the rest of your life. For those continuing their education, it needs to prepare us for college and give us the classes thar will truly prepare us for what we are to encounter. And for others that plan on working full time, going into the military etc. we need to be taught more life lessons and subjects that will be used in every day life. Such as, taxes, mortgages, how to manage a life outside of school, things that we truly need to survive and not have to figure it out on our own as we go. Most schools do not have this option and provide classes needed and thus should be changed!
I wish my school would have offered financial literacy as a class, preferably required course, but an elective would also be suffice. Financial literacy would be an extremely helpful and useful class, teaching young adults all about credit, bills and many other important factors in being an adult.
I am a high school junior, and in all my years of history classes, I have yet to see a real lesson on the Holocaust, Japanese internment camps, or the often talked about, but little understood conflict between Israel and Palestine. When these topics do come up in lessons, they are quick to be glossed over in favor of talking about the good in the world. When I took American History last year, the Holocaust was mentioned only once, when our teacher explained that the United States wasn't involved, and it never came up again. I think it is so important to learn about events like these in social studies classes. Ignoring them, and only focusing on the positives only creates a skewed perception of history. By talking about them, we can learn from past mistakes and make sure they never happen again.
Ever since I was little I have been interested in cars, mainly because of my uncle and grandpa but when I was younger, I wasn’t able to see them that often which created a learning curve between cars and I. Now that I am older and live closer to them I am lucky able to learn more about them but I’ve always wanted a more accessible way to be able to learn. I think having classes at school would be something that would aid my want.
Most everyone drives a car to get around but not everyone knows what to do if something happens to it. Even simple things like changing a tire or their oil which is pretty necessary in my opinion. If schools applied an automobile course in school I think it could do good for even people that aren’t as interested in cars as some. The class could go through the parts of the car, the wiring, how to keep a car in mint condition, and routine repairs. There could also be honors classes that go into more details for people that are more intent on learning. I believe that having a course in school for automobiles would be a very beneficial thing, not just for the person, but also to help keep the roads safe.
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