Helping Math And Science Students Through Criticism

The behavioral shaping in these young children also seems to have the potential to translate to their adult selves. The students at Princeton (and many other schools) have been trained and conditioned to be, as Jeffrey Herbst puts it, "professional students." “They're not trying to buck the system; they're trying to climb it, and they are streamlined for ascent” says

Students today undergo constant pressure for perfection, going through extreme efforts to meet this expectation. Alexandra Robbins, an investigative journalist and author of The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids, views modern educational culture as a danger to students because it advocates productivity over learning. On the other hand, Jay Mathews of the Washington Post believes that students today are more apathetic than stressed. Robbins perception of today’s schools is more accurate than Mathews’, for students cheat to appear smarter, burden themselves with grueling schedules to impress colleges, and develop mental disorders as a result.

The article “Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work” by Jean Anyon is about research conducted in five different schools of four different social classes; the Working Class, the Middle Class, the Professional Class, and the Executive Class. In the data collected, Anyon discovered the various ways that these five schools teach the children. First, the two Working Class Schools taught the children really poorly, often telling the children to follow steps to get the right answer, and always yelling at them when they’re out of line. The Middle Class School teaches the kids a little better, by making the children actually work to get the right answer. The Professional School sought to get the children to be more creative with their work. And finally, the Executive Class school will tell the children that they are fully responsible for their work, and they will not keep up with children if they miss assignments.

The story “The Rules of the Game” shows how Waverly’s ability to play Chess well increases her mother’s expectations throughout the story. In the beginning Waverly wanted to play chess so much so that she was begging her brothers to let her play. Waverly says “ Let me! Let me!’ I begged

8). These 10 things are exemplary examples of her authoritative method of raising her kids. And as she argues that she pushes her children out of their comfort zone and is “letting them see what they’re capable of” (l. 179), one might just as well argue that she does the opposite. It’s highly probable that there are socially and culturally related matters you have missed out on if you never attended a sleepover, a school play or a team sport by the age of 22. These are all social situations in which people are pushed beyond their natural limits. If you grew up only making homework and playing instruments repeatedly, you would probably never face the fear of new encounters or actually realise what you were really capable of. Moreover, kids might never find peace because of their habits with constant competition. As it’s perfectly agreeable that a parent should be “arming them [kids] with skills, work habits and inner confidence” (l. 180), you still risk that children’s constant competition with themselves or others in their upbringing, consequently, is the only thing they will find themselves doing in their whole lives. As a result of that, they might never be able to find harmony, peace or be satisfied simply by their

“My mother would proudly walk with me, visiting many shops, buying very little. “ This my daughter Waverly Jong,” she said to whoever looked her way. One day after we left a shop I said under my breath, “ I wish you wouldn’t do that , telling everybody I’m your daughter.” My mother stopped walking..... “Aiii-ya. So shame be with mother?” She grasped my hand even tighter as she glared at me. I looked down. “It’s not that, just so obvious. It’s so embarrassing.”... If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess?” (Tan 41).

Waverley was taught how to play chess and she caught on quickly. Her brother would tell her how play, which would make her very angry. This situation reminds me of when my sibling would tell how to do something when I am older and experienced.(45 words)

Waverly plays is the board game chess, where she must think ahead and plan out every possible move to win. She must put herself in her opponent's shoes and try to predict their strategy. “I discovered that for the whole game one must gather invisible strengths and see the endgame before the game begins.” (Tan 8) By understanding Waverly’s thought process throughout a game, we are able to learn more about her as a person. She is aware of how different she is compared to the other players, and uses it to her advantage. “...I would clasp my hands under my chin, the delicate points of my elbows poised lightly on the table in the manner my mother had shown me for posing for the press. I would swing my patent leather shoes back and forth like an impatient child riding on a school bus. Then I would pause, suck in my lips, twirl my chosen piece in midair as if undecided, and then firmly plant it in its new threatening place with a triumphant smile thrown back at my opponent for good measure.” (Tan 12) These situations show how

An obvious point Graff starts off with, is that kids are always trying to fit in. Children are either labeled a “book worm” or a “street kid” by their peers so they can be defined in what crowd to hang around. Giving a personal experience to connect with his younger audience, Graff describes his childhood as, “I grew up torn, then, between the need to prove I was smart and the fear of a beating if I proved it too well;”. He continues to explain how even if one does succeed in surviving this childhood hierarchy they still have the obstacle of maintaining their grades in the classroom, which does not come natural to all.

Waverly’s mother is creating rules for her daughter to become a better chess player. First, Waverly’s mother becomes possessive of her daughter’s chess tournament achievements. When Waverly wins her chess tournament, she says, ‘Ma, it’s not how many pieces you lose’, I said . ‘Sometimes you need to lose pieces to get ahead.’...but it was my mother who wore the triumphant grin” (Tan 4). Waverly disagrees with her mother’s thought as she believes that to win something, you have to lose something. This is significant to the title as Waverly’s mother is creating a rule for her daughter to follow so she can win every tournament she participates in. Second, Waverly’s mother wants to watch her daughter practice chess. While Waverly is practicing, she says, “ ‘Ma, I can’t practice when you stand there like that’, I said one day. She retreated to the kitchen and made

Jean Anyon, author of the article “From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work”, spent one year observing a fifth-grade class in a socially middle class elementary school. In this year, she was able to determine that the teachers taught the students by textbook based lessons and would ask questions that would verify if a student had done his or her reading assignments before coming to class. The students would then receive grades based on the amount of right answers they had given. Through her observations she saw that teachers did not bring up concepts that could be considered controversial in fear that parents would become angry. Anyon noted that the students learned by being given directions that often required some decision making,

It is this time when children begin to understand how scary the world is and what it contains, such as sickness, pain, and scary creatures. They see the do's and don'ts, so they do what they need to protect themselves. From our childhood experiences, we are extra cautious about our surroundings such as the example of the child and the sand. This limits our act of searching and discovering the world, but it does not stop our curiosity and uncertainty. Cathy Davidson, the author of "Project Classroom Makeover", explains how a student's creative mind is pushed away to make room for academic studies. The educational system is inefficient in today's world. Believing that the problem comes from classrooms, she encourages teachers and parents to teach their students and children about their academics and take part in things that interest them. Teachers should help students focus on their studies and encourage students to find their passion of interests in the world. It is best for both teachers and students if the students can open up more and have their curiosity lead

It states, “Why do you have to use me to show off? If you want to show off, then why don’t you learn to play chess” (Tan 9). This shows that in both of the short stories, both children have a breaking point because their parent/parents do something that the child does not particularly like. Waverly does not enjoy that her mom is showboating her, and Eli does not relish that his dad tried to brainwash the members of the board to admit Eli into

Andrea, I enjoyed reading your opinion as always. I agree that constructive critique is very effective in learning development because it allows our peers to point out simple errors that we may make. Additionally, without critique throughout my canine training education; I would be ignorant to many things such as operant conditioning, counterconditioning, and unpretentious training approaches. Generally, any individual that has the desire to learn and develop themselves around their career choice will encourage this type of criticism without a negative response. Lastly, I have also incorporated similar strategies to advance my compositions. These include reading to an audience, continuously scanning for errors, using a thesaurus, and breaking

Traditionally, mathematics and language-based subjects have been seen as occurring on opposite sides of a great divide. However, in recent years teachers have realised the importance of talk across the curriculum including mathematics. This is supported by the DfEE (1999a, p11) who state that ‘high quality interactive teaching is oral, interactive and lively. It is a two way process in which pupils are expected to play an interactive role by answering questions, contributing points to discussions, and explaining and demonstrating their methods to the class.’ The recent Cambridge review reinforced the message that ‘teachers