The Smartest Kids In The World

I have found the article titled “Lessons from the Smartest Kids in the World” from usnews.com, which has a brief summary and information from Amanda Ripley’s book titled “The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way”. While I was not able to find the exact book itself, in my research I have found several sources and interviews with the author that I will use to make my argument. I feel very strongly about many of the arguments presented in this book, and the facts are very clear that the American schooling system is severely behind other countries standards. In order to improve our school system as a country, there needs to be much more support from the parents, more expectations from teachers, and we even need the government

Overall the book was a good read and touched on some various topics that are discussed in our class.

It discussed comments or gushing offered by teachers to a student. Not only are the teachers rewarding the student in front of their peers, but they are also encouraging competition among others. I had never thought about such praise being negative or controlling. I see this all the time in classrooms I observe and even classes I have been in as a college student. However, after reading this chapter it makes sense that it actually is negative and can cause serious problems among the students. I wish more educators understood this idea and did not continue to express such praises and comments to their

Chapter 4 was insightful in public opinion, because there is a lot to say about it. The political socialization unit was something we all know, but it also allows time to look into the lense of children, I looked at this more intently because I am taking a juvenile delinquency course and we read about exposure to environments as well as the family molding a child is very impactful.

I think that everyone in my group gave good and valuable input. I could tell that some deep thinking went into the write-up of people’s jobs. Everyone came to class prepared and I could tell that Kelly, Nicole and Emma put a good effort into thoroughly completing their jobs. We had no problem discussing anything that involved the book. The discussions went really well. I think that the fact that we all had our own thoughts and opinions about the different events that occurred in the book, and even the book itself is what made our discussions so benefiting. We all found the book enjoyable to read, though we wouldn’t typically choose this type of book for ourselves. A Long Way Gone was different for all of us and even though we all really liked the book, its themes and plot were kind of new to us. Still, we had no problem discussing it. Over all, everything involving the book went smoothly. I felt as if I had plenty of time to read that weeks chapters and do my job by the time it was due. Nicole, Kelly and Emma also came to class prepared, having read all of the needed chapters and done their job

I enjoyed the chapter, Mohammed Meets Madonna from the book The Middle of Everywhere and I thought the author’s journals of the students were interesting. I like that Mary Pipher wrote a little about all the students that were in the English Language Learner class. I thought this gave the audience a good idea of the variety of backgrounds and attitudes that the students had. For example, there are students who are in gangs, like Khoi and Cahn, and then there are students who are tenderhearted, like Velida and Tharaya. Some of the students in the ELL class wanted to learn and had dreams of going to college, while others just wanted to get out of school. I found this difference between these students interesting because I know that when I become a teacher, I will also have a wide variety of students. These journals made me realize some of the challenges I will have to overcome as a future teacher.

America is a country that currently spends more money on public education per student than any other nation in the world; nevertheless, these good intensions have achieved only slight positive outcomes. For instance, in PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment), an authoritative test used to measure the education levels of students from 53 countries, American students ranked 12th in reading, 17th in science, and 26th in math. No doubt, a question like this one has been argued for decades “ what exactly is happening in foreign countries that allows them to out-pass America in terms of academics?” The Smartest Kids in the World: And How They Got That Way is an illuminating book by Amanda

Which turned out to be the Social Studies textbook. With this textbook they were more successful with having what they want in that there and not with what is beneficial for students. This also showed that sometimes they didn't follow with some facts that were backed up with facts. Also not all the board members are on the same page because there was one scene where a board member was trying to speak but wasn't given the chance to. This frustrated him, although he is a member of the board he didn't get a chance to speak because the other board didn't want to hear what he had to say. They also wanted to change how certain incidents happened also the culture of some ethnic

            1) One of the aspects I really enjoyed for this chapter is it is all about different ways writing can be used besides writing an essay paper in High school. I remember in high school how if I had to type a paper or write a paper how I hated it because you had to go through the process of writing and analyzing a paper and it always had to be 3 pages long. Chapter 2 is all about taking your students write more, which I thought would be a horrible idea, but have them write different things besides an essay paper.

I like how we had to write a summary for every chapter, because then It kinda forces the students to actually pay attention to the book. Like if we didn’t have to, I bet some students wouldn’t really payed attention, and they wouldn’t got what the author was trying to tell the readers.

The reason for this reflection is to review what has happened in a deeper level than just summarizing what has happened over the course of this project. During the weeks learned some things, not just from the book that I was reading, but also from participating in a group. The lessons I learned led to my group being successful in the few goals that were created. All of the goals were met in different ways whether it would be just finishing the book or us getting up in front of the whole class to present the google slides that we created.

Being an international student, I identified most with the chapter on the cultural sensitivity and diversity of our society. Lately I have encountered various people from different countries with diverse cultural and religious backgrounds. This experience has shaped my view on communication and opened my mind

Why do kids have to be judged on how they do and be graded? Like what if they are doing their best and they get a D- in P.E

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was broken down so that I could read a section at a time and still know what was going on. I also liked that it discussed easy ways to become a better leader. Many of the subjects

The first idea which interested me came from Chapter one. The socio- cultural perspective. This perspective explains, how children’s learning is influenced by family and culture in which children are living.