PLN 9

 Summary

"Schools would be great if it weren't for the kids" By Valerie Strauss is stating that the motivation of students is not what it needs to be and is affecting them.  Strauss is trying to explain her viewpoint by a sit-com, the big idea that the two characters are telling is that an average student does not care or is not "motivated" enough and everyone is blaming the student for that. Then, Strauss develops two great questions from a non-economist point of view. The first asks “Motivated to do what, exactly?" Anything they’re told, no matter how disengaging, inappropriate, or, well, demotivating (Strauss)? Then, the second question, informed by decades of progress in the field of psychology, is: “What kind of motivation are we talking about here?” In these these two questions Strauss is trying get what the motivation is to the kids and what kind of motivation to them.

Response

"Schools would be great if it weren't for the kids" By Valerie Strauss is correctly stating that students are not being motivated like they used to be. Strauss goes on to say about how she "...see students made to cram facts into their short-term memories for a test, practice a series of decontextualized skills on yet another worksheet, listen passively to a lecture...(Strauss)". Strauss is trying to prove how students to care or are not motivated to do any of these things. She then explains how the students are being threatened to be motivated but then Strauss says those threats are ineffective but counterproductive. Students are are being thought of only having one type of motivation, which is not true. Students need can be motivated by many things such as curiosity and ambition; parental expectations; the desire to get into a ‘good’ college; inspiring or intimidating teachers; peer pressure”( Samuelson). Students are getting  bad rep for not being motivated, but in some cases can be a true statement from different view points.

PLN 8

Summary

 "What teachers really want to tell parents" by Ron Clark, is a great eye opener for what actually goes on between parents and the teacher. The big idea that Clark is trying to across is that teachers are having a hard time being honest with the parents because they are scared on how they will respond. Teachers also want to be honest with the parents to let them know what is actually going on in class with the student. The teachers say that the parents need to let there kids take on the consequences the student deserves. Teachers said that parents need to trust them, in what they do and teach with the kids.

Response 

 "What teachers really want to tell parents" by Ron Clark is correctly proving that teachers really need to be honest with parents and be open to what actually goes on in the class room. When Clark is explaining how the teachers feel, he puts in that the teachers feel scared in a way. As is the teachers are afraid of the response they are going to get from the students parents if the teachers tells them what is actually going on in class. Clark then goes on to explain that is a teacher needs to tell a parents what there child did today in class good/bad the teacher is afraid the response. Now Clark makes a quote that says "Trust us. At times when I tell parents that their child has been a behavior problem, I can almost see the hairs rise on their backs. They are ready to fight and defend their child, and it is exhausting" (Clark 1). Clark is showing that parents cant always be there for there kid, they need to take there own punishment for what they deserve. "we are vexed by those parents who stand in the way of those lessons"(Clark 1). Teachers need there space to teach and give the students life lessons. In first quote it says "trust us", the parents need to trust what the teacher is doing in class to help and gave a education to there kids. After all, that is their profession, to teach. Clark is trying get across to the reader that teachers want to be Honest but they really don't to deal with those kind of parents.