Myths and truth about an American high school through the eyes of a mother from Russia
'11.06.2021'
Source: Yandex.Zen
Why American schools do not give grades, Marines conduct physical education, and chemistry, physics, biology and ecology are taught in one lesson - in Lilia Kim's note on Yandex Zen. Next - from the first person.
Before leaving, they frightened me with the disgusting quality of American schooling. Like, they go to the high school multiplication table and simple equations. Is it so?
The training system is really different. The schedule is the same every day: English, science, social, mathematics, physical education, then two subjects that the student chooses for himself. We have this additional English and art (drawing).
English is our literature, language, ethics and the foundations of psychology combined. Every week they read a book, discuss, write essays. All exercises that we did in Russian (about commas, revolutions, etc.) are included in the conditions of the essay. They analyze motivations, how different feelings arise, and so on. This month, according to the program: “Devil's Arithmetic”, “The Mysterious Case of Jekyll and Hyde”, “Transformation” (Kafka), “War of the Worlds”.
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Science is physics, chemistry, biology and ecology together, how everything works and interacts systemically. For example, first the physics of light, then the chemistry of photosynthesis, the plant world and why it was harmful. Since everything is studied in interconnection - there are no repetitions, it is better absorbed and saves time, it develops systemic thinking.
Mathematics is our algebra and geometry together. All the initial levels: areas, simple matrices and so on. All tasks are tied to practice.
Calculating areas is not taught on abstract figures, like ours, but on tasks like "calculate how much paint is needed to paint the walls and ceiling in a room." How much carpeting do you need on the floor? Do not forget to subtract the area of windows and doors. Or calculate how many gallons of water there are in a circular pool, and so on. The section on interest begins with the tasks “how to calculate the tax and the final price of the product, or calculate how much to tip”, and ends with the calculation of mortgage payments. The social sciences are history, sociology, economics together, and how everything mutually affects each other.
Physical education ... American physical education is tin! Coach Miss Shelton is a former Marine. First, general physical training, then training in team sports. The series Glee stood in front of me in kind: Miss Shelton is a troll of science teacher Mr. Ganders.
The art class is beautiful. Now they are teaching the laws of perspective. Equipment is like in a good art school. The technique is classic, with additions such as “we draw a glass of water, which stands on the windowsill. That is, they immediately study the technique of perspective and light. Each sketch should be done with a different type of material: pencil, crayons, charcoal - to understand how they interact with paper and learn how to choose the right tools for the tasks.
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This is a general program, textbooks that are the same for all. The advantage of a private school is only in the number and quality of teachers: how much they have the strength to get from each student so that he understands everything. The ethics of teaching is also different. Students are prohibited from comparing with each other. Laggards are not scolded, excellent students are not praised in front of everyone: so that one does not break the motivation to make more efforts, and others are not tempted to score. And so that everyone is guided by the feeling of their progress and tasks, and not by the opinion of others, because everyone has to live his own life. Grades are a private matter, so tests are returned downward so that other kids don't see who got what. Comments are sent by mail individually.
The task of the teacher is to be creative enough in the process to make everything visual, interactive, to involve everyone, and not to let anyone fall behind.
Original column published on the blog. "Chalk" on Yandex Zen
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