Post by kaitlinsnapp on Aug 4, 2011 19:00:08 GMT -5
If I had to describe kindergarten through the sixth grade in one word I would have to say it was all so “intense.” In the first grade I use to punish myself for getting a strike. If there was a snack on a day when I misbehaved then I wouldn’t allow myself to eat it. In the third grade, I once skipped recess due to worrying over a twenty question science test. In the fourth grade I came in on the weekends to perfect my writing portfolio by the deadline and in the fifth grade I once stayed after school until six at night just to finish a small project. Yes, most would say that I maintained the rare and extreme behavior marked by obsessive compulsive disorder and constant worrying, but we can’t blame that entirely on me.
Throughout my first seven years of schooling I must admit that I took myself way too seriously as a student. Afraid of failure and disappointing my parents, I disciplined myself to become an intelligent and hard working student. Was that a bad thing? Not necessarily, although I can’t help thinking that it did effect my creativity levels. In order to be creative ,or as Bronson and Merryman define, “produce something original and useful,” you must be willing to fail. Creating a product that is both original and useful the first time around is just not easy, especially for an elementary student. I, as a young student, caved into societal pressures by not accepting failure. When I did fail, I reprimanded myself. To me, failure was the greatest defeat and something to avoid at all costs. That, in my opinion, explains why so many young students have become less creative. We are taking the elementary school years too seriously.
In an effort to get ahead, more and more parents have begun pushing their children to immediately perform well in school. That is completely unfair. Elementary should be effort-based and quite frankly, a time of failure. The more we allow for failure at a young age, the more daring and creative the young mind will become. We will develop the value that sometimes failure is worth it if it results in the start of something original and useful.
The best way to do this is to discourage teachers from giving out multiple-choice answer tests. Rather, teachers should distribute tests with more than one right answer, or even no wrong answers. This way all students can be encouraged in their learning. Students can get credit for off-the-wall answers as long as they put productive thought into their work. Additionally, this would strengthen the teacher-student relationship since correcting tests would be more interactive for the educators. For instance, in an essay with no right or wrong answers, a teacher may propose possible obstacles dealing with the student’s problem solving schemes. They could accept solutions to these obstacles as extra-credit or test correction points. This type of teaching at a young age encourages creativity and the expansion of the mind. It avoids developing students like me, who felt creativity only led to failure which was unacceptable.
Throughout my first seven years of schooling I must admit that I took myself way too seriously as a student. Afraid of failure and disappointing my parents, I disciplined myself to become an intelligent and hard working student. Was that a bad thing? Not necessarily, although I can’t help thinking that it did effect my creativity levels. In order to be creative ,or as Bronson and Merryman define, “produce something original and useful,” you must be willing to fail. Creating a product that is both original and useful the first time around is just not easy, especially for an elementary student. I, as a young student, caved into societal pressures by not accepting failure. When I did fail, I reprimanded myself. To me, failure was the greatest defeat and something to avoid at all costs. That, in my opinion, explains why so many young students have become less creative. We are taking the elementary school years too seriously.
In an effort to get ahead, more and more parents have begun pushing their children to immediately perform well in school. That is completely unfair. Elementary should be effort-based and quite frankly, a time of failure. The more we allow for failure at a young age, the more daring and creative the young mind will become. We will develop the value that sometimes failure is worth it if it results in the start of something original and useful.
The best way to do this is to discourage teachers from giving out multiple-choice answer tests. Rather, teachers should distribute tests with more than one right answer, or even no wrong answers. This way all students can be encouraged in their learning. Students can get credit for off-the-wall answers as long as they put productive thought into their work. Additionally, this would strengthen the teacher-student relationship since correcting tests would be more interactive for the educators. For instance, in an essay with no right or wrong answers, a teacher may propose possible obstacles dealing with the student’s problem solving schemes. They could accept solutions to these obstacles as extra-credit or test correction points. This type of teaching at a young age encourages creativity and the expansion of the mind. It avoids developing students like me, who felt creativity only led to failure which was unacceptable.