Mrs. Pendry is the bomb.com

Writing has been a crucial part of education since the first writing system was devised in 3500 BCE. Recently, however, in classes that have been infamously heavy with writing, writing has taken a back seat to standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, AP exams, and other state testing. I interviewed a well-known and beloved teacher at West Springfield High School about her opinions of writing and education. Mrs. Pendry is an 11th grade American history teacher who loves her job.

Mrs. Pendry wholeheartedly supports writing as the most important ability in school especially for history because writing forces the students to explain their understanding of concepts, theories, and opposing viewpoints, and allows them express their own opinions. By showing the teachers what the students do or do not know, the teachers are given a better idea of where the students are and what the teachers need to go over again. It also gives the students the ability to gauge their understanding and what they need to review or work on for the next test or essay. Writing is a student’s ultimate opportunity to display their abilities and knowledge.

In regard to the aforementioned standardized tests, Mrs. Pendry believes that the writing portions are important in AP tests and would even have the multiple choice sections taken out in favor of more writing prompts. AP classes are simulations of freshman-level college classes, and in college, there are no Scantrons or anything like that. You have papers to write and take short answer tests to showcase your knowledge and abilities and learning how to write that way in high school is extremely important to your first year in college.

She believes that writing in both history and English classes (along with whatever other writing students are doing) is important because it exposes them to different formats/styles/genres of writing. This exposure leads to being more easily able to follow different formats in college and later in life because not every paper you have to write will be a five paragraph essay. For history and English writing specifically, it’s easy to see the difference. Along with the totally different subjects, history writing requires a historical past tense while English uses a literary present tense which requires a complete change in mindset when switching between writing styles.

In regard to our school’s Writing Center, Mrs. Pendry believes it is a really big help to students. From a history teacher’s perspective, the Writing Center is most useful and helpful when the tutor has taken that specific course because then the tutor already understands and has experienced the format/style of writing that is in that class whether it be a DBQ, short answer tests, or timed writing. Having a tutor who took the class also makes it more beneficial for the student because the tutor will be able to fact check the paper along with checking the writing component. This makes the Writing Center dual purpose and a great asset to teachers across the curriculum.

I finished the interview by asking her about what she thinks would be the ideal education system. In her idealistic mind, the best kind of school is one where everyone is happy. The students want to be there and want to learn. The teachers want to teach. The administrators enjoy their jobs. Her goal is to do everything in her power to make that come true and is obviously very successful because I haven’t met anyone who doesn’t like her.

For any further questions, email me.

"Another Brick in the Wall"

Are you forced daily to swallow the numbing pill of mundane curriculum? Are its contents filled with ceaseless lectures and assignments that leave you with a bitter after taste? Do the pill’s side effects include a common case of senioritis and you’re not even a senior? Or even worse, the mere thought of school brings you to uncontrollable chills. What is more, you blame the change of seasons when in fact the closer you advance towards that excuse for an educational establishment you irrepressibly cough and sneeze, sometimes simultaneously. Yeah, me too—shiver. I’m sick, sick with a chronic illness; an affliction that exacerbates as I age. The malady thrives within the walls I am mandated to attend. Indeed, for twelve incessant years viruses and germs bombarded my being and continue to as apathetic teachers augment, dull futile homework assignments proliferate, and standardized tests stymie a teacher’s imagination. As the federal and state governments inject their impersonal academic standards, creativity in the classroom diminishes. Teachers, notably, lose passion and voice for their subject when they are compelled to manipulate their syllabus to specific requisites. Not to mention, the tests are marginalizing to the learning process and stifle student individualism.

My Grievances

Lately my patience for public school education has taken a nose dive. In English, for instance, my class has been reading The Great Gatsby. For the past week or so my peers and I have received a reading quiz over a chapter we have read independently. The routine itself minifies my interest, but the fact that the quizzes are designed specifically to imitate the Standards of Learning (SOL) format exasperates me further. Not to mention, almost everything my teacher assigned this year means to prepare us for several SOLs. For example, every day before the Writing SOL we corrected grammatically incorrect sentences. Then, we composed persuasive essays that required rigid elements to ensure that we meet Virginia’s standards. Even the atmosphere of each class is subtly suffused with the dry air of preparing for the SOL. All the while, one day I witnessed AP English students in the same grade as myself under the same teacher performing a Socratic seminar about their research and thoughts about the death penalty. Now which class would you rather take?

Oh but that’s not all. History class has cultivated personal resentment as well. Each period is usually and mainly comprised of teacher banter and humdrum power points. And recently, while making notecards for a test, I noticed on the SOL pages of my history textbook that the power points and tests literally copy the standards word for word. Well, I benefited because I knew exactly what letter to choose on multiple test questions. I yearn, however, for more than regurgitation from my education.

The ambiguity of tests and the “choose the best answer” concept, too, have irked me tremendously. To illustrate, on another history test the question had a chart that stated the way WWII veterans returning to America were received and inquired the way Vietnam veterans were received.

The chart stated: 
Veterans of WWII returned to a grateful and supportive nation.

The choices I was caught between were phrased along the lines of:
Vietnam veterans often faced indifference or hostility from Americans.

Vietnam veterans faced universal indifference or hostility from Americans.

I chose the second option because the universal verbalism of the WWII veterans’ return prompted my assumption that the test sought a direct contrast. Unfortunately, to my demise I was found incorrect and my deductive reasoning failed me.

I knew that the Vietnam War was a highly unpopular war and so I automatically eliminated the choices that contradicted that fact; but, I was considered wrong based on the difference between “universal” and “often”. What exactly does universal mean anyways? Everyone including their grandmothers ostracized them? The answers are so vague that there is hardly a distinction between the two choices. And I had to ask, isn’t it more important for me to recognize that Vietnam veterans were treated harshly not the amount of mistreatment they faced, which is uncertain anyways?

By the way, I noticed in the subsequent test that the same question was included with others that were commonly missed on various tests. It, however, was rephrased and made more specific. 

My Point

Anyhow, I intend to convey that non-fact based test questions or answer choices teach students to coincide their thinking with the person who develops the test. In other words, if you interpret information differently you are wrong. Has someone forgotten that we are all human? We have disparate DNA, brains, upbringings, experiences, opinions, and inferences, yet we are expected to align our thoughts with other humans in order to be considered right. That sounds pretty bogus to me.

Not to bash the teachers because they are just products of this standardized test culture. And there have been moments in those classes where I have enjoyed myself. But those have been when we have open discussions or watch interesting videos that go in depth about what we are learning about. Why can’t there be more of that? History and English are my favorite subjects but the emphasis on SOLs and the stale learning environment it produces has fueled my bitterness towards the classes.

Ultimately my frustration is rooted in that questions that are based on opinion are treated like there is a right and a wrong. Or the answer choices may be partially right or wrong, which then assumes that the only person's opinion that matters is the test creator’s. I, on the other hand, find it marvelous that we all perceive and conclude diversely. That is what fundamentally distinguishes us from each other and makes this a beautiful world. The educational standards implemented by the government, however, suppress the foundation of humanity in conforming us to an ideal concept.

Consequently, students resort to working the system. We formulate strategies and adhere to the doctrines of the authority in order to make the grade. Thus, we lose our individuality and become grotesquely alike in our thinking and beliefs. We then agree with the authority, never questioning them. Therefore, like in the movie The Wall we, as students, fall into the meat grinder of education and evolve precisely into the uniform student we ought to be. Somewhere people have confused indoctrination with education.

The Solution

Instead of emphasizing tests schools should be fostering creativity, instilling a love for learning, and encouraging individuality. Educators can do this by utilizing their curriculum to harness essential skills that can be applied throughout life or more specifically any career path. For example, skills like communication, accepting failure, overcoming challenges, listening and respecting different viewpoints, collaboration, thinking logically, and promoting honorable character. Overall, schools should focus their intentions on presenting mechanisms by which students can apply their knowledge and proficiencies.

Moreover, teachers shouldn't shun or dismiss ideas that can be substantiated with evidence. In areas that are opinion based a teacher should declare that an idea is plausible, or not plausible. That then permits a student to either provide better or additional proof or explore different ideas. Telling a student they are wrong just because "I said so” or “they said so" instills inadequate feelings, belittles their ideas, and forces them back into the meat grinder.

Tests are critical to many subjects but in matters of opinion the right or wrong concept is simply perverse. Often times the questions and answers are confounding, murky, and lack clarity. As a result, tests become not a mechanism to determine one's comprehension, but to determine one's ability to test. Understanding testing strategies and the ability to read questions fast and bubble in answers will never serve a purpose in entering the workforce or general life application. In addition, this accentuation on testing just intensifies student stress and foments cheating. Ultimately, this communicates that the end justifies the means. Integrity is forgotten in the pursuit of an ‘A’. How's that for spawning conscientious citizens?

What is more, if a student learns differently or cannot handle the amount of work that a higher level class entails they should not be subliminally punished. Meaning, they should not be penalized with drier curriculum, worse teachers, and more standardized tests. I would love to take AP classes in order to reap the academic perks that I am lacking in honors classes. I, however, wasn't prepared to take them this year because I struggle with anxiety and my learning style is often slow and meticulous. Regardless, all levels should be promoting critical thinking--that doesn't have a right or wrong, and employs student zealousness for learning.

My ideas may be a bit idealistic but if schools were allowed more freedom, there was more school competition, and better teachers were rewarded with better pay, the possibility of implementing these notions seems significantly more attainable. Unfortunately, the money in standardized tests is more attractive to many schools and unions continue to put the teacher's needs before the student's. Change, therefore, will require someone to oppose the lures of easy money.

As students age more begin to hate school and resent the inevitable pressure it creates. We can have both challenging coursework as well as engaging, interesting material but it will necessitate ingenuity on behalf of the educators. Fostering individualism, an avidness for learning, and enterprising attitudes is obtainable, but educators must actualize it. Chiefly, students embody the future so educators must inquire, “Are we championing individuals or manufacturing another brick in their wall?”  

Want to contact me? Email me at oliviascott97@yahoo.com
Haven't seen The Wall? Watch the education scene HERE