Friday, September 21, 2012
"self-regulated learners"
I just got an email advertising the online conference below, which costs $345 to attend. Shouldn't college freshmen-- who are legally adults and theoretically able to lead independent lives in our culture and economy-- be able to think, plan, and take action independently by the time they graduate HS? Please comment with your thoughts.
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I feel like most teachers and parents try to help students be self-disciplined and be able to do things for themselves before they throw them out into the wild. I also think it is ridiculous to pay nearly 350 dollars to hear things these students have heard a million times. If they aren't self-disciplined and self-motivated enough to survive college life, maybe they shouldn't be going to college yet until they get a reality check of what it means to do things on your own.
ReplyDeleteI think H.S. seniors should be getting a taste of how college life is going to be once they start there final year of H.S. Teachers should try and not teach with such a structure that we have been accustumed too. When you enter college you become independent, students will love the freedom and feel no need to do h.w. since.some teachers do not.collect it. And that throws kids off. The price is ridiculous first of all and if we had our teachers giving us some independence then it will open the eyes to students in that if they mess up in a class..then they are atleast not paying for it with money. paying for your own schooling should be motivational to students because ofcourse they don't want to throw their money away. This way they can hopefully do good. College is becoming more and mire expensive each year.
ReplyDeleteShould high school students theoretically be able to be independent by the time we graduate? Yes, but sadly we are not. The key word in that statement: "theoretically." Theoretically we should be independent; theoretically we should be on the path to success, but in actuality this is not the case. Nowadays many of us live a sheltered life where most things are simply given to us without putting in any effort. We have become so accustomed to this lifestyle that when we go to college and we are on our own it is nearly impossible for us to transition, especially when we are quitting cold turkey. Parents may think that having everything laid out for us on a silver platter is helpful and at the time it may be (don't get me wrong I know how busy our lives can get), but in the long run they are preventing us from being able to live our lives independently. How are we ever going to learn to be independent when we aren't given the opportunity to do so? I think this is partially why so many kids drop out of college: because they are thrown into a situation where they are already at a disadvantage due to how we have been raised. Yes the transition to college is hard, but if we had gradually learned to take on more responsibilities we could carry over these abilities to when we are living by ourselves in college (as opposed to having to learn them right there and then). The title of the ad is kind of ironic to me as well. They call it self regulated learners which implies that each student will have their own way of learning/leading their lives, yet this convention is most likely going to be telling them what to do in a fashion they think will apply to each student, as if we are all the same and all learn the same way (not very "self" regulated if you ask me). I can't really read the ad because I'm on my iPhone but I think it says the convention is from 3 to 430pm...that's only a hour and a half but it costs $345?? That's almost $4 per minute, now I don't know about you but what could they possibly be saying in that hour and a half that is worth that crazy price? I'm sure it's all stuff we've heard before (time management and all the good stuff), plus I could probably just google this and come up with just as many "valuable" tips as this convention provides, if not more.
ReplyDeleteIn theory college freshmen should be capable of being independent and be free thinkers by the time they leave high school, but in reality high school classrooms spend more time getting students ready to pass exams than they do on making sure students have the tools they need to be successful outside of high school and in the real world. The sad reality is, most high school seniors don't have a clue what the real world is like except for the romanticized version that's been fed to them since they could walk. It is because of our ignorance that $345 "webinars" such as these get decent turn outs. I don't mean to be so harsh on my generation, but to be honest there are few high school seniors that I have met that know the world like my parents and everyone else's parents know the world. The only world that I know, is the one that has come out of a textbook. Sure I've had a job, been involved in my community and actively participated in school functions, but if something ever went wrong I was never really left to my own devices to fix it. If I had a problem, my mom fixed it or found someone who fixed it and that's the reality that many of my peers have. Would I personally pay $345 for a webinar to tell me something I've heard since sophmore year? No, but I can assure many others would.
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