I’ve been warning you about the chaos in the classroom for a while now. There are a few reasons for the chaos, but it looks like Stratham taxpayers may be on the hook for more of their tax dollars in order to manage it.
There are a few reasons for the “chaotic classroom.” Some of this can be traced to Competency-Based Education, where students are required to work collaboratively to learn a workforce skill. While being able to collaborate is a useful skill, many of us never had to trade learning time for these workforce skills. We learned these other skills by playing on sports teams, and some of it just comes naturally to people. CBE turns the focus away from learning the academic content to focusing on skills training.
This push for personalized learning sounds good, but in reality, what does that mean to the teacher, and your child’s classroom? It actually marginalizes the teacher into becoming a facilitator instead.
Personalized learning really started with the push to make sure a child had an electronic device to work off of in school. Children are now handed a Chromebook or iPad to work on. This made the Ed Technology industry realize there was a huge market if schools could provide a 1:1 device versus a textbook. Gullible parents believed that their children needed this to stay up to date with the latest technology, but this kind of technology doesn’t make a child smarter; it’s a profit maker for the technology industry. Anytime you hear about personalized learning, or student centered learning, just remember $$$$$ for tech companies.
You hand a child a Chromebook, put them in groups to collaborate, and create a chaotic classroom. Good luck with your Spec Ed or ADD/ADHD students, who have enough trouble paying attention. Now, there are extra distractions to draw their attention away from learning.
So, what does this look like in Stratham? This was discussed at a recent school board meeting when the number of students in a classroom was raised from 15 to 19. How would that impact a chaotic classroom? How does a teacher manage 19 kids in groups instead of 15?
Someone decided to change the teacher-centered model to a student-centered one in the classroom. Gone are the days when a teacher taught children the content; now, they work in groups where chaos ensues. No one is forcing this nonsense on the schools; they are choosing to use these methods in spite of what common sense tells you.
If children are at different levels, how about grouping all of those students in one class, and teaching them the content? This would be called leveling. Teaching a student where they are at. I always wondered how a teacher was supposed to teach a class using student-centered learning. Now we know, it’s almost impossible.
It’s interesting to hear how this is unmanageable, but instead of changing the model, they continue with it.
This X thread includes a video from a Stratham school board meeting, where you will hear about the conditions at Stratham Memorial. It shows both dysfunction from mainstreaming and a reactive management style that exacerbates chaos in the classroom. But more importantly, you will see why you will be forced to pay more in taxes. It’s your money.
If you live in Stratham, follow : Stratham Memorial School Taxpayer on X. @SMS_Taxpayer
Start at:
(1:49:27)
https://x.com/SMS_Taxpayer/status/1897758495211946430
When parents complain because the teacher isn’t teaching, remember how they set the classroom up to fail.
