WTF are we teaching our kids in schools today? I am shocked by lack of English and maths from our 16 to 18 year olds, today I set several simple tasks only to be met by glazed stares and moans of what does that mean?
So I had to teach them about ratios, dead simple a 4x3 ratio, but they had no idea, so I explained some ting 12" wide by 9" wide had a 4x3 ratio, no, no idea, so I drew a square on the board, nothing, they were totally unaware of what I was talking about, this is a bunch of Level 2 media students, so I went over it again, still nothing?
I asked what they had done at school mathematically, not a lot was the common reply, to my horror later I found out that these kids had all failed GCSE maths and were retaking their exams here at the college. So where does that leave me a lecturer/teacher, putting it simply, up the creek without the proverbial paddle, I'm screwed because until they have a basic understanding of maths I can't teach them photography and you need an element of maths for exposure calculations etc. etc.
SO what the fucks going on in the schools, it would appear that most schools try hard to get them through the GCSE's, and they all had a certain amount that fall through the net, but this year it has been particularly bad. Also I have noticed an increase in special needs students at this college, 1/3 of my students need personal assistants to help them through their courses, so it just gets worse, I have tried various ways to get what I need them to understand in every possible way available to me, but I fear I am fighting a losing battle. Nearly all these kids want to spend more time on their phones than working, I have a no phone in the classroom policy which really aggravates them but it's bad enough that they don't understand what I am talking about without me competing with their mates on SnapChat or some other site where they text all day and night. So tomorrow I start again having sent them away yesterday with a task to study what ratios are, I am not holding my breath.
The other thing I want to moan about is English. Most of the kids cannot write a single sentance without spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, now I am not known for my English skills, but I can at least write a paragraph with out too many errors creeping in.
But to have a whole paragraph where every word is misspelt, and completely wrong grammatically is a little challenging when trying to read their papers, I struggled with my English at school, but tried hard after leaving school to try and a least be able to write a letter.
It's not just English & Maths, it's just about everything, kids seem to be a lot less academic and more bad attitude than kids from my day, they cant string a sentence together without swearing and cussing, using words that are slang and completely strange, the one that I hate is when they call me Dude, I am not a Dude, I am Sir or ***, but not dude.
The word DUDE means:
Dude is an American English slang term for an individual. It typically applies to men, although the word can encompass either sex.
Dude is an old term, recognized by multiple generations although potentially with slightly different meanings. From the 1870s to the 1960s, dude primarily meant a person who dressed in an extremely fashionable manner (a dandy) or a citified person who was visiting a rural location but stuck out (a city slicker). In the 1960s, dude evolved to mean any male person, a meaning that slipped into mainstream American slang in the 1970s. Current slang retains at least some use of all three of these common meanings.
So I am not no dude partner.
God, I love my job............................................................................................................ Not.
I could have been many things in my life, a mechanic, engineer, carpenter/joiner, anything really but I chose teaching, fucked up there then didn't I, LOL.
So I had to teach them about ratios, dead simple a 4x3 ratio, but they had no idea, so I explained some ting 12" wide by 9" wide had a 4x3 ratio, no, no idea, so I drew a square on the board, nothing, they were totally unaware of what I was talking about, this is a bunch of Level 2 media students, so I went over it again, still nothing?
I asked what they had done at school mathematically, not a lot was the common reply, to my horror later I found out that these kids had all failed GCSE maths and were retaking their exams here at the college. So where does that leave me a lecturer/teacher, putting it simply, up the creek without the proverbial paddle, I'm screwed because until they have a basic understanding of maths I can't teach them photography and you need an element of maths for exposure calculations etc. etc.
SO what the fucks going on in the schools, it would appear that most schools try hard to get them through the GCSE's, and they all had a certain amount that fall through the net, but this year it has been particularly bad. Also I have noticed an increase in special needs students at this college, 1/3 of my students need personal assistants to help them through their courses, so it just gets worse, I have tried various ways to get what I need them to understand in every possible way available to me, but I fear I am fighting a losing battle. Nearly all these kids want to spend more time on their phones than working, I have a no phone in the classroom policy which really aggravates them but it's bad enough that they don't understand what I am talking about without me competing with their mates on SnapChat or some other site where they text all day and night. So tomorrow I start again having sent them away yesterday with a task to study what ratios are, I am not holding my breath.
The other thing I want to moan about is English. Most of the kids cannot write a single sentance without spelling mistakes or grammatical errors, now I am not known for my English skills, but I can at least write a paragraph with out too many errors creeping in.
But to have a whole paragraph where every word is misspelt, and completely wrong grammatically is a little challenging when trying to read their papers, I struggled with my English at school, but tried hard after leaving school to try and a least be able to write a letter.
It's not just English & Maths, it's just about everything, kids seem to be a lot less academic and more bad attitude than kids from my day, they cant string a sentence together without swearing and cussing, using words that are slang and completely strange, the one that I hate is when they call me Dude, I am not a Dude, I am Sir or ***, but not dude.
The word DUDE means:
Dude is an American English slang term for an individual. It typically applies to men, although the word can encompass either sex.
Dude is an old term, recognized by multiple generations although potentially with slightly different meanings. From the 1870s to the 1960s, dude primarily meant a person who dressed in an extremely fashionable manner (a dandy) or a citified person who was visiting a rural location but stuck out (a city slicker). In the 1960s, dude evolved to mean any male person, a meaning that slipped into mainstream American slang in the 1970s. Current slang retains at least some use of all three of these common meanings.
So I am not no dude partner.
God, I love my job............................................................................................................ Not.
I could have been many things in my life, a mechanic, engineer, carpenter/joiner, anything really but I chose teaching, fucked up there then didn't I, LOL.
RSS Feed
