Essays at an SAT prep center.
Jun. 7th, 2011 01:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icarusGandhi, when asked what he thought of western civilization, quipped, "I think it would be a good idea."
I've worked in an SAT prep center for the last 18 months. It's the antithesis of what I would call education. No one hates standardized testing more than me (I include my students in that). But I've enjoyed the teaching, and the kids.
Reading high school essays, I would say the doom of western civilization is at hand, if I didn't already agree with Gandhi.
I've found that many students can't produce an essay at all. Certainly not in the 25 minutes the SAT gives them.
Those who do know how to produce an essay often know just the five-paragraph form, and have no clue how to build an argument. They fill in the slots of the format with facts that vaguely relate to each other (one hopes), like a paint-by-numbers kit.
Those who can build an argument (and those who can't) seem to have forgotten that they've learned in a dozen years of schooling, and can't imagine any evidence to support their views. They stare blankly at a page and hope that generalizations and reasons will do.
Once they learn they must use specific evidence of some kind, the majority of those examples are a bit thin. Personal anecdotes, TV shows, video games ... they draw from the content of a teenager's life.
Godwin's law doesn't apply to SAT essays. If a teenager can use Hitler as an example, and get the general gist correct, they are well ahead of the game.
Not pointing fingers at any educational issue in particular here. Just an observation. There are hundreds of reasons for this (from No Child Left Behind to class sizes to "not everyone gets to go to a Waldorf school"). I deal with the problem, one kid at a time. I tutor students in high-level magnet programs, IB students with helicopter dragon moms, students with mild disabilities, football players who've ignored their classes since middle school, and all shades in between.
In other news, I have ants.
I've worked in an SAT prep center for the last 18 months. It's the antithesis of what I would call education. No one hates standardized testing more than me (I include my students in that). But I've enjoyed the teaching, and the kids.
Reading high school essays, I would say the doom of western civilization is at hand, if I didn't already agree with Gandhi.
I've found that many students can't produce an essay at all. Certainly not in the 25 minutes the SAT gives them.
Those who do know how to produce an essay often know just the five-paragraph form, and have no clue how to build an argument. They fill in the slots of the format with facts that vaguely relate to each other (one hopes), like a paint-by-numbers kit.
Those who can build an argument (and those who can't) seem to have forgotten that they've learned in a dozen years of schooling, and can't imagine any evidence to support their views. They stare blankly at a page and hope that generalizations and reasons will do.
Once they learn they must use specific evidence of some kind, the majority of those examples are a bit thin. Personal anecdotes, TV shows, video games ... they draw from the content of a teenager's life.
Godwin's law doesn't apply to SAT essays. If a teenager can use Hitler as an example, and get the general gist correct, they are well ahead of the game.
Not pointing fingers at any educational issue in particular here. Just an observation. There are hundreds of reasons for this (from No Child Left Behind to class sizes to "not everyone gets to go to a Waldorf school"). I deal with the problem, one kid at a time. I tutor students in high-level magnet programs, IB students with helicopter dragon moms, students with mild disabilities, football players who've ignored their classes since middle school, and all shades in between.
In other news, I have ants.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-07 11:13 am (UTC)Then I tested into the Eng. 1, and discovered that while I was rusty, I was head and shoulders above my classmates. Eng. II knocked some of the smug out of me, but I think I got so many A's on papers purely on the basis of readability. Grammar isn't an option, it's a requirement! (Although my spelling is still horrible.)
ETA: Wait! I for got to add about the ants. AGH! CLEAN ALL THE THINGS. Seriously, I'm not kidding. Mop/wipe surfaces with a water/vingar mix to kill the scent trails and set out bait traps. We end up dealing with ants every year in the spring, and if you get rid of the food they are investigating (dog food, inevitably for us) and kill the scent trail and add a little poison to the mix, they'll go away.
*hands* I dunno what to say, man.
no subject
Date: 2011-06-07 02:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-06-07 02:17 pm (UTC)The book that taught me to write essays was The Lively Art of Writing by Lucile Vaughan Payne; I recently got a copy for my teenage daughter and will be
shoving it down her throatencouraging her to read it this summer. I'm also going to scan it & ebook it, push that at a few teachers, and encourage them to make the print version part of their curriculum.I found it in 5th or 6th grade and read it cover to cover several times. (What can I say; I used to read grammar primers & diagram sentences for fun too.) It's an nuts-and-bolts primer; it focuses on specific writing details rather than vague instructions like "support your claim with research."
Example of development of thesis statements from the book:
no subject
Date: 2011-06-07 02:28 pm (UTC)