Prompt 4- My Learning experience to theirs

After tutoring in Ms. Jordan’s class for a few weeks, I have noticed many things in the classroom. The way she teaches is for the students to learn the facts and at an alarming, yet fast pace. This is due to the curriculum that must be taught. It is taught so that these students can take the NECAP testing. Looking at this, I look at my own personal history of how I learned and how I got through the public school system to the point of where I am today. I went through the Barrington School system, so compared to the students that I am tutoring I had a little more of an advantage compared to them. At the same time I never had to take these NECAP tests, I had recess twice a day for about an hour during my elementary years, and there was no real pressure for my entire class to do absolutely great in school testing. From what I remember in school, there were a lot of students who were smart and did exceptionally well in school, and some even went to some great colleges. Compared to the classroom I am tutoring in, there are many difficulties that these students have compared to when I was in the public school system. Everything has to be taught a certain way and at a certain pace. Everything is fast and to the point, there is no time for truly making a lesson plan and teaching it to the students. I would have little say in what these students actually get to learn from me and my classroom I would be in. In the past, my teachers actually got to choose how to teach and present what was important to the students. These students, at the same time do not have the same resources and privileges I had when I was in the public school system. With this I look to Ira Shor in what he was saying about education. Shor says that students should be more involved in the daily life of teaching. They should be the ones who say when they can go on from one lesson to the other, not the curriculum. If these students don’t get enough time to truly learn the subject, then how are we as educators actually teaching these student’s. Isn’t a teacher suppose to teach and not give the facts? If I want the facts I will just read a book, but I don’t want the facts I want a person to teach me in some way that I can understand what I am learning, but it cannot be that way because of the pressures it is for students to learn and know what to do for the NECAP testing.