Cursive Pushed Out of School, Into Summer

What are you doing this summer? Did your school neglect to teach you cursive in grade school? Take Cursive Boot camp this summer! 
As I was browsing the many different flyers put up on the bulletin board in the local Caribou coffee shop, I noticed a brightly colored one for a cursive summer boot camp taught by a District 36 teacher. In order to enforce the teaching of cursive to future generations, this teacher has decided to devote a summer to it. 

Earlier this year, the teaching of cursive was up for debate. It is no longer a requirement in 45 states in the US as it previously has been. While at first thought this does not seem to be a huge deal, there are many benefits to cursive other than being able to write in the fine script.   There are also major biological and psychological benefits. 

An article on "psychology today" that showed that the thinking level in studying cursive is increased and that cursive has improved students reading level greatly, especially in dyslexics. The hand movements required in cursive are constantly changing where as in handwriting there are single strokes. In addition to reading and thinking level, cursive also increases hand eye coordination. In contrast to the difficult task of writing in cursive is typing on a computer; what we seem to constantly be doing. It is the same motion of punching the keys of the letters we want, very little thinking required. Although learning to type without looking is mentally demanding as well, it requires a different kind of thinking. 

In addition to being biologically beneficial, the practice of cursive is also psychologically beneficial. As I remember, learning cursive was incredibly frustrating. I could never get the right amount of humps on the m, the right shape to the r, and some of upper case letters were nearly beyond my comprehension. Putting it all together was something I never thought I would achieve. By mastering each letter on its own, and then slowly forming words and my name, I learned how to write cursive and I felt as proud as I will when I turn in my final draft of my Junior Theme. The perseverance and self disciple instilled into students are traits that are crucial to the success of them later on in life.

While I do think that cursive should still be taught, I think it should be enforced in grade schools. Not in a summer "boot camp" that is an extra expense. Public schools are already being payed for by our taxes and those taxes should be going towards the teaching of subject that will improve the child's thinking. While I may rarely write in cursive now, I would argue that the most important benefits of it is the process of learning it. 

3rd Quarter Slump is REAL

Grades fall, blog posts are yet to be written, hours are spent half doing half dreading your homework, and studying becomes nearly impossible. It's third quarter slump; the time of the year that everyone seems to struggle with most. The months go by quickly, buried in the work load that seems to be piled on, and before you know it grade printouts are on their way and I am still five blogposts short, stressed beyond belief, and lacking infinite hours of sleep. To make things worse, siblings start coming home from college on break and envy builds up as I watch them sit around doing absolutely....nothing.

Third Quarter Slump is a term that I started hearing back in freshman year but I was not expecting the drastic jump of my grades. By third quarter, students should be used to the homework load and how to deal with it but this is not the reality of the average highschool student. Yet as I am up late every night doing the hours of homework that are not showing the affects that I want on my grades, I have to wonder whether it is the teachers loading on harder and larger quantities of work, or the students lacking motivation. Has my work ethic really changed since the start of the year?

The pattern of my motivation throughout a school year has become clear to me. I start the year of ready to go and organized in all of my classes. First quarter and second quarter are strong and steady and somehow, my motivation and work ehtic is not put at risk to my daydreams of summer and being somewhere, anywhere warm. Third quarter is when this starts to change; the weather starts to change. Even a hint of sun, a change from the fierce cold days, changes the way I work. Realizing this, I have found that the main perpatrator behind the fearsome Third Quarter Slump is the motivation of the students.

Although I admit to a change of my own work ethic, I cannot believe that the change of grades is a result of the motivation of students alone. In addition to the change of mindset in the students, there is also the factor of expectations. By third quarter, the bar is set and students are expected to keep improving to be able to keep up with the class even as the level is raised. Although students should also have intellectually grown enough to meet these new standards, the new challenges seem to be much more difficult then the previous semester.

As we stumble through the finish line of third quarter into spring break, the significantly lower grades beg the question; what is the cause of Third Quarter Slump, the teachers or the students? As we go into fourth quarter, why are students able to get back on track after being in the grasp of the Slump? 

Early College, Because the World is Waiting

Did you know you can start college next fall, before earning a high school diploma or even taking the SATs?
According to the recent invitation I received from Bard College at Simon's Rock, you can drop out of normal highschool and start college now. That is if you are in 10th or 11th grade and have the money to afford it. "Why wait?" the appealing brochure questions. It is the "only college specifically designed for students ready to tackle college early, without finishing high school." 

As desirable and tempting the idea of going straight to college is, I had to be realistic. The truth of this program is that all of the fees add up to a grand total of $59,108 annually. Four years of college already adds up to a hefty amount so to pay for an additional two years of college before college is unnecessary. In comparison to the average college tuition at $22,203; this early college is on the higher end of crazy tuitions. 

By having such an expensive tuition, the program is only accessible to some people. Maybe people living in the north shore of Chicago, or other wealthy suburbs. If only a small group of people can afford the program, do they still send their brochures out to everyone? To what extent can admissions target a certain group of people without crossing a racial or class line?

Not only does the program target a higher class, the brochure also clearly targets prospective students. On one of the pages (left), they took a page from a standardized test and filled in the bubbles spelling out "Over high school?". By doing this, they are appealing to high school students by showing a mutual disliking for standardized testing and showing empathy. Instead of making me want to attend to early college even more, it turned me away. Although a creative choice and design, it made the program seem unprofessional. In addition it made it seem like an easy way out, like cheating your way out of high school. 

It was interesting that they chose to target students rather than parents; aren't parents the ones that would be paying the tuition? If they appealed to parents more rather than students, they would be more effective in recruitments. What does making students the target say about their power over their own parents?