I used to have this stack of newspapers. I would never read them, but never throw them away. So I had about 2 months' worth of newspaper in my room. Finally, I decided "you should go through them".
However, when I realized there were articles I liked I had another thought: "you should cut out the articles you like, and tape them to a blank notebook".
I suppose this is the first time I've succeeded at something remotely like scrapbooking.
Why would I do something so tedious?
They talk about education in the newspapers. That means if I cut out articles, later on I can go through them to be inspired to write about one of my favorite places in the world - school. (I also have non-education articles that I just plain like/strongly hate. Hate can be a good stimulant as well.)
One of the articles I found, I personally felt was right on the money. It's called "Is that like an A?" by Maura J. Casey, published February 14 2008 on the New York Times. It's an editorial.
I don't think I can quote the entire article (that's probably against copyright or something), but I can quote the parts I thought were important.
Now, in schools in Hartford, that 10-year old would-be athlete is being graded on how he or she "establishes and maintains a healthy lifestyle by avoiding risk-taking behavior." In music class, students are being graded on how they make "connections between music and other disciplines through evaluation and analysis of compositions and performances.
These examples come from a new report card....[it] can run as long as seven pages...Some of the wording is clear; anyone can understand "shows courtesy and respect toward others." But the academic measurements...seem more likely to confuse than illuminate...the report card made me appreciate..why teachers say they are buried in paperwork.
If schools don't offer information that is simple, they will end up creating more barriers, espeically in cities like Hartford where many of the students come from families where English is not the first language. If report cards are weighted down with educational jargon that even native English speakers have to struggle to understand, it is fair to ask who the administrators are really reporting to: students and their families or the educational bureaucracy?
My mother doesn't speak fluent English. When I would get report cards, she would ask her English speaking bosses, and even they would be baffled at times.
Personally I didn't care that much, but I could definitely understand her frustration with not being able to keep up with our report cards.
Eventually, she just gave up on reading comments - unless she already knew what they meant thanks to prior translation- but she wouldn't try to understand the ones she hadn't seen before. She'd just look at the grade, and if it was good, she'd just assume the comment was good. So to this day she still doesn't know what my teachers meant when they wrote "inner aptitude and ardor about the subject but with scarce participation".
