Add/adhd

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1653755' date='Sep 12 2008, 01:04 PM']AH, the FCAT. I'm well familiar with that. The St. Pete teachers literally spent the entire year teaching to the test instead of teaching the subject. That's why I originally started home schooling the older boy. He was in 4th grade, and they decided not to teach multiplication tables that year because they needed more class time to study for the test. I actually stood up in the principal's office (I was in a wheelchair at the time, so much more dramatic) and screamed, "that's it, we are out of here!" I sat back down, and made sure I scraped her door with my chair on the way out.[/quote]
Yeah, we were pretty much told to teach to the test. I got angry about not being allowed to teach social studies. Thankfully, though, that was not the case in the entire district, just a handful of schools.

Edited September 12, 2008 by Archaeology cat

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1653749' date='Sep 12 2008, 06:31 AM']Having taught in a school with paddling, I disagree. While discipline is definitely a factor in such behaviour, just instituting corporal punishment isn't a cure. Of course, I'm not too sure school-wide discipline was implemented in a way that made sense (I mean, kids who got in fights or attacked teachers were sent right back to class half the time), so I can't really speak of other situations. So perhaps my experience with this doesn't really allow me to give an objective view.

[color="#FF0000"]If disipline was not consistant, then the manner of disipline would not matter. I expect if you would not have had the paddle you wouldhave had a worse enviornment. Inconsitant enfocement of disipline is simply tyranny on the school level, tyranny often leads to rebellion, however, a tyranny with a strong threat of force tends to have better control than a tyranny with only a weak threat of force. [/color]
All depends on where you are. Even when we were allowed to have recess, I was required to have it completely structured, so no letting the kids run around and play as they wished (can't say I ever followed that rule, but I was technically supposed to do so). Most of my students stayed for the after-school programme, and so didn't go home until 6.00, and didn't really run around outside at home because it wasn't all that safe (bad neighbourhood).

[color="#FF0000"]Structured play is not recess, it is ... structured play. Since we have decided that 4 year olds need to spend 7 hours at school, something I strongly disagree with, then certianly much of that time shoudl be in structured play, AND much of that time should be at recess. but for older kids, say 8 and above, there is simply not enough time in the day to cover what shoudl be taught and have daily recess and have PE. I am a strong proponant of PE, but it should not be a code for recess, it should [i]be[/i] what it is supposed to be, physical education.[/color][/quote]

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1653755' date='Sep 12 2008, 08:04 AM']AH, the FCAT. I'm well familiar with that. The St. Pete teachers literally spent the entire year teaching to the test instead of teaching the subject. That's why I originally started home schooling the older boy. He was in 4th grade, and they decided not to teach multiplication tables that year because they needed more class time to study for the test. I actually stood up in the principal's office (I was in a wheelchair at the time, so much more dramatic) and screamed, "that's it, we are out of here!" I sat back down, and made sure I scraped her door with my chair on the way out.[/quote]



Wow, at a Catholic school no less, wait your from Canada, Catholic schools recieve public money there, isthere money tied to their test scores as well?

In my time teaching in Catholic schools I never once taught to the Standford, nor was asked to. My test scores were always great easily beeting the best the public schools had to offer.

Alas I have had to go to the dark side and start teaching in a public school, the choice was simple, if I wished to send my son to a Catholic school I cound not afford to keep teaching in one.

[CatherineM]

I am not [i][/i]from[i][/i] Canada. I simply fell in love with a Canadian who couldn't take the heat in Florida. This was a public school. The Catholic schools in Florida are only for the very rich. My boys went to school with a larger percentage of Catholics in public school than they would have in the Catholic schools.

[Archaeology cat]

It's not letting me copy your response to me regarding paddling. Anyway, I also taught there for a year after they stopped paddling, and I had did not have an increase in behaviour problems. In fact, I think there were slightly fewer problems in my class, but little change in the school overall, so probably just that group of kids. But that is a tangent, so I'll stop talking about that.

[quote name='Don John of Austria' post='1653802' date='Sep 12 2008, 02:37 PM']Wow, at a Catholic school no less, wait your from Canada, Catholic schools recieve public money there, isthere money tied to their test scores as well?[/quote]
The FCAT is in Florida. CatherineM only moved to Canada a few years back.

[rachael]

We had mandotory testing, but we never skipped over other studies because of it. FCAT sounds like it smells of elderberries.

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='Archaeology cat' post='1653812' date='Sep 12 2008, 10:16 AM']It's not letting me copy your response to me regarding paddling. Anyway, I also taught there for a year after they stopped paddling, and I had did not have an increase in behaviour problems. In fact, I think there were slightly fewer problems in my class, but little change in the school overall, so probably just that group of kids. But that is a tangent, so I'll stop talking about that.


The FCAT is in Florida. CatherineM only moved to Canada a few years back.[/quote]


Ah it is the Flordian version of the TAKS test. I understand.

[Archaeology cat]

[quote name='rachael' post='1653816' date='Sep 12 2008, 03:22 PM']We had mandotory testing, but we never skipped over other studies because of it. FCAT sounds like it smells of elderberries.[/quote]
It does. We had testing when I went to school in KY, but it was diagnostic for the most part, and the teachers didn't skip other things just because they weren't on the test. If a child doesn't do well on the FCAT, though, he or she fails that grade (at least in grades 3, 8, and 10, not sure about the others) unless the teacher does an extensive portfolio proving the child really does know the material. Bonuses and school funding are also tied to the FCAT, unless that's changed since I've been gone.

[Don John of Austria]

[quote name='CatherineM' post='1653809' date='Sep 12 2008, 10:14 AM']I The Catholic schools in Florida are only for the very rich. My boys went to school with a larger percentage of Catholics in public school than they would have in the Catholic schools.[/quote]



Can you explain this, access to catholic schools is an issue I take very seriously, so I looked up some random schools in the Archdiocese of Miami... they were about 10% more than here in Houston, but the average person in Miami makes significantly more than we make here as well.
4-5 thousand a student with a discount for more children doesn't seem like it is only for the super rich. The schools I worked at, and the schools I attended where that much ( accounting for inflation) and most of my students and most of those I went to school with were NOT rich. In fact some were/ are exceedingly poor. Is Miami the exception is the rest of Flordia much more expensive?

And as for the precentage thing, you are saying that as a percentage of the student body there are more catholics in the public school than in the Catholic one, despite the significant up in expenence that many of the schools charge non catholics and non parish members?

[Lil Red]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' post='1653447' date='Sep 11 2008, 06:48 PM']When exactly was there twice a day recess?

I suspect if we brought paddling back the rate of ADD would go down.[/quote]
+J.M.J.+
i had twice a day recess in elementary school. kindergarten through 6th grade. of course that was from 1984 to 1990 (? i don't remember dates well).

[CatherineM]

[quote name='Don John of Austria' post='1653849' date='Sep 12 2008, 10:47 AM']Can you explain this, access to catholic schools is an issue I take very seriously, so I looked up some random schools in the Archdiocese of Miami... they were about 10% more than here in Houston, but the average person in Miami makes significantly more than we make here as well.
4-5 thousand a student with a discount for more children doesn't seem like it is only for the super rich. The schools I worked at, and the schools I attended where that much ( accounting for inflation) and most of my students and most of those I went to school with were NOT rich. In fact some were/ are exceedingly poor. Is Miami the exception is the rest of Flordia much more expensive?

And as for the precentage thing, you are saying that as a percentage of the student body there are more catholics in the public school than in the Catholic one, despite the significant up in expenence that many of the schools charge non catholics and non parish members?[/quote]

I can't think of a way to answer this question without offending people, so I'll just dump the PC and speak plainly. I lived in the southern half of Pinellas county. That is Tarpon Springs and Clearwater in the north, and St. Pete in the south. When the schools were de-segregated, a large number of white families moved north. The more money the family had, the farther north in the county they went. The exception is the ring around the beach front. Pinellas county is a long narrow peninsula. There is a ring of very expensive water front neighborhoods butting up next to areas of horrible poverty and crumbling homes. For those people in those expensive neighborhoods, the public school wasn't going to be an option. They flooded the private schools. Some of them went above $10,000, so the middle class flooded the Catholic schools which were slightly cheaper. The school attached to our parish was $7000. At the time, I was raising 2 foster kids on about $12,000 a year, so I obviously couldn't afford it. A lot of people couldn't have. St. Pete can be an expensive place to live. St. Pete has a large population of immigrants from Mexico, and Catholics who fled Bosnia during the war. There is also a large population of Cubans and people originally from New England who are primarily Catholic. Their school was is a working class neighborhood where none of us could afford the $7000, so a large percentage of their classmates were Catholic, 50-60%. Our Parish school back then was 30% tops.

[jenna311]

[quote name='rachael' post='1653816' date='Sep 12 2008, 11:22 AM']We had mandotory testing, but we never skipped over other studies because of it. FCAT sounds like it smells of elderberries.[/quote]

Yes. It does. I'm still in school to become a teacher, but I remember taking the FCAT. For me, at least, it was ridiculously easy, and I would have to sit there for an hour after finishing the section, doing nothing but doodling in my book. Luckily, we didn't have to prepare too much for the tests in class, because my classes were tough enough that the teachers didn't need to teach to the test.

[corban711]

[quote name='rachael' post='1653150' date='Sep 11 2008, 01:30 PM']What are everyone's thoughts on ADD/ADHD? How about the medication that is often taken for it?

After many years (since around 8th grade) of having doctors and psychiatrists egging me on to get tested for them, I finally gave in earlier this year. I was subsequently diagnosed with ADHD, but I refused any medication. One of the main reasons was because of everybody telling me that I didn't have it or that the doctors were full of c[font="Arial"]ra[/font]p. Anyways, I went back to class a few weeks ago, and I started noticing how badly I pay attention. I cannot sit still to save my life and cannot concentrate.

One of my worst issues is my impulse control...lately, it has been getting worse...MUCH worse. I went back to the doctor to discuss these. We agreed that I should go on medication for it. So far, so good.[/quote]


rachael,

first of all...i do agree that add/adhd can be misdiagnosed at times. i don't want to say overdiagnosed exactly...maybe overdiagnosed...i don't know. i do know that i have had friends that were put on medications when in fact they weren't struggling in school...they just didn't care about it. i also have friends that were put on meds at a young age because they were young boys (liked to play, wrestle, run around, etc) also, ive read (and it seems that it certainly could be true) that every era has its "disease" or "illness" that gets all the publicity and so that illness gets "blamed" for a wide variety of problems having nothing to do with a real illness. i do believe though, that they are very real mental illnesses which can be quite troubling and there is absolutely nothing wrong with seeking help that can benefit your ability to live your day to day life I think its awesome that you were willing to get help and also that you were willing to share that here. awesome

[jeffpugh]

I had 3 recesses in elementary school... one 15 min one in the morning, almost an hour long at lunch, and maybe 20 minutes in the afternoon. It was great.

[rizz_loves_jesus]

^^ Same here. We had like one or two kids in our class with ADD/ADHD.