USAMTS-->USAMO

[stupidityismygam]

once again, i agree with all of your points (it is like you are reading my mind)

though in elementary school the brain is just starting develop, we should challenge it instead of letting it take the bare minimum. By not challenging the brain early on, they expect ot never be challenged, and thus we have the situation that our high schools face today.

It is very important that we challenge the young mind, so to teach them to think at a young age, so that they will be think as they get older...

Laziness is of course another negative in our society. People have been getting used to accomplishing the bare minimum and then calling it a day. This is especially notable in many occupations that our parents and mentors have today. Since these people are our role models, the laziness transfers. Basically America needs one giant energy shot to get its act together. In a typical 8-hour work day, people are probably working no more than 6 hours, which once again henders our society.

Basically, the moral is that kids aren't being challenged and these math contests are beginning to accomplish this challenge, however, it is attracting the kids to late. The amount of elementary math competitions are significally lower than the amount in middle school and high school. When i went through elementary, I did not know of any competition that would challenge me outside of school and actually make me think.

If we could solve these problems, high school would actually become worthwhile and the people would actually learn something that would apply to the life

Next Point:
Taking notes and tearing apart a couple of novels is perfectly fine, but the extent in which we make students do this has become extreme. A much more important thing is to be able to read something and retain the plot, not the hidden meanings. In the business world, most things are cut and dry and pretty much just plot.

Science needs cover alot more information in elementary school, instead of going over the solar system every single year and going over dinosaurs. They need to cover other important aspects.

Then the most important thing that needs to be instituted is the cumulative testing. I am not talking about just taking finals, but rather on every test have a concept that was on the previous test. This would keep people from forgetting everything, sinc they have to retain it from test to test. This would actually make it possible for people to win $1 million on "Are you Smarter than a Fifth Grader?". The tests also need to stop being so repetitive, which would be helped out with the cumulative testing.

I think that covers everything that is important

[zefuri]

I also agree with all your points...

I don't know any other way to fix these problems other than a complete retooling of the American education system which will not happen anytime soon because of the American's we are superman attitude and if it aint broke dont fix it attitude.

Also, as far as English goes i believe vocabulary, grammar, minimal grasping of reading, and writing are all that is required

I believe if we start the true basic knowledge of science young enough by the time we get to high school we could actually starting do labs that mean something rather than doing a useless volcano out of baking soda for the umpteenth time. Also, in high school we could utilize the time to do research and collect data after we learned basic concepts in elementary and middle school. (I understand some concepts in physics and such cannot be grasped at a young age with out calculus and various advanced level math but everything else can be accomplished before hand)

I think as far as geography world history and us history go. I think that knowing where things are is important but minimally. Also, focusing on just US History is a waste of time since the US is only 200 years old and its doesn't have that many things worth discussing. World History is important too i guess.

Math i have already explained in previous posts.

I should probably check out that fifth grader show..

[stupidityismygam]

It airs every thursday on FOX...

Science: The classes need to be longer. With our current system in our district, there are 45 minutes per class, which is clearly not enough time for a true lab. They definitely need to extend hte calss length to at least 1 hour. Also, for more in depth labs, they should be able to at least 4 or 5 times a year take up 2 or more periods for the lab (this of course would force combination of classes). This would give us time to actaully learn something in a lab, instead of doing a lab on gravity (the ball fell, WELL DUH).

English: I think we have throughly covered this aspect

Math: With the current situation, it is hopeless unless there is a TOTAL reshaping of the material and teaching staff

Social Studies: Geogrpahy is concentrated too much on. Nobody cares where rivers are located. All that is important is knowledge of which countries are on what continent, the major bodies of water (Oceans, Important Trading Seas). Then, cover basic economy information, so there is an understanding of developing vs developed nations. U.S. History is pretty pointless, but not as pointless as Texas History (stupid Texans). Texas History is a complete waste of a year, and who really cares except we got owned by Mexicans in the Alamo. U.S. History is covered way to in depth. All of the supreme court cases, and president actions really aren't important. The essentials are colonization, independence, Civil War, and then involvement in World War's. Nobody needs to know about the Jacksonian Era, or Roosevelt's New Deal. The extent of the depression that we need to know is that don't over invest on the stock market or count on credit.

I think that pretty much covers everything that is needed to be said about the 4 core subjects...want to get into the troubles of electives? or does someone have something more?

[zefuri]

Math: The teaching staff is actually not so great. Although there are the occasional exceptional teachers, many lack the problem solving abilities and deep understanding of the material to respond to questions that do not pertain to the exact method to solve a problem.

Electives:

PE: reasonable americans are getting fat
Debate: no clue haven't been in it but seems useful for speech and logical reasoning and such
Computer Science: no complaints here...
Health:...i doubt its important at least in our school no one does anything
Music/Fine Arts:not necessary and kinda waste of time =X...i mean music history honestly...
Foreign Language:...i doubt we will learn enough to a degree that we can speak it outside of high school

[stupidityismygam]

foreign language is SO POINTLESS...

I LEARN NOTHING

my spanish has gotten worse in spanish 4, rather than better...

and it doesnt help that our teacher is a gringo (i mean wtf is that)

[zefuri]

yeah...for japanese 2...we know less than the current japanese 1...