Question for the teachers?

Question

I have a question for you teachers ... My marine biology teacher thinks it is fine to give us large quantities of menial and condescending work, such as defining 112 vocab words for our new chapter ... No mis-type, its not 12, or 11, its 112, i hear people praising her because of how easy vocab is! WELL YOU KNOW WHAT?? I DONT COME TO SCHOOL TO COPY BOOKS. So i said that im going to skip questions to get it done easier, which is when a girl next to me said that it would be cheating. Well i told her that it wouldnt be cheating if the teacher only glances at it. She counters this statement and tells me im cheating the class out of work, which is when i told her that there is no point to this, we wont retain any of this information, which is true. Its a fact. So, teachers, especially those who believe giving vocab definitions to kids, tell me, how justified is this????

miz t., you cant retain 112 vocab words, especially if you just copy and rewrite it. Do you know how little thought i can use to do this? Its literally mindless copying. Students dont analyze things when you tell them to do vocab, that is what teachers need to learn. My english teacher goes over every single vocab word, and my marine biology teacher tells us the book page, and what we have to do. There is NO explaination of the words, and in my view THIS is, in no shadow of a doubt, busy work. There is no learning, no new knowledge learned, and no concept on what one is doing. Students have teachers so they can be taught, not to direct them what to do, and tell them to study. This is not teaching, if that is what teaching is, i should just buy all my books, read them, and answer the section questions at the end, and i will get a better grasp of what we are doing now.

And no Miz. t, i will NOT unconsciously learn these words, just because i am writing htem down! I know that you may think this, but i retain LECTURES, such as my AP psychology lectures from my teacher, saying how studies have shown that humans only retain 5% of what one has learned in the day, enless it is connected to previously known ideas and thoughts. It is true, it is proven, and you have no idea what you are talking about. Enless we go over every word, over again, and then analyzed, we wont retain the information! So uncounsciously memorize that.

Answer 1

Does your teacher actually have any formal teaching education? And if so, is he or she more than about fifty-five years old?

A lot of people who don't have any training in teaching, or who did the training before the 1970s, place excessive emphasis on rote learning (memorization, copying, note-taking, etc). They don't know any other ways to teach the material.

Today I observed the classroom of a young teacher who was teaching vocabulary to his students. He had the students work in pairs to create a vocabulary board game modeled on a real game like Monopoly or Life. The students had several classes to build and develop their games, and then he designated an entire block just to playing the games that the students had created. By the end of the week the students had an ACTIVE knowledge of the terms they needed to know. They could understand the vocab when it was used, and they were able to use it SPONTANEOUSLY (so important!).

I think you need to talk to your parents about the amount and type of work that is being demanded of you. Although you may need to learn the definitions, 112 is an excessive number to learn at one time. In my training as an ESL teacher, we were taught that if someone has no knowledge of a subject, they are unlikely to be able to learn more than five new vocabulary terms related to that subject in one day. Your parents can schedule an appointment with the school principal to review the type of learning that is occuring in your classroom, and to look for opportunities to learn in a more student-centered, dynamic, interesting way.

If you approach this type of teacher yourself, he or she will probably just say, "I'm the teacher, I know what's best." It's not worth getting into without the support of your family.

Answer 2

Ick. 112? I am a teacher and I agree with you. I do not get the point. Studies have shown that we remember things best in groups of 10. If these are essential words then the teacher should consider breaking them down to shorter lists. You will learn them better.

I teach Spanish and so the entire thing is vocabulary. Writing words over and over is not the way to do it. We play a lot of interactive games and do as much speaking as possible. In order to really learn it you need to USE it.

The above post has a point when they asked "How old is the teacher." If they are older they are doing what they were taught is best. Studies have shown however that this is not the best way.

You must be careful in how you approach your teacher on this. You do not want to insult. Perhaps go to your teacher with a question about breaking down the list or playing a game as a suggestion for helping the class. If your teacher is not receptive then maybe you will want your parent to call and speak with the principal and/or counselor. I would hate for the whole year to be like this!

Good luck!

Answer 3

Okay, I'll agree that 112 is a little excessive unless you are given ample time to do the assignment and all the words are part of your course. No one says you have to copy out of a book (unless I am mistaken). The best way for you to learn the words would be to read the given definition in the book and to come up with one on your own. I'm pretty sure if you did it this way you would retain the meaning of at least 50 of the words. As far as cheating the class, I think you are only cheating yourself (unless you are graded on the curve). Ask the teacher if you can team up in pairs or groups of 4 to do the assignment. He/she may go for it, especially if you mention that it would lighten his/her marking load.

Answer 4

Without being disrespectful to your teacher, have you tried to express...alone with her....your desire not to do "menial and condescending work"? Teachers have guidelines that show us what we are expected to teach. They are frameworks from the state department. Your teacher has been asked by the department of education to make sure that you are exposed to those terms. Those 112 words are probably the foundation for knowledge about marine biology concepts. As an English teacher, I cannot discuss literature with my students if they do not know what symbolism or irony is. We work over the first few days of each semester to define terms that they will use. I try to explain to them the importance of these terms and how they will be used. If you are above the intelligence level of your class and can show understanding of the terms without copying them down, you should express a desire to do something different with them. You can work on writing about them or the application of what they truly are.....versus a simple copy of terminology. Above all....know that your teacher understands that not everyone is thrilled with working with basic vocabulary, but without those terms, you cannot build on the knowledge base in the course. Good luck with your studies.

Answer 5

I'm a teacher and do not believe in meaningless work. I would bet that your teacher is old and believes this is an actual way to learn. I don't want to encourage disrespect to your teacher but is there anyway you can ask her nicely how this is helping you learn? Maybe if you're super nice about it she can come up with an explanation. Maybe it will challenge her and make her realize how useless it is.

Answer 6

I do give my students vocab homework, but there is a limit to how much and it must be relevant to what we are doing in class. 112..sounds like maybe it is busy work so she does not need to do the job.

Answer 7

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Answer 8

The reason the teacher is giving you all of these definitions to write out is not to waste your time. She is trying to help you retain information because many students need to write a definition, say it, look at it, etc. to remember it. Sorry if you feel that this is a waste of your time, but unconsiously, you are remembering more of it.