West Virginians are often joked about as being uneducated.
Of course, I don't like these jokes because I was born and raised in West Virginia.
Problem identified: I regret to say that there may be some truth about these jokes.
The Daily Mail (Charleston, W.Va) newspaper featured an article by the Associated Press on Sat. Nov. 20th, titled, “W.Va. 12th-graders lag behind national average.”
Here are some of the facts:
- There are 11 states (including West Virginia) that are monitored in the U.S. Dept. of Education’s National Assessment of Education Progress test.
- West Virginia ranked last out of the 11 states.
- 48% of W.Va. seniors scored below basic skills in math proficiency.
- 32% scored below basic reading skills in reading proficiency.
Education is important. We already know this. People need basic reading and math skills for daily living. Almost every job requires some type of reading and math. Take a customer service person at any fast food restaurant. They need the skills to read the menu and count the correct change.
I learned that education is important from the constant repetition of it from an early age. My father Danny Pettry (senior) was an elementary school principal like my grandfather Posey Pettry. My grandmother Carrie Pettry-Phillips was an elementary school principal. Many relatives in my family were also educators. I got to hear about the importance of education on a constant basis during holiday and family reunion.
I think both parents and teachers should remind children that it is important and that it is possible for the child to learn.
I like one movie that displayed a new teacher and a student. The student said he was sitting outside of the classroom because he couldn’t learn. The new teacher said told the child his name was “John Doe.” The teacher then asked the child. What was my name? Of course the boy answered it and the teacher replied, “You just learned my name. Let’s see how much more you can learn in a day.” I don’t know, but it is a start.
Potential solutions:
I’m not an expert in the field of education. I am a Recreational Therapist at a hospital for children in West Virginia.
- Make learning fun. Of course, this is coming from a “Recreational” Therapist. Based on my experiences, children seem to be naturally interested in learning. They seem to gravitate towards learning and exploring all on their own. They ask a lot of questions. They show interest in many things. That is, until they get in school. I’m not sure why, but school (based on my experiences) has the stigma as being “boring and uninteresting.” The big question is: how do you make learning fun? You’re an adult. I imagine that you’d cringe to hear that you’d be required to attend a training session in a classroom from 7:00 a.m. until 2:30 p.m. I doubt children with short attention spans would be interested in learning in that type of environment. I think it would be best to find ways to make education more recreational in nature. I had a friend who learned how to multiple a lot faster than me. He played a lot of sports. He knew: 7, 14, 21, and 28. Why? He played football. He learned to count by two a lot faster too because he played basketball. I didn’t play either sport.
- Give the children more autonomy and freedom in the classroom. Let them decide how they’d like to be taught. Ask if they’d rather have reading assignments, group discussions, slide-show presentations. Develop games to help the children learn.
- Classroom idea: Take picture of children holding up a book that they’re currently reading and post it on the back bulletin board for the month. It could make reading seem to be socially acceptable. Every child in the class would have his or her photo posted with a book. You’ll hear the comments whispered in the hallway. “I saw that Johnny is reading ‘the Adventures of Tom Sawyer” and “Did you know that Sally said the brick road is actually red in ‘the Wizard of Oz’ book? Maybe I should read it, too.”
If you’re a parent or a teacher then I highly recommend that you get your child involved with books. Give a child a book. Of course, I’m going to recommend that you get started today. I buy my nephew Gage (3-year-old) one new book a month (for his age level). I’m pleased to say that I got him over 12 new books in 2010 and plan to continue this goal in 2011 too.
Book recommendation – Give your child my children’s book (for ages 7 to 13). Here is the link:
If you’re an adult who is interested in learning how to become more successful then I highly recommend that you read my first self-improvement book, “Discover Hidden Secret Wisdom.” It is chock full of wisdom on success and becoming great.
Finally, if you'd like some motivation for getting started, then check out this book:
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