So, I switched school districts. I am very fortunate to work again with one of my best friends, who teaches 12th grade AP Literature and Composition, while I teach 11th grade AP Language and Composition and one section of World Literature. Admittedly, it is a big switch for me, as I previously taught 11th and 12th grade IB DP Language A, which focused mainly on literary (fiction) analysis, and now my focus is nonfiction.
All of this is background so that I can discuss a problem that has become frighteningly clear to me this year.
My overall observation: students that I teach (read: poor students) do not get the education they need in order to be successful in the real world. Additionally, their cultural literacy is significantly limited, and a lot of the time they lack the intellectual curiosity that makes other students successful. During my time, I have seen a general decline in their problem-solving skills, largely due to a three-step process that leaves them, in the end, helpless and seeking continual guidance and support.
Here's how this current frustration began:
I quit my old school and started at a new one. When I started, my friend (who also previously taught at the same school I came from) warned me that the students in this school are lower - they lack more skills - than the students in my previous school. I didn't believe her. The school I came from ranked near the bottom of all the schools in the state - how could any students be