tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760577208892621677.post2771782950288443545..comments2023-10-10T11:29:31.639-04:00Comments on Overachievers: Low-Stress High Schools?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760577208892621677.post-50710952267375802362008-02-03T10:24:00.000-05:002008-02-03T10:24:00.000-05:00I (Max Hekler) was quoted incorrectly and out of c...I (Max Hekler) was quoted incorrectly and out of context. I teach AP English and maintain high standards and defend my high expectations. My AP students have written 20+ essays per term. We read everything from Barthes and Kiekegaard to 5 Shakespeare tragedies, 5 greek tragedies, to "Heart of Darkness" and Crime and Punishment. Your callow assumptions based on a one-liner are offensive to my practice. By the way, after my course, students take 2 AP exams each. Of 28 exams taken last year, 27 were a 4 or a 5, 60% being perfect 5's. 14 of my students collectively exempted out of 27 college courses, If that is not a stress-reducer, I don't know what is!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2760577208892621677.post-84908291226386676122007-11-13T11:52:00.000-05:002007-11-13T11:52:00.000-05:00I definitely agree with you in your skepticism. I...I definitely agree with you in your skepticism. I doubt that what adults perceive translates well to what children percieve. Children are developing a baseline, and it's okay if the child's baseline includes what adults perceive as stress. It's another of those, things-were-easier/better-back-in-the-day mentality.<BR/><BR/>In any case, my general impression is that school administrators are terrible at determining the actual needs of students. Instead they project their own desires and attitudes onto the students. It's similar to how college administrators (who grew up in a very different society) go way overboard talking about diversity to new freshmen. There may be value in it in many cases, but for a lot of us who grew up in diverse places, however well intentioned it is, it has the effect of teaching people to see things in terms of race where previously they didn't, which is just the opposite of what is intended.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com