“When I was growing up, my parents used to say to me: ‘Finish your dinner — people in China are starving.’ I, by contrast, find myself wanting to say to my daughters: ‘Finish your homework — people in China and India are starving for your job.’” -- from Thomas Friedman's The World is Flat
First, let me thank you all for your attention to the film this week. You probably know my answer to the question in the title of this post. I do think there is a crisis - a quiet crisis that is more dangerous than any crisis we face as a country. But this blogging session is not about what
I think. It is your opportunity to give your opinion about 2 Million Minutes, about the so-called crisis in American education, and your feelings about your experience with American education.The film 2 Million Minutes tells the story of how six students use their 2,000,000 minutes (4 yrs) of high school. It quickly becomes obvious that the two students from India and the two from China spend far more time in school and studying than the two students from the United States. While all six students went on to college, the Indian and Chinese students were disappointed that they did not get into their first choice of schools. What does this say about them? Are they weaker students than the film portrayed? Or did they just set their sights higher than the American students?
So, how does all of this relate to you?
Are you concerned or alarmed by what you saw? Do you think that American students like you should be doing something different? Should school officials and teachers being doing something different to help improve how American students are performing?
Is there really a crisis?
You may think that all this talk about a crisis in American education is just dead wrong. What do you think? Is there really a crisis? Do you think that you'll be prepared to compete for the really good jobs when you graduate from college?
Do you think American students spend enough time in school and studying? Do we spend too much time on other things - sports, TV, video games, etc.? Do you think that you should make changes in the amount of time that you study?
Regardless of how you feel about 2 Million Minutes, there is a lot to talk about and debate. I want this to be the most active blogging session so far. Read all of the comments that have been made, enter your own comment, then come back often throughout this week to continue the conversation. The only thing that I ask, is that you keep the conversation thoughtful and intelligent. Be sure to give reasons for the opinions you offer.
Before commenting, take a few minutes to watch the following video:
Helpful Links
USA Today article about 2 Million Minutes
Boston Globe - My lazy American students
This session will end at 12 am on Monday, April 2.
Student Sleeping image from Flickr
Posts
36 comments:
I enjoyed the video we watched, before it I had no idea how "lucky" we were. It was made obvious that students in other countries had far more work. I think that is because the students expectations in other countries are set very high compared to us. They already have their future/career planned out at an earlier age while we never really think about it until the late years of High School. I think we do have enough school time but sometimes with homework we can get frustrated, We can stay up for hours with loads of homework: We can have an assignment for possibly six classes, sports, extracurricular activities and other various things that we do after school and to do it all in one night I think sometimes the students get overwhelmed. There might be a crisis, over the years the expectations of American students has dropped in my opinion therefor we aren’t learning up to our full potential.
yay im the first!
I believe that in some ways there is a crisis and in some there is not. In the course od the video i heard this general idea over 20 times, "Americans do not put high enough goals of education and that we are esentially the worst at school priorities" In short...
(we spend too much free time and too little time for education and work.)
well thats their oppinion but in mine everyone needs a little free time. The way i see it, what is the point of liveing if you are miserable for the rest of your life? Doing nothing from the begining of school but study till the end of school and then spend the rest of your life working. you need a little time to just let go and have fun.
i remember in the film how the chinese boy said that when he got out of school all he did was go home, eat, and then study- sometimes through the night. they never got out and did something in the city unless it was a special ocasion.
I know for sure that if that was my life i would be mentally unstable and potentially dangerous by the time i was in 11th grade.
ya ya ya, its always the same "americans dont study enough, we dont focous on school as much as possible, we dont study 20 hours a day and then sleep and eat and rest for 4. Just because we dont do all of the things the chinese and indian students do does not mean that we are not as smart as them. If thats were the case then students from india and china would not come here to learn at our colledges for fear that the teachers would not be worthy of teaching them and would not do a good job of preparing them for the world they will someday face on their own.
granted we may have some issues im not saying we are perfect because we all know its not true no matter how hard we want to be. i do agree that we may need to step up the standards and expectation gradually so that we may move forward in our long disiered need for knowledge. Become smarter instead of teaching the same thing to each generation- no more, no less- then we shall have come one step closer to solveing this so called crisis.
sorry got that wrong im second.
I also agree with Danielle where she said that we are not learning up to our full potential.
honestly i think that there may be a few problems with american education, but i believe over 70% (or possibly more) has to do with how high americans set their expectations, like danielle and natalie mentioned. for example, when the indian and chinese students didn't get into the colleges they wanted to, that was only because their goals were set so high. it didn't make them weaker by any means, and as a matter of fact i think it makes them stronger. although i see what natalie was saying about if all you do is study you won't be able to live life to the fullest, i somewhat disagree. studying pays off because in the end you will be able to live life how you wanted because you'll have an amazing job and make tons of money. another reason i think american students are lacking when it comes to school is because of the teachers. don't get me wrong, there are great teachers our there but a lot of them are useless. they don't help kids learn and especially don't care about making them successful. teachers should be monitored much more carefully. there's no way for us to know how well a teacher is teaching unless someone is constantly watching over them. this is the only way we can make sure teachers are doing their part in making students set their goals high and then helping them to go on and achieve them. overall i wasn't surprised at how we compared to china and india and i believe it all has to do with where we set our expectations and how much effort we put into what we do.
I loved this video and how it shows how Americans do not put the time and work we need to in school. We also do not live up to expectations we should. I believe Natalie is way off on the free time comment. They never said we had to be studying 24/7. Be honest, none of us study the amount we should be. They were also very clear that it is good that American students work hard on what they do outside of school. But they also made a good point in that most American students don't even come close to the time that they should put into in academics.
I also very much enjoyed that movie and i do think that its true that expectations are set higher in other countries like China. I am not alarmed by what i saw and we should not change our education system or officials. Those three different countries shown in the video including the U.S are two very different countries across the ocean from each other. Why should we compete with education when we have no business there? I think that our education is fine and that whatever education we get that can earn us a living "where we actually live" is all we need. Yeah, maybe the U.S doesn't have the top education and work ethics but we live in the U.S not China, we work in the U.S not India, we live the "American Dream" in America not anywhere else. Secondly i think this "crisis" is not actually a crisis people are just trying to make it one. I'd say people should study more and spend more time focusing on work and school, but that's the persons choice you can't make someone do what they don't want to do.
This was a very interesting video.
I think that we should already know what we want to do in high school so we can take courses relating to that subject then in college they can relax but also set foot for the future. Americans need to study more but education in my opinion is not competition with others around the world. It is primarily setting a basis for the future. In the video some of the students were already eager to start their career so they studied and practiced in that career (e.g. the computer programmer). No one is perfect we all have goals which determine if we are average top student or lowest student. You should probably recognize that. Allot of students have extracurricular activities like violin and baseball. The ones who study already should know where they are going to be placed in the world. So to sum this up I believe no one can be the perfect person when it comes to education and we all have our strengths and weaknesses in. Those who set higher standards are more likely to succeed so that is why people in other countries have big goals for the future the moment they step foot in the class room. Americans on the other hand are more focused on the less important things and need to step up their game.
so far i agree with all of you! :)
I loved the movie and though it was pretty good. I also agree with Chika in that we should not change our education system and that we have no business competing with them. I think that nobody in the film is weaker than anybody but, the other countries (India and China do set higher expectations then us Americans do and that is why they didn't get into the collage of their choice. I don't think that their is much of a crisis except that kids these days are just being lazy when it comes to classwork and homework. The main problem with me is that i like to put my activities above everything because they are fun when i really need to be putting my schoolwork first because it is most important. I know that not just me does it because i hear and see it everyday. I honestly think that if someone works hard at something they want (a good collage) then they shall receive it but if you put little to no effort behind something that you won't get very far in society. I think that we spend enough time in school but i will truthfully say that YES we do need to study more and if kids are not studying they shouldn't be in front of a TV or computer, they should be outside livin' it up as a kid while they can because life goes by so very quickly :D.
I enjoyed the film a lot. I learned a lot watching the film. It did not occur to me at first how much extra work kids in different countries do on a daily basis.In the United States american parents have a lower expectation rate for their children than parents in other countries around the world. Normally teens do not even think about a college or a career in life till the end of high school. But in other countries Kids no exactly what they want to do by the end of elementary school. When you think of the school hours you spend in school every child wants to say its to long. But in reality it might be just right or to little. With homework and studying every child gets frustrated and or bored and they just won't do it. I believe that students just get overwhelmed and may give up in school. Students should get into their work a little more in their studies. I believe life would be horrible if all you did was com home from school and eat, study, and sleep. Students have to have a little fun but they still need to study and do their homework.
I enjoyed this video. As I watched this video I always thought that it ment to show us, that other student within the world are working harder and taking more times of their lives dedicating on studying. This is concerning me, by just a little. Because if we get harder classes then, some people will abruptly fail school. If you tend too make it easier then everyone would likely pass...
Well American students+ Other students should learn more than play video games(I confess...) Well seeing this video, the school boards should change things a bit, so you could have more obstacles and challenges. If we were to be the likes of the Chinese and the Indians then sure we would be more than prepared. Personally, I think the time we have for school is too short, and it should be extended. To have other prior courses to our list of times. So too me this video gae me mixed feeling about it and some of the prior educations around the world...
Hi I'm back. I know I might sound mean, but I just don't agree with Demi and Chika. I believe the world is competitive and will always be competitive. The only way there will be an "American Dream" is if we are the country people want to be in. America is not a country where education is a top priority. And what you said is the exact reason America is in the crisis we're in. We can't settle for just getting a education good enough for getting a job. We need to shoot for the very best. The best comment I have seen is Zoe's. You should go read it.
Sorry Maria is Stephen. She always logs into her e-mail.
Watching this movie in class was pretty cool, I enjoyed it. The kids that were part of the movie were excellent students in my opinion, but the kids in China and India seemed to put the most work, studying, and effort into their education. The Americcan students still got good grades and fit in their extracurricular activities. It suprised me that the boy Indian student and the girl and boy Chinese student didnt get into their first choice of school. They set their goals really high and fell a little short. They still got into excellent schools tough. The boy American student got into Purdue University, which is where he wanted to go. So, I believe that America is a little behind on education, but I don't think there's a huge crisis.
Great start.
Most of you have expressed concern over the position of the United States in comparison with India and China, and I believe that is an important first step. You need to recognize that a problem exists before you can begin to remedy it.
Now, let's start thinking about that next step. Who is it that is responsible for this situation? What should be done to begin to turn things around? What can you do? What can I and your other teachers do? What can school administrators do?
Finally, what role should parents play in helping improve education in America?
well first I think that the board of education is the reason why, well maybe it's there job to educate? well it's not entirely there fault, because most people complain, that they lose time too spend with their kids or a sports activity. Well instead of rioting, can't we just study harder? The only thing I can do or would do is too try harder, and try to progress Well if the teachers could they should try create hurdles or teach us harder, the teachers are not ment to be involved at this manner, because the topic is basically " How do you spend you time. Well this is my Opinion, and I will defend it.
I think the role our school staff and parents can play to help our education is to show us that we can't do the bare minimum, but go ubove and beyond.
Oops" I mean't "above".
To answer Mr.Veliz's question: I think in some areas teachers and parents can make learning more fun and interesting so we migth enjoy learning a certain subject more and take more intrest in it.
I enjoyed this movie and agreed with what it was saying: that Americans need to try harder in order to compete with the other countries of the world. This is an important thing in my opinion. I go agree with Connor that it is not a national crisis, but it is a factor that the American government needs to take into account. There is always the important thought, however, that we need some people to have a job at fast food restaurants. Not everyone can have a good education. The movie said that what America can do is lessen the number of people who have a job at a fast food restaurant, not eliminate it completely.
I think the thing that is responsible for this situation is kids due to the fact that they are told that going to college is an option and that American kids should follow their dreams. In India and China,the kids have to go to college and are required to get a very good education and grow up to be the best person they can be. Americans are just not that devoted to education. Parents should push their kids harder and encourage them more to become the best of the best.
I think the thing that is responsible for this situation is kids due to the fact that they are told that going to college is an option and that American kids should follow their dreams. In India and China,the kids have to go to college and are required to get a very good education and grow up to be the best person they can be. Americans are just not that devoted to education. Parents should push their kids harder and encourage them more to become the best of the best.
I believe that to make school and homework more interesting and a little more fun parents and teachers could get a little more involved in our day to day school life.
after reading your comments i have changed my look in the video
when i first bloged all i could think about was that they were talking down to the USA but now i understand that we do have a problem.
people in america did get into the jobs they wanted because they set lower goals to atchieve not pushing them to their full potential
like the american boy said, when he took nthe test he wasnt even trying hard but he passed
this leadees me to believe that america has lowered their standards for education and we need to step it up.
Well I liked the movie. It was REALLY informative and gave some surprising stats like the 70% that beleive that their children are getting enough math and science. Truthfully I don't think we do get enough because I see little 5th graders at church doing algebra.I think it is a crisis because like the movie talked about they are going to start takiing our jobs. Plus if they aren't taking our jobs they're going to take our scholarships or PhD degrees. Engineering is ( I think ) a well paying job and if 60% of them aren't given to American students then where is all that money or economic growth going to? Not here unless they get jobs here. I think I don't use my time wisely either ,as in doing something productive. While it's mid day and im doing nothing here ,kids on the other side of the planet are studying at 1am probaly.I think the government should be responsible for the cause of our educational problems because they take care of the funding ,etc. I also beleive that the cause of this "crisis" is because of the lack of funding.
I think Danielle makes a good point about how American students are setting the bar very low, and aren't reaching their full potential. Not many of us realize how lucky and privileged we are, and we need to make sure that we are studying and keeping up with all of our classes in order to improve our education and begin to set the bar higher.
I think parents can help improve America's education. They can do this by making work fun, checking their kids grades every once and a while, and make their kids set goals.
I really enjoyed this movie! It shocked me on how students could study that hard and not make it into the college of their choice. I dont think its fair. Also how they really all do live up to their parents expectations. Like for example of the indian boy that wanted to pursue a career in music, but his family wanted him to get a career in engineering. I think we should focus more on studying and earn our place for education. We all have the potential to do that. Now all we have to do is make students study harder. Most people down here dont have a expectation to live up to you. Which it makes it a little bit more difficult to find what you wanna do. But overall this was a great film and it changed my perspective on how students study in different countries!
I think the people that are most responsible is both parents and the school system. When the kid is not being asked for his/hers very best, they aren't going to do as good as they can. Also, when the school system doesn't give curriculum that gives a challenge to their students, that region will not be strong in academics. Lastly, I believe the students are to be blamed partly as well. Students need to be committed to school and studying. 1 out of 50,000 kids will go pro in baseball when they grow up. So if you aren't that one, you need a fall back. And if you don't do good in school, you won't be able to get a fall back (job). All of these problems equal a lack of education.
Once again I very much agree with Connor. American parents should aid students in their education.
Connor and Steven are both right. If parents want their kids to do good in school, what they need to do is to push their kids. If they set their kids goals high enough, then the kids will perform on a higher level. This is why India and China are ahead: not because students study longer, but because their parents have a gaol and practically expext their kids to do very well in school. They push their kids and give them the drive that they need to succeed. Another important factor that Zoe Sheldon brought up in a well written paragraph was that American students do not have their eyes on the ball. They are constantly wprking in sports and extracurriculars. These things to be waited less than school. Zoe pointed out that a miniscule fraction of the people who play baseball and basketball in college or high school get drafted. Sports needs to always be on the back burner. Also, sports are not meant to be the only thing people try out for in life. People should also have a college back up plan for the future. This si a very important factor in determining a good future as an adult. We should not always rely on our first choice of a career. The final thing is that the number one country in mathematics if Finland, and they DO NOT HAVE STANDARDISED TEST LIKE THE FCAT!!!!! The collleges in the U.S. judge how good of a student a student is based on their SAT or ACT scores. That is unfair. That is one assesment of knowledge at ONE given time. The colleges in Finland have way more people with way more potential because they accept more people. Standardised testing is taking an unseen toll on the youth of America because standardised test judge them at one given time, and not over a semester period. So parents and the school system could aid in the welfare of children's grades.
I also agree with Andrea 100%! We should increase our expectations in order to get students to do better in school.
To answer your questions Mr. Veliz, I think it's society's fault that the American education system is the way it is. You see, society has this certain perspective of how our education system works and people just follow that idea. We don't realize what a serious need we are in to reform. To begin to turn things around I believe society needs to hop to it. They need to set standards that schools need to reach and if they don't reach those standards then further action has to be taken. To change this, all we need to do is have people realize what a real problem we're in and that we need to change our view point towards the education system. If no one begins to take control nothing will ever be accomplished.
Casey, I completely agree with you on standardized testing. It's just wrong. We shouldn't judge a person on how they did on ONE test. It just doesn't make sense...
Like many people have said, I think parents could really help improve how students perform in school. Another the reason we're in a crisis can be partially blamed on parents. Adults just don't realize how much their child can actually do. They just assume that their kid is trying their "best" so they don't have room for improvement. But really, almost every person has room to make themselves better and unfortunately parents don't always see that in their child.
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