Teaching Epiphany

I still can't wrap my head around the fact that Spanish students are brilliant and learn material incredibly fast while American students are kind of floundering in comparison.  Don't get me wrong, American students are brilliant as well, but it takes teachers a week or more to teach a topic where in Spain I teach that topic in a day.  For example, today I taught the water cycle in a period of maybe 20 minutes to my 3rd graders. I used the book as directed.  No fluff in between.  We covered the different types of water (fresh and salt), the different forms of water, and the cycle itself.  I left school completely flustered.  I felt that it was too fast, but my students seemed to understand and tomorrow I know they'll have it all more or less memorized.  Now as I sit at my computer browsing Pinterest for more water cycle things that I can suggest as quick activities, an epiphany hit.

SIDENOTE: I'm browsing in the first place because to me teaching all of that in 20 minutes isn't sufficient.  (Even though I know it is.)  But for this particular teacher typing this blog, some comforting is needed. The activity I will eventually come up with is more to make myself feel better more than the students.

Back to the epiphany:  The Spanish students learn things so quickly and efficiently because they have to.  There is no dependence on the teacher.  It is up to them to learn and memorize the material.  And if they don't, oh well.  Which seems to work with the majority of the students, because almost all of them are flourishing.   In the United States, I think that the students depend too much on the teacher.  They know that if they don't understand the material today, there's no need to worry about it because it will be taught in some other form or matter another day.  They don't feel required to go home and study because everything will be reviewed again with the teacher.  I personally can recall falling into this pattern when I was in school.  I never studied, and simply relied on the teacher to facilitate my learning.  The only thing I can remember studying was my weekly spelling list and that was only because the spelling list was rarely discussed in school aside from introducing the words and then taking the test at the end of the week. Point Proven: I only studied what was not reviewed in school.

So there ya have it.  The mystery is finally solved as to why the Spanish students are so much smarter than American students.  Because the students in Spain study at home, the teacher can move quicker and cover more topics even WITH a shorter school day. 

Now, I am sort of bashing the education system of the United States, and I do apologize.  I also don't think I would trade my style/love of teaching for this more traditional/successful one.  My favorite part of teaching is making the lessons come alive to the students, which is a missing factor here in Spain.  But I think most teachers (including myself), maybe need to reflect on our style of teaching.  And in the beginning of the year, establish a stricter routine.  No one likes to be the mean/strict teacher.  But I think it is also possible to do so and still maintain being the fun/nice teacher.  The only change that needs to be made is training the students to own their responsibility of learning.  This can be done possibly by being honest with the students and letting them know that as a class, the whole group will move on from topic to topic quickly.  The only way to not fall behind is by spending time studying the material.  And then to go the step further and teach the students how to properly study.  (Since I think most students in elementary school don't actually know how to do this either.)  Cooperation with parents will also be necessary.  A lot of times parents complain about the amount of school work a student brings home for the day.  This negatively affects the students which in turn subliminally teaches them to dislike homework and rush through it.  If homework was treated in a positive light by parents, students would be more likely to put an effort into it (as seen here in Spain.)

A confession... this post is an entire discussion with myself more or less.  I wrote it hastily in a stream of consciousness format because I have to run out the door soon for some private lessons.  But I think it is something to ponder for the future.  I'm also open to other opinions on the matter and even debate.  This is a particular topic that has my brain going in a million different directions.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying this post pertains to ALL American students; just the majority.  Don't worry, your son or daughter is doing wonderfully in school :)