Nakkula Chapters 4 and 5

There were points in Chapter 4 where I wondered if these stories were really happening.  For example it is written on pgs. 62 and 63, " Lorena was passed on from grade to grade because of her leadership strengths and speaking skills; she didn't realize she was in trouble academically until reaching high school." How is it possible that teachers didn't catch on to the fact that she is struggling academically until the tenth grade? I just can't see this happening and can't relate at all to its' legitimacy.  It goes on to say, " She was given passing grades in those years more because she showed promise than because she demonstrated proficiency."  Again my question is how did this happen? I have never heard of a student being promoted to a grade for showing promise.  It all seems very strange to me.  One other point is why the school deemed her ineligible for the team she was already established on and thought she would be better off in a rowing team to which she knew nothing about.  Isn't this taking away from academics too?  I get the whole flow theory but isn't it up to the student to decide what team is best for her.

 I was glad to see the section on athletics in school and when they are overemphasized, there may be little time for students to focus on other parts of their school lives such as academics.  I have heard so many middle school aged students tell me they didn't complete their assignments because they had a late practice and their parents said it was okay to skip them.  I have told them to try and balance it all, but their responses are often along the lines that they will be in professional sports one day and it isn't necessary to do school work.  After I picked my jaw up off the floor from these responses it occurred to me just how unrealistic they sounded and all they are missing out on. 

I am glad Nakkula asked questions about how we are preparing our students for the workplace and to be members of a global world.  I do not believe enough emphasis is placed on these notions and wish they were early on.  As technology becomes more and more visible in our schools, are we using it to reach a higher, global place in learning? I see technology being used to assess students during standardized testing and other individual lessons during the day but how are we connecting this to a world the learners will be spending the majority of their lives in.  I think we as educators can do a lot better than this. 

I appreciated the Lorena and Steve story because there were times that I had students that I believed would work well together but they had different ideas.  Mr. Harrison was able to turn it around in a sense and make it successful for both students through different assignments leading up to the actual project. Admittedly, during my first couple of years teaching I just switched partners but this story has given me a couple tools that would allow me to see what may come if the students stick it out with one another.