When I first began presenting Views from the Hot Seat in 2013, I wrote these words: Give the readers something to think about, make the writing easy to read in 5-7 minutes, try to interject a bit of humor when possible, use everyday words, and take a stand. For those who have read my blogs, I appreciate your loyalty and hope I have remained married to my original intentions. At no point, however, did I infer that I would expect readers to agree with my perspectives. Truly, of the aforementioned objectives, the one that I remain most loyal to is give the readers something to think about. In today's emotionally charged political world, it is quite safe to say that many, many people may not share my views . . . but if I can get my readers to think, not just react, maybe I am accomplishing my objectives. With that said, today's blog is a compilation of thoughts gathered in the past few weeks . . . hope I can sustain your attention!
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I might as well begin by elaborating on a previous expression: Donald Trump scares the hell out of me. As stated in my last blog, I have tried to give him space, but the proverbial "shooting himself in the foot" just will not go away. Interestingly, I understand a few of his objectives and am not out-of-my-head opposed to everything he represents, but he is not the man to bring about needed changes. If he were the CEO of any company around here, a mayor, a commissioner, a boss of any kind, my hunch is he would have been dismissed long ago. However, for whatever reason, he holds a guillotine to his challengers. When a person can ruin another's livelihood by simply threatening or writing a tweet, that is a dangerous power that can ultimately destroy confidence and support. Again, I stress: my problems with our President are character related . . . connecting the dots of his alleged inproprieties throughout his career indicate to me that many of us have been shammed.
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For the past eight years, I have been honored to serve as an evaluator for the national Advanced Placement (AP) Language and Composition exams. In that time, I have spent eight days per summer in locales such as Daytona Beach, Louisville (KY), Kansas City, and, most recently, Tampa, grading over 1700 essays per week. This past year our 1282 readers were challenged with reading over 1.7 million essays written by 581,598 students throughout this country . . . intimidating numbers, for sure. From my experience, I am able to offer a few observations:
*The numbers of students taking the AP exam have become overwhelming and not indicative of the AP program's integrity. My hunch is that because of the legislative, administrative, and parental pushes to get kids as prepared for college ASAP that the quality of students is being sacrificed for the appearance of school districts and family bragging rights. As evidence, I offer this tidbit: More than ever before, the papers that I graded this year were, in a nutshell, immature, lacking depth of thought, and, most of all, reflective of basic writing skills. The common grumble among so many evaluators was that "most of these kids are not even ready for this level." Trust me, I get it. Having played a role in beginning the AP English programs at Dover High School several years ago, I realized that when kids are forced to take an upper level jump we may be hurting them in the long run. Do not misinterpret my point: I understand that kids need challenged--no problem there from me. However, if kids are not mature thinkers and lack strong writing skills, we have set up those students for subtle embarrassment and potential failure. My point is simple: Too many unprepared kids are taking advanced level classes for all the wrong reasons . . . I remain unconvinced that this is good for education. As for students attending college as high school students, that is a topic for another day!
*Trying to decipher kids' handwriting skills has put me "over the edge" and is the primary reason why I have graded my final AP essay. Like so many tests, students' writing samples are in blue or black ink and not on a computer. As a result, evaluators are exposed to the most bizarre handwriting one could ever imagine. Because we are strictly instructed to ignore handwriting in our evaluation due to maintaining consistent standards focusing on content, we are forced to read writing that challenges our eyesight. When I am forced to determine kids' letters by using a magnifying glass, that is "pushing the envelope" for this boy. I must stress that our jobs would be so much easier if we were reading typed essays, but that possibility raises new questions for test security and, therefore, has not been utilized. Additionally, the role of teaching cursive vs. printed lettering is not that big of a factor--most kids print anyway. My point is the sloppiness that we see is a direct offshoot of rushed time and lack of pride in a finished product.
*Although I have written of this before (and probably will again), the greatest weakness that I see with the AP students and my college students as well is the inability to present a successful argument with logic, explanation, and detailed examples. If parents want to offer encouragement for their students' college preparation, nothing better could be done than to read the editorial section of any newspaper. By examining what columnists are advocating, determining those writers' strategies, and by being exposed to others' thinking, those students will truly be demonstrating the mature thinking that I mentioned previously. Trust me when I say what distinguishes our top-level students from our average is the ability to use logic and reasoning, two traits that are directly related to reading!
*Having made my observations, I must also stress that a few of the essays I read were off-the-charts, outstanding writing that--if I were teaching the kids who wrote those--I would want the world to know that our future is in great hands. Like any other situation, when average is the prevailing norm, "outstanding" sticks out and screams!
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The synchronization of traffic lights in Dover has raised eyebrows and recently lit up the Times-Reporter's "30 Seconds." I suppose what is desired by the complainers is a straight run from one end of town to another without interruption, almost like Dragway 42! From where we live, however, the synchronization has been a godsend; on most days, I can go from Dover's north end all the way through the city's nearly twelve lights and only stop two or three times as contrasted with the nearly seven times or so I was accustomed to stopping prior to the new lights. I suppose we next need to talk to people about coming out of those annoying side streets with the trip lights--they're interrupting my acceleration patterns! Additionally, I have read a few complaints from people disgusted with the lights on Walnut Street; unfortunately, my friends, those lights have not even been addressed yet. Again, if we are going to complain, I hope we at least are arguing facts, not what we think we know.
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I will conclude my notes today by again inviting readers to offer their input by offering intelligent perspective and discussion . . . I hope I have provided something to think about!
*****Previous blogs can be found at the michaelagunther.blogspot.com site.
I may be contacted via e-mail at mag.gunther@gmail.com or guntherm@roadrunner.com
