Kilee's soapbox

Today I talked to one of my foreign exchange students for a while about the education system. Then it sparked a really long conversation with my mentor teacher after school.

This foreign exchange student basically said that the schools here are a joke. School is way harder in Norway. They are more based on the sciences and math (which is what we are turning to as well), but they also don't have "busy work."

Okay, I really don't like busy work. I think all assignments should be given to enhance student learning. Although, some things could be busy work to one student but really needed to help another student understand things better. I think the ideal for me would be to have a range of projects or assignments with varying degrees of challenge and let the students choose to do whatever challenges them to the next level. Some would be easier than others, but the more advanced students who need more of a challenge would do the harder assignments. I would totally like to set up my classroom like that too in the future if I could. But then the problem becomes the "fairness" of that. So many people are so lazy these days, and life is all about trying to make everything fair (apparently). I can guarantee that students would want the easier projects because they don't think it's fair to let someone do easier work than them. Many people think that everyone should be given the same treatment, so of course it wouldn't be fair to let Jonny have an easier assignment than Tim. Then Tim isn't challenged enough in school and either doesn't turn in his homework at all or doesn't pay attention in class because he feels like it's too easy. I haven't figured out where the line is. No one really has. There is no right answer to these kinds of things. Teachers just do their best to meet the needs of their students.

That was a bit of a tangent.

Another difference between the US and Norway is that they don't have tons of homework assignments. It's just assumed that students will do their work and/or study enough to know the material. And they don't have multiple choice tests. They really KNOW the material. But here, teachers do give busy work and multiple choice tests. And I think that is because the young generation of Americans expects everything to be easy and handed to them. So, no, they don't really do much studying. We even had a class where many of the students failed an OPEN NOTE TEST. How is that even possible?

Another issue I have is when teachers form their class to have high expectations, they get a bad rep because they are "so hard" and "expect too much."

So, where is the line?
Well, like I said, I don't know.
I don't even have a really solid opinion about this. But I find the differences noticed by this foreign exchange student both fascinating and troubling. It makes me think.

What do you think?
(be nice)

Tribute to grandma

This is long overdue, and I hope none of my family is offended that this is so far after her passing. I really wanted to write this long ago, but I have been going crazy keeping up with school.

My grandma, Diana Rose Kopecky, was an amazing woman. She has always been a great example of love, faith and hope. I know that she loved my grandpa, my mom and aunts, and my siblings and cousins so much. She loved getting together and doing fun things. Last time I heard from her, she was in the process of planning a huge family reunion (which I was really looking forward to).

She had a strong testimony of the gospel. And she set a great example of hope and faith to me.
Many of you know that I have had a lot of physical health challenges over the past five years. Sometimes, it's almost unbearable. Sometimes, I don't know how I can keep going on because it's so hard. Well, my grandma suffered much worse than I. And I'm sure she had her down moments, but I never saw it. When she was hooked up to her IV, she would invite us to watch TV or talk with her, and whenever she had the chance, she would unhook herself from the IV and dance and sing joyfully, "I'm free! I'm free!" She loved dancing. I get that trait from her. And I loved dancing with her. She was so hopeful all the time. I never saw her angry or depressed or blaming God for the hard things her body suffered through. And I am so, so grateful for the knowledge that she is in a better place and free of that pain she has suffered in the past.

She shared her faith every time we talked. She always shared her testimony in some kind of way. In her emails, she expressed her gratitude of being a daughter of God and for the family He has blessed us with. And she shared her gratitude of having the gospel and being sealed to her (our) family.

I miss her so much. We weren't expecting this at all. But I have felt her presence. I can feel her sharing her love with me as I write this. And I felt it when we were in Missouri for her funeral services. And I have felt it at other deeply spiritual times.

So, Grandma, I love you. I miss you so much. And I thank you for everything you have taught me and for keeping our family close together. I am grateful for your legacy, and I am proud to be your granddaughter.

Random thoughts and catching the world up on us

A lot of has been going on.

My wonderful grandma passed away at the beginning of the semester. She will get her own post.

I also started student teaching. South Jordan Middle School was my first experience, and it was awesome. I learned a lot, and I know that I needed those students and the faculty in my life at that time. Lisa Frischknecht is amazing. She is a great teacher, and we are now good friends too. Now, I am student teaching at Timpview High School in Provo with Genet Orme. She is also amazing. She has so much knowledge that I get the privilege of learning from, and I am so excited for the rest of the semester. She is the type of person that I would love to just pick apart her brain. I want to see what she sees and know what she knows. I feel it is a very special blessing to learn from her. We have already talked much about life, the gospel, teaching, and all sorts of other things. Like I felt with SJMS, I know that I was supposed to go to Timpview.

We have also decided to move to Arkansas in January. And Emily got us a free puppy last week, so we have our cute little Paisley waiting for us in Arkansas too :)

Life is full of surprises, challenges, and blessings.