The educational system is not working in the United States of America; we all know this is not a subjective opinion but a bald fact. Perhaps we have been waiting for a super hero to come and rescue us from this educational plight, but I assert that we've really been waiting for one I like to call SuperMommyWoman.
If SuperMommyWoman came to save our educational system she'd have intimate experience with the details of every day life with children. She'd understand how much sleep they need and how emotional they are. She'd realize that sugar, staying up late, electronics and lack of exercise are deadly to children's natural health, vitality and ability to learn. She'd know that starting school at 7:30 or 8:00 am and having to therefore wake up at 6:00 a.m. or so for 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12-year-olds, and even earlier for some high school students, can cause them to actually experience a depression related to sleep deprivation that automatically makes them hate school in the morning even if, in general, they like it.
She would realize that standardized testing makes everyone, including teachers, very much like automatons who are not only rigid and disconnected, but high strung and fearful on a regular basis. She'd know that if children don't feel emotionally safe either with their classmates or their teachers, their learning suffers.
SuperMommyWoman would allow more classes to run around outside, would allow more kinesthetic learning experiences to take place, and more informal assessments.
SuperMommyWoman would allow children to begin classes at around 10:00 a.m. and stop at around 3:00 p.m., cutting about approximately two hours of junk time and busy work time during the school day.
SuperMommyWoman would have classes in motion--kids would be moving, not sitting like bored, angry statues at their desks, but doing stretches and jumping jacks, getting the blood flowing, and using their muscles as well as their minds.
SuperMommyWoman would go back to a core curriculum ideal, knowing that if you can't read and write, you can't do anything else in school, so let's at least get those things solid!
Finally, SuperMommyWoman would use intuition and instinct to connect with students and not make teachers and principals do so much paperwork that they no longer care about what kids are really thinking.
Timed tests are not working; good students who are poor test takers do not do well, and poor students can't compete. SuperMommyWoman wants teacher-driven tests and assessments based on the needs of each student.
Finally, when SuperMommyWoman sees the end of the school day is near, she provides free after school programming with arts, physical activities, and snacks for children until 6:00 p.m.
Aimee Boyle is a teacher, writer and mother in CT. She is a regular contributor to EmpowHER.