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Letters: Improve education by getting students to love learning

 
Published Dec. 16, 2014

School testing backlash expands | Dec. 12

Get students to love learning

If Florida is ground zero for education reform, we had better figure out fast why students in Florida are doing so poorly. It looks to me like a perfect storm of less physical education and recess, punitive disciplinary practices and too much testing.

The science is clear: Physical education and recess enhance learning. Exercise increases blood flow to the brain, leading to better focus and information acquisition. The break from class builds social skills and reduces stress. One hour per day is ideal. Yet recently, many Pinellas elementary schools switched from 30 minutes daily to 40 minutes three times per week.

Most Florida schools have punitive, instead of problem-solving, disciplinary practices. Many schools are mandated to punish kids' behavioral problems with suspensions and detentions. But students can't learn social skills when they are isolated. They need support to solve their problems, not punishment for having them.

The glut of testing has a quick and identifiable consequence: It makes kids hate school. Then they perform poorly and things spiral downward.

National, state and local school policy must focus on getting students to love learning and thinking. Regurgitation of data will not do this. Repetitive testing (and especially the incessant preparation) bores and discourages students and teachers. And the outcome, at least here in Pinellas County, is a decrease in test scores.

Exercise, creative teaching and opportunities to experiment all draw students into the thrill of discovery. Students who love learning and school may not get perfect test scores. But they will want to come to school and that helps their chances for success, not just in school, but for a lifetime.

Juliana Menke, St. Petersburg

'Values' don't save lives | Dec. 15, letter

Live up to moral standards

I was astounded by a letter writer who stated that our concern that our national values (one should read "morality") are being erroneously displayed on the world stage is "naive." If America collectively is represented by every individual, then high moral judgments reflect on the country as a whole. Morality and high ideals are not expressions of naivete but represent the highest aspirations of a human being. To justify the horrendous actions of the CIA by the statement that if its actions saved one life it would be worth it condones erroneous situational ethics.

If our current enemies represent a culture of extremism, then we must not become party to our own form of extremism. War, by definition, is hellish business. But the Geneva Conventions uphold the humane treatment of captured combatants. As signers of this document, we should live up to it, regardless of how we evaluate the current enemy.

Florence Laureira, Hudson

Downtown Tampa can't handle Rays

Concert traffic a bad omen

I recently attended a concert at Amalie Arena on a Saturday afternoon. The concert was for 3 p.m., and we arrived downtown well before 2 p.m. to be stuck in traffic blocks from the nearest parking area.

There were no signs directing visitors which way to go and absolutely no police direction on the streets leading from the freeway into downtown. Only after we parked did we see a presence in the immediate block or two around the arena. I can only imagine the scenario of the Rays moving to downtown Tampa, with fans arriving after 5 p.m. for a 7 p.m. game during the week. A daytime game would be a nightmare.

The Rays may need to move, but if Saturday was any indication of how traffic would be handled, downtown Tampa needs to be taken off the board.

Jim Main, Seminole

On war powers, too little, too late Dec. 12 editorial

Keep the pressure on

I seldom agree with your editorial positions, but you're spot-on about the use of force vs. ISIS. I do find it interesting that you suggest it is a responsibility of "the new Congress" (Republican control of both houses) to ensure this is resolved.

Perhaps "the new Congress" will also take on responsibility for President Obama's end run on immigration, which you found no problem with.

I would like to see you keep the pressure on to do the right thing for the U.S., regardless of the party or person involved.

Ed Germond, Apollo Beach

Follow the money | Dec. 12, letter

Fee would benefit us all

Larry Whitehead asks a very good question in his letter to the Times: Where do we think the money from a carbon tax will go?

Any climate change solution involving a carbon tax is going to cause the cost of living to rise. Recognizing that this would be a burden for many people, Citizens' Climate Lobby, one of whose leaders is former Secretary of State George Shultz, is proposing a revenue-neutral carbon fee, with proceeds regularly sent out to every American. Members of this huge volunteer group have been encouraging Congress to support the proposal.

With a revenue-neutral carbon fee, people can choose to use their dividend checks to offset their increased costs, or they can choose to lower their carbon footprint — thereby helping the planet — and put some of this money into their own pockets.

Susan Darovec, Bradenton

Torture is wrong; see the treaties | Dec. 14

A move toward change

I see the Senate report of the CIA's use of torture to be not only enlightening, but healing. Or at least the beginning of the healing.

In the Catholic Church, we have confession. When we sin, we deprive ourselves of God's grace. And by doing so, we make it easier to sin some more. The only way out of this downward cycle is to acknowledge our sins, to repent and to ask God's forgiveness. I believe our "confession" to these deeds was indeed needed to begin to change. I'm sure our country will be subject to criticism in the short term, but in the long term it may be a time when we made some bad choices, but ultimately reined them in.

George Chase, St. Pete Beach