Carl Sandburg and Lincoln

[RJNorton]

Bill, I really am at a loss to give you a good answer. I can tell one specific change from when I was a student in 8th grade (1950's) to what was expected of me when I was teaching 8th grade. I remember in 8th grade we were required to do a lot of memorization. I recall memorizing the Preamble to the Constitution and the Gettysburg Address for sure, and probably several other works as well. But when I was teaching I was told this approach was wrong; it wasn't important for the students to memorize material...rather what was important was the ability to critically analyze documents and speeches (not memorize them). Another thing my school did when I was teaching was drop letter grades. Rather than give A's, B's, C's, etc. the teacher was required to write an analysis of how the student was doing. Papers written for class were given positive or negative comments, not letter grades. Students weren't compared to other students; they were analyzed only in relation to their own abilities. This lasted for many years, but eventually the outcry from the parents for letter grades was so great that a return to letter grades took place.

My personal observation was that the students didn't try as hard during the years in which our school did not give letter grades.

I have been out of the classroom so long that I really don't know what the current thinking is regarding teaching techniques, curriculum emphasis, etc.