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I wrote the page entitled "Search
Engines: The Devil in Disguise."
My name is Hope Reichbach and I'm 12 years old, almost 13.
I go to Hunter College High School and in September I'll be entering
the 8th grade. I like school but I don't like getting up early,
because I have to travel so much. I also dislike tests and homework.
Of all those, tests are the worst. Not just teacher-given exams,
but city- and state-wides.
I am very fortunate to go to a public school, that's not run
by the Board of Education, so I only have to take one standardized
test until I begin Regents, SATS and APs. Although this may seem
like a small break, from something that takes class time away
from me, I am very glad of it. Tests are my biggest "pet peeve," I
guess. I feel that knowledge and life skills aren't really tested
in these multiple-choice tests. Rather, lifeless facts that,
realistically, don't matter, AND everyone forgets them. Also,
everyone gets soooooooo worried about these tests because they
are so important. There was an article in Parent Magazine about
a mother who left her 7 year old at home with a sitter, and neglected
to tell her that he should get to bed early, because he had the
city wides tomorrow. He stayed up, PAST 11:30pm, studying, and
fell asleep during the test, and failed. These tests get everybody
rattled up, in a very bad way.
What I like about school are the teachers, especially my recent
English and Social Studies teachers. I liked these teachers because
they had a passion for us actually LEARNING. My English teacher
only gave very low-stake quizzes that were only worth a very
small fraction of the grade. And my social teacher, whenever
handing anything back stressed that the amount learned was way
more important than the grade.
At my school, we had an assembly, where a member of congress
spoke. Afterwards, there was a Q and A session. I wasn't very
impressed with her to begin with, so I decided to "test out my
instincts". Boy, were they sharp. She called on me, and said
some facts about standardized testing and I asked her if she
was working on getting rid of them. She just basically laughed
in my face, and said, "wouldn't we all like to get rid of tests?" Even
though I made a perfectly clear and mature statement, probably
because she didn't know what to say, she answered me in a VERY
VERY immature way.
As well as complaining about the school system, I play violin,
baseball and soccer.
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