Students in 8V and 8W will work on a new writing piece to
be published in Van Walleghem’s monthly newsletter. The selected writing pieces
will be showcased in the newsletter and here, on our blog to give our VW Newsletter readers a chance to read about current topics from
the student perspective and to highlight the excellent writing from our grade
8s.
This month, students reflected on the results from the
Tell Them From Me survey. Please enjoy our first published Student Voices
writing, written by Ryan Stewart in 8W and Alicia Rose in 8V.
To see the results follow the link and open January 2016 Newsletter: http://www.pembinatrails.ca/vanwalleghem/enews2.htm
Dear parents and students,
The last Van Walleghem newsletter featured the results from the
Tell Them From me survey. Our class was tasked with taking one of the results
and talking about it. I decided not to do a result I decided to voice my
opinion about the surveys. I personally think that the results are not very
accurate and should be taken with a grain of salt.
First off, our school has many E.A.L.
students (English as an Additional Language learners). In total, we have 60
sponsored E.A.L. students which means they’re in their first four years
learning English. The questions on the survey are not exactly the easiest
questions. If an E.A.L. student doesn't understand the question they could
answer inaccurately. Therefore, throwing off the results.
Secondly, Students are told that this
survey is anonymous. The survey can only be tracked to a specific class not to
a student. So some students could possibly just rush through it because it is a
pretty long survey, 25-45 minutes. Also, I think some students could lie to
make the school seem really good or really bad.
Lastly, the results are put up against
the Canadian average. It would be better if the results were compared to the
provincial average or the city average. Each province has a different
curriculum and uses different textbooks to explain information so the Canadian
average would be way different from then a provincial or city average.
I believe that school should offer the Tell Them From me Survey in multiple languages. It would be beneficial to give the school student specific codes so that the school can track which students lie. Also, put the results up against the provincial or city average to make the averages more relevant.
Sincerely,
Ryan
S. 8W
Have you ever thought about if children in today’s
world or in our modern society have any real stress? Well, most people think
that us students have it easy compared to the adults in our lives. All we have
to do is get good grades and be in a safe social environment. But in today’s
Ècole Van Walleghem School, many students in grades 6 and 8 have high levels of
anxiety well above the Canadian norm. After some research, I have found out why
is it so.
Here in Linden Woods, many parents have high
paying jobs and belong to higher economic status, thus, a lot of them want
their children to go to private schools like St. Mary’s and St. Paul’s instead
of public schools like Grand Park, Shaftsbury, and others. To be accepted into
these private schools one needs to take an exam and fulfill other requirements.
These expectations put additional stress on students.
Private schools tend to be perceived to have a
higher standard than public schools. The latter on the other hand, I think, are
not as strict on how student’s grades should be, though I can be wrong. I
believe that students in both private and public schools carry the same worry,
thoughts like: “Will I be able to maintain high grades and be successful
in life?”, “What will my parents think if I don’t keep up to all their
expectations?”, “What will people think of me if I score low on a test?”, and
many other situations on how grades will affect their social reputation.
Many students will not be attending the same
schools as their peers once they go to high school, in return, this may bring
more concern to a lot of them. Some students may find it hard to make new
friends especially if they only had one group of friends their whole grade
school life.
Based on some research and real life observations,
I find that as you get older, it becomes a bit harder to make new friends
because social groups get closer and more established as one gets older.
Some people will find it hard to make friends if everyone has already have
established peers of their own.
In conclusion, whether people realize it or not
students our age actually do have a lot of stress and things that we worry
about. The people in our lives expect a lot from us and it is understandable
and somewhat expected. But even with today’s modern technology, which is
supposed to make things in life easier for us, life can still be tough. Some of
these problems may have been experienced by most of us, including our parents/guardians/mentors,
no matter what generation we are in. Most of us still face the same issues when
it comes to high schools, grades, peer pressure, and the longing to be accepted
and to belong.
By Alicia R., 8V
A special congratulations to Ryan & Alicia for submitting excellent writing that demonstrates unique and interesting "out of the box" thinking, a strong voice and powerful writing piece directed towards parents, friends and family as our audience.
A shout out to all of my wonderful students in 8V and 8W for making this selection very difficult, as choosing only 2 writing pieces to showcase was a challenge as many students submitted EXCELLENT writing! Please stay tuned for next month's Student Voices Writing!!
