New York Times Article Response

Randolph wants his students to succeed, of course — it’s just that he believes that in order to do so, they first need to learn how to fail.

From reading this article, I am more aware in how schools are lacking-

• In preparing students for life outside of school, where they will need to know more than    how to earn a passing grade

• In finding the best way to incorporate "character" in the classroom

• In accurately and fairly assessing students

I enjoyed reading the careful observations that were made, and the steps each of these educators took to try and solve problems. I am curious to see how Riverdale is progressing by this method, and what is working or not working.

One problem that stood out to me was the parents who think their kids are A-students, when actually they are C-students...The parents who are "overindulging kids, with the intention of giving them everything and being loving, but at the expense of their character". I was surprised that parents went so far as to calling in and asking to extend due dates for their child. I can understand a parent's concern for their child's grades, but I believe that children must learn for themselves how to cope within the boundaries/limits that they are given. The "real-world" isn't going to listen to desperate parent phone calls. I am guessing that these kinds of parents aren't exactly aware of how they are in reality, still coddling their middle schoolers. 

Levin's idea of a C.P.A. is really neat. However, I wonder at if all the hassle of measuring character this way is worth it. Sure, we can have a better sense of how prepared a student is for college, but is it that necessary to be making predictions? What happens to students who are seniors and never reach a high C.P.A.? It would be discouraging for sure. My only fear with this is that people will make direct correlations between one's C.P.A. and preparedness for college. Other than that, I agree fully with immersing character (moral and performance) in the classroom.

How would I build a 21st century student in an English classroom?

I will go off of this article and the idea of incorporating character values in the class. In an English class, character could be emphasized through the analysis of the characters in texts. Students can identify the deeper character traits for the actions of characters.