In this post by Morgan Bayda, I felt relieved that there are others that feel cheated through school. I have rarely felt like I am not wasting my time throughout my college years. Besides my class Arts in the Elementary School (EDU 301), EDM 310 is the only class that I have actually learned anything worthwhile or useful. It is the sole class other than EDU 301 that I will continue to apply what I have learned here throughout my life and classroom. Too many schools have lowered their standards of education. I don't feel like classrooms actually teach you anything. To me, learning is doing. I absolutely have to apply what I learn or else it goes in one ear and out the other as soon as I take that class's exam. This has got to change. We are wasting time and money on school if things don't change soon. It is comforting to know that this problem is realized. Now, we have to do something about it. I think that Morgan and I have had a similar experience. In Dan Brown's video, it hit the nail on the head. Thank you to both!
2. Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home
This post by Tom Johnson rocked. I loved the casual banter between the characters that had a deeper message embedded. We do not need to smother the students' creativity anymore than standardized testing and the schools already do. There is too much riding on standardized test scores. What's wrong with a game of hangman? I love hangman. If the students still are applying skills through that then I see no harm in that! We need to definitely let students know how to be creative. "Taking their pencils away" is no solution to this problem. We need to let them "take their pencils home". We never know what sort of creative things kids are capable of coming up with! I love posts like this. I get so much out of them. Creativity is a must in classrooms!
Sarah,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with your thoughts on Morgan Bayda's blog post. I feel the same way! It is so sad to me that students have lowered their expectations of education. Not only are they wasting time and money, but it's going to harm the generations to come, especially if those students are future educators. We need to strive to be a part of the change that the educational system needs. It has to start somewhere and it needs to happen soon! I don't blame Dan Brown for dropping out of school, but this doesn't need to happen! Good post, thanks for sharing.
"To me, learning is doing. I absolutely have to apply what I learn or else it goes in one ear and out the other as soon as I take that class's exam." I think this is true for everyone and every "subject." So I hope (and expect) you will teach in a way that allows experience to rule.
ReplyDeleteYou understand that there is a "deeper meaning" in Johnson's post and you identify one of those "meanings." But I am not sure that you understand that Tom Johnson's post Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home was a metaphor in which pencils were computers. I will complete my post Metaphors: What They Are and Why We Use Them (A Learning Opportunity) later this week. After this post appears on the Class Blog you will be required to leave a comment. Watch the Class Blog for further instructions.
Well thank you for posting further explanation on it! There are lots of things that sometimes I have trouble reading into. This class has helped me read between the lines much more efficiently than I previously have before. I'm still working on that skill, so thanks for explaining further!
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