My experiences are the same as Ms. Bayda's and Mr. Brown's experiences. Sometimes I think instructors have forgotten what education is really about. It's about broadening your horizons and looking past facts to see something that nobody has ever seen before. There used to be a time, a long time ago that is, when students didn't attend a school, but they were considered scholars. They would speak with intellectuals such as Aristotle and others and never receive credit for this course or that. They didn't go to these discussions because they had to, they went because they WANTED to. They wanted to broaden their views and see how far their minds could stretch, what they could learn. I wish sometimes that classrooms today were like this. Not structured to the point of stifling any and all creativity but, rather, to where students are free to speak amongst themselves and to the teacher as a peer. We need to incorporate new technologies and findings into our classroom. We need to keep up with the times. And we need to broaden our horizons.
I took a look at Tom Johnson's post and was astounded actually that somebody would be upset about children having pencils at home because test scores might be a little lower. I don't really know what to say aside from 'Wow'. I'm still unsure, actually, if I maybe misunderstood the post and maybe there was something more there because I was just lost at what the lady's point was behind screaming at a teacher because his students had pencils. Sorry, but if I missed something please let me know.
I also watched the video Two Questions That Can Change Your Life. My sentence is "I will continue daily to strive to become the best teacher I can, always keeping our future generations in my priorities, and hoping to give back to them what my teachers gave to me and helped me keep: support, comfort, strength, ambition, values, and a desire to do better because I could."
Hey Katherine,
ReplyDeleteI really liked your post. I especially liked reading your take on, "An Open Letter to Educators." You are absolutely right when you talked about what education USED to be. I really wish I could have seen that perspective for myself. Learning should be fun and empowering, not boring and horrid. Hopefully while we are teachers, we will be able to see a shift in education and what we as teachers are allowed to do and how to set things up. I also really liked your sentence. It covered a lot of ground. I struggled to fit everything I wanted to do into one sentence, but you did a fantastic job.
Excellent post Katherine!
ReplyDeleteAlthough the past seems interesting I'm still looking toward the future. I think it is important for us as teachers and students to realize that we are all a part of a change in education and we must take the good with the bad. Something as big as education can not change overnight but it can, and is in the process of changing. EDM 310 is a great example. This is only the third semester that this format has been attempted and it is getting better all the time. Just a little over two years ago I started with EDM 310 and it was very much still a traditional course. We have come a long way. So, taking a, “The glass is half-full,” position, I would say that this is a great time to be an educator as we are on the verge of an educational revolution the likes of which has never been seen before. I for one am delighted. SS