Monday, February 25, 2008
Sunday, February 10, 2008
"The Fun They Had"
Two weeks ago in class someone mentioned that Karen had once read a story about how when Rip Van Winkle woke up he did not recognize anything but the school, for the school had not changed at all during his one-hundred year nap.
That got me thinking . . . I knew that at some point I had read a story where just the opposite was true. This has been irking me since last week, because I knew it was a story that I enjoyed that I had used with my students one year . . . but for the life of me I could not think of the name. Then today while I was planning it hit me . . . "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov!
If you've never read it, it's a pretty good story that illustrates how books and school will change from present day to 2157. Asimov is one of my favorite authors because he was so ahead of his time. Actually it's inaccurate for me to say "from present day to 2157", since he wrote this story in 1951, long before PCs, the Internet and Web 2.0!
If you'd like to read the story you can find it here: "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov.
That got me thinking . . . I knew that at some point I had read a story where just the opposite was true. This has been irking me since last week, because I knew it was a story that I enjoyed that I had used with my students one year . . . but for the life of me I could not think of the name. Then today while I was planning it hit me . . . "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov!
If you've never read it, it's a pretty good story that illustrates how books and school will change from present day to 2157. Asimov is one of my favorite authors because he was so ahead of his time. Actually it's inaccurate for me to say "from present day to 2157", since he wrote this story in 1951, long before PCs, the Internet and Web 2.0!
If you'd like to read the story you can find it here: "The Fun They Had" by Isaac Asimov.
Shift Happens!
While I found the video on Youtube to be a little on the long side, I found the message to be quite profound. No matter what I do as a teacher, "Shift Happens!"
About six and a half minutes in, the video said: "We are currently preparing students for jobs and technologies that don’t yet exist…in order to solve problems that we don’t even know are problems yet." I had to pause the video to think about the meaning of this statement. No matter what I do as a teacher, "Shift Happens!"
About six and a half minutes in, the video said: "We are currently preparing students for jobs and technologies that don’t yet exist…in order to solve problems that we don’t even know are problems yet." I had to pause the video to think about the meaning of this statement. No matter what I do as a teacher, "Shift Happens!"
A few minutes later they quoted Einstein . . . “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” I wonder what the world will be like for my 7th and 8th graders when they're in high school, or college, or beyond . . . I wonder what the world will be like in ten years, when China is the number one English speaking country? But I guess what it comes down to is no matter what I do, "Shift Happens!"
Monday, February 4, 2008
What is Education?
Last week in class during PG & S Dr. Weston asked us this question: "What is education"? It's a pretty straightforward and simple question.
I was fairly quiet and just listened to what my TEAMmates said.
What they said bothered me . . . then it dawned on me, their answer wasn't what bothered me, it was my answer that bothered me . . . Education = Data.
I work in a school where data is force fed. Every time we turn around they're giving us more data. They're constantly handing us forms to fill out and scores to analyze. We're now required to fill out a Student at a Glance form for each child that we teach. These forms have a category for each of the citywide tests they take, in each subject. We also have to fill out an IIP for each child. An Individual Improvement Plan is our Assistant Principal's way of identifying each child's strengths and weaknesses.
Do I think data is great? Of course!
Do I think that I'm lucky to teach now, at a time when we have access to this data? Of course!
Do I think that data = education? NO!
I do not want to see anymore data!
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