Alright, here's the place to brainstorm our ideas. Please please please help me. I can do this by myself if I really really need to, but help is always appreciated. Thank you, everyone.
For those of you who weren't there for our Fischbowl on Symphony, well, we talked about changing education towards the end of our conversation in the inner circle. Some say we focused on that a bit too much, but in my opinion it was one of our best. Ms. Smith agrees. Changing education will effect our lives and the lives of many many others. On our first day of school, Ms. Smith told us to change the world. This is the first step, and I, Tristan L., am willing to take that step, whether it be a stroll through the park or a giant leap of faith. I will work until I am finished, but I will never be finished.
So, please post ideas, no matter WHAT they are. If we want to change, we need as many ideas as possible. Literally. No idea is stupid. Post away!
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So yesterday we talked about classroom design, but is there more we could do? We need ideas, we need them now!
Ideas about what? What are we changing about education? What's wrong with it? What do we need to fix? We can't think of a solution if we don't know what the problem is.
Good point, Robert. I change my previous post: we don't need ideas, we need problems to fix first. Sorry for jumping ahead. So, post problems that need fixing!
Alright, so I googled 'what is wrong with education'. Here are a few things I came up with...
1 - The students don't always want to learn. I challenge all of you, each and every one, Why??
2 - This 'education battle' has been going on for decades, states the site. (see below!) Every so often someone comes up with a supposed 'solution'. (See the website for more info.) The 'solution' isn't always perfect, and doesn't really change much. Remember, we're trying to change.
3 - There is a problem with the site. In one sentence it makes it seem as if children should be getting A's. Sure, it looks good, but that doesn't show we are learning. Even someone looking at problems with education still thinks grades are almighty.
4 - Grades. Need I say more? We already discussed this, correct?
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Extra extra! The person who wrote this was actually a teacher him/herself, so it is written from his/her point of view. Not everything is correct or set in stone, but that is how everything is. This is just to get us started. I say us because hopefully some of you other people out there will help this lonely soul who is willing to change education!! ^^
Website --> http://ezinearticles.com/?Whats-Wrong-with-Education-in-America?&id=544214
Tristan- I agree that grades are a problem. We should not get rid of grades or give everybody "A"s. Teachers should not have favorites or non-favorites; if the assignment is done well then it should be graded well; if it stinks then it should be given an F regardless of who did it. I also think that teachers in early grades (like K-2) should be easy on the grades to encourage the kids, but by third grade the teachers should be somewhat harsher to show that your work will not always be the best.
This all makes sense, but I think we should focus on something that is more important. Our learning environment and our learning especially. Schools block certain websites because they think we will 'waste time' on either playing games or visiting inappropriate websites. If the school board doesn't trust us with the internet in school, what should we ever do for them? Sure, some people might play games, etc;, but not everyone. Banning resources is a terrible thing in schools. Every website is a resource. Just like how every book is a resource. The school board is limiting our learning!! What should we do about this??
What about our science and math fields, we are dreadfully falling behind, it is there that I think we need to catch up.
Also I believe that technology should be integrated into classrooms and lessons should answer a "so what" mentality ( in other words why it matters)
Kailyn - I agree. Asia is outsourcing our jobs because they are very strong in the left brain. And math and science are mostly, not entirely but mostly, based on the left brain. So, these countries in Asia are soaring in front of us in these aspects. There's so much more in the field of science that we could know, but why can't our country do this? Aren't we supposedly the most powerful country? Why can't we be the smartest?
And thank you for participating, you can't imagine how much every post helps! :)
I think that Kailyn had a great point- Why do we learn what we learn? I always ask myself that: So what? I think it should be required that every classroom has a poster that talks about what kids will learn in that classroom and why.
Robert - Very nice. I agree that a poster saying what and why would be great. And not just any poster, but the teacher must write it and design it, because if it is just a standard issue poster, then it really means nothing. I like this is idea, and it addresses a problem. We've started! Yay!
Well, the teacher could be given at least a basic template that they could add to. It might be on a dry erase board that says:
SO WHAT?
We learn ________ in order to / because...
Any other design ideas?
Well, our class seems to like the idea of changing classroom design. So, any ideas about that? Colors, plants, natural light... If possible. I give you all a task:
1) Ideas about classroom design.
2) How to get support
- Ask around school
- Talk to school board
3) Get the money (This is the hard part...)
- Convince school board to give us the money, or
- Fund-raise the money ourselves, and give it to the school board on the condition they will use it for classroom design.
So, let's get to work! :D
Guys and Gals -
Please remain school appropriate! Remember, this is a blog for the English 9 Honors Class. If we don't keep it appropriate, Smith will remove everything. Thanks!
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