Nothing in this article surprised me. I am in my thirties now, but I can still remember my own high school experience, and what this teacher has described brings back many memories. I recall exactly the same kind of tiredness that she describes, even though I was a teenager at the time. The thing I learned the most thoroughly in high school was how to sit quietly for long periods of time. I only really remember a few teachers I had in high school; the really good ones who actually put effort into teaching, and the really bad ones who were so apathetic it was laughable.
I have no doubt that the majority of students in the school sites I have worked at have similar experiences. As I observe other teachers it is obvious that it is very easy to fall into the trap of the easy and the familiar. Not all teachers I have seen are like this, however I have seen classrooms where the teacher seemed much more interested in getting through her day than actually engaging the students. Sometimes this is due to the teacher simply wanting to cover all of the prescribed material, while sometimes it has more to do with how the teacher is feeling that day. Whatever the reason, it is a big problem that I do not know how to solve. Some of the solutions that the teacher in the article describe sound like good ideas, however they require an active teacher who is interested in positive change in the classroom. I have seen situations where the teacher is comfortable doing things the way they always have been done, and are not interested in changing anything. Hopefully this is something that we can change as the next generation of educators. Wiggins, G. (2014, October 10). A veteran teacher turned coach shadows 2 students for 2 days - a sobering lesson learned. Retrieved October 12, 2015. Link to the Article I found this article to be interesting, however there was not much new information for me here. The idea that concentration on standards and testing are stifling student creativity is echoed throughout almost every article I read, video I see, or conversation I have that relates to education. This line of thought does make sense to me; the idea that simply memorizing facts in order to score higher on a standardized test does not seem to be incredibly useful. I know that throughout my own life, whether in high school or college, I have time and again been forced to cram for an upcoming exam. Every time this has happened, I forget 90 percent of what I had memorized within the next few days. All these episodes really taught me was how to prepare for a scantron test, which will have somewhat limited application in real life.
Because of the rapid pace of technological advancement we have seen in the last few decades, the world is smaller than it has ever been before. It is no longer difficult for people to communicate with each other all over the globe thanks to the internet. One of the things that has driven the advancement of civilization through time has been the ability to share information and ideas. Gutenberg’s printing press is considered to be one of the most important inventions in western history because it made it possible to more easily disseminate information to a large audience; how much more of an impact has the internet had? I have been trying to be more involved in the online community but am not yet at the level I should be. I do agree with the author that collaboration on a larger scale has the potential to dramatically affect education on a global scale. With a simple tool such as Twitter, people are able to share with others all over the globe instantly, which has great potential. Link to the Blog "Redefining Teachers with a 21st Century Education ‘Story’." MindShift. Retrieved from the web 12/01/2015. |
Mr. Andrew WestStudent Teacher CSUSM Single Subject Credential Program. Archives
April 2016
|