Saturday, December 15, 2007

Students20h

One fact I love about blogging is the speed at which ideas and thoughts can be shared. Finding new forums to share thoughts is an ongoing process.

The students at Student 2.0 are engaging in converstaion that needs to happen. Having a student voice in the edublogoshpere is making the puzzle more complete. Sometimes I feel as though we are preaching to the choir. However, for the longest time, the choir felt as though is was incomplete. It's like we were putting on a concert without the lead singer.

The reason I am blogging is to reach a global audience for the purpose of education reform. When I say education reform, I am talking about making changes that benefit the student, and actually prepare the student for a future that we know nothing about. Not an easy task.

Kevin Walter's Post "Arrogance, Perception, and Mistakes" brought on an interesting conversation in which proved a point. I am not relying on statistical data. I did not count the comments and create a Venn Diagram or a bar graph. I read the post and the comments and realized that Kevin's point was made by the commentors. Teachers are still trying to tell him what is wrong with his views. They tell him what he may want to do next time. Instead of listening to his cries for reform, they jump on the fact that he did not use scientific data for his comments.

The fact of the matter is that students "the majority", if given a choice, would rather not come to school. When they are at school, they say what they think teachers want to hear. One of the only motivators in school is to get good grades, which label these students. They go through the motions on a daily basis. Waking up, getting to school, standing for the Pledge, sitting quietly, raising their hands, standing in line, learning about facts that don't interest them, reading boring textbooks, writing reports, and moving at the sound of a bell. Who wants to do that?

Being in an elementary school setting, I try to prepare the students for a future in which I know nothing about. By the time they are in highschool, I can only hope that they use the tools in which I have made available to them. Hopefully one of my students will create new tools in which I will be using.

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