"It is the learners who will inherit the future; the "so-called learned'" who think they "know it all" will find themselves frustrated by a world that has passed them by."
After reading Chapter One from the text please respond to the following reflections and reactions.
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10 comments:
Dan,
For chapter one, what am I supposed to reflect on or respond to?
I sent you an e-mail about three days ago, and I have not heard from you.
Hi Mari!
I believe Dan wants us to respond to what we our responces were for pages 10 and 11 in the text book.
Sandy
I had various feeling about the topics in this chapter. This chapter was a bit discouraging in various areas as I could reflect on how things have changed in education the past 20+ years tesaching.
The things that I always remember is not to let things drag you down. The pendulum does swing back and forth in educational system. However, throughout times I just am reminded to "Do my little job!" I don't want to let things get me down. How I teach and motivate my students is up to me, and I may have to follow the administration guidelines and strategies, but each of us have to develop our teaching styles. I believe it is true it is the quality not the quantity.
Sometimes the past techniques were better, and then there are parts of the educational system that have improved too. I use various approaches from both!
Changes do happen slowly, so it is my goal to educate the students in a variety of techniques to help them reach their potential.
I really enjoyed reading Chapter One and feel it summarizes the changes in education that all educators must realize. Students of today are very different from students even a decade ago. Massive amounts of information and technology have revolutionized our lives and will continue to do so. I believe my job as a teacher is to be aware of and knowledgeable in this ever-changing landscape so that I can engage my students and also so I can help prepare them for the world in which they will grow, develop, live, and work.
An important point to me that this chapter makes is that the amount of research in several areas (social reform, family structures, job growth/changes, neuroscience, brain-based learning, etc.) proves that my role as a teacher needs to be flexible, adaptable, and willing to meet students' needs. I see myself as a facilitator of my students' learning, not a "sage on the stage." I love learning right along with my students.
I think the actual way students are taught has not changed much since the educational beginnings in this country; I aim for an awareness of the 'real world' learning students will encounter, along with a goal of developing problem-solving skills and innovation in the classroom. I use a lot of technology in my classroom and feel this is one important tool for increasing student learning. I'm very interested in learning more about brain-based learning as well. I think these are exciting times to be in education!
The title of the chapter says it all, "The Game Has Changed." Society has changed and we need to constantly adapt to those changes. Students need to be prepared to have many careers and be highly skilled. More jobs require a college degree or vocational training. High school students are working more and parents are working more, which changes our roles.
What I chose to remember from this chapter is that I need to continue to be a life long learner and direct my students to be learners and explorers.
In Chapter 1 there were many things I totally agreed with. The main one mentioned was that the focus of education has changed. Life is changing dramatically but education is not keeping up.
The chapter also said that we need to teach students “how” to learn, not “what” to learn. Many students struggle in school, which in turn, has increased the number of students being home-schooled, attending alternative schools and/or classes and even dropping out of school altogether. I was amazed when I read that nationwide, one out of every four students will drop out of school.
I also agree with the author that the demands placed on teachers today are very high and our educational system does not support us. He also states that there are not enough pathways for teachers to express themselves and be heard. Teacher’s salaries are also lagging behind other comparable professions.
With things this way it is difficult for teachers to have a positive attitude all the time. This in turn, will also dramatically affect each and every student.
Another negative impact on the educational system would be our country’s voters. Only 30% of our nation’s population are traditional families with school age children. The remaining 70% are the elderly, parents with grown or no children and singles. What this means is that 70% of our population will tend to vote for tax cuts instead of educational bond issues.
All in all, chapter one of the textbook was quite depressing. These are all things that are happening in education today that need to be addressed but never seem to be.
Sandy, thank you for replying to my question. Now I know what to do for this homework.
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There is an incredible amount of change happening in today's society.
We live in the information age where it is impossible to keep up with the enourmous amount of data coming at us every day.
Much of the learning people do nowadays is done with the help of computers, cd's, videos, books, etc. Schools do not do all the
teaching nor it is the responsability of schools to do all the teaching.
Teachers get frustated with the education system, too. Most of the time, when decisions involving students and learning are taken, teachers are not given enough consideration. People who are not as close to students or to what is really happening in the classroom on a daily basis make those decisions. Therefore, there is a price to pay.
On top of that, teachers do not make enough money. Many times, teachers have to try a new program without the appropriate training and/or support. Then, the education system expect miracles.
Secondary schools are expected to offer students too many choices: AIDS awareness, drivers education, and life skills among others. Save money and throw those programs out the window. Are they neccesary?
Current research in neoroscience seems to be very promising (based-brain learning). Hopefully, it will help in the restructuring of our schools and in the way teachers are trained.
One of the key concepts for me in this Chapter was the students need to learn how to learn. There probably is no more important concept to me in this chapter. If a student learns how to learn he/she can adapt to much of the adversity that impacts them in thier daily lives.
It was stated in the chapter that the High School graduate of 2010 wil have 3-5 careers (not jobs-but careers) due to rapid job extinction. For these graduates, learning how to trully lrearn, not just regurgitate facts, will be the key to thier success. The ability to trully learn concepts and aplly those concepts to current problems is critical. Simply throwing facts at problems rarely solves them. You must apply a systematic problem solving process that includes the application of all current knowlege and the ability to adapt both past and current ideas to solve new problems.
In my field of Ind.Tech. The applications for the conepts in this chapter are never ending. This chapter reads like a buisiness model for success. It prompts the reader to think about and strive for cutting edge technologies and processes while reminding the reader to not forget the lessons learned in the past.
The world around us is constantly changing. In the field of education the only thing that remains the same is change. Text books change, educational buzz words change, grading systems change...Since I graduated high school, technology has changed by leaps and bounds. Because of the job we chose we need to adapt and overcome all of these positive and negative affects on our students.
I think that is a reason in continuing with our own education...to try to stay ahead of the game. I'm looking for any tricks of the trade...
I believe that in the math field we should be working with students to become good problems solvers and to be able to think critically if they are to be successful in the future. What kind of jobs will they be working at in 10 years? Do we even know? If students can think outside of the box then they might have a chance to be successful in the future.
Times definitely have changed in education! After reading the chapter, I felt somewhat hopeless. Demands are constantly being placed on educators and funding is being taken away. It seems as if the only thing that matters is test scores in this day and age! It seems as if schools need to change and they are not willing to do it. We need to teach students how to learn rather than what to learn. Technology is great in so many ways but it can also be a problem. Students depend so much on the computer and the media and it is often inaccurate information. It is so sad that teachers are not appreciated nor respected as much as in the past even though more demands are placed on them. The future of our children will be greatly impacted without good teachers. Are young people going to want to be educators in todays society? It is hard to believe that so many parents rely on the school to teach values when it is really the parent's job! Job markets have changed significantly and the schools need to keep up in order to prepare our youth for the future. I need to remember that my students are the most important and I need to make a difference in their lives doing what I can in my small classroom. We have to all do what we can to keep up with our changing society for the sake of our youth.
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