Blog Post 10

An Open Letter To Educators

I find it difficult to stay engaged in class after sitting there for so long. The way information is being taught doesn’t relate to how today’s world is. I can’t even begin to count how many courses I take that I have absolutely no interaction between classmates. It is even sadder to think that I don’t have much interaction with some instructors. Come to think of it, the majority of the education system is sad. We go to school, sit, memorize facts, as Dan Brown says, and regurgitate it back on a test. The school system isn’t about learning for the long term, it is a matter of memorizing it long enough to spit in out on a test. Not enough teachers encourage experience and hands on learning.
I applaud Dan Brown for taking the initiative to drop out to learn. I am not sure how that will turn out for him, but I wish him the best of luck; but it is a foot in the right direction, so kudos to you. Taking the initiative to learn, is the best way to learn. I have shared my feelings in a comment on this post, written by Morgan Bayda.

Don't Let Them Take the Pencils Home
     Where do I begin? Tom Johnson was very kind to share a conversation between him and Javi. I loved, loved, loved the fact that Tom focused on the solution instead of the problem. I was baffled, to say the least, on Javi's stand point. (Keep in consideration the justification was taking pencils home lowered test scores of children in low-income neighborhoods.) Javi was against the practice of letting students take home pencils. Really? I kid you not. If we are going to go as far as prohibiting pencils from leaving the classroom, because children, as the post describes, use them to play a "sick and twisted game" such as Hangman, we should prohibit the taking home of books. The student, or student's parents, could just as easily use them (the books) to fix a wobbly table by placing it underneath the shorter leg. Can we say "Get real!"

     Also, this reminded me of  the assignment: "Ken Robinson Says School Kills Creativity" that we were instructed to complete. Maybe the kid is an artist; maybe he wants to draw when he gets home. If he lives in a low-income neighborhood, where all too many times after school activities consist of drug and violence dabbling, the kid could become involved in such activities because no one wanted to allow him to bring a pencil home and draw, possibly create masterpieces, and occupy his time. Tisk tisk, I say, to anyone who supports this outlandish proposal. This prohibition can clearly kill any and all creativity a student could obtain. On a more positive note, Dr. Strange has struck again. 

He has given us another assignment to analyze ourselves.  

Two Questions That Can Change Your Life                This video was very short, but very powerful. "A great man is a sentence." Enough said! Sure, it sounds a bit crazy, but after watching the video, it makes perfect sense. So, what are these questions? The first, "What is your sentence?" This gives you motivation in life, and is something you can use to navigate your life, [the answer, that is.] The second question, "Was I better today than yesterday?" This allows you to analyze your sentence, and lets you know whether your sentence is still applicable. A man can be summed up in a brief sentence. How do you want to be remembered? If you can answer this, you have your sentence. So, as part of our instructions, we are to develop a sentence about ourselves. That's a "tuffy!" If I was to sum myself up in one sentence, it would say, "She is always considerate of others, and strives to put others first."