I loved watching the talks by both Adora Svitak and Dalton Sherman. I think it is so important to keep our students at the center of everything we do. We need to remember to set high expectations for our kids and support them in getting to where ever it is they want to go; we need to believe in them and they need to see that and feel it.
I decided to watch Sir Ken Robinson: “Bring On the Learning Revolution!”, I enjoyed what he had to say and the analogies that he made. The main idea that reform is not enough, we don't need evolution, we need a revolution. He stated that everyone should develop their own system with external support and individualized curriculum. I think this idea is so wonderful no matter what level you are looking at. Within our classrooms we need to each have our own systems that supports the individuals in the room. The things that work for one group of people may or may not work for another, there needs to be common elements and a great deal of personalization. The idea that we need to move from being linear to organic resonated with me. If we look at the history of math education we can see how linear it was; you do step one, two, three and then you get the one correct answer. As we move towards teaching math in an organic way we need to design opportunities for students to be innovate, to explore the world and find their passions as it connects to math. We must support and value the idea that there is often more than one way of doing something, including solving math problems. We must develop experiences and supports that feed their spirits and inspire a love of learning and a comfort in making mistakes.
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"We can get where we must go only by changing the system itself", states The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, 2007. Our current educational system was created for life in a different era. The world that we live in is changing at a rapid pace, from the way that we acquire and use information to the skills we need to be successful in today's workforce and so much more. So, why is it that our educational system has not evolved to support the world as it is today? We have an abundance of quantitative and qualitative data to show that change is necessary now.
As a math lover I always enjoy looking at data. The first chapter of "The Flat World and Education" by Linda Darling-Hammond presents an immense amount of data pointing out the flaws in our school systems; looking at all of the statistics saddened me. Three major issues stood out to me, the unequal allocation of resources, inadequate preparation and support for teachers and a lack of high quality curriculum. We constantly try to put bandaids to help with all of these issues when in fact what is needed is a complete change in the system. I am the mother of an amazing six year old girl. I watch my daughter as she navigates life and I am constantly amazed by her curiosity, persistence and joy as she encounters new experiences and new information. One of the reasons I became a teacher is because I love to learn and I want to inspire that in others and help reignite those qualities that we all had as a child. I am excited to be a part of a school that is looking to challenge what education can look like. As we go into a pilot week that models some of the changes we want to incorporate, I think about how it will address so many issues that plague our schools. Together as a team, teachers will design a project where students must collaborate, create, analyze and think critically about a problem. It will be interesting to see if this design will change students engagement and motivation along with strengthening their skills while they are learning content as it exists in the world around them. "The United States must shift course if it is to survive and prosper as a World nation in the 21st century". The gap between the United States and other countries is getting wider. I hope we as a country can look at the facts, be inspired by our children and use successful school models to create a system that educates children for the world of tomorrow. |
Kendra ParsonsAs a high school math teacher, I am passionate about bringing a joy of learning and of math to my students. Archives
April 2018
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