This video is a play on Rip Van Winkle except this character is Mr. Winkle who also wakes up after a 100 year nap to find miraculous changes in all aspects of society except when he visits a school and he finds it familiar and the same saying basically that schools haven't changed in 100 years. Media and computers in the classroom are vital in learning. My daughter's sixth grade class is making a model rain forest with each student picking an animal to draw and explain. Using their new apple computers the school has in their lab they are able to go to the rain forest on the web and the possibilities are endless. As technology advances our schools need to advance along with it.
But on the other hand I still believe students need to learn the basics, or how Mr. Winkle describes it as reading, writing, and arithmetic. How many kids know how to download a video from YouTube or Download songs from Itunes but they can't do a basic algebra problem or know the tools in writing a book report. Also can a computer like a teacher provide encouragement or even know when a student is struggling whether in school or at home. Mr. Winkle makes valid point we must advance our schools but it is comforting to also have the familiar.
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Well, let's talk about the basics. You will read blogs by other students (who are in college and going to be teachers). Check their grammar. We started better this semester than last, perhaps because of my "Intellectual Trail" speech. And math. Until this semester I gave a short math quiz. 1/3 (again aspiring teachers) could not multiply 7 times 12. Just a little over half could divide 15 by 11. Less than half were able to answer a minimum of 1 out of 5 word math questions used on the HIGH SCHOOL equivalency exam. 1/4 could not tell me how much they would make in a year if they were paid $ 1000 in equal monthly installments. The results were about the same when I asked What is your monthly salary if your annual salary is $ 12,000? But everybody in the last 7 years has gotten this question right: How many months are there in a year? I have given up on math. If we required teachers to have what I would say is an 8th grade math proficiency before being hired we would have to close our schools. Don't get me started on math. Well, I guess you did!
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