Inventiveness

The youtube video had one point that stood out. By the time children reach high school, they no longer have the courage to take a chance and get a question wrong. They no longer want to think outside the box, or to ask questions. They simply want to know what information they need to retain in order to get an A. I believe that a major cause of this is our educational system's stressing of math and grammar. The standardized tests, while varying slightly, all place enormous weight on subjects that have right and wrong answers with no middle ground. Other subjects with standardized tests, like AP Exams, are being standardized. However, writing portions allow some form of creativity to show through. A student still must come up with correct information, but answers can be more creative.

Instead of rewarding creativity, our schools only reward correct answers. It is obvious that correct answers must be rewarded, but creative answers and questions that provoke critical thinking should also receive praise. With more students going to college right now because of the recession, degrees will not be worth as much as they were before our economic downturn. It is the critical thinking skills, as the speaker in the video said, that will give our students an edge when they look for a job.

While our schools are emphasizing math and grammar, the arts are losing funding. At my high school, the students who took basic level art and drama classes were, for the most part, the kids whose behavior was questionable at best. Art teachers had to act as baby-sitters rather than educators. The same went for the low-level music classes. The students who were really drawn towards the arts had to "suffer" through a year with the kids whose behavior was so bad in order to get to the higher-level classes. Every student deserves a chance to be artistic and creative, but students should be excited about taking these classes, and all classes. Disruptive behavior should not ruin classes for students who are excited to be in those classes.

I believe that elementary schools and middle schools need to reward students for participation and having a good attitude while encouraging the students to be involved. This cannot happen while standardized testing is the determining factor when it comes to funding. Until schools can control the ways they do things, creativity will continue to suffer. Some will argue that, without standardized testing, "bad" teachers will ruin the educational chances of kids. I, however, will reply that the focus on standardized testing is taking away valuable instruction time, and it can punish "good" teachers who inherit students who lack the skills required to pass the test. Rather than forcing a teacher to teach to the test, we should allow educators to teach our children in a style that they feel will be most helpful to our students. If our students are currently unable to compete with students from other nations, it is time to try something new. Sticking with No Child Left Behind will continue to hold our children back as long as it exists.

Role Play and its Role in the Classroom

This post will be focusing on the role playing as a form of education, but will touch on other issues as well.

Concerning role play as a form of education, I feel it is effective only if the students really take it seriously and attempt to play their points of view. For example, the students in Monday's role play, particularily those who played the parents of the low achieving students and the business owners of Decorah, took it seriously and got into it. Because they got into it, I believe that the role play was more successful. Rather than simply focusing on the hypothetical plan, we discussed whether those who supported the plan (the tax payers, the business owners, and the parents of highly achieving students) or supported what we do as teachers typically recieve more attention than those who disagree with us. Those who disagree could have helpful suggestions that would allow us to help more students to succeed. The problem, as the role play showed, was that disagreements can easily become personal attacks. When this happens, it becomes nearly impossible for the two sides to take advice from each other. This discovery occurred because students were emotionally into the role play. I believe that role playing is more successful when students get emotionally into them. If the students are emotionally engaged, they will try harder to prove their points, and the role play will be more effective.

Another good aspect of role playing is that it does not take an advanced understanding of the subjects it is covering in order to do. This applied to our role play on Monday. We did not spend a great deal of time covering No Child Left Behind, but we were able to role play in a situation that focused on many aspects of NCLB. This would not be the case if we were writing a paper, taking a test, or presenting a slide show on the act. Each of these would require a great deal of preparation. There was some preparation involved with the role play, but it was less extensive. The moderators had the most preparing to do, with each group simply focusing on their opinions and reasons for having those opinions. There was not a feeling of unpreparedness; rather, I would argue that most students would say that the exercise was as helpful as a test, paper, or presentation would have been. Getting emotionally involved motivates students and helps them to learn the material. They may not have focused on facts that they would have likely memorized for a test or written in a paper, but they got a good understanding about the problems that are involved reforming changing our system of education. I feel that role playing is a very effective form of education because it motivates students by getting them emotionally involved.

Passion

Passion is absolutely necessary for each and every educator. A reason that every person should want to teach is because he or she is passionate about something and feels that he or she can make a profound impact upon the lives of his or her students by sharing that knowledge. The best teachers I've had have been extremely passionate about their subjects. In high school, the three teachers who had the most impact on me were all extremely passionate about their subjects and about teaching in general. The most passionate of these has a profound impact upon the lives of his students and had a profound impact on me.

My AP Government teacher was the most passionate teacher I have come into contact with. Every year, he takes about 20 students to Washington D.C. to interview politicians about a topic that each researches individually throughout the first semester. He is very passionate about the trip to D.C., requiring each student to become an expert on his or her subject by requiring 30 pages of research papers, including a 15 page history of the topic. Each year, former members of "Washington Seminar" return to describe their topics and experiences. Each one is asked his or her major and over half of the returning students reply that they are political science majors. The trip was one of the best experiences of my life, and I almost became a political science major because of that program. I feel that he taught me more about the actual workings of the government than I could have learned from studying from a textbook. This class exists because of my teacher. He works to keep contacts with many politicians including the Embassy of Israel, the two Wisconsin state senators, and two of the state representatives. He works to fundraise for students who otherwise would not be able to attend the trip, and he makes the trip an unforgettable experience that is unlike anything else I have done. All this is possible because a teacher is so passionate about what he does that he is willing to do whatever it takes to make the program successful. It is this kind of passion that makes a successful educator.