Must-See Education Movies

Waiting for Superman

www.waitingforsuperman.com

Tonight, the Social Justice League at Bridgewater State University put on a movie viewing and invited any and all members of the university to come and watch and held a brief discussion following it.  The number one reaction I saw among the crowd of about 40 students was "You've got to be kidding me," followed closely by "how can WE change this?"  Personally, I find the number one problem with documentaries is that after doing such an amazing job articulating what the problem is, they have a hard time showing what the collective "WE" can do about it.  

Some of the suggestions made in this movie were: 

1. Spend more on education
2.  Hire better teachers
3. Get rid of tenure so you can fire bad teachers
4.  Abolish the teachers' union because they stand in the way of true reform and change.

Sure, these might be ideas that could spark the change we're looking for, but what about the negative aspects of each of these?  Ultimately, the conclusion that came in to my mind after seeing this truly heart-breaking documentary was simply this: if you can't change the system immediately, you can at least change the people in the system.  So the first step towards a United States educational system that "works" meaning the students are LEARNING, is to better prepare teachers before they even have a thought of stepping foot in that classroom. Teachers need guidance and new teachers are clueless when they walk through those doors. We need a teacher preparation system that involves HANDS-ON learning for teachers well beyond the less than half a year they spend student teaching. (see Boston Teacher Residency Program- one example of how we can better prepare teachers)

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21st Century Skills

image- http://teacherspodcast.org

EDweek.org - "New Initiatives Signal Shift in U.S. Ed-Tech Leadership "

Excellent! We're now well into the digital-age and it's time education followed suit in understanding the importance of student's access to the internet.  As is described in "21st Century Skills" by Trilling and Fadel (A must read for all educators) the essential skills required to succeed in the world today involve literacy in technology.  Students must have access to resources in order to succeed, not only in schools, but also in their careers.

While some might say (and I agree) the internet is taking over many aspects of daily life that might have been better suited without it.  However, the internet is an amazing array of learning tools that can help students learn in a plethora of ways.  The internet can help an ESL student with the click of a button, ensuring that they can read and understand the course material in their own language so that they do not fall behind simply because they're trying to learn English at the same time.  The internet can do many things for a student who is visually impaired and allow them to be as functional with technology and the world around them as any other student.

An understanding of the internet, email, and even social media is something that people with success in the business world have and use to promote their careers.  No student should be asked to do as much without access to these technologies.  This plan by Comcast should be looked at by other internet providers, all of whom have the means to offer these low-rates to provide access to all students.  If we provide students with the tools and support, they will become the innovators of the next generation, they will be able to turn the corner and find success in their future.

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"No Child" Left Behind

Obama Makes His Own Statement On Education

As a future educator the thought of losing federal funding due to low test scores has always seemed like a broken system.  A school that is under-performing should instead be receiving additional support so as to raise the standards and improve the education of those students.  So from the standpoint that states will have the "freedom" to implement their own standards and not risk losing federal funding, I'm in favor of President Obama's new education policy.

 As a student, who missed out on two weeks of class and countless hours of class-time that could have been spent on actually learning material because we were practicing taking tests, I know that the future of education (even in the hands of the states) includes millions of dollars spent on standardized testing in order to determine if students are meeting the standards set by each state.  Yet, this system is not truly being stripped of it's flaws, instead the buck is being passed from the federal government to the states to take the brunt of the blame (or praise) for the condition of America's schools.

As a resident of Massachusetts, one of the highest achieving states on standardized testing and one of the best states in the country for post-secondary education, I have to say that we don't have it perfect here either.  Yes, the results say that most districts are improving their test scores, but that is not to say our schools are adequately preparing students for life after graduation.  Education has come a long way, yet even here in Massachusetts, there is no time to sit back and feel good because children are still being "left behind" and the focus should be moved from "teaching to the test" to an approach that embraces teaching to learn.  Once a student is taught how to learn effectively on their own, given the necessary tools in literacy and analytic thinking, then they can be successful in today's global workplace.

Ultimately, kudos to the Obama Administration for admitting the flaws in the system and still highlighting the honest attempt to improve America's schools, but at the same time, the ball is in the hands of the states now, it is up to them to fix the system and turn around under-performing schools and give American students the education they deserve.

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Procrastination In the Classroom

http://onlinelearningtips.com/

As I was faced with my first case of procrastination this semester, I felt it was apt to post an article I read that discusses how procrastination is reinforced and some steps you can take to overcome it.  From the teacher perspective, it might be beneficial to talk about procrastination with your students as it only gets worse with time.  Also, by not giving long amounts of time for projects/papers/presentations you can help habitual procrastinators by forcing them to get all of the work done in the allotted time.  Another method might be to have small pieces of a larger project due each day so as to reduce the stress/overwhelming aspect of a large assignment.

This article from California Polytechnic State University sheds more light on the epidemic that is procrastination in schools:

http://sas.calpoly.edu/asc/ssl/procrastination.html

Feel free to share your thoughts, experiences

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Must-See Education Movies

Over the course of my last two years studying Secondary and Special Education I have come across a number of fantastic documentaries that are must-sees for all people with an interest in education.  As I myself have a chance to watch them I'll post my thoughs on them

Race to Nowhere

http://www.racetonowhere.com/

I had a chance to see this documentary over the summer and it was eye-opening.  It is hard to imagine an environment that is so counterproductive for healthy student learning.  Whether or not you end up agreeing entirely or at all with the opinions presented in this documentary (some are related to specific situations/schools/students that might not apply if looked at on a larger scale) it is a great way to reflect on your teaching strategies/styles or even just an educational environment you have an interest in (i.e. your children, your school district, etc).

I highly recommend seeing this and feel free to post your thoughts here!

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Changes: Next Exit

"Change we can believe in"-Barack Obama

"Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes, turn and face the strange"- David Bowie

"The times they are a changin'" - Bob Dylan

"Change is the constant, the signal for rebirth, the egg of the phoenix" - Christina Baldwin

"Nothing endures but change."- Heraclitus

Change is something we deal with every second of every day. We have to go from one activity to the next, one place to the next. Time is changing, the weather is always changing. But like the weather sometimes change is for the better. Sometimes change is exactly what we need, it's the kick in the pants motivation, it's a heads up caution, it's a slap in the face reality check... So many people talk about change, our president ran on change, which is ironic, because by definition an election means change, no explanation required Mr. Obama! Even Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher already 2,500 years deceased knew the importance of change. Nothing lasts forever, but that is not a statement of cynicism like so many broken-hearted people make it, quite contrary, nothing lasts forever because everything is always changing. Not all changes are so permanent as death, but even in death things change.

Things that survive are things that can adapt to change.

So here's to the valiant, the brave, the courageous who not only accept Change's existence but embrace it, to those who live by the seat of their pants and never let and opportunity pass them by, I salute you.

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