Rick Wormeli - the current trend in education

American presenter Rick Wormeli was in St. Paul on Monday to deliver his message about education. For those who could not attend his presentation here is a similar presentation done recently in Saskatchewan.

http://blogs.wsd1.org/etr/?tag=rick-wormeli

His key message is that differentiated instruction which basically means teaching each student at his or her own level. Nice idea but like so many trends in education it is not practical, nor in my opinion even really desirable. Does each child in a classroom need a separate lesson plan? Do we really need to stress teachers out with unrealistic expectations.

Clearly our school division and school board herald this teaching method as the best since they have declared this extra PD day and insisted that all teachers attend to learn about it.

I have a number of issues with this method that I will address in posts over the next while.

However if you are interested in hearing his message first hand, please check out the link above.

Underachieving kids

This article is right on the nose! I was an underachieving child for many years and can completely identify with the definition of coasters:

"Coasters make up 40 per cent of all underachievers, equal among both girls and boys. They come from all kinds of families. Coasters procrastinate at home and at school. They give up easily, get low marks, and lose interest without concern for the consequences. They have selective memories, forgetting things they deem unimportant, and while they may have good intentions, they rarely follow through. These kids seem unfazed by their lack of academic achievement."

Personally as long as I was able to maintain a passing grade I coasted. It was not until high school that I experienced failure and decided that it was in "my best interest" to try. Eventually I became an advocate of education.

"The resource teacher told me that you sometimes have to let your kid become "ready to learn" at his own pace, and although I believed her, I found it really hard to let go. You feel like you'd be a terrible parent if you don't prevent your kid from failing. But I can see that she's right, and that sometimes kids have to fall on their faces so they can find out for themselves that they actually want to succeed and find it worthwhile to do the work."

Programs like "second chances" maintain coasting and prevent the all important experience of failure which is necessary for success.

Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2010/03/10/f-barwick-underachievers.html#ixzz0i4ne8Wqi

education awards

Education awards are often difficult because they single out the efforts of a few individuals when so many teachers put in so much hard work. However personally I feel that they are good in that they shine a positive light on teachers in general.

Both Julie Dubeau from Ecole Mallaig and Corinne Pashko from Racette will receive the Excellence in Catholic Education awards. Tanya Herbert has been nominated by the board for the Edwin Parr award.

FSLW

The Family School Liaison Worker program is the only school based counseling program in our division. It receives government funds and funds from local municipalities.

There were some hints of concern about the long term viability of the program in the last school board meeting.

This is an important program offered to students. Having emotionally healthy children is a benefit to everybody, just as an educated population is a benefit to everybody. This program must be supported.

Contact your school board members and your government representatives and let them know that this program is important.

Outrageous

Apparently the students who filmed their teachers lap dancing as part of a performance at a school pep rally could face discipline charges because the school has a "zero tolerance policy" (another eduphrase I hate) with regard to cell phones and recording devices. I would think that the school would be so ashamed of this stupid behavior on the part of their staff members that they would choose not to bring anymore attention to the issue. I wonder if the school has a "zero tolerance policy" about teachers behaving like immature idiots.

http://www.calgaryherald.com/Winnipeg+students+filmed+dancing+teachers+could+face+punishment/2633050/story.html

but thats just my opinion! :)

Interesting video clip

An interesting opinion about education from a drop out.

"Society no longer cares how many facts we can memorize because in the information age, facts are free ... education is about stoking creativity and original ideas ... its about empowering students to change the world for the better."

http://www.diigo.com/bookmark/http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-P2PGGeTOA4

Students need to learn how to think for themselves

Here is an interesting study done at a Grand Prairie College

I absolutely agree that kids should be taught and encouraged to read science reports, however I feel that the attack on the media is unfair. Most reporters do go out of their way to try to get information accurate. However now in the days of the Internet where anyone and everyone has an opinion, the ability to locate accurate information and interpret it is a critical life skill.

http://www.ccl-cca.ca/CCL/Research/FundedResearch/20100218Kropan.htm

conclusion:

"To enable lifelong learning of science, students need to be taught how to read such reports. Furthermore, because media reports on the subject of science are often incomplete (due to space limitations), and often written by a reporter who is biased or a non-expert, students must be taught to read such reports critically; knowledge gained from these reports can affect both personal decisions (e.g., whether to try a new medical treatment described in a magazine) and public decisions (e.g., whether to support the building of a local nuclear power plant)."