Tales of Thinking

"Helping can also be less direct." pg. 32

This inspired me. All I ever see are teachers who are the end-all, be-all's. It's almost like a power trip, like so many of them get satisfaction in knowing that they hold the key(s) to deeper understandings and intelligence. I know we've talked about this ad nauseum, but I just really feel passionate about kids thinking they came to conclusions/realizations all on their own, without realizing that you indirectly guided them. They feel SO important and intelligent when they think they are the first people to ever have discovered ideas!

"The point of checking our daily schedule was not to have the children follow it so that my day went better. It was one way of responding to their endless questions ." pg. 38

Standards drive schedules. Schedules drive the lack of success. Many teachers complain about not having enough time to cover everything, nevermind doing anything "fun". I just want to shake them!! If they planned integrated lessons, they could knock out SO many at once it's not even funny! At first the GPS seemed overwhelming to me, but then I kind of realized that sooo many of them can be interlaced. It's like, okay, let's knock those out and get to the interesting stuff!!

I also have a HUGE issue with (some) teachers yelling/berrating(sp?)/pressuring students for not finishing activities in such-and-such available time limit. They're kids for goodness sakes! It's not like adults; we could crank out a concept map in no time! It takes them time to think, to process, to internally verbalize their ideas. And before they can get those ideas down on paper, we take it up, grade it "incomplete", and chide them for not listening/following directions!

In conclusion: No wonder America's education system is so inadequate in comparison to many other countries. We dangle expectations over their heads like a carrot too high for a donkey to reach, and right when they devise a plan to reaching the goal, we toss the carrot in the garbage. (Does this make sense at all??? I like metaphors...)

Okay, that's it! Totally tangents!