Blogs

I've really enjoyed getting blog entries via RSS feed this year. This
was a new thing for me (I'm SO web 1.0) My google reader is now my favorite home page. I found a new favorite today, at www.authenticeducation.org. I have enjoyed reading their responses to essential questions about education. Lately, they've been discussing "What one change would you make to public education?". For me, it would have to be the standards. It is exceedingly difficult to bring in depth of knowledge for my students when we have so many standards that are fact-based that span three miles of knowledge. We go three miles wide, and a half-inch deep. It would be nice to be able to take the time to delve deeply into an area, and let kids explore for awhile. It seems to me, as an average Jane, that everyone had a pet project to throw into the standards, so now instead of doing a few things well, we do a lot of things poorly. There are far more factoids to teach than thinking skills or processes. Another thought I have is that it would be nice, if we are going to have standards, to make them truly standard across districts. It would have been nice, when my son moved from the district where I used to teach to the one I teach in now, if there hadn't been so many gaps to fill between curricula. I enjoyed homeschooling last summer, but it didn't help me prepare for my new classroom!!