SchoolSpring » Entries tagged with "new education"
Cross Country Travel & Realizing the importance of the Outdoors
After living in five countries and teaching in international schools for the past twenty one years, Rick and I are delighted to be back in the U.S. A. We are privileged to have explored in cities, ruins, beaches and mountains on five continents, but we realized we had not traveled as much in our home country. So, during the usually muddy months of March and April, we set off in our popup camper to travel to National Parks in the South and Southwest. We discovered that these parks are our nation’s gift to us all. We have returned from a fabulous eight week road trip across the South and into the Southwest.The highlight was the experieince of being in our National Parks. As we hiked and explored, I thought about how important it … Read entire article »
Filed under: curriculum, Environmental Studies, mentoring students, outdoor Education, Rick Detwiler, Sandi Detwiler, Student Health
MEDIA SPONGES
Anya Kamenetz’s article in FastCompany titled, “A Is for App: How Smartphones, Handheld Computers Sparked an Educational Revolution,” she brings up a few reasons why media was bad, can be good, and why it was considered awful to the world’s future generations. Early in the article it states: “American children now spend 7.5 hours a day absorbing and creating media — as much time as they spend in school.” A decade ago, this was seen as a bad thing. Out of these technology-obsessed, media absorbing, inactive kids—experts and parents alike saw no value in the rise and use of technology among their children. Less time spent on homework and minimal time outside was a cause for concern, but within the past few years, handheld, technological devices have re-established … Read entire article »
Filed under: Books, Future of Education, technology in education
No child left behind… in the United States of… Finland? What happened to America?
The American educational system is based on fair and equal educational gain among all students in the classroom. It is thought that by changing classrooms each year, a student will progress further. It is also thought that this system will enhance a child’s way of learning by being surrounded among a variety of students each year with various skills and strengths. This however, is not the belief in Finland, where the curriculum is relaxed, children are honored among classmates for their academic strengths and helped with their weaknesses in the same classroom. Finnish children grow together, in the same classroom, with the same teacher for the first 5-7 years of their education while many American schools tend to separate students with weakness from the stronger students in specific subjects like reading, … Read entire article »
Filed under: curriculum, Future of Education, size of schools, Teacher motivation, Teacher skills
