Shelley's School!!

If I was able to create my own school, I would first focus on the curriculum that would be in place.  I would want to incorporate some of Gee's Game Theory into the curriculum to motivate students and keep them interested.  I would also want a constructivist atmosphere where the students are semi-self taught.  The curriculum follow a set of standards, but the standards would focus on higher order thinking and discovery.  Many authentic activities would be emphasized and assessed accordingly (rubrics) .  I would emphasize these aspects because I believe that students will pay attention and learn better if the material is more relatable to things they like doing (playing games, winning).  In addition, I feel that learning independently and with groups is a big challenge and is necessary for the real world.  The students will be more prepared to take care of themselves when they grow up, and many employers seek and demand employees who will work with others and who work well with others.  In life you must collaborate with many people, thus collaborating is a critical skill.

After curriculum, I would attend to the staff.  The teacher's would need to aline with my goals and curriculum, as well as challenge the status quo and bring in new ideas (in a productive manner).  All teachers would need to be a little free spirited to allow students to work constructively, and would need to know subject matter completely.  I would also want to hire teachers with a sense of humor who can laugh at themselves and keep the class interested.  They need to have the student's best interest in mind.  Teachers would need to be experienced with technology and constructivist classrooms.  If they cannot properly use technology or the structure of the classroom to create higher order thinking, then the students will suffer.

After hiring teachers, I would focus on the technology that needed to be implemented to enhance the instruction.  I would give every teacher a SMART board, and every student a laptop.  This would allow the greatest ways for students to learn with technology (accessibility).  I would also collaborate with the teachers and have them go through trainings to develop a plan as to how technology will be best implemented.  I believe that technology would be good for simulations, presentations, video representations, blogs, and research.  It is also good for students to know how to use technology so that they will have the skills necessary for the future.  Younger students will be taught basic, as well as more advanced skills, while older students will use technology for purely advanced, higher order thinking.

RSAnimate.org Video Reflection

I would like to discuss my opinions on education after watching the video from RSAnimate.org.  I agree whole-heartedly with most of what was said in the video, and am sad that none of these problems seem to get fixed. The voice of the man in the video mentions that the school structure is flawed and outdated and I agree.  It focuses on Industrial Revolution type training, which is not what the globalized world needs today.  I took mutliple accounting classes, up to advanced accounting, and received A's, yet feel completely unprepared to be an accountant of any sort.  I obtained an internship for accounting and used no accounting skills beyond credit and debit side basic understandings.  Most of the projects I work on at my internship are critical thinking based and are learned from experience and understanding of the billing process.  Basically, internships have now taken the place of apprenticeships.  If this is going to continue to be the case, the USA might as well have students go into apprenticeships and skip college (unless they will use some of the knowledge, as it seems to be the case for doctors, etc.). 

Secondly, I also agree when the video voice-over states that people are looked at as academic and non-academic.  I am obtaining my Masters degree, and my brother only received an AA, but he is just as smart as me, if not smarter.  He just made different decisions.  So maybe it could be said that I have different values than him or better common sense.  There are a number of arguments you could make, but the fact of the matter is that no one is dumb and incapable of properly being educated.   I personally see a problem with people who are deemed "academics," but lack all common sense

Lastly, I agree that standardized tests and not penalizing students for getting distracted are two unstimulating practices.  Standardized tests are flawed and create a flawed system, in that many teachers teach to the test.  In addition, I agree that teachers should be stimulating students through the use of technology and other materials that are relevant to the present rather than shun them.  These new materials will be relevant to their future careers and lives and knowing how to navigate and use technology will be paramount. 

Overall, it was a very entertaining video that illustrated a lot of issues that the education system should fix.

Unified Sports

After reading about Unified Sports here, I was jealous that my high school did not offer such great programs.  Unified Sports is an offset of the Special Olympics in that it combines students with disabilities and students without disabilities on the same teams.  For example, one high school had a dance team with some disabled students that would perform in front of the school.  The teams can perform against other schools Unified Sports teams locally, regionally, and nationally.  42 states particpate in the program, and the goal is for half of the students on a team to have disabilities.  In addition, it is encouraged that the games and competitions are performed around the same time as normal games and competitions so that the teams draw a lot of attention.
I think this is a great way to enable students with disabilities to feel like they belong to the high school environment.  It's also a great way to bring out tolerance in students around campus.  In the article, students who were involved in such activities stated that the students with disabilities weren't much different from them and that they had a lot in common.  Students around campus were high-fiving the students with disabilities and including them in the high school scene for once.  I think that the involvement and feelings of acceptance will help the students with diabilities in school as well.  Having more friends and being acknowledged will lead to a better self esteem, which could give them more courage and confidence in school work.
If you are a teacher or administrator of a high school I would recommend looking into implementing Unified Sports to help both students with and without disabilities.