The argument can be made that home-schooled children are more authentically socialized than children raised in a "normal" school culture, where they are isolated from the rest of the community and kept in age segregated classrooms.
Most home-schoolers don't stay shut up in their cloistered homes but have their kids out in the world interacting in a real way with people of all ages. I agree that many home-school curricula emphasize rote learning, but many follow the principle of "Teach a child biology and she can be a biologist. Teach a child to think and she can be a biologist, a lawyer or teacher." That seems very Dewey-esque.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Saturday, July 19, 2008
I Love John Dewey
Between the reading for this class and the article we have to read for Eugenie's Monday class, I'm becoming a John Dewy groupie! I think we should have t-shirts made!
This guy was AWESOME! And the story Jeff told about his refusal to speak at some progressive educators function because he didn't want to let them use his presence as a sort of stamp of approval is just the sort of "I have the balls to stand on my convictions" that is SO lacking these days.
My two favorite quotes (so far):
"[E]ducation, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living." (1897)
"Education consists in the formation of wide-awake, careful, thorough habits of thinking." (1933)
The last quote sounds so much like things I've read from the "un-schooling" movement. I wonder what he would have thought about the trend toward Homeschooling.
Cool guy. Thanks Jeff!
This guy was AWESOME! And the story Jeff told about his refusal to speak at some progressive educators function because he didn't want to let them use his presence as a sort of stamp of approval is just the sort of "I have the balls to stand on my convictions" that is SO lacking these days.
My two favorite quotes (so far):
"[E]ducation, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living." (1897)
"Education consists in the formation of wide-awake, careful, thorough habits of thinking." (1933)
The last quote sounds so much like things I've read from the "un-schooling" movement. I wonder what he would have thought about the trend toward Homeschooling.
Cool guy. Thanks Jeff!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Brain Food?
I have made an odd observation. Since the MAC program started I have been eating about twice as much as I normally eat? Has anyone else noticed this? Could it really be that our brains are using THAT much more power?
Maybe we could do a Quantitative study? We could take 41 MAC students and track the caloric intake of each over time. Compare the last 2 weeks of July to the first 2 weeks of August and see if there is a statistically significant correlation?
Seriously, I'm hungry all the time and I've been eating like crazy! Anyone else?
Maybe we could do a Quantitative study? We could take 41 MAC students and track the caloric intake of each over time. Compare the last 2 weeks of July to the first 2 weeks of August and see if there is a statistically significant correlation?
Seriously, I'm hungry all the time and I've been eating like crazy! Anyone else?
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Chatrooms as a teaching tool?
July 12, 2008
When Liz first mentioned the use of chat-rooms as a teaching tool and then suggested that it would be OK for us to "chat" during class, I thought, "I can't see any good coming of this." Initially I felt like I was right. That conversation had NOTHING to do with the class, or even education. But let's back up a step and remember that one of the goals of the class is to teach us to look at technology as a means, not only of imparting knowledge, but to foster a sense of community.
That makes sense! The way the powers that be have been splitting us up, right down A/B lines, has made us into virtually two separate cohorts! I don't like that! The Chatzy conversation brought in individuals from both sections. That was great!
I can see the value of using this as a way to create a sense of identity in my classroom when I'm teaching. Would I want kids chatting while I'm lecturing? No way. I missed a good part of what was being said on Friday because sucked into the conversation online. BUT, I would encourage my students o use it at other times, collaborate for projects, study for tests, question and answer or homework session.
I thought it was very cool.
When Liz first mentioned the use of chat-rooms as a teaching tool and then suggested that it would be OK for us to "chat" during class, I thought, "I can't see any good coming of this." Initially I felt like I was right. That conversation had NOTHING to do with the class, or even education. But let's back up a step and remember that one of the goals of the class is to teach us to look at technology as a means, not only of imparting knowledge, but to foster a sense of community.
That makes sense! The way the powers that be have been splitting us up, right down A/B lines, has made us into virtually two separate cohorts! I don't like that! The Chatzy conversation brought in individuals from both sections. That was great!
I can see the value of using this as a way to create a sense of identity in my classroom when I'm teaching. Would I want kids chatting while I'm lecturing? No way. I missed a good part of what was being said on Friday because sucked into the conversation online. BUT, I would encourage my students o use it at other times, collaborate for projects, study for tests, question and answer or homework session.
I thought it was very cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)