I loved the idea of having kids do real projects, present to real people, and get real feedback, plus mentorship. It reminded me in some ways of Junior Achievement on a larger and more organized scale.
What I didn't see in the article was how they went about getting these juniors and seniors together. Were they dismissed from regular classroom activity? Was this in conjunction with school? Seperate? How did they choose the students?
Getting kids involved in real life, real civic projects is definitely a win-win situation. It was interesting to note that the first time in the kids were very self confident and then had to learn to take criticism and disappointment and turn it around into something positive. So often in a class room setting when the project is turned in then it's over. There isn't much room for improvement or reflection. We learn more from our mistakes. Being able to go back to the drawing board enabled the kids to take their anger and turn it into something productive. That works for everyone.
Schools in general should think more about this sort of work plan. Like they said, the navy doesn't teach trigonometry it teaches navigation. You have to learn the trig to navigate.
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
I'm a senior here at Marian College. I'm an English Major, ESL minor, and Secondary Education.
I graduate in May and leave for London and Paris for two weeks. It's become my mantra.
My technology experience consists of being married for 25 years to a systems analyst and having to hear about everything on the planet about computers, but I have no personal knowledge of how they work. I didn't even use one much until I returned to college 2 years ago other than ebay. I am not fond of technology, though I have a cell phone which I covet for the awesome ability it provided me in raising and keeping track of 5 children. However, after I lost a 10 page English report somewhere on my computer last semester, I was sorely tempted to find a functioning typewriter somewhere on the planet and return it to use. I prefer to read real books that I can hold in my hand and will do anything not to read things on a computer, though I must admit that googling for things is sometimes very convenient, but being somewhat ADHD, I tend to be easily sidetracked. I don't like to read anything more than a page long on a computer. I have a Face-Book account but there isn't much on it. I only joined so my kids would add me, and I could see what they were up to now that they no longer live at home, plus, they thought it was funny because I was in college and so were they. I don't even visit it often. The thing I hate most about technology is all those passwords that I can never keep track of. I would like to learn how to transfer pictures from my camera onto the computer.
I graduate in May and leave for London and Paris for two weeks. It's become my mantra.
My technology experience consists of being married for 25 years to a systems analyst and having to hear about everything on the planet about computers, but I have no personal knowledge of how they work. I didn't even use one much until I returned to college 2 years ago other than ebay. I am not fond of technology, though I have a cell phone which I covet for the awesome ability it provided me in raising and keeping track of 5 children. However, after I lost a 10 page English report somewhere on my computer last semester, I was sorely tempted to find a functioning typewriter somewhere on the planet and return it to use. I prefer to read real books that I can hold in my hand and will do anything not to read things on a computer, though I must admit that googling for things is sometimes very convenient, but being somewhat ADHD, I tend to be easily sidetracked. I don't like to read anything more than a page long on a computer. I have a Face-Book account but there isn't much on it. I only joined so my kids would add me, and I could see what they were up to now that they no longer live at home, plus, they thought it was funny because I was in college and so were they. I don't even visit it often. The thing I hate most about technology is all those passwords that I can never keep track of. I would like to learn how to transfer pictures from my camera onto the computer.
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