Teachable Moments

I was reading a Betty Ray article from Edutopia, where she brought up some great food for thought. Ray discussed the actions of celebrities and politicians, but more importantly the impact those actions have on our students.

The question that she posed at the end of the article got me to thinking. "Do you embrace them, talk about them, invite discussion? Or do you ignore and move on?" - This question caught my attention... as I do the latter of the two. This is something that I had never thought about... most likely because the nonstop duties in the classroom. The antics of these celebs is something that my colleagues and I usually only discuss around the teacher lunch room table. They are not topics that find their way into the classroom... at least not mine. However, I think that these actions could be every teachers dream - a teachable moment!

Next time that Kanye rocks the mic [when it's not his mic to rock] or Serena goes on a profanity riddled tirade, I will teach. I will discuss these people, whom my students look up to and admire. I will use the teachable moment to discuss what their thoughts on the matter are. Hopefully my students will come away with a better understanding of how to deal with situations in life that may arise. Too often we in the public education sector are so focused on standards, AYP and such that we forget that "life happens" and we must address and teach about these issues even more so.

We should be taking advantage of every teachable moment that comes along. Thanks Betty.

Your thoughts?

More to come...

Mike Meechin

mike@innovateeducation.com

Really?!

So, I was in Boston this past weekend getting married, and have been playing catch up on the Obama speech to students hoopla. Today I watched the President's speech on my JetBlue flight back to Orlando.

What was the problem? Are people, parents and school districts, so caught up in partisanship that they cannot allow students to hear from the figurehead of this nation? There was no political slant in today's speech, and had there been, then shame on Obama. But, there was none. The speech was good old... "get down to business and work hard". What's wrong with that?

Following the President's speech MSNBC interviewed a man from the San Antonio Tea Party who claimed that the lesson plans that were put out by the DOE were in violation of federal law.

Really?!

His argument was that our children should not have to write down their dreams and aspirations. Is this where we are as a society? The "Tea Party" man also had an issue in a previous interview with MSNBC where teachers get to decide about showing the speech to their students. Also, I am sick of people comparing the Obama speech to students across the country to the speeches of Chairman Mao.

Really?!

Alright, here is my take... the school district that I work for did not want students to view the speech live, this after parental complaints poured in. They also issued a district wide email to teachers declaring that you would have to see how the speech aligned to the Sunshine State Standards before you show it to students. This is crazy to me. In a speech where the President called on students to put some effort into their education - to not quit on their country by dropping out - to ask questions and find out what they are great at - we are not allowing students to view this.

It seems to me that if the President of the United States wants to speak with the students of the United States then he should be able to do so. No matter what parents, school districts, or anyone thinks. I am on the front lines in the classroom and I know that this message that the President brought to the airwaves is EXACTLY what they need to hear. Let me know your thoughts on this post or the President's speech or people's response to the speech.

My apologies for the diatribe.

PS Here is the link to the "Tea Party" interview: You Tube Tea Party Interview

More to come...

Mike Meechin

mike@innovateeducation.com

Chivalry is Dead.

After some serious reflection about my last post and also David Warlick's Teacher Shock post, I have some things I want to get out. So here goes.

Chivalry is dead.

The more that I talk with my students the more I learn about the lack of their knowledge base. As my wedding is now just four days away, I have been discussing... and they have been questioning me about the process. The students that sit in my classroom lack the knowledge background to understand even the marriage process and what this means. It makes me wonder what else they do not know.

Will these young men and women know how to date, how to meet a significant others parents, how to, when the time comes, propose... get married... raise a family? Or, is chivalry dead?

Warlick blogged, "What they learn well, they learn because it helps them. Knowledge and skills are tools for them, which they learn to use to accomplish goals. Their goals are to reach some level in the video game of the day, or to generate conversation through their social networking. To me, the question should be, 'How do we infect these information ecosystems with the knowledge and skills that we know will be essential to their future.'"

I agree... however it makes me wonder what the discussions that take place on their social networking sites entail. Are the video games they play condoning violence, specifically toward women? What are the lyrics they are listening to on their iPods as they walk around with their friends saying to them, or about society? These outlets are so integral to young peoples' lives, but what content are they learning from these technologies?

I am all for integration and delivery of instruction using these "information ecosystems", but I fear that these outlets are replacing the teacher-student relationship. What happens next?

Maybe Pilgrims and their automobiles (or their lack there of) are not the most important things in the world for my students to learn. But what about "life"... is that important, or will technology "teach" it to them... or better yet...

Is chivalry dead? Let me know your thoughts.

More to come...

Mike Meechin

mike@innovateeducation.com