Another edu link

Another blog post about learning I found worth reading: Curriculum of Curiosity.

Please don't add this to our curriculum.

I've already ranted how our curriculum is overloaded. See what they are teaching in California. Granted it's not the Bible belt, but jeez-Louise Lord help us…we do not need to teach this at school. Why has the school become the one place that children learn EVERYTHING? Isn't the home responsible for teaching some stuff? Let's just put it this way…the day the government asks me to teach homosexuality at school is the day I give my two-weeks notice. I have strong opinions about homosexuality. I don't hate gays and lesbians, but I disagree with their lifestyle of choice.

No Child Left Inside

I do not use this blog to discuss my work. To be quite honest, there are lots of things I could share…positive, negative, neutral, funny, sad. But, this is not the place. And not exactly wise. You see, I work at a school. And with that comes a responsibility to the children. Which means that discussing them is not allowed. Even if I were to use code names, there's a chance that somebody could figure out who I'm talking about. So I avoid it.

But, I do have to share the funniest knock-knock joke I've ever heard.

Knock, knock.

Who's there?

Banana.

Banana who?

Banana {giggle} chicken nuggets.

Hmmm….I suppose it's not the knock-knock joke you grew up with. But it sure made this child laugh. Which made me laugh. Which made others laugh. So, there you go, banana.

Having said all of that, I get back to my opening statement. I do not normally discuss what I do. I will say why I work at a school. Because I love to teach. Because I love to learn. Because I love children. And because I love teaching children to fall in love with learning. I am a life-long student of life. I enjoy learning and always will.

Did you know that I started out my undergrad in elementary education? But I didn't finish it. I graduated with a degree in communication. What? Yeah, I know. I'm right back where I started. When I began taking education classes, I had a strong desire to teach. But I got scared. All of sudden I learned about all the benchmarks, paperwork, state requirements. blah, blah, the list goes on and on. And I chickened out. Not for me, I said. I simply wanted to teach. So I changed my major and figured I could teach Sunday School and that would be enough.

Now, I'm working as a teacher's assistant in kindergarten and loving it. If I had only known. I'm working on my certification (though it will be for grades 4-8). But I'm glad that I'm an assistant first, because I get to see first-hand what teachers have to do. And I see how overloaded our teachers are by state and federal mandated programs. And I'm reminded of why I dropped out in the first place…because I wanted to TEACH and not deal with the other mess.

Don't get me wrong. I still want to teach.

But, I think you should read this article. Some of you might not understand, but anybody out there who is a teacher will understand what this guy is saying. And this is a lesson for all aspects of life, not just education: just because something is a good idea doesn't mean it's the right idea for you.

Keep in mind, I'm not dissing the school system. Unfortunately, I believe that federal and state mandated requirements have been forced upon teachers and students to the point that school (and, therefore, learning) is no longer fun.

"And, you can take that to the bank." – Willy Wonka

Sir Ken Robinson: Interesting Take on Education and Creativity

While surfing the web I found this interesting video on a cool blog. Sir Ken Robinson speaking on education and creativity.

Read some thoughts: “Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize — much less cultivate — the talents of many brilliant people. ‘We are educating people out of their creativity,’ Robinson says. The universality of his message is evidenced by its rampant popularity online. A typical review: ‘If you have not yet seen Sir Ken Robinson’s TED talk, please stop whatever you’re doing and watch it now.'”

If you can’t view the following video, click here to watch it on YouTube.

As someone who works in both the education and design field, I understand what Robinson is trying to say.