Today's Education Reflection and Noam Chomsky

I have been reading, listening and watching Noam Chomsky's view on education. I am not surprised at all to discover that his formative years in education was deeply entrenched in literature, a Dewey school, and did not know what a grade was until High School. He commented that when he went into High School he did not know that he was considered smart, and found it absurd that people were ranked academically. The more I personally look at it, the more I think it is absurd as well. Making meaning in your lives has little to do with a grade on a report card, or even a degree for that matter. After striving to attain 4.0's and 2 masters degrees all I have is the reality that I can and did. It has not gotten me economic advancement, but, rather is some regards has worked against me. I saw a billboard of an older gentleman holding a book. The sign said, Herbert was not able to read this sign until he was 70...literacy matters. To that I wanted to laugh. Why? Because the man made it into his 70's without being able to read and he is retired and happy! He was able to hold down a job, raise his family, work in this nation. He needed to be able to crunch numbers. Wake up America! The way we are schooling our kids does not develop freedom of thought, knowledge and potential wealth. It actually works against the original belief in America. Ask yourself do you want a child who can think freely, question the world around them, seek answers and be the change? Or do you want a child who is a grunt incapable of developing an individual thought and only spewing back information that comes to them on a test? Your answer to this question will in fact determine your value and opinion about standardized testing.

Finally, Someone is Saying it! Schools Diminish the Love of Learning...Some of the Time.

I came across Kelly Gallagher's new book "Read-i-cide" today and the timing was perfect. I stumbled upon yet another glorious attempt to engage our children and advance their love of STEM by way of guess what? A Video-game! Yep, publishers, higher ed (well intentioned, I think) but out of touch directors of education believe that they are going to reach children and encourage them to be active learners by sitting them in front of yet another mind-numbing, push a button and learn process, when the one thing that kids are missing is Whole, Real, Authentic, Meaning Centered education. The multitudes of computer programs that test our kids, teach them meaningful reading, advance their vocabulary, math scores, etc. miss out on a huge piece of the puzzle;NONE OF THEM ARE REAL! While there is some benefit in a computer program, giving a kid a smart phone and letting them play at their own pace, their own time, their own exploration (did you read all that I just wrote? Their time, understanding, pace, exploration, THEIR is the key) Giving a kid one day a week and limited time on a computer (most computers in our schools are archaic and do not function well, and typically not accessible in our struggling communities) does little more than frustrate. To lock a kid in a stationary positioning while staring at a screen, is not different then putting them in a classroom with a teacher in front of them telling them to take notes. Engagement is in the mind of the beholder. There is something to be said about self-selected activities, exploration, holding a book in your hands, or a comic book, or whatever happened to the success of "Reader's Theater?" Oh, wait, I know...it could be created by teachers for their students and did not make any publishing companies or software developers any money. You know the only way to make money in education is to either write a textbook, or produce yet another pie in the sky approach to elevating scores. Hmmm, billions of dollars after the first NCEA, and decades after a "Nation at Risk" we still have not bothered to do what is right. Spending more money on bells and whistles is equivalent to the "snake oil" sellers of days gone by. "Buy this elixir and you will learn quicker." Sorry, but after being connected to education for over 30 years, in many capacities, I have seen the forest, the trees, and have even explored a few snails. As far as Kelly Gallagher goes; "The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools," and well, the ever-expanding choices of electronic entertainment. (including computer games created by gamers who one must question how many books they read in school)he is calling it as he sees it. Move over Marzano, there is a new guy in town, and simplicity is his game. Read-i-cide n: The systematic killing of the love of reading, often exacerbated by the inane, mind-numbing practices found in schools. Reading is dying in our schools. Educators are familiar with many of the factors that have contributed to the decline — poverty, second-language issues, and the ever-expanding choices of electronic entertainment. In this provocative new book, Kelly Gallagher suggests, however, that it is time to recognize a new and significant contributor to the death of reading: our schools. In Readicide, Kelly argues that American schools are actively (though unwittingly) furthering the decline of reading. Specifically, he contends that the standard instructional practices used in most schools are killing reading by: valuing the development of test-takers over the development of lifelong readers; mandating breadth over depth in instruction; requiring students to read difficult texts without proper instructional support; insisting that students focus solely on academic texts; drowning great books with sticky notes, double-entry journals, and marginalia; ignoring the importance of developing recreational reading; and losing sight of authentic instruction in the shadow of political pressures. Kelly doesn't settle for only identifying the problems. Readicide provides teachers, literacy coaches, and administrators with specific steps to reverse the downward spiral in reading—steps that will help prevent the loss of another generation of readers. - See more at: http://www.stenhouse.com/shop/pc/viewprd.asp?idProduct=9158&r=eu12411&REFERER=#sthash.emC5mpKy.sJ9gvMr0.dpuf

Mary E. Rapier, Founder of PBL3 Initiaitives

We are facing a dilemma currently in our global society. It is a one that we have never truly had to deal with entirely before and it is one that will be with us from this era forward. We as a nation have taken a half-hearted approach towards, it. “It” is illiteracy, and literary incompetence. We have witnessed an increase in the investment into our schools in the area of literacy, but this is actually because of the identifiable shortcoming of our students graduating out of our public school system. This is not to say that there is an ever increasing upwards movement towards higher education. It is to say that even with all of those efforts we are still falling short with regards to communicating effectively through the written word. The NCEE, National Center on Education and the Economy has spent a time and money to create a program that fills in the gap and prepares for the future students who are capable of producing thoughtful, succinct executive summaries. In an ever increasing movement via the internet the dominance of the written word is further ahead than any mainstream individual could have ever imagined fifty years ago. Our founding fathers desire to establish an educated society was an insightful desire, however we have created a dual dynamic in that there are so many that are graduating from halls of universities, colleges, technical training schools without the ability to communicate effectively through the medium of written text, that however they understand concepts, they cannot effectively translate that into documentation. One must ask then is writing a learned skill or is it an art? Is need outpacing ability? Regardless of what the individual belief is, the necessity for a strong written document is central to the promotion of idea, product, emotion, a securing of both the tangible as well as the intangible. Word weaving as I like to refer to it is fulfilling that Very need. My life experience when melded with education, art, the weaving of the importance of the written word, provides you the client with the documentation necessary to get your message across. A real world, pragmatic approach to allocation of concepts is what you will find in my work. While there has not been formal education in the area of mar-com, I do have experience in writing for a purpose, Executive summary, research, curriculum development, web-text development, essay, as well as non-professional documents. All in all, my ability to transfer ideas in written form is a strength that I have been developing over the course of many years. The role of educator, coach, developer, volunteer, director, consumer, has given me the ability to identify the needs of those that I am serving. As the individual shares a need, a preferred outcome can be isolated. My goal oriented nature seeks ways in which to fulfill the desired results. Articulate, direct, passionate, encouraging, are all words that can be used to describe my approach. When approach is coupled with the an idea or product there will be results coming forth as a result of the written word. The market and the needs of the individual will change as we evolve into a global community. Having someone with a diverse background identifies their ability to grow and change with the needs of those around them. The diversity of skill sets provides a canvas of adaptability and modifiable form to deliver a product to you the client, that meets your need as well as your client’s needs. For further information feel free to contact Mary E. Rapier with maryerapier@gmail.com