Journal Entry # 6

“Teachers who recognize the goal of teaching thinking rather than just imparting knowledge help students make connections beyond the content of the coursework”

Teaching thinking, that says it all. As educators we need to teach our students how to analyze the world around and be prepared to take action. Our students must understand how to interpret surroundings, text books, videos, and media to gain a deeper understanding of the material. If we just pound facts and information into our students, they are bound to forget it in a matter of time. To many educators are concerned with helping the students memorize information so that they may remember the facts on a Standardized test; however if we are able to teach our students how to think about the problem and find the answer, not only will they perform better on the standardized test we are teaching the student a life long skill. This is how the education system should be teaching our students how to think rather than how to memorize.

As a current teacher I have noticed how my students have struggled through, what I call application problems. I teach the students the skills and we practice the skills, then I assign application problems. These application problems are a list of attributes students must apply to a project using the knowledge and skills we have learned through the unit. My students complain that it is too hard, that they can't do this hard of work. I believe this is because I expect the students to think and discover, and they are not use to this. My class is not simple memorization, but they are required to learn the material and use that knowledge to create projects - they find this very difficult. I want to prepare my students for the future, not for a test.

Ok I found a great video. Please watch this, it says so much about our educations system today!
A vision of K-12 Students Today

bjnesbitt (Producer). (2007). A vision of k-12 students today . [Web Video]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8