As someone who has essentially grown up with the internet, from simple message boards to today's Web 2.0, I understand the need for teachers to adapt to this new interconnected world. Even though I was brought up in a very traditional school setting where I was expected to memorize facts rather than learn about ideas and concepts, I was still able to appreciate how interconnected everything was. That probably stemmed from my love of history and how understanding what happened in the past is key to understanding why certain events and revolutions arose later on. We live in an age of "abundance" as Will Richardson states in "Why School?" No longer are students forced to look for single facts, instead we have to find ways to encourage them to synthesize what they learn so that they can create new and meaningful ways of demonstrating what they learn. They can create anything from books, to computer programs, to websites. To make it meaningful, they decide what it is they want to learn and create.
One of Richardson's proposals is to "Discover" the curriculum, which is a proposal that I believe I can commit to. While it may be more difficult to grade, as there cannot be a multiple choice exam at the end, I believe that if students are allowed to research and discover something that interests them (within the curriculum guidelines), then they will show more interest in the subject matter. For example, if students are to learn about animals, I can let them pick an animal to research, describe, write about, and draw. As long as I set basic guidelines, they can begin discovering something that they find interesting, thus leading to more engagement. This is something that I hope I can commit to doing this school year in my classroom on a regular basis rather than an infrequent one.
Richardson's proposal that I would most likely struggle with would probably be the "Transfer of Power." Being a teacher in an immersion language program, students still have to rely on me as their main source for the Spanish language, especially in the first grade where they are still grasping the concepts of the spoken and written language. I am sure that I can find a way, but it will be something that I know I will have to work on.
One of Richardson's proposals is to "Discover" the curriculum, which is a proposal that I believe I can commit to. While it may be more difficult to grade, as there cannot be a multiple choice exam at the end, I believe that if students are allowed to research and discover something that interests them (within the curriculum guidelines), then they will show more interest in the subject matter. For example, if students are to learn about animals, I can let them pick an animal to research, describe, write about, and draw. As long as I set basic guidelines, they can begin discovering something that they find interesting, thus leading to more engagement. This is something that I hope I can commit to doing this school year in my classroom on a regular basis rather than an infrequent one.
Richardson's proposal that I would most likely struggle with would probably be the "Transfer of Power." Being a teacher in an immersion language program, students still have to rely on me as their main source for the Spanish language, especially in the first grade where they are still grasping the concepts of the spoken and written language. I am sure that I can find a way, but it will be something that I know I will have to work on.