Sunday, January 23, 2011

Getting real world experience, and learning.

This cover article of the January 19th Education Week is about a mentor program that puts high school students in situations that most college kids only dream about. Designing buildings and complex engineering projects. I am a full supporter of any program that helps students see the real world applications of what they are learning in the classroom. It gives them context for math, science, writing and other subjects that may seem boring when taken out of context.

These programs help fill a need for relevancy in education. In this article they are focusing on the STEM subjects but this model could be used in every field. For instance, locally, there are several charter schools that put the focus on the arts or environmental science. If we had these programs for things such as small business, politics, or any other manner of industry we could insure a strong source of future employers and employees in every field.

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Cutting expenses, obvious vs. effectiveness.

When large institutions public and private go through hard financial times they often look for the easiest and most obvious places to cut. Unfortunately the ones making the decisions are usually the most expensive players. Luckily the governor of California has the elected position to see that one of the easiest ways to save allot of money right away is to cut a very expensive position, Education Secretary. This article, on Edweek.org goes more into the politics of the the decision, but I think that the financial reasons are fairly sound. I am glad that despite major cuts to the budget, Mr Brown is putting education first and not cutting much of the education budget.

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Texting for Truancy

This article in Education Week has an interesting and very easy way to let parents know instantly if their kids are skipping. Seems pretty effective. I just wonder who would be responsible for sending the text out, the teacher or the administrator. I plan on being very reachable for parents and I wonder how reachable they want to be for me. I would hope that an open dialog will be created between me, my students and their parents.