This Week in Education

There are many challenges being an educator in America today. 

This is true in the California school I currently work for.  If you read my previous blog you know I went to science camp.  Science camp allows students to learn lessons about the environment while being in a camp away from home.  Well, I had to reinforce what they learned that day with students from my school.  

I was walking them to a place to do this debriefing when one student said,
“My dad sent me here to have fun not to learn anything.”  

This is the problem with many students today they want to have fun and not learn anything.  Learning is hard.  Teaching is hard because fun is valued over learning.

            I received a valuable lesson from my grandfather, but it took me years to figure it out.  Many things are like this in life.  He once said to me, “Boy I can’t learn you nothing.” 

At the time I thought, “how ignorant, that is not even grammatically correct.”  Years later I realized what he meant by this.  He could teach me a lot, and he did.  But I had to learn it.  Learning is not a 50/50 proposition; both the teacher and the learner have to give 100%.  Most learners are waiting for the fact fairy to stuff information and knowledge under their pillows instead of quarters. 

I was having to get ready for an awards and a citizenship assembly when I realized that I was giving one of each to a couple of the same students.  That is the reason why some students succeed and some students fail.  It is not only dedicating oneself to giving a 100% to learning; a student needs to follow the rules.  This is where many students depart. This departure causes them not only to fail in school but also in life. 

So in the desire for fun, some students forsake learning.  They are caught in the moment literally.  Learning is a slow process.  It takes years of work.  Fun is easy.  Last week I was teaching the Solar System and the Universe. I was having them take notes.  I told them that the Universe was 13.5 billion years old.  This caused quite a stir.  Several immediately jumped out of their seats and began to sing,

”Then nearly fourteen billion years ago expansion started—

   Wait!
 The Earth began to cool.”

 Then they proceeded en masse to argue that I was wrong because the TV show taught them that the earth is 14 billion years old.  This is why sometimes you think you don’t stand a chance.  But there is that 20% that have, because of their internal make-up or parental upbringing, combined a quest for learning and an adherence to rules and norms.

This is why students struggle.  They believe those little facts captured in their quest for fun are all they need in life.  It is working for them now so why shouldn't it always be so.

Well, this week is over.  Who knows what will happen next week in education.

RAWR