Our field trip to another high school...
While I was disappointed to not watch students engaged with education, I came away from yesterday's field trip to the tech and science charter school in Denver with lots of questions.
Does their principal's comparing restaurants to schools make sense? We do choose to go to the Mexican restaurant rather than the Mexican/Italian/Chinese/American Deli Bistro because its ability to specialize tends to create better food. As teachers, would we truly become better if we specialized more (ex. 5 Government sections rather than 2 history and 3 government)? Would we become more innovative if we could focus on fewer preps? Or would we get tired of making the same dish 5 times a day? As one who loves cooking and has faced limited opportunities to do so with my broken arm, I know how bored I am with my cuisine lately. Would that be me in my fifth attack on the issue of federalism?
If a Gates funded school seems like they will have to find funding sources, how can we afford to make the huge changes needed here? Simply getting power to rooms is an issue before we actually power up any laptops. Will our community cough up those types of resources even if they will purchase persoanl laptops? Is a school our age and size really the right building to retro-fit the new world into? Can their architect do the remodel????
Time to go watch an old school production of The Music Man and see if my son's trombone holds together and daughter's smile leaves her face. And as I am watching the creative forces on stage, I'll be remembering the principals discussion of only serving the important 17 dishes rather than the full menu of opportunities. Where does drama fit into his dream?
Does their principal's comparing restaurants to schools make sense? We do choose to go to the Mexican restaurant rather than the Mexican/Italian/Chinese/American Deli Bistro because its ability to specialize tends to create better food. As teachers, would we truly become better if we specialized more (ex. 5 Government sections rather than 2 history and 3 government)? Would we become more innovative if we could focus on fewer preps? Or would we get tired of making the same dish 5 times a day? As one who loves cooking and has faced limited opportunities to do so with my broken arm, I know how bored I am with my cuisine lately. Would that be me in my fifth attack on the issue of federalism?
If a Gates funded school seems like they will have to find funding sources, how can we afford to make the huge changes needed here? Simply getting power to rooms is an issue before we actually power up any laptops. Will our community cough up those types of resources even if they will purchase persoanl laptops? Is a school our age and size really the right building to retro-fit the new world into? Can their architect do the remodel????
Time to go watch an old school production of The Music Man and see if my son's trombone holds together and daughter's smile leaves her face. And as I am watching the creative forces on stage, I'll be remembering the principals discussion of only serving the important 17 dishes rather than the full menu of opportunities. Where does drama fit into his dream?
posted by Meyer at 5:14 PM
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