We Have To Stop Pretending #makeschoolsdifferent

This morning I was tagged in a tweet from Scott McLeod that linked to his new blog post named “We have to stop pretending.” In the post he listed 5 things in education that we, obviously, have to stop doing or ignoring. Then he tagged 5 people he challenged to write a post with their 5 things. This afternoon, Beth Still posted a great list and tagged me in it. So here is my list:

We have to stop pretending:

  • It is cute or funny to “not be techie.”  Pleading ignorance at the stake of children’s learning is not funny. Ever. Stop.
  • Technology is just an add on to the real learning. Technology needs to stop being an extra or a check list. Curriculum departments need to work with instructional tech departments to really integrate it into everyday learning. Like the pencil.
  • Standards, Curriculum, and actual Teaching are synonymous. Common core is not a new way of teaching math. Also, no matter how many times we get new standards, lazy teachers are going to be lazy teachers.
  • PD happens during a special day or planning period. PD needs to be personalized and sought after regularly by whatever means you are comfortable with. Principals should be leaders in this and help their teachers find new ways to learn.
  • 2 hours (or less) of science a week in elementary schools is enough. The US is ranked ridiculously low in science and math. Yet not much has been done about this even though STEM is a huge buzzword right now. Science and math need to be combined and taught daily.

Ok it was hard to just stop at five. Please know this is not written to be offensive, it is written to make you think.  Think about what can we do as an education community to increase student learning and make schools a better place for all kids.

Now the even harder part, who to tag. I think I am going to tag Jenna Shaw, Todd Nesloney, Craig Badura, John Spencer, and Michelle Wilson. What do you think we need to stop pretending? Don’t forget to tag #makeschoolsdifferent