as educators.. we take on a mission to optimize learning .
we need to boldly change the game. we need to switch from defense to offense.
we need to no longer buckle when reliability-oriented thinkers question our practice.
we need to no longer let this means of validation, one we don’t even believe in, prove us to be invalids.
invalid
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
adjective- Not valid; not true, correct, acceptable or appropriate.
noun
- One who is confined to home or bed because of illness, disability or injury
- Any person with a disability.
thinking inspired from
iste 2010
edubloggercon - session one -
cognitive science, intrinsic/extrinsic motivation
my bad for tangentiating (and making up words).. but i really do think it’s blocking motivation/cognitive science/etc.
in this session today... our idea of displacing standardized tests... was dismissed.
they said - - that won’t happen in our lifetime.
first of all - i don’t agree.
but even more important...
i hope we don’t give kids that impression. that an idea could never happen in their lifetime.
ways to cope, how to motivate kids, how to robusticize learning... we spend a lot of time talking about these.
well - i don’t think kids or teacher or anyone - needs more medicine to function ... i think we need to liberate learning. start believing in the impossible.
i realize this took us astray in the conversation - displacing standardized tests... but most conversations around school end up here... it must have some link to motivation...
parents worry about test scores/grades for future college, kids worry about parents worrying about test scores, admin worries about achievement - which usually translates to a comparison of test scores, teachers worry about grades/test scores for job security and their own validation, smart businesses - on the other hand - worry about test scores/grades advancing cogs rather than innovators into their corporation.
ie: nasa doesn’t take people with all a’s.
if we (teachers/admin) are the classroom. and our uncertainty is rampant. we need community (infrastructure.. we need a facebook presense.. a home base.. a standard) in order to resolve the uncertainty.
we have become invalids (noun). because we keep allowing innovation to be labeled invalid (adj).
if we are about learning... innovation has to play a part in that.
even if what we are learning is.. not new info... each person learns differently.. the media in which we learn changes constantly... learning how to learn smacks with innovation.
so if we want to be a verb/alive learners ... as opposed to a noun.. a grade.. a piece of paper - we need to make a choice to put in our offense.
we have to quit spending valuable time defending learning and innovation.
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