Wednesday, February 6, 2013

montessori and shorts and math

i see a relation.. you?

http://www.academia.edu/383756/Montesorri_Education_and_Writing_Templates
esp - self-directed - but only toward the given thing to do..
and - the assumption that certain skills are a pre-req, so must become standard mandate
the enforcement of how to use/do it is freeing, because without that skill you aren't free to do it..
true - back to 1st point - if someone is free to choose it - they will seek the learning of this skill out.. our only big mistake - is assuming we know a thing that must be learned - no?
the advantage of templates.. removes the student's individual agency (and thus the potential for failure) in one aspect... while preserving the student's agency (and thus potential to learn) in another
hmm.. wondering where - learning how to learn comes in? the facts learned aren't useful today, so much as - do you know what to do when you don't know what to do - ie: when you fail.. et al -no?
it may sound trivial to suggest that someone would be afraid to put a pencil to paper, but this is to forget that children often feel a great pressure to perform correctly in a classroom setting.
exactly - where this template talk leads.. no?
but the steps from the framework of the template to a framework of a student's own design is one that only the student can take, and as this anecdote demonstrates, that step may not always be made easily by students who continue to lack confidence in their composition skills. 
sorry - but oh my.
we create dependency, a feelings of insecurity - for not measuring up to a schooly trait, then wonder why youth can't work their way out. imagine if we let their own curiosity drive everything.. we'd skip this whole episode.
in any pedagogical system there is a turn toward self-direction that a student will simply have to make on his or her own, and the best that we can do as teachers and tutors is to provide them with the educational framework that makes attending to that turn as painless as possible.
what about walking? talking?
perhaps the best we can do is not create all these obstacles/mindsets/educational frameworks in the first place.
learning is natural. we mess it up with compulsion. with assuming standard paths.
when people have a need to be literate - they are literate - 95%
hunger matters.
curiosity as pedagogy.
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity.    -unknown


and 

reviewing a student code of conduct for an education case, and this stands out. "Revocation of Shorts Privilege for Excessive Violations: 
If an individual school's School Advisory Council ("SAC") determines that too many students have abused and violated the shorts policy, the SAC and principal may request that the School Board revoke the shorts privilege at that particular school so that the entire student body will not be allowed to wear shorts to school during the next semester. In such cases, the School Board may elect to prohibit
wearing shorts to school at that particular school during subsequent semesters or school years or reinstate the privilege of wearing shorts to school as the School Board may deem appropriate. The principal may revoke the shorts privilege of any student who violates the provisions of the shorts policy twice in one semester." When pulled out of context, this strikes as a lot of information for one item of clothing.

and 



melanie mcbride (@melaniemcbride)
2/6/13 6:24 AM
RT @Keith_Laws: What does "Genetically, the tests showed, girls are extremely capable mathematicians" mean? bit.ly/YRHufg

Once she graduates beyond the simple patterning of blocks, buy her kits (like Lego) that involve building according to instructions

oh my.

Encourage her to learn things by heart

oh my again.


______________
perhaps this is all - as Illich says - in our effort to improve the delivery of a publicly prescribed curriculum.

when perhaps, we would be better spent, questioning it's mandate/compulsion..

and Jason Fried - writing is the most needed, and what needs to be most unlearned after public ed..