chapter 10

Even after reading the last chapter of this book, I still am not sure where I stand. I definitely agree that there needs to be a change, but I’m not sure exactly what I think this change should look like. I definitely agree that students should not have to continue to spend all this time at school learning all this information that they will most likely forget or never use. There are so many courses that I took in middle and high school that I do not remember any of the information. I do believe that a big reason for this is because it was not motivating or meaningful. If children are going to continue to be taught in school, teachers have to find a way to make it meaningful and relevant to the children’s’ lives regardless of whether technology is used or not. I fully support the use of technology in the classroom (more than just center time) and teaching students how to find information as they need it through the internet. I like that the book compared the internet to our memory bank. We don’t have to memorize information, the internet has all the information we need; we just have to find it. I really like the idea of getting students interested in something, having them develop skills, and then teaching it to others like the example in the book of the computer club. I can see children really enjoying school and enjoying learning when it revolves around something they are passionate about. I really liked accreditation system outlined in one of the previous chapters, although I kind of feel like it is irrelevant to us as future early childhood teachers. I don’t feel like much is going to change in the education system for early childhood. At this age, children need school to learn social skills and basic skills and information that everyone needs to know to succeed. They are too young to be choosing a set of specific accreditations to follow for a certain career path. We will still be exposing them to a wide range of experiences, information, and skills to discover their interests and strengths. In the future, even if young children continue to attend classrooms similar to the ones they are in now, I do believe that teachers should teach more than just the basic curriculum. They need to teach the children how to be lifelong learners. Teachers should provide children with opportunities to explore and research topics of interest. Students need to learn how to find information and apply it to create products or solve problems. This is a step towards individualization within school as well as the use of technology. This book has helped me to become aware of how important it is to implement the use of technology into my classroom. While I grew up in a generation where technology is gradually being introduced to me, young children now days are growing up with all types of technology around them. I want to use technology in my classroom to ensure that my students are finding school not only interesting and motivating, but useful for their future lives.