Supercool School

Making Real Changes in Education

Dear Supercool Friends,

the following guest post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick who writes on the subject of teaching certification.

The educational system is something that is constantly being talked about and evaluated in the United States.  Nothing solid, however, ever seems to come from these discussions.  There have been many attempts to make public education relevant and effective in the US over the years, to no avail.  It is time to make these changes happen in schools around the country. 

One of the main problems is that many schools around the country teach students how to do a variety of things that would be quite useful, if practical applications were embedded in the tasks students were asked to complete.  There has long been a “because I said so” mentality regarding the necessity of teaching certain things to students rather than showing them just why and how these skills will be of importance in the future through hands-on applications.

 

Another area where public schools in the US have fallen gravely short is in their use of technology.  Certainly there are schools that are extremely sophisticated, but technology continues to grow and develop, making it difficult for schools to keep up with what is current.  Though this may be true, many classrooms around the country have far less computers than they need and students are still resorting to pencil and paper activities that could be far more enriching if taught in a different medium. 

Teachers around the country are also very far behind when it comes to the use of technology.  School districts that are actually trying to get the latest technologies for students’ use are rapidly realizing that their teachers are very poorly prepared to use such devices.

There needs to be a widespread initiative across the country to ensure that students have access to technology, along with teachers that know how to properly use said technology.  Students this day and age learn quite differently from those who were attending school even ten or fifteen years ago, so we must make these sweeping changes to ensure that we do not lose more capable minds to the boredom so commonly found in classrooms these days.

Rather than looking at what’s wrong with the system itself, it is more important now to figure out how the mind of the modern student works and start using a new model of instruction that integrates all of the tools we now have at our disposal.  What good is it to continue advancing if it doesn’t benefit those who will eventually be running our world?

Kelly invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com.

Guest Post by Aparajith Motz Raman

Dear Supercool Friends,

today I want to give the voice to a young passionate student from India: Aparajith Motz Raman.

His blog has the fire that makes up much of the power behind Supercool School and most of us can connect to him from our own school experience. Feel inspired...

Bjoern

The Penmanship of a Fascist Student

"What luck for the rulers that men do not think." So I start by quoting Adolf Hitler. We live in a world where the rule is, what we think and what we see is basically what we are. I am a student of class 11 and this is what we face. I go to a school which is half a century old and where the teacher's mindset is no younger. Totalitarianism is a better word. A student is considered a rebel if he questions a teacher. Times have changed and very few students realise that. In 1860 when the Italian Revolution took place, and the crowning of Victor Emmanuel II in 1861 happenened, the peasants were blissfully unaware of their new way of life, many had no clue about Liberal-Nationalist ideology. 148 years later, there is still no change.

I write this to make you realize, the real spirit of a student and hope that you  get a backbone and question and stand up for your say. You may think I am mad, but a rebel doesnt have to do wrong. In the eyes of the Mafia, the police is a rebel. Teachers see various kinds of students and a new set of faces every year. They say, People dont change, time changes them. Teachers dont apply to that! for a simple reason, a teacher is ment to understand the minds of students, not doubt it! the moment a teacher doubts, criticizes or comment on a student she seizes to exist. Students take life as it comes and wonder later, as to why it is so, WAKE UP! WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, MAKE GRAPE JUICE AND THEN SIT BACK AND LAUGH AS THE WHOLE WORLD TRIES TO FIGURE OUT AS TO HOW YOU DID IT!

Facsism is awful, and that, my good friend is exactly what we find in our school lives. Teachers are humans too. To err is man, Students are not born rebels. If I am accused of teasing a girl and the dean of my institution shouts at me, I have the right to raise my voice ( not shout) and clarify the situation. The moment a nerd stands up and corrects a mistake made by a teacher the guy has guts of steel! 

What we now need is a millenarianism moment. Something that will awaken the students from a life that makes BLACK look colourful! students have a problem in thinking twice when a teacher says something, Twice is too long. Think_Act! Remember, If one word made a man the president of the world's most powerful country. That word can surely make a small difference in your life. That word, my friend, is CHANGE

If this writeup gave you the kick equivalent to that of10Vodka Shots, the job is done.  If not, either you have a very rare, teacher-friendly student relationship or simply, you are just a fragment of society's imagination

Indians Speak Up!!

Supercool Picnic

Dear Supercool Friends,

This was our Supercool Picnic this Wednesday the 3rd of December on the Union Square in San Francisco. We had some hard to find good cheese, delicious cupcakes, fruits and coffee. We enjoyed the sun, did some ice skating and talked about how to democratize education.

bjoern