C4T #1

Post Game Analysis 

High school physics teacher John Burke has implemented a new policy in his classroom that has given students the power to take control of their own education.  In spirit of football season, this innovative teacher has taken inspiration from the customary viewing of film teams do after a game to analyze ways to improve, win or lose.  In the days following students assessments, the graded papers are returned to the students along with an assessment post game analysis.  Much like what occurs in the locker room, students are to answer questions such as what things did you do well on the assignment, identify areas you wish to improve upon, devising a plan on how to improve in those areas, and pointers you would give yourself for mastering these ideas for success.  The students then collaborate on problems missed and figure out the correct answer together.  Even if a perfect score is achieved, it is still expected that student participate and ponder ways to ensure they can continue to achieve that level of success.  I thought this was an excellent way to engage students in taking control of their education.  The knowledge learned will be much more valued and cherished when a students own blood, sweat and tears are put forth.  This activity requires students to deeply self-reflect upon themselves and getting in touch with themselves on a much more deeper level than just succeeding in school.  

Parent Pow

As a parent it is very important to have an open relationship with your child and get into the habit of talking about your child's day at school.  From this parents are involved and have an active approach in their child's education and KNOW what their kids are being taught.  An avid fan of education reform, John Burke came across a website designed to encourage this activity of talking to one's children.  Only problem is, there is no talking occurring.  After logging in to this website, children are supposed to answer questions rating them 1-10.  The parents then log in to this same website and answer a different set of questions themselves.  The parents can then print out "scales" based on the questions answered to give parents an idea of what their children are doing in school.  Mr. Burke, as well as I, thought that this was an absolutely horrible idea!  As a parent, John Burke would rather drop whatever it was he is doing at the time and have a face-to-face conversation with his child getting to know her.  Having these interactions through a website does not allow a relationship between parent and child to be cultivated.  In this case I feel children will grow accustom to hiding behind a computer to tell their parents what they would be afraid to tell their parents in fear of what they would say.  This will only diminish society's ability to stand up and take responsibility for actions taken.  This falls into the mind frame all too many people have begun to have, taking shortcuts when it comes to raising their children.
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