Blog Post #12

Ken Robinson's video Schools Kill Creativity was a pleasure to watch. He had such a humorous and charming personality. It was never a bore to watch. It really supported the fact that schools do kill creativity. I never realized how much that this statement was true, until I warched this video. I really liked a lot of quotes that he brought about in his speech. They were short, powerful, meaningful, and to the point. The first quote I liked was “Creativity now is as important in education as literacy and we should treat it with the same status.” A lot of teachers just want the student to get the work done,pass a test, or do a project;This shouldn't be the main objective. Creativity should be encouraged in everything you do in the classroom. For example, Ken mentioned the girl whose parents were called in for a meeting in the classroom because she could not sit still. They thought she had a learning problem. However, they figured out she was a dancer, and she just needed to move to learn. Every student learns different, so why not put on music to learn to. Why not dance around or work hands on? I think the big picture is that as a teacher you can be creative with your assignments and you should promote creativity from your students. What better way then to show creativity yourself.I liked how he quoted from Picasso that every person is born an artist. Every kid has creativity in them. As  teachers, we should promote activities that encourage an bring out the creative side. 




Chasity Heubach:
I really enjoyed watching Ken Robinson's TED talk entitled, How to Escape Education's Death Valley. In his lecture Mr. Robinson discusses the problems America is facing with its "No Child Left Behind" program. He starts by saying that he moved to America 12 years ago. He says that when he arrived he was informed that Americans don't get irony. He said that when he came across "No Child Left Behind", he knew that what he was told wasn't true. The irony of "No Child Left Behind" is that it, in fact, leaves millions of children behind. He says that in some parts of the country 60 percent of students drop out of high school. He claims that if America were to half that number it would create a net gain of nearly a trillion dollars, however, it would cost a large amount to mop up the drop out crisis. He says that it is true that America spends more on education than any other country, the problem is that it is all going in the wrong direction. Mr. Robinson says that there are three principals in which human life flourishes and it is being contradicted by the culture of education. 

1. Human beings are naturally different and diverse. He asks his audience how many of them have children. He then makes a bet, one in which he claims he knows he will win. He bets that those who have two or more children will agree that their children are all completely different. He says that education, under "No Child Left Behind", is based on conformity, not diversity. American education focuses on the S.T.E.M disciplines, which he states is very important but it is not sufficient. He states that good education needs to equal focus on the arts, humanities, and physical education. He then points out that ten percent of kids are now being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder. He says that he believes the condition exists but that he doesn't think it is an epidemic. "If you sit kids down hour after hour doing low grade clerical work," says Mr. Robinson, "don't be surprised if they fidget." He says that children aren't suffering from a psychological disorder but instead they are suffering merely from childhood. 2. He says the next principal is curiosity. "If you light the spark of curiosity in a child they will learn without any further assistance," says Robinson. Children are natural learners and curiosity is the engine of achievement. He goes on to say that teachers are the lifeboat of success in schools and great teachers mentor, stimulate, provoke and engage their students. He says most importantly a teachers job is to facilitate learning and if their is no learning their is no education. The problem, he says, with Americas education system is that its focuses not on teaching and learning, but on testing. He feels that standardized testing has it place, but should not be the dominant culture of education. 3. He says that it is human nature to be creative. "We create our own lives and we can recreate our lives as we go through them,"he says. He also says that we create our lives by imagining different possibilities and the role of education is to awaken that imagination. He refers to the education system in Finland, and says its schools system is very successful in math and science mainly because it also focuses on arts and humanities. He says there is also no standardized testing and they help students before its to late, resulting in a no drop out rate. He goes on to say that education takes place in the classrooms, not government offices, so the responsibilities should be handled at the school level to get the job done. He says there is wonderful work happening in America but it is dspite educational culture , not because of it. He then says, that not far from his house there is a place known as "Death Valley". In winter of 2004 it rained there, in Spring of 2005 the whole floor of "Death Valley" flowers grew. This proved that "Death Valley" was not dead, but dormant. He says the same is true for our schools system. I learned a lot from listening to Ken Robinson's TED talk. I would have to say of all the tools I have learned would be helpful in the classroom, I would have to say Mr. Robinson discussed the most important tool for every classroom. That tool, is to inspire imagination and creativity. I learned to focus less on testing and more on learning. By that I mean standardized testing has its place, but if we don't teach children how to learn they are pointless. 

Grace Hofer:

What can we learn from Sir Ken Robinson? 
By watching the TED video,Changing Education Paradigms by Sir Ken Robinson, I came across several things I learned while watching the 11 minute video. Robinson starts the video by mentioning two reasons that every country is reforming public education. One being economically, wondering how will we be able to educate students for the economic world if we don't know what the economic future will hold. The second reason being cultural, wondering how will they have an identity in culture. Robinson continues by saying that people are trying to meet the future by the ways they have in the past. In a time when everyone went to college to have a good career, now days an education is not needed. It can help, but it does not guarantee a good career. This is very true. I know people who did not attend college after high school graduation who are maintaining steady jobs. Robinson says that "The current system was designed and conceived for a different age..." I agree with this as well. This EDM 310 class has taught me this in just the past several months I've been in it. Technology is becoming rapidly involved in our school system. Students are learning by these tools, not the tools my generation and the ones before me learned by. To be teachers to these students, we need to be not only aware of these tools, but how to properly use them. Mentioned in the video is the subject of ADHD in schools. I had not put much thought into this issue in my classroom before watching the video. But now, I think it is great that schools are involving technology in the classroom. Robinson says that students who have ADHD are being distracted by computers, phones, gaming devices, and such and are being penalized for not paying attention to things the teacher is teaching on. This is where technology comes in great in the classroom. Students who have ADHD and students who do not, have grown up with technology. Growing up this way, lets them learn better by using devices. In return, the student does not spend the whole time in class being lectured, but being involved in their learning experience. The video also mentions of people who have either aesthetic or anesthetic experiences. Aesthetic is when you are when senses are at their peak. Anesthetic is when your senses are shut off and are deadened with what is going on. Too many times in classrooms I feel that many are having anesthetic experiences because they are being lectured at to learn instead of being involved. Near the end of Changing Education Paradigms, Robinson says that most great learning comes from groups. I wonder if that is why we are put in groups in EDM 310. I feel as if it is true though. Working in a group seems to benefit everyone involved, not just a single person.