Honestly, where did I go wrong? Here I am, suffering through civil procedure (for another 25 minutes) and there are people out there inflating a big ball with the world drawn on it and charging $600 bux a day. SIX HUNDRED?!?!?!
Here's the story: Kids at Holy Redeemer got to spend 30 minutes prancing about a 22ft inflatable globe as some dude gave them a lesson in geography.
Incase you don't see the flaws in this, let me point them out:
1. Who on earth pays $600 a day to let kids run in circles around a large ball for 30 min at a time?
2. The story notes that children had to bring $3 each to be able to participate. Um, Holy Redeemer is a private school with a decent tuition i'm sure. Why are they charging the kids $3? If they can't budget for the ball, dont bring it to campus!
3. 30 minutes is not long enough for a geography lesson. 30 min is not long enough for a quick geography lesson. And, 30 minutes around a 22 foot globe (imagine, the teacher points out where europe is but you can't figure it out until its your turn to get to the other side of the globe)... is DEFINITELY not even enough time for the kids to figure out where the continents are. (and we wonder why our children are so inept in the international world).
4. I am 100% for innovative learning. I think this globe might be a great activity - i think the school should buy its own globe instead of paying someone $600. But, most importantly, I'm sure the reason the kids liked this program is not necessarily because of the ball but because of the instructor and the lesson (refer to kids quotes for proof). The instructor was probably one of those upbeat funny guys that danced around the room and pointed out silly facts about Poland. The kids got to run around and be hyper while laughing and learning. Hm, could it be this method rather than the ball that made the lesson so enticing.
Of course, I under stand that you can't run around the classroom and make little soundbite jokes about history or math all year long (any time you go more in depth, the topic loses its luster), i still think this should teach schools something about teaching methods rather than giant overpriced balls. (Example: See Ms. Wortheim or whatever her name was...quite possble the worst - and highest paid - teacher at ghs. though i don't think she's still around).
See article: http://glendalenewspress.com/articles/2007/01/30/education/gnp-dome30.txt
No comments:
Post a Comment