Book Talk

I try not to read too many educational books; however, every now and again something catches my eye :)


I am a member of the ASCD, and a while back they sent out the book Curriculum 21 Essential Education for a Changing World, edited by Heidi Hayes Jacobs. Something about the first paragraph, “Can you honestly say that your school’s curriculum and the program you use are preparing your students for 2015 or 2020? Are you even preparing them for today?” grabbed my attention…to say the least.

Now, I am not going to do a book review, but I must say, this actually got me to stop and think about what it is we are teaching, and how we are teaching it. The book gives insight to some of the following: Content and assessment, Program structures, Technology, Media literacy, Globalization, Sustainability, Habits of mind, and much more. It is a really good book.

It is what I like to call, “an easy read.” I mean, you can read a bit, put it down, and come back to it later. I know I was able to get some great ideas and it is one of those books that just gets you thinking. Even if you can’t make huge changes, it makes you aware of some very important ideas.

It talks about how students know how to upload, download, and remix music, photos, videos and movies. How students can participate in virtual reality games, text and instant message, and much more (p.134). It asks where students are learning all this. In school? Now, I am not saying that I have never worked with students downloading a photo (1 or 2) or uploading from the school camera and so on. Students are capable of so much, they can fiddle with these tools and figure them out….it engages them.

Do you know how long it takes me to send a text message?? I am embarrassed. Most students can just type away, or text away. I need to know, are we doing a disservice to our students by NOT being able to keep up?

Now the book also talks about digital portfolios, curriculum mapping and other tools that I know most schools are using. So I know, or at least I think we are heading it the right direction.  How do we keep up? There is so much to know and change does take time. Are we changing fast enough?

I know I came to a page (p.24, if anyone has the book) that listed some resources (technology) and I was actually checking them off. Interactive whiteboard, check, did that. Wordle, check, did that. Online courses, check, doing that right now :) There were also a few that I hadn’t used yet such as electronic field trips. I will say, I went straight to Google to see what was out there for field trips. Now, I may never do an electronic field trip, but I am now aware that they exist.

I will be honest; there is a lot of new information coming my way, as a teacher, in my new position, and now in my MEd program. There is no way I can know everything; however, I do want to be aware. I at least want to learn what is out there, I can then choose what I will and can use.