Another day

Today, I see that too much preparation can be a problem. I've been looking forward to our school's new all encompassing software. I've been devising methods to really take advantage of the possibilities offered to me. Today, by chance, I found out that we'll not be instituting this change, will be using the same system this year and possibly the year after change to a third set of programs. I do appreciate that it was decided that we shouldn't make wholesale changes on a system that will not be in existence the following year. I just wish I'd known about it earlier, or at least be alerted to the change. Ah, well I'll get over that and look for other ways to implement my ideas. I'm looking forward to some new things in the coming year. Some of my changes may have been tabled for another day, but others will pop up like weeds elsewhere; killed for the time being only to reappear another day. This is an interesting world we attempt to teach in.
Today I read a journal from 2000 discussing the state of technology in the UK and new objectives toward a better education. It was interesting to see that they were really into "informal communication". Today, those are the things many of our kids do on their own. It's the formal confab that isn't really happening that easily. The money put into their programs since the 80's was impressive, and their lack of direction interesting. At least there were dollars allotted to carry out their dreams. Today, we still have the vague notions of a constantly changing "proficiency" and multiple standards. We just don't see the money needed to implement some changes that need to happen. This, to me, seems like yet another case of learn from history, or be doomed to repeat it. If we don't have a well-defined direction with attainable goals that are well defined and assessable, we're looking at more time wasted and yet another globalized attempt at making the country's education system competitive which will be followed by another program another day.

Today, I have one final thought I could solve all the ills of today’s education systems, but am not in the position of power to attain this fete. Just remember that there will always be about 5% unemployment. Study your kids, their efforts, their desires, their goals and their dreams. Most likely after a statistical analysis you’ll see that about 5% are not willing to do anything for themselves: Some people just don’t want to do anything and expect to be taken care of. This could be a product of the times. Just compare the footage of San Francisco’s “Great Quake”, where soldiers were handing out necessities for life and tools for people to rebuild their own homes and communities: shovels, hammers, and saws (THANKS HISTORY CHANNEL!) with the footage of people infuriated that they were inconvenienced because not enough was done for them in New Orleans. OK, before the hatemail starts, I know that our media is extremely proficient in finding the saddest stories to report and have a way of attempting to affect their viewers in an attempt to gain/keep viewership I fully acknowledge that both plights REALLY suck, but at some point we all have to be responsible for our choices and our futures. To all of those that took their destiny, moved on and did SOMETHING: a huge congratulations!! For those who are still awaiting more handouts while doing nothing for yourself….well, that too is a topic for another day.