Week "10"

What have people said that's interesting?

“You take a bad boy, make him dig holes all day in the hot sun, it turns him into a good boy.”

-Mr. Marion Sir, Holes

          I used to laugh at the philosophy of laboring the problems out of people, and it's not true on its own, I believe, but yesterday in my Teacher Cadet class we visited Fair Play School Camp for boys. I'll talk a bit more about the enlightening trip below, but here I wanted to mention the amazing work they do, changing behavior right in front of your eyes. They take boys ages eight to eighteen in, take away computers and phones and distractions, pack their lives with strenuous but fun and constructive activities, and work out their problems. I never thought about it, but having a completely busy day every day for a year and a half or so can really give you time to think, ironically. It's the fact that they do everything together, dealing with problems where and when they show up and teaching respect, commitment, and determination with everything. The boys we talked to kept making sure they addressed us and our teacher with respect. One said 'no offence' before a harmless statement, just to be sure, and you could tell just by looking at them and watching them talk with each other that they were a tight knit group of boys. I was amazed. That camp builds epic psychological bridges.

What's happening in education?

http://www.educationnews.org/technology/student-desks-of-the-future-feature-interactivity-connectivity/

         Anne Mishkind from Education News reports on 'desks of the future' that are about to come out. Before I get into I want to say that about two weeks ago I went on a college visit blits to visit four colleges in a weekend, and one of those was Savannah College of Art and Design, informally known as Scad. Scad had all the top notch features, including game hardware more advanced than the top game making industries have right now. One of their high tech gadgets was the equivalent of a four by six foot touch pad made into a desk top. The tour group I was with threw around icons and tapped something to make it huge, and it was great distracting fun. Ok, back to the news article: the aforementioned new desks are basically three by three touch pads made into desk tops shared four students to a desk. See what I did there? Now if one table could distract thirteen adults and teenagers, how are ten tables not supposed to distract the middle schoolers pictures in Mishkind's article? Students will divert their attention with anything, anything. See the invention of the paper airplane and paper football. See the fore-running new style of art: desk doodles. See passed notes, spit balls, all that other cheap but innovative stuff kids not wanted to pay attention did with what they happened to have on them. Now see a giant Ipad swirling at their fingertips. I don't know about you, but I feel like classroom quality is made by the teacher more than the fancy equipment you can fit into the lesson.

And what have I learned this weak?

          As mentioned above, my Teacher Cadet class went to Fair Play School Camp for boys yesterday, and I wanted to spend just a second talking about their councilors, or 'chiefs'. Honestly, these men, though not technically qualified to teach, are putting so much of their lives into helping boys function in their families. All of them bring something unique and helpful to the group of boys they work with. One sang all the time, so he taught the boys bizarre, old songs. One happened to be a stone mason to he helped the boys make a stone fireplace in their cook-hut. Oh, I'll also add that though the chiefs are a big help, the boys do everything almost entirely out of their own accord. They schedule the week's events. They build the cabins they live in. CABINS. They build the paths by freaking tracking erosion, they plan equipment need for a hike and get their food dehydrated first; it is a strenuous camp that I wouldn't last a week in, but these boys are gaining so many life and family skills, primarily learning that what they do isn't about them but everyone around them and everyone around the people they're with. It's encouraging and I almost wish that everyone had to spend a year at a place like Fair Play.