After reading Karl's last blog on the fischbowl I have really been thinking and evaluating teaching and what I want my students to walk away with. The quote from the Time Magazine article that really got me thinking was the following question, "Whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can't think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English." (Time Dec. 10, 2006) I think that as educators, we need to really start evaluating our world today, the jobs of tomorrow and the essential information (learning) for our students. I am extremely guilty of learning for the tests when I was in school.
As I work twice a week in the study center I am constantly saying, "I know I was taught that and received an A in that class in high school/college, but I have no idea how to do it." I realize that we won't remember everything that we are exposed to. However I think that we have got to figure out a better way to "teach". Not just an exposure to facts then a test on those facts. In high school I "learned" about the Hollocaust and in college I "learned" it again; yet I never really understood it until I spend a day at the Hollocaust museum reading, experiencing, seeing, and crying that I feel educated about the event and what it meant.
So my question becomes how do I help my students experience the content to help them internalize it, use it and synthesis it so they can apply it in future situation.
When I hear 90% of our population say, "I took foreign language for 4 years and can't say a word," I think somewhere something went terribly wrong.