The coronavirus has supplanted the usual question “What is school for” into “what is the purpose of coming to school?” If the last year has proven that students can learn from home, why have them come to school? Teachers can deliver the same lectures to kids at home. “But kids don’t listen at home. They don’t have cameras on. They are doing other things during class.”
Well, they are doing other things during class inside the school as well. Most teachers, albeit in a survey with a small sample size, have found it is effective to have students in person for two days to prepare for a day of them working on individual work, in the “Wednesday cave,” at home. The final two days of the week are for reteaching and practicing with the individual material or skill needing shoring up or receiving instruction on common problems with the “cave work” has been proven to be effective by teachers at Neenah High School. Teachers and students feel like the anonymity of being at home and scheduling individual meetings with teachers has been more personal than being in person. Isn’t it truly “learning” if students can do it on their own?
If it is not to learn, which and be done at home or elsewhere (I talked with a teacher yesterday who has a student who has spent the school year traveling across the United States in an RV, but still “goes” to school everyday.), then why enter a specific building and go into a specific room to learn information? Because that’s the way it “always” has been done. And it has been successful for people int eh education world and for many parents who want to give kids the best chance at going to a university, who is calling for different skills that those believed to be called for by parents.
Does the whole thing come down to it being daycare mostly for elementary and middle school kids? How can it be partially about learning and partially about daycare?
Coronavirus Neenah High School
No comments:
Post a Comment