tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post1679441875745978225..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: Skills To TeachAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-20365177321033668422011-05-11T22:37:41.795-04:002011-05-11T22:37:41.795-04:00"...and while you're wasting time doing t..."...and while you're wasting time doing that, you're not teaching the things that can be taught. "<br /><br />Succinct, that.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-41651165493646127342011-05-11T20:50:56.467-04:002011-05-11T20:50:56.467-04:00I'm trying to think of how teachers might &quo...I'm trying to think of how teachers might "teach" these traits (and they're traits, not knowledge or skills). And what I'm coming up with boils down to making students do those horrible little "group projects", plus give the occasional lecture on how <i>important</i> it is that you children be able to <i>question</i> and learn <i>independently</i> (and meanwhile, woe betide the student who actually challenges a lesson, or learns to read before being properly taught by licensed teachers).<br /><br />It's the peril of using vague, fluttery, and absolutely non-evaluatable abstractions as your teaching desiderata, and placing them above things you can actually teach (such as knowledge and skills) because the vague fluff sounds ever so much grander. Surely "questioning" is more important than boring old math and rhetoric? Well, yes, but a questioning attitude is not really something you can teach, either. You can presume to teach it, and while you're wasting time doing that, you're not teaching the things that can be taught.jaedhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03328666344764784829noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-81475998004356788672011-05-09T17:56:12.297-04:002011-05-09T17:56:12.297-04:00Every student should have a course in Root Cause A...Every student should have a course in Root Cause Analysis. That will solve about 75% of their life-learning problems. The other 25% -just use common sense.Sponge-headed ScienceManhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12914014641719908195noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-86979715848493531112011-05-08T19:28:31.095-04:002011-05-08T19:28:31.095-04:00Might be a tad cynical but it seems to me that a l...Might be a tad cynical but it seems to me that a lot of this is stuff is an effort by the teaching profession to direct 'education' to things that are fun to teach, and hard to measure progress in.Der Hahnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05967487071137862252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-9834240018043149802011-05-08T15:33:48.179-04:002011-05-08T15:33:48.179-04:00The "business and college leaders" list ...The "business and college leaders" list is so generic as to be basically meaningless. "Problem-solving" could apply to anything from:<br /><br />"Why is there almost always oil on the floor in this part of the plant?"<br /><br />to<br /><br />"How can we regain the market share that our Gerbilator product is losing as Harsterizers increasingly offer similar functionality?"<br /><br />Domain knowledge matters. There *are* certain conceptual tools that are applicable across problem types--for example, the "ask why five times" mantra that came out of Lean manufacturing--but they are not likely to be the kind of things with which educators are familiar. Much more likely, a class imn "problem-solving" will be mush.David Fosterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15464681514800720063noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-82779139153458131942011-05-08T12:43:56.177-04:002011-05-08T12:43:56.177-04:00Erin, you have my sympathy. "Higher order co...Erin, you have my sympathy. "Higher order cognitive skills" - yes, the best athletes know complicated moves and strategies in their games, so we should not teach children to run or throw, but the advantages of a 3-4 over a 4-3 defense instead.<br /><br />All those skills on the MA list could be good things to know. They also contain permission for much mischief which can be called education but is really "teacher's favorite hobbyhorse."Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-90459194838567586432011-05-08T11:24:55.485-04:002011-05-08T11:24:55.485-04:00I think these should be doable:
1) Classical geo...I think these should be doable:<br /><br />1) Classical geometry class, with proofs.<br />2) English class where they make you write poetry, short stories, essays; and get up and recite stuff<br />3) Do they actually fail to pick these skills up?<br />4) Get a summer job<br />5) Read the newspaper/BBC news<br />6) Get a summer job<br />7) Civics class. Also, look at the pay stubs from your summer job and try to figure out who deducted what and why.jameshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01792036361407527304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-56192031913241820322011-05-08T10:21:49.697-04:002011-05-08T10:21:49.697-04:00MA has bolted onto the bandwagon with this one. W...MA has bolted onto the bandwagon with this one. We're devoting precious resources & time to reworking all those wonderful school-wide standardized rubrics to now include the official MA 21st Century Learning Skills:<br /><br />1. Higher order cognitive skills (e.g., synthesis, critical reasoning, problem solving)<br />2. Communication skills (verbal and written)<br />3. Information/media and technology skills<br />4. Life/career skills (e.g., time and resource management, collaboration)<br />5. Global awareness<br />6. Financial and economic literacy<br />7. Civic literacy and engagementErinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12803753870981743904noreply@blogger.com