Reflective Blog#2

            Every time I enter Anser, there is an immediate feeling of powerful interest. This interest emanates in the halls, you see teachers walking by with ear-to-ear smiles and I can feel the love they have for the children they teach. Upon leaving I have renewed interest in my research topic because I genuinely think that it has great importance and this school is a testament to the success of non-traditional learning.

            Feedback given on my unit two sheets talked about my claim that technology has a negative impact in regards to traditional learning on students. Basically the feedback was saying that this was a very strong claim and didn’t have the research backing it needed. Reading back through my website (hard for me I usually am not pleased with my own work) I very much understood how that idea was underdeveloped and didn’t have much of a base. I have been pondering that for the past week or so and want to reflect a bit on my ideas, possibly I will remover it entirely from my final project because it is dominantly my own thoughts but I would like to at least back my claim.

            What I am proposing is that as our country moves further into the future, the basic structure of family is fading. I see the basic structure as Father, mother, and children. I see father as the breadwinner and mother as the nurturer, and not having the burden of employment to deter from the rearing of her children, with fathers help, of course. Today it is very rare to find this basic family structure, this could be caused by many factors i.e. divorce, both parents needing to work to support, unplanned/accidental pregnancies with youth, we could continue but I believe this gives a structure of what could be causes. Why in this proposed model does technology have an effect that requires change to traditional teaching? Again I may remove this argument from my final project as I have not necessarily found material that supports my claim, but here it is. As a natural progression technology grants ease of life, and takes away an inherent need to survive. This brings a mentality that now is centered on seeking pleasure, and within our culture in order to seek more pleasure you need more money. This intense interest in money over time makes our lifestyles very expensive which causes need for more income so women who might have children at home need daycare, another expense causing more need for additional income. Before I continue I need to say that I am in no way a sexist individual but I do feel that men and woman have roles given them, which in a society devoted to survival is inherent. Men are naturally larger, and more interested in pursuit of physical challenges (hunting, fighting, etc.) while women are smaller generally more nurturing, and frankly the only ones able to bear children. Within this survival devoted society men are typically with men and women with women, when you come home you come home to your spouse/mate. With our desire and need of money this pulls woman and men into the workforce with one another. Causing an environment with potential of flirting, and interest, which can lead to cheating and also divorce. More children begin to have this be a normal or comfortable thing, and morals begin to degrade, leading to very young and promiscuous children. Once again causing more broken homes and children living in a world where relationships are a confusion and not able to create a real basis for morality. This may sound as if I am saying this is where our future is headed but in fact this is how I feel it is right now. (Looking back at what I have written I remembered why I didn’t fully explain my thoughts in technologies effect on traditional teaching.)

            Why is this all relevant to traditional teaching? I know many young teachers who have been my friends for years, and who have a genuine interest in education. This being said if all we do is create curriculums to “feed” facts to children without building their self-reliance, critical thinking, and in effect self-worth where is it going to happen? While there are parents out there working their hardest to support and teach and help their children progress, most just can’t. They are perhaps both working or getting one week on one week off with their children. Fighting with their ex’s for custody, and perhaps unknowingly guiding their children down the exact path. With Anser they help students understand that their thoughts are important, that they are in control of their lives. They help them to foster an attitude, which leads to a well-rounded adult not just an adult with facts they can regurgitate to others. Forgive me for the scattered nature of this write up; I just couldn’t get my thoughts to flow well. I hope this does shed some light on my claim so that it doesn’t seem like a “because I liked it”, with no thought writing.