C4T # 2 Assignment

I was assigned to read Ira David Socol's blog called SpEdChange. The first post I read was about the dbate going on about the changes that need to be made in education. He stated that conversation about education has been hijacked by a small group of people whose interests may not coincide with the needs of our students. The group of people was made up of celebrities including Oprah Winfrey and Bill Gates. Mr. was asking people to "Blog For Reform". He wanted the people who want real reform to all blog on November 22, 2010 about the changes they think need to be made in education. In the comment I left for Mr. Socol I introduced myself and let him know I was reading and commenting on his blog as as assignment. I also wrote that it is disturbing that celebrities could possibly have a louder voice in the education debate that teachers. I find that upsetting because classroom teachers know first hand what changes need to be made.

The second post I read had an assembly of opinions from Ira. He also included a few videos. The first part of his blog was about Atticus Finch from "To Kill A Mockingbird". He discussed the reasons he feels like Atticus was chosen as the greatest hero in American film history. He said that people like Atticus helped others to look at the world in a different way. In the second part of his post he discussed why he believes that schools should avoid the "hypothesis" idea entirely. He says that hypothesis in schools often means guess or desired outcome. He says that the best thing to teach students is to see differently. He stated invention comes from new ways of seeing. The third part of his blog post was also about new ways of seeing. One thing he mentioned in this part of the post was that teachers should be prohibited from asking questions they already know the answer to. That way the teachers have to perceive learning from the learner's perspective. He also stated that we don't need is structures which end up as prisons for the mind. My comment to Mr. Ira was that I loved his idea of thinking differently and that most adults have become too structured to be creative and we need to bring up a generation that can think outside of the box.