I found this lecture to be informative in ways I wasn't expecting. I thought that they would talk more about the "good teaching" questions we had put forth, but I found the most informative part of the lecture to be realizing what the school board actually does. It was interesting to hear about how they deal with issues and compare them to how the administrators deal with the same issues. These issues were anything from NCLB to budgets. I was informed on the way Iowa has decided to budget or use funds. They seem to put money in categories and that money can only be used in those categories. At first I thought this makes sense so that a lot of money isn't spent in one area and other areas are neglected. However, I think that this system leaves areas where someone could find many loopholes to get around certain "rules" about the budget and funds. I don't know a lot about how other states budget their educational funds but it doesn't sound like the best way to handle educational money.
I also liked the ideas talked about regarding foreign language. I am starting my sixth year on a foreign language and I still don't feel fluent. I had an encounter in one of my classes where I was forced to use my Spanish with a three year old child. I could communicate certain commands and small talk with the child, but it made me think about how he is only 3 years old and has been talking for a little Spanish for a year and a half or so and I have been speaking for 6 years and he knows more than I do. I think it makes sense to start children in elementary school with a second language. We could at least expose them to another language so when they reach high school it isn't something that is entirely foreign.
I also liked the ideas talked about regarding foreign language. I am starting my sixth year on a foreign language and I still don't feel fluent. I had an encounter in one of my classes where I was forced to use my Spanish with a three year old child. I could communicate certain commands and small talk with the child, but it made me think about how he is only 3 years old and has been talking for a little Spanish for a year and a half or so and I have been speaking for 6 years and he knows more than I do. I think it makes sense to start children in elementary school with a second language. We could at least expose them to another language so when they reach high school it isn't something that is entirely foreign.
1 comment:
I agree with Bethany about the foreign language exposure. It takes almost 10 years of being immersed in the language to feel fluent in the language so the sooner we expose the student to a foreign language the sooner they will become fluent and able to actually use the language to their benefit. Maybe if students start learning it sooner it will seem more useful for them later in life because in high school you feel like you barely know the language so when you stop learning it after college you feel like it's going to be useless because you will forget most of it.
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