Shelley Rossitto

As I watched this great video I was reminded of what we do to our students as educators on a daily basis.  (Do a search for Jaywalking with Jay Leno and there are quite a few videos) I laughed as I heard the crazy answers people gave but also realized the information they were being asked for was part of a textbook in MS or HS.  Was it on some state assessment.  Did I care when I learned it or did I have any connection to the material at all when it was learned so I would have a need to remember it.  The first person was unable to make a connection between the leading questions by Jay between China and Panama.  Was it really the information or not making connections.? Is Louis Armstrong the first thing to come to mind because of his fame, marketing, rhythm?  Why did she remember that?  The young man that made the comment about the “founding fathers of what” was a perfect example of thinking within his world and his immediate surroundings because that is where he is at.  He is not a “global” thinker and why should he be.  He is probably working long hours to make ends meet and none of any info beyond his daily grind is really going to benefit him.  The young lady who actually finished the “4 score” with “who are in heaven was a result of constant drill in catholic masses where the words just roll off her tongue with no meaning just memorization.  Think about the connection the young man made between the acorn and the squirrel.  Was that incorrect?  It was based on the question but he was definitely interpreting this in his own way.  No comment on BYOB. 

It has been time and will continue to be time to give what we want students to know and be able to do when they leave our system a hard look.  It isn’t just looking anymore though it requires action.  Learning should be meaningful and purposeful, students should develop and define their own content and the structure of education should pave the way to a challenged based environment full of a need to know.  It is not an idea but a need.