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Unread 16-12-2006, 17:35
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Graham Donaldson Graham Donaldson is offline
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AKA: Graham Donaldson
FRC #1676 (The Pascack Pi-oneers)
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Re: TIME: How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century

Ok, as promised, here are my answers:
  1. A global student is one who is well versed in technology and language, and knows how to interact with others. They must be creative, be able to solve problems, and combine the skills they know to solve these problems. They cannot be sitting through lectures all day; there must be interactive class discussion and/or debates on a topic.

  2. I agree that most schools are not in the 21st century enough. Teaching styles and lessons are outdated, and they need to be updated. I agree that foreign languages will be extremely critical for any business (quote-unquote “desk job”) occupation, and that students must be trained to quickly and accurately research and identify information that is good or bad, and use it and compile it into a presentation that is engaging and appropriate, or a report that is well-written and thorough.

  3. This one I couldn't (and still can't) think of anything for, but if I do, I'll post it.

  4. I feel like PHHS (my high school) is on the way to being a 21st-century school. Having the laptops (the district gave out Sony laptops to every student and teacher, which comes to around probably 2,000 people) are a boost, but not enough teachers using them to their full potential. Some teachers do in-class projects on them, which is good. But the majority of the classes where they can be used (history, english, science), teachers just lecture and we take notes on them- exactly what we would do with pen and paper.

  5. Since I felt there was not enough group work and career-orieented classes, I took some ideas from a private high school I applied to and used them for my idea. Our school at the present has structured 8-period days where every day is the same. Instead, I suggested (or am suggesting) that they modify the schedule so not every class meets every day, leaving a certain afternoon (say Wednesday) open so that students can sign up for a "elective" class which they have to take, but they can choose what they take. You might have business classes, where students would be in groups and have to create, name, and organize a fictional company selling, say, a car. They would design the product, in this case the car, figure out how it will be made, and also decide general things on how the company is run, like offices, utilties, salaries, the works. Students would then at the end of the term present the projects to the teacher for a grade. You could also have engineering classes (of course I was thinking of FIRST here), where you would do projects like building trebuchets, and, during build season, a robot! You get my drift.

  6. As for whether or not participating in FIRST makes us more global students, makes us more 21st-century students, I say a resounding YES! IMHO, if you cannot agree that being on a FIRST team, particularly during build season and competitions, makes you:
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by TIME
    • Think ouside the box
    • Research well and identify good and bad info (Look at CD- who hasn't gone on and looked for an answer at some point?)
    • Develop good people skills
    • Creatively solve problems by bridging knowledge from different areas
    Among other things, well then, your experience in FIRST has been much different than mine.

Now that I've posted my opinion, what does the rest of CD think?
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2008 NJ Regional, 2009 Palmetto Regional: Chairman's Award Winners
2010 NJ Regional Champions (w/ 25 and 3059), 2010 VA Regional Champions (w/ 1086 & 1418)

"Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don't turn up at all."- Sam Ewing
"Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work."- Thomas Edison

Last edited by Graham Donaldson : 16-12-2006 at 17:40.
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