Design for Effective Learning

Chapters 3 and 16 discussed the learning needs of students and how they aren't effectively being met. Chapter three shed light on an important issue I hadn't put much thought towards-the mass media world in which our generation lives in and the design of the current curriculum that does virtually nothing to meet the world in which our students have come to live in. I hadn't thought about the challenge our students face as they enter the classroom and virtually lose all connection to a world they live in as soon as they leave the classroom. . .our education has taken the 'boring' route in which we force our students to learn in methods that may not necessarily meet their learning standards. Their constant connection with technology fades as soon as they enter the classroom to review from a cut and dry textbook. This doesn't necessarily mean that the textbook is deficient in teaching our students, but it does instill a sort of restlessness among our students that may lead to the students not wanting to learn. We evoke a boring standard that our students are not interested in, we often do not incorporate the type of learning experiences needed in order for our children to succeed within the classroom. When Beers spoke of the seven thousand students that drop out daily in the United States I was appalled at not only the number, but that we as educators are not working hard enough to keep that seven thousand in the classroom. I feel as though we should become more flexible in allowing our children to learn in a manner that allows them to comprehend the material more easily, or in the most beneficial manner possible. Beers goes on to talk about the type of learning standards each teacher has within a classroom and an organized community that believes in the underprivileged students that helps them to better succeed at whatever they so choose to do. The organization is there to help those students who may not have that support system at home, or may not have those who believe in them-this organization better helps with these students and pushing them to believe not only in themselves as students now but also in their future, in whatever career they decide to pursue. Every student should have an opportunity to succeed, no matter their color or gender, and should have that support system that helps them along the way. That should be a goal of each and every educator's career path, to touch the lives of those within the classroom and to inspire each student to do their best, no matter wat it takes.