Shifting social paradigms about education...

I went with a group of teachers to a social thinking conference in San Francisco yesterday. It was great! You know it's a good conference, worth the money, if one of the presenters tells a story that makes you have goose bumps or tear up. Both happened often. The presenters were Carol Gray (Michigan) and Michelle G. Winner of San Jose. I kind of felt like I was at a tent revival meeting; I had to fight the urge to stand up and shout, "Yes! Thank you!" They were saying what I've been saying for a few years about education. It was a six hour workshop, so I can't possibly go into it all now, but I want to post something interesting I'd found on Michelle's website. It was an article recently published about homework. She says, " Homework is more effectively completed when students start by considering the teacher’s perspective before diving into the assignment. An assignment done well is one that meets the teacher’s expectations and follows the teacher’s instructions." Oh, my goodness - you mean homework is social?! It's not for practicing what you're learning, but for proving to the teacher that you've learned what they were presenting? I wish I'd known that in college! Kinda brings new meaning to the phrase - busy work. Even my kindergartner is struggling with that, "Why do I have to color this picture, when we're practicing letter sounds?" I guess I have some teaching to do as a mom - the lesson: every job has it's boring moments and there's not always an obvious good reason we have to do the things we do. Sometimes, you just gotta do it.