Bob comments about the various focuses of education on teachers, students, or the content. Now, real teachers focus on helping the student focus on the content.

Uh oh. Bait.

Public education is strung out on hypnotic self-awareness and causing a destruction created by their own drug-addicted behaviors of wanting and demanding more money. In other words, public schools stink because they focus on the wrong topic, themselves. Did Woz gain his education from school or from self-direction? Nope, he gained it from his failures. Many people defending public schools have not learned this lesson.

As a teacher, I instruct my students to first and foremost play. They must practice, make mistakes, and then learn from the mistakes (or is this called the unexpected?). It's the best way to learn.

As an example, I have a class period with three rosters and just a little over 40 students. One roster is a typical student, the second are sheltered students, and the third is filled with resource students. The assignment was to go outside and collect pill bugs. "Let's go get dirty!" There were screams, running, shouting, playing, and plenty of laughing as kids dug in the dirt. Imagine city kids with dirt under their fingernails.

Now, the teacher with me was a bit nervous. She was used to control. When we returned to the classroom, with bugs hanging all over the place, in shirts, on pants, on arms, in hair, she wasn't too sure the lesson was successful. But in all of the excitement the kids started asking questions. They wanted to know more about Wood Lice and this was the perfect setup for the lab on the characteristics of life.

Long time teachers might want to know about grades. Well, these are based on the student reaching the standards set by the state and not how often a kid makes a mistake. Let them make mistakes. Let em play. Let em enjoy themselves.

To circle this back to Bob's comments. The Tablet PC is a welcomed tool. Students at my school love to tinker with it. And tinkering is the best way to learn. The more Tablet PCs, the better.

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Layne P. Heiny / Administrator for Tux Reports Network

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