PLN14

In the article "Rigor Redefined" by Tony Wagner in the Educational Leadership publication, Tony is bothered by the way teachers are teaching students today. When he talked to business leaders about what qualities they are looking for in new employees today they all answered with: the ability to think critically, have good communication and collaborate well with others. This is very different than what future employees are being taught in school. Teachers today are "teaching to the test". They care more about memorization and recall than actually teaching and making sure students understand what they are supposed to be learning.

Students are making learning more difficult than it should be also. Like Fisch and Dr. Wesch have pointed out before, technology is taking over, especially in education. This article says that technology is actually making learning more difficult. This is because students today do not communicate or spell well due to cell phones and texting, e-mails, facebook etc. Nobody sits down and actually talks to anyone face to face anymore.

I have a cell phone but my parents dont' let me use it for my "personal" use. I use it to communicate with them when I am away on a soccer trip or to get information from my teammates. They have been trying to tell me for years that it is not a toy and it can easily get out-of-control. I agree with this as I have gone overboard a few times without realizing it. My Dad sees this everyday because he is a high school teacher. Students actually bring cell phones into P.E. classes! Now that I am in high school I see that this is a real problem with students. It has been like an addiction of sorts.