I'm It

Way back in May I was tagged by Louise Maine for the "I believe..." meme started by Barry Bachenheimer.  I've been putting off writing this for quite a while. It's not that I didn't want to write it, it's just that I have a hard time articulating the points that I feel are important in education.  So, as I procrastinate writing up those final report cards, here goes.

I Believe...

• - every child deserves respect


• - every child should be valued


• - every child has strengths that need to be recognized


• - no one deserves to be told that they can't do something or that they'll never amount to anything


• - education must be relevant to the learner


• - assessment needs to be meaningful


• - students must be given the opportunity to discuss and reflect upon what they are learning


• - grades should not be used.  as a motivator.  as an end in themselves.


• - the focus should be on the process, not just the product


• - learning builds on prior knowledge; it is a teacher's role to uncover that knowledge


• - our students are diverse so our teaching methods should be too


• - there is more than one way to demonstrate knowledge


• - the best education encourages wonder


• - a good education should empower students with the skills to be able to continue learning about the things that are important to them.

These are just a few of the things that I believe with respect to education.

The Thing About Blog Memes

I'm not a memeticist, but I'm not sure that this is really what Dawkins would call a meme.  I can't help but feel that they are pretty similar to chain letters with the exceptions that

1. they rarely demand that you tag a required amount of people in a limited amount of time or else...   and


2. men are just as likely to participate in memes as women--unlike chain letters which seem to be the domain of women and girls

Tag--You're It!

So it is with great trepidation that I tag the following people:
Kevin /dogtrax (Kevin's Meandering Mind)

Sarah Stewart (Sarah's Musings)

My trepidation is they will see this tag as an onerous task to add to their to-do lists.  If it catches your fancy--great, do it (I'm keen to find out what you believe!)  If not, that is ok too.

The Final Word

What do you believe is truly important with respect to education?  Write a post or leave a comment below.  It is an interesting exercise, to be sure!

Image: 'Tag!  You're It!' by Lance and Erin licensed under creative commons attribution, non-comercial, no derivitives works 2.0 generic.