Task 2: A Very important point

Though I am new to the EDU program at Cortland, the one thing that Prof. Stearns has instilled in me, is to get children to read more you have to find out what interests them and what they are reading outside of the classroom. This makes it education fun for students. This is KEY to getting information across regardless of the circumstances. While it is not something that was heard exclusively in the MAC lab, it is also stressed and re-stressed by Will Richards and the reinforcement of this idea is also the focus of the Mrs. Lowery’s success in her Seth Low Science Classes.

The article and accompanying video brought something to the foray that I have never considered before, and that is nurturing the emotional lives of middle school children. Mr. Fien, the Seth Low Principal places the social growth of these students over the academics of the curriculum. This I feel is something that should be blended together with all age groups, but is a necessity with middle school children. At that age having a friend who just happens to be your teacher would form a strong bond that would place students on the right track for academic advancement, while also providing positive adult role models which may be lacking at home. Above all it would show students that they are cared for more so than test scores and grades that they receive.

This emotional connection with middle schools students is something that is not directly addressed in the class readings. As we have read, when incorporating technology into classrooms students bring their world into the classroom by them selecting course content. What was offered in these articles is another way to create the bonds that form a successful, yet redefined and untraditional, student/teacher relationship.