C4T #4

It's Just Life Itself

In this post Teacher Tom talks about John Dewey and how when you are talking about "hands-on education" you are quoting Dewey. "The teacher is not in the school to impose certain ideas or to form certain habits in the child, but is there as a member of the community to select the influences which shall affect the child and to assist him in properly responding to these influences. ~John Dewey" Tom also talks about a typical "hands-on" day at the Woodland Park Cooperative Preschool where he teaches. Students walk in with their parents and show them what they have learned at certain stations in the classroom. Tom was asked if he finds it difficult to have some parents come to school to help students when they haven't been trained. Tom's response was wonderful! First he said no, and then explained his reasoning. He said that you can see the personality of each of these parents when they help the students, and how everyone is so different. They don't need training, because they let the students be themselves and they even have their own imagination. He suggested that sometimes we may even need "un-training".

My comment:

Thank you for such a great post! I am currently in school for elementary education, and I hope to teach K-5, or first grade. While reading your post, the part about "un-training" really caught my eye. I believe it is so important for children to be creative, be different, and be who they want to be. I feel that I have been trained/taught to color inside the lines, and I was almost scared to be different. Through the education program I have realized how important it is for children to be their own person. It took some "un-training" for me to show my creative side. Thank you for the information on Mr. Dewey also!

The Skills Most Necessary For The Life To Come

In this post Teacher Tom takes us through a small trip down memory lane. He takes a trip to visit his old elementary school, and tells us all about his time there. Everything he talks about involves his friends, the
people he met, and the fun they shared. None of his memories involved the education and what he learned in school. In the end he explains how important those friendships were for necessary life skills.

My comment:

This post had me take a small trip down memory lane myself! Years of school brought me the best friends I could have ever imagined. Through these friends and learning to make new ones has opened many great opportunities in my life. These skills are extremely important! Especially in college when "networking" becomes an important topic.