C4T #2 With Ira Socol

...in which I may suggest that I oppose literacy

Ira Socol is the second professor that I was assigned to. In his blog post, "...in which I may suggest that I oppose literacy", on February 9th, he wrote about the dangers of humiliations from teachers in the school systems. He begins his blog post by quoting R.D. Synder. He says that he thinks that the quote is a funny way to begin his post but then begins to say he likes to think of himself as a "prophet" of literacy and he likes to bring the love of stories and books to those who have grown up without them. He discusses the fact that not everyone learns on the same level and teachers should encourage their students instead of merely scolding them. Ira is the type of person who likes to argue his point and if he feels strongly about his blog post he will use as many resources as he needs to back it up. I told Ira that I am on the road to fulfilling my goal as a teacher and I asked if he had any advice on students who struggle with reading. I told Ira Socol that I agreed with his quote by James Gee about learning and how remediation can ultimately turn into a lifetime of humiliation for these students. As a future educator, I do not want to steer my future students away from learning and reading, but focus on their strengths and try to guide them on the road to success. We so often find teacher expressing the failures of their students instead of embracing the strengths.

if learning is to be constant, space, time, technology, pedagogy, Curriculum must be the varibles

In Ira Socol's second post, he discusses the mere fact that if students are meant to succeed then schools must be more flexible. He says we should use education as variables and make each aspect of the system work together to provide success among students. He says we should make the learning experience a comfortable place so students will enjoy learning. I agree with Ira 100%. The old fashioned chair and desk does seem to sway students away from wanting to embrace there education. So in my future classroom I am going to use Ira's advice and allow my students to become comfortable in their environment so they will be willing to learn. Ira also goes into discussion about how time should change. He feels that we as educators should not put deadlines on assignments because it can negate the purpose of having your students do their best. Most of the time when students are not given the stress of a deadline, they tend to excel in the work they are doing. The second blog post of Ira's was my favorite. Ira wants to turn the "teaching places" into contemporary "learning spaces" that cross over to the realm of the educational experience. I am pleases to have been assigned to Ira Socol because he has enlightened me onto new teaching concepts and most importantly the significance of uses technology to better the educational experience. I told him that I planned on continuing to view his blogs and follow him on twitter.