blog number one

       Gee- "The key is finding ways to make hard things life enhancing so that people keep going and don`t fall back on learning only what is simple and easy" - (page 3).

       Ritter- In order to teach a student material, you must first answer a common question -  how will they use that material in life, how is it relevant to their long term goals? You must teach them why they are learning something, before they actually start learning it. This especially applies to material that is challenging. The student will want to know why should they work so hard on something if it will not impact their lives. Therefore if you can convince them that certain material can  benefit them now or later, then you have accomplished the first and hardest step in teaching them.

       Gee- "Today`s world is very different from the world baby boomers like me grew up in and on which we have based many of our theories.Is it a wonder then, that by high school, very often both good students and bad ones, rich ones and poor ones, don`t much like school" -(page 5).

      Ritter- There is so much interference in the teacher- student relationship today. Schools now apply a "teach for the test" philosophy. Students are taught for tests. Principals get bonuses on test results. Politicians get elected on standardized testing results. A teacher is limited in trying to find creative ways of teaching  their students. School becomes more of a work environment to the student, than a learning enviorment. This takes away any enjoyment the student might have in the school setting.  It also puts the students who need the most help at a severe disadvantage, because they need creative teaching in order to be a motivated student.

      Gee- "Success without effort is not rewarding; and effort with little success is equally unrewarding"(pg58).

     
      Ritter- This creates a fine line for the teacher, if you make the material too easy then you lose the students. If you make the material too hard you may also lose the students. Gee explains throughout the book that the video game designer also faces the same dilemma. The best way to deal with this is to create a teach without a ceiling philosophy. A teacher needs to create exercises where students with limited skills can improve and where students with exceptional skills can soar. This is the same thing a video game designer must do in order to create a product that sells.

       Gee- " This is true of all good learning-we gain a new valued identity that gives us new powers"(pg61).

     
       Ritter-  Each time we learn we add to who we are as a person. A basketball player who learns to shoot becomes a different player once he adds that skill to his game. A student becomes a different person once he adds the ability to write or do math. The world becomes a more vast place to a student once they obtain the skills to compete in it. This is true to a video game charcter, the more powers you give them, the more they can accomplish. A student`s idenity changes a little bit with each piece of information you give them, that allows them to grow from their present form. Once I was taught creative writing, I saw the world with different eyes. Once a student is taught skills which relates to their interests, they see the world in a different light..

       Gee- " This view holds that humans learn, think, and solve problems by reflecting on their previous experiences in the world. That is,humans have experiences, store these experiences, and make connections or associations among them" - page 71.

       Ritter- We learn through our experiences. What we see of the world, is what we make of the world. That is why it is so important to be able to relate to your students. It is a teachers responsibilty to connect to each students own world. You must teach each student differently, even as you teach them in a group. This is not easy, but it must be done in order to gain access to the student`s world. You may not want to teach two students about trees in the same way if one comes from an urban enviroment and the other a surburban enviroment because their perceptions could be different. One grew up with trees, the other did not. Tests don`t equate for these differences, but teachers must or students will continue to be lost in the systems world.