Last Saturday, I had a surreal experience in teaching/administration. In one room, from 10am -2pm, Envision Children was running it’s first power Saturday of the school year. They were 2nd – 6th grade. They were working on states of matter with fun experiments. They were weighing expanded balloons ; making “sludge” to teach density; answering math word problems on the chalkboard. They were having a blast.
Right next door, Envision Learning Center was administering a practice ACT test. There were 9th – 12th graders.
I had to travel between both rooms for various reasons. Boy……………. The temperament and attitude was dynamically different. One room was lively and fun and the air was comfortable and cool. In the other room, it was dismal, serious, hot, muggy and dare I say……..smelled a bit.
What struck me as interesting is how if Envision does its job correctly, in a few years when it is time for my power Saturday students to take their ACT, it will not only be easy, but that room too will be lively and fun with comfortable and cool air.
When will the day come when education is exciting for all age groups. The day when our youth are so well educated that the stress of taking tests is non-existent and NOT BECAUSE they have been taught the test, but because their education is intrinsic and they see the “real life” value of what they are learning. I am glad that “real life learning” is our mission.
