Thing 17

UCAPP - Even my husband, who sat next to me while I listened to Mark Frederman, said at one point, "This is interesting. I didn't know that your computer class was this interesting." This, I thought, captured the main message that Frederman wanted to share - in the current world, where the mass media are created by the masses (Facebook, blogs, Twitter, Flickr), we, as educators are responsible for creating a learning environment where the students feel empowered as they construct meaning for themselves. Lessons that students find interesting and motivating are what we need to aim for. I liked Frederman's notion that most schools are rigid systems which require the students to be disciplined soldiers ("Sit down", "Pay attention", "Do your homework", etc.). Thus, changes in education require not only changes in schools, but also comprehensive system changes. And yes, I remember 1995 as the crucial year - I was living that year in the States, away from my family, paying huge phone bills. Only ten years later, I managed to keep my long-distance relationship (with my husband) by using technology on an everyday basis.

4 C's - PYP aims at replacing the 3 R's with the 4 C's (connections, context, complexity, and connotation). Note that content is not one of the 4 C's. I think that at the LS, we are successful at teaching the students to make connections, in complex context and in order to sustain those connections, for them to form connotations for long-term memory retrieval. Only then, we have made a difference in the students' lives.