Monday is a good day to start a revolution
First of all, why are Mondays so hard? I thought that once I left the regular 8-5 routine, Mondays wouldn't phase me. But they still do. I think I've mentioned this before but it bears repeating. After all, Mondays happen every week.
I think I also mentioned that the best I can do to beat the Monday blues is to get started on something. So I will blog.
I spent the weekend thinking about the direction I'm going in. Am I off track from my original mission/vision for L&LNM? I put Adult Education on the Facebook page but is that wrong? I do have more in the description, which includes family and community, and I do feel that is the direction I find myself going in. But I'm not sure that Adult Ed is what I want to call L&LNM anymore...are we more of a P-16 thing? Or are we even within that system at all? I don't think so.
However, in the beginning, L&LNM did have a somewhat narrow focus -- to help adults prepare for and pass a high school equivalency (e.g., GED) exam and/or help them learn to speak English better. We want to help them in these ways so they can find better employment, help their families learn and thrive, and live good lives.
As I started looking at concepts like slow education, and as I started to truly despise standardized testing (and its effects on kids, parents, and teachers) and the state of our educational system today, my view expanded, and my mission changed. I think L&LNM fits better within the Slow Ed category.
I'm not just about adult education; I'm not about education at all. I'm about learning. My mission has become fundamentally different. I want to help parents, teachers and students see that they have power to make change, that they don't have to bend under a system that is outdated and focused on money and competition, not learning.
I want to find like-minded people who want to go out and start this revolution already. It won't mean much if parents and kids are too afraid to speak up and fight for something better. I think this is because we are all afraid of the consequences, and there are always consequences. If I as a student refuse to take the PARCC, they won't let me graduate, or if I as a teacher do the same, my job could be at stake.
All of that is probably true but if you think about it, who pays taxes? And who trusts our schools to provide a good education for our children? Who's in charge here? We are!! The schools aren't the boss of us! We have to stop letting money prevent us from speaking up on behalf of meaningful, positive change.
Finally, I have learned that teachers are vital to our children's learning but schools aren't. Think about that. Do we need schools at all anymore?
So I'm at a loss. I can still see that L&LNM is aimed at adults, so we could still call it adult education. But it's broader than that. Is adult ed accurate? Do I need to make changes? Something else for me to work on.
Happy Monday. Go out and start a revolution.
I think I also mentioned that the best I can do to beat the Monday blues is to get started on something. So I will blog.
I spent the weekend thinking about the direction I'm going in. Am I off track from my original mission/vision for L&LNM? I put Adult Education on the Facebook page but is that wrong? I do have more in the description, which includes family and community, and I do feel that is the direction I find myself going in. But I'm not sure that Adult Ed is what I want to call L&LNM anymore...are we more of a P-16 thing? Or are we even within that system at all? I don't think so.
However, in the beginning, L&LNM did have a somewhat narrow focus -- to help adults prepare for and pass a high school equivalency (e.g., GED) exam and/or help them learn to speak English better. We want to help them in these ways so they can find better employment, help their families learn and thrive, and live good lives.
As I started looking at concepts like slow education, and as I started to truly despise standardized testing (and its effects on kids, parents, and teachers) and the state of our educational system today, my view expanded, and my mission changed. I think L&LNM fits better within the Slow Ed category.
I'm not just about adult education; I'm not about education at all. I'm about learning. My mission has become fundamentally different. I want to help parents, teachers and students see that they have power to make change, that they don't have to bend under a system that is outdated and focused on money and competition, not learning.
I want to find like-minded people who want to go out and start this revolution already. It won't mean much if parents and kids are too afraid to speak up and fight for something better. I think this is because we are all afraid of the consequences, and there are always consequences. If I as a student refuse to take the PARCC, they won't let me graduate, or if I as a teacher do the same, my job could be at stake.
All of that is probably true but if you think about it, who pays taxes? And who trusts our schools to provide a good education for our children? Who's in charge here? We are!! The schools aren't the boss of us! We have to stop letting money prevent us from speaking up on behalf of meaningful, positive change.
Finally, I have learned that teachers are vital to our children's learning but schools aren't. Think about that. Do we need schools at all anymore?
So I'm at a loss. I can still see that L&LNM is aimed at adults, so we could still call it adult education. But it's broader than that. Is adult ed accurate? Do I need to make changes? Something else for me to work on.
Happy Monday. Go out and start a revolution.
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