I am willing to bet - and I might lose- that I am the only member of this class who is also a member of AARP. You might think free coffee at McDonalds. Or wonder why Jamie Lee Curtis is posing topless on the front cover of the April edition of AARP magazine. You may be breathing a sigh of relief that "Thank God, I'm not as old as HER".
Old age is an adventure of its own with many perils along the way. I have to admit my biggest fear is not cancer, heart disease, or death itself. It is Alzheimers. Scientists predict that 1 in 8 baby boomers will have it. We have been given the same advice that I give my own students. Learn something everyday. Learning keeps the brain alive. That is homework I am willing to do.
I have to admit that my own attitudes toward virtual schooling were very uninformed. It seemed to be a perfect way to cheat (my mom could do my homework). Who would know? I smugly assumed that online classes were easy. Brick and mortar classes were hard. I figured lazy people would take online classes. It takes toughness to tackle I-94 in a snowstorm heading down to Wayne State. Besides who would I talk to? Myself?
But after last weeks class, after those films and readings, I had what Oprah likes to call her "ah, ha" moment. I finally got it.
I thought about David, a young man I know who recently graduated from Osborn High School, who had complained to me about how few AP classes were available for him.
I thought about Mackinac Island School, 100 students in grades k-12, on a tiny island that is frozen in for four months a year. The kids walk, ride bikes, ride horseback, or snowmobile to school.
Then there is my sister Nancy who has MS and is imprisoned in her wheelchair. Her mind is still free.
Talk about prisoners - educated they are less likely to return to prison.
I looked up the word "ghetto" in the dictionary. It says "quarter of a city where a minority group live because of social, legal, or economic pressure."
Wouldn't a virtual school represent freedom? It wouldn't matter if our own personal ghetto trapped us by bars on a window, ice barriers, disease, old age, poor schools, or isolation. A virtual school would set us free.
I learned a lot this week. That's a good thing.
I also put my cell phone in the refrigerator. That is NOT a good thing.
4 comments:
Hi marge! Your argument for virtual schooling that it relases people from isolation and imprisonment of many types is the most powerful argument yet for virtual schooling! Even more so than all the articles and videos we read! What insight! Thank you for giving me a new perspective! I too fear Alzheimers as it runs in my family and I have lived with its effects. Learning new things is something I hope to do for a long time!
Marge, Marge, Marge,
I don't know about anyone else, but you are right no AARP for me. Jamie Lee Curtis topless-hmmm...that's not much is it? LOL, but I can say that your sage is seductive.
That is a positive way to view virtual schooling, because I see it as a reminder of prison if the students do not have computers or adequate access to them in such instances as you described. As I said in class, the libraries are full and many students are not able to complete their projects.
Several times in the last 2 months, older students have shown me their Black History or Science Fair projects and I have to tell you that it is a good thing that these students are pretty quick learners, because their projects were sparse. This was due mainly to their lack of computer access at home.
Needless to say, I assisted them with extra technology and research before their submissions. In terms of the ghetto, in my opinion, it is like a viscous cycle that needs VARIOUS resources to be broken. So I guess it is how you view the glass. Is it half-empty or half-full?
Hey Marge,
If I look as good as Jamie Lee at her age, I would agree to do the full Monty on the cover of AARP! No really, as we learned in the resources for this week, I think it's cheaper for the taxpayer to use virtual schooling to "free" the homeless, hopeless, physically challenged, and the socially challenged prisoners you mention.
At $60,000 dollars to house a Michigan prisoner vice $6,000 to educate a student via the web, that's a 10:1 ratio with a much better outcome.
Now about that phone...I think you'll soon see a fridge model that will answer the phone.
Brad :-)
I totally agree with the whole freedom aspect of virtual schooling.....I also agree with posing if you look as good as Jamie Lee at her age!! LOL
Many students in my district are missing opportunities because our school does not have the resources to provide them with the learning they need. Sure there is vocational educ. to partake in but everyone does not have those type of interest.
I remember being in high school at Pershing and I jumped on the chance to take college courses. I would have been just as excited to take online courses if they were offered at that time so long ago. *smile*
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