College Entrance Essay #2 Schools and Rules are Tools For Fools

The other district I applied to had a list of about 20 generic slogans to choose from. They said it was a summary of their districts "core values". You had to choose three and defend them. This one felt more like a high school history test in that regard.

"Part 3: Identification
Choose any 3 key historical terms and identify them using examples from your experience as a learner"

While I do consider myself a "life long learner", and proudly so, generic slogans make me barf. You repeat anything long enough and it starts to lose meaning. Besides, Constance Contraire was right:

"Rules and schools are tools for fools!"


ESSAY #2

Construction of a Simile


1.Creativity linked with knowledge is valued in the educational process.
2. Learning is internalized when it is interactive, meaningful, and related to the life experiences of the learner.
3. Individuals have a variety of potentials and learn at different rates and in different ways.

This reminds me of a lesson I taught last year in Columbia Heights on similes. The goal of the lesson was for students to correctly identify simile and metaphor when used in poetry and other literature. This was part our MCA test preparation unit.
In the past, the teachers had passed out sample test booklets that contained passages with similes and multiple-choice answers. The teacher would gather the class on the carpet and model a few examples for the class. Next, we would let students try a few questions as part of a whole class discussion and then they would be sent to complete the test preparation packets on their own.
Many teachers thought that this was a perfectly “interactive” lesson. I felt we could do better. Students need more than to just sit and listen and observe the teacher. Students need to construct their own meaning by playing with the material.
For Writer’s Workshop, I invited students to create their own superhero. I modeled a few examples and then let them try it on their own. They were encouraged to work in groups of two or three but could also work alone if they preferred. One of my favorite examples was “Buff Man”, who was created by Ricardo, one of my boys who didn’t normally like to write. Buff Man was “as hard as a rock, as big as a giant, and as fast as a runaway train”.
What was surprising to me was that not every student was in love with superheroes. Many students thought it was pretty cool that they could draw superheroes during school hours. However, some students asked if they could write about other topics instead. I said, “sure!” The goal of the lesson was similes not superpowers.
I told students that they had to write three or more sentences (on any topic) with three different similes. After that, they could include a picture of their superhero in their final draft if they wanted or they could move on to their next writing project. Many students were enthralled by the chance to create superheroes during class time. Other students wrote similes about their little brothers, or homework or included a simile as part of a story about a fishing trip with their family. But everybody understood simile and applied it to a situation that was meaningful to him or her.
When we design instruction for children we have to remember that no two students will learn in the same way or at the same speed on any given day. We need to provide opportunities for students to learn the same lesson in multiple modalities: visual, kinesthetic, auditory, interpersonal, the list goes on and on. Above all, students need to construct their own meaning