Friday, January 7, 2011

Book Reports Via Twitter?

The Eanes Independent School District in Texas has decided to allow smart phones in the classroom and teachers are having them submit book reports via Twitter. Do you believe this? How much detail can you put in a 140-character message?

I know that we want to teach students to be concise when writing; however, you cannot adequately discuss a book in 140 characters. What can you say? In order to meet that requirement, I would not read the book. I would just read the book's jacket.

What are the teachers doing in school? I hear college professors saying the same thing. High schools are turning out functional illiterates. They cannot write or speak correctly. Their communication skills are horrible. Most cannot balance a checkbook or fill out a tax return.

When I was in sixth grade, my math teacher, Clay Reeves, spent about 3 weeks going through a tax return and our exam was filling out a 1040 form. I thank God for teachers like Mr. Reeves that gave me the practical skills that I use to this very day. However, our public schools are no longer the envy of the world. We have fallen so far so quickly. Our children cannot function in the world. Instead of teaching them the skills they need, teachers are using their authority to preach social justice and progressivism. The students learn more about Che than Cosine.

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