Reading the text book chapters regarding Multi-Genre Research Papers, I started to feel a little jaded. While the extent of research conducted by Ms. Allen’s students is definitely commendable, I just don’t see that level of involvement being the norm in every educational situation. Yes, there are students with families who are just dying to be fully involved with every class project, willing to go above and beyond to be sure that their student is given every opportunity to excel. Sadly, the reality is that there are a whole lot of families that would love to be that involved but are not capable of doing so, just as there are also students who come from families that really don’t care. Some students don’t even have a family. So, while I truly appreciate the extensive examples given in our textbook, I can’t say that I find all of the research examples to be all that practical.
Reading “The Donut House” brought a bit of reality back into the picture. Not only do I love donuts, but also I created a business plan for a donut shop as my major project for my Business Management degree years ago. The students in the article went through many of the same steps that I did to complete my business plan. How wonderful to give kindergarteners such an all-encompassing world view of their community and how it works! I wonder how many high school students, or adults for that matter, know how to apply for a business loan or file a building permit. The use of applicable writing genres that the students may use in the future seems more useful to me than having them write poems or essays about a research topic. Not that I don’t see the importance of exposing students to more creative writing, but I definitely believe that students need to know how to communicate effectively in their personal environments.
The inclusion of professionals from the community also shows the students that their education is important to more than just themselves and their teacher. I hope that, as teachers, we reach out to involve community members in our lessons just as Mrs. Davidson did. As a Cub Scout leader, I was never turned down when requesting assistance and/or information from various businesses and individuals. Don’t be afraid to involve as many positive role models as possible in the education of your students!
I'm reminded of the students (Ellettsville, maybe?) a few years ago who actually did set up their own business. What a great learning experience! I hope I'm brave enough to take something like that on if I'm working with upper elementary students. Not only are students learning all those academic skills they need to pass tests, but they're learning really practical skills and mindsets that will help them for the rest of their lives.
ReplyDeleteI agree that bringing the "real world" into education is very beneficial for students! Having children learn from professionals and then as a teacher capitalizing on that information to develop relevant lesson plans revolving around the subject matter is amazing!
ReplyDeleteWhile reading the MGRP chapters, I didn't even think about the fact that not all children have involved parents. I'm happy you pointed it out for me. It would make some parts of this project very difficult without help from an adult other than the teacher for the at home parts of the project.
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