Sir Ken Robinson-Paradigm Shift

I was supposed to add this to my final reflection post but I just read this assignment.
That video that was assigned for Week 1 and now again for Week 5 made a great impact on me. In Week 1, the world of an online class was a mystery to me as I sat with my headset on watching a Youtube video. Now I look back and realize how far I have come. I have quoted Sir Ken Robinson to my teacher friends, when he said, We must transform not reform. Wow. I then thought about butterflies. Nothing changes more than a butterfly in its lifetime. Teachers must be willing and able to not only adapt to change but to effect it. He indicated a global crisis in human resources. He sites the increase in education spending has not altered academic outcomes in most cases. He asks "Why?" His bottom line is that no one, no government nor school board is daring to change the underlying system of purveying education in America. The digital immigrants are trying to teach the digital natives. It could work but why not try to engage the students in the forum in which they are already engaged: technology. We must, as teachers, espouse and encourage divergent thinking in our students. We systematically dumb our children down and pigeon-hole them in tracts of learning. I want to be a part of something more than that. I intend to create a classroom where standards can be met alongside of creativity. Where creativity doesn't somehow equate to a lacking in accountability. Why did that impression arise? How can we let go of the need for standardization (assembly line) learning? Why must there be NATIONAL standards? Every town has its own pros and cons, why can't students' learning reflect their local values but with an eye on being able to function in the larger world? I guess I would agree to national standards if the federal government offered more than 10% of the total for educational spending. The states should be left to make standards that apply to their own student population. The work I have done with applying state and national standards was effectively guided my preparation of lesson plans not hindered it. I think that standards are confused with preparation for standardized tests. I think standardized tests are the bane of public education. The preparation for which eliminates teachers' ability to teach for 3 of 10 months depending on the grade level. And the cost and what do the numbers really show?? Have the students give presentations to state ed. officials to show their knowledge not take a snapshot of one unpredictable day of testing.
Sir Ken Robinson has it right: Transform not reform (to alter what already exists).
Wendy S.