Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Education: From "Here" to "There"

Southpark Mall in Shreveport, Louisiana was one of the first large shopping malls built during the late 70’s in North Louisiana.  From a people watching perspective, it was awesome.  From a ‘get what you need’ perspective, it could be a frustrating experience filled with questions like:  Where am I?  Where is that store?  Which direction do I go?   

The “Directory”, a mass produced map of the entire kingdom, was the key to answering these questions.  It was here that the weary and confused stood and performed the same routine:  look up, look down … look up, look down … point, nod, and proceed.   Deciphering the map was made easier when each Directory was customized with “YOU ARE HERE” labels.   

So much work for answers to three simple questions: 
  1. Where am I? 
  2. Where am I going?
  3. How do I get there?

If you thought maneuvering a shopping mall was frustrating, you should have tried traveling using a
printed map.  For many just folding the map was a challenge … much less trying to answer those three questions (especially if you had the map upside down).  Fortunately, for many direction challenged people, google has simplified our task and alleviated much of the frustration.  At the touch of an App all we need to do is follow the blue line to get from where we are to where we desire.  It even gives options in case of road construction, an accident, or just a desire to see the countryside.

For educators, classroom teaching can be like planning and taking a journey every day.  We have to ask and answer those same questions.
  1. Where are they? (what do my students know)
  2. Where do they need to go? (what do they need to know).
  3. How do they get there? (How will they experience the material so that learning happens)

Fortunately there are a number of tools and resources to help answers those questions and the challenges of often needing alternate pathways (differentiated instruction).  The power of collaborative teams, curriculum maps, digital tools, and much more are at our disposal (even Google).  While answering those questions in a classroom of diverse learners is not as easy as “the touch of an App” it still should be much better than a confusing experience with a  1970’s mall directory or a time-consuming wrong-turn experience with a Rand McNally Road Atlas.  Let’s make every effort to use those tools and resources so we all enjoy the journey that is education.