Mike Lee at Arizona's Stories From School blog has enlightened me about the evil beast known as the TTWWADI…"That's the way we've always done it." As he points out, the TTWWADIs are the real forces which undermine our efforts to reform education and improve our practice (and thus, student achievement)…and TTWWADIs need to be closely examined if we ever wand to move forward. Take a read and add your thoughts.
The TTWWADI which stands out most to me: advancing kids from one grade
to the next based more on calendar year than actual readiness. In your perspective, what TTWWADIs need to become TWWUTDIs (The Way We Used to Do Its)?
One that spoke to me was the technology piece. I’ve told my 9th and 10th graders this year that they can bust out the smart phone if they explain what they looked up and why, or what other use they had for it. I changed my mind last year when I learned – from a student I queried about her iPhone being out during class – that you can get the complete works of Shakespeare on your phone for free. This year, I’ve already had a student confirm the meaning of a Latin root in a word – on her phone – in less time and with less disruption than it would have involved had she stood up, walked across the room, and grabbed a dictionary.
Very true about the edpendulum. I think much of the cause of that (other than crazy administrator turnover) is that few endeavors are sustained long enough…either through loss of funding or lack of immediate results…to actually shake out the bugs and reap the benefits. I bet many of the fad and trends in education could actually produce great results if they were allowed to stick around. That said…there are a good number which have stuck around far too long…
I also wonder how many TWWUTDIs (The Way We Used to Do Its) are now TWWDIN (The Way We Do It Nows). In less than a decade my school has come full circle with a couple things.