Blog 2 Ch10

            Since the world is changing, teachers need to be altering and changing the assignments that the students complete in class. Teachers must teach them different skills that the students will need in this “Flat” world. I agree with Jim Burke’s opinion that analogical reasoning should be taught to students. Analogical reasoning is when one is able to see the relationship between completely different things. He explains that teachers can teach this skill to their students by giving assignments where students are required to compare and contrast different things in order to discover a deeper meaning and understanding of a certain concept or idea. As a future history teacher or ESL teacher, I think that analogical reasoning is a very important skill to possess. I could apply it fairly easily in my history classroom because I could simply have my students compare and contrast different historical figures or even different political thoughts. For an ESL classroom it is important for students to understand the American culture if they just moved here from another country. I could have my students compare and contrast the United States to their homeland (or a country they find interesting if the U.S. is their homeland). It is good that I realize that students need these special skills in today’s society.
             There are many other skills that students should be learning. Unfortunately, I will not be able to alter my lesson plans enough to contribute all of those skills into a History or ESL classroom. I think that technology should be used more inside of the classroom. However, requiring students to use a lot of technology outside of the classroom could be difficult since I could be in a classroom where students do not have the means to that technology. I refuse to single students out in that way and making them feel uncomfortable. Another problem with changing the curriculum for a “flat” world is that teachers are graded by how their students perform on assessments. I will try to alter things a little bit for this changing world. However, if I want to keep my job, I also have to teach the students the information and things that will be on the assessments. I think that teachers find themselves stuck in the middle of those two important things and hopefully there will be a way to contribute both in a curriculum and lesson.