Several months ago, I was on one of those educational committees. While visiting an elementary school to get an overview of current classroom environment and teacher-pupil interaction, I found things very different from those yesterday classrooms.
There were no individual desks but instead students were sitting at group tables, which seems to eliminate note-passing. A few students were laying on floor mats eating 'ding-dong cakes.' I don't recall eating food in the classroom back in 1947...things have changed. I looked around the room and saw no evidence of the Palmer Method writing books or multiplication tables-chart. I suppose kids today text message and use calculators. I noticed that there was a number of children who were rather 'chubby.' This is likely attributed to 'ding-dong' breaks.
When I went to the gym to check out physical education classes, I did not notice any calisthenics or running, instead the class was playing 'kick ball.' Actually, just a hand full of students were playing kick ball, most students were standing around in small groups chatting. I noticed four kids hiding behind wall mats eating 'ding-dong' cakes.
I think if I was a parent today, I'd attend a school board meeting and ask these questions: Is my kid required to memorize anything? Could my child make change if employed as a cashier at Walmart?
Is my child ever required to run a mile in physical education class? Finally, who the hell is bringing all the 'ding dongs' to school?
I know, I'm out of touch, clueless; I'm old fashioned.
I left the school at the close of the school day and noticed none of the kids 'walked' from school going home. They either got into automobiles or school buses. So much for this generation telling their kids about walking three miles to and from school, up hill both ways.
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