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Yesterday, during lunch, I was engaged in an interesting discussion about why is the school year ten months.   Why is the expectation of educators and students that we cram so much information into ten months?   Would schools be better served if the school year were longer, allowing more time for open ended transactional inquiry?  What would happen if as educators’ we said “NO” to standardized testing, and validated other methodologies for assessing student achievement, learning and effective classrooms?????? 

What could happen if we perceived the purpose of education to produce lifelong searchers of the their own path, instead of young adults who are prepared to continue more years of regurgitating someone else’s information?   

Do I really care if my mechanic is able to conjugate verbs in German better than 90% of his or her peers?  No, I just want to know if they are able to accurately diagnose my car, and fix it quickly, accurately and at a price point for which I will not have to re-finance my life to continue to operate my vehicle safely. 

As I continue to become a better master of my craft: assisting special education students to be able to make relevant meaningful connections to their world and the academic world.  I am continually trying to make sense of the current pedagogy, research and intuition and to help my students do the same thing.