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By The Associated Press
Posted Dec. 17, 2013 @ 7:14 am
Education officials say winter break is the perfect time to keep students’ minds active.

Nearly two million Illinois public school students are gearing up for winter vacations.

 

State Superintendent of Education Chris Koch says there are “teachable moments” during holiday activities and outings that can broaden students’ minds.

 

Suggestions include a trip to the local library and encouraging kids to read at least 30 minutes a day.

 

Other opportunities to learn include connecting with family members. An Illinois Teacher of the Year suggests a history lesson of sorts – by visiting elderly relatives and asking them about their holiday traditions and how they’ve changed.

Education officials say a way to incorporate math around the holidays is baking; doubling a recipe could be a lesson in fractions.

Every couple of years it seems another “Did do you know” video is released. I have shared these videos with faculty, staff, students, parents, and readers in the “blog world” for the past few years. The version I am sharing with this blog post is current as of May 2013 so some of the information may already be out of date, but after reviewing, readers will understand the message.

Big picture: Our public schools still resemble, in many ways, the 19th Century Industrial Model (the factory model). In a 2006 article in Time magazine, there is commentary on how Rip Van Winkle appears in the 21st Century (see excerpt below):

The world has changed, but the American classroom, for the most part, hasn’t. Now educators are starting to look at what must be done to make sure our kids make the grade in the new global economy

By Claudia Wallis and Sonja Steptoe Sunday, Dec. 10, 2006

There’s a dark little joke exchanged by educators with a dissident streak: Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he sees. Men and women dash about, talking to small metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes around on electronic screens. Older folk defy death and disability with metronomes in their chests and with hips made of metal and plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls–every place Rip goes just baffles him. But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old…

Read more: How to Bring Our Schools Out of the 20th Century – TIME http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1568480,00.html#ixzz2nEWV6tI2

The point of the article is that Rip Van Winkle is confused by modern day experiences like air planes, shopping malls, electronics, etc. – but when he walks into a classroom he is calm and comfortable … because structurally speaking, most classrooms have not changed (or had not changed as of 2006).

The point of course is that our charge is to prepare students for schooling and work in THEIR future … not ours … so while nostalgia fans might want their kid’s schooling to look like theirs – my charge is to foster an innovative, modern, present day – future focused learning organization! Thankfully we have amazing teachers, students, support staff, administrators, board members and community members in our district and these lofty goals can be seen!

So … that’s the background for the video:

131207-N-CS953-002 ARLINGTON, Va. (Dec.7, 2013) A member of the U.S. Army 3rd Infantry Honor Guard hands Information Systems Technician Seaman Yesenia Munoz, 19, a Sailor from Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) and a native of Houston, Texas, and Naval Sea Cadet Saddique Stevens the wreath they are to lay at Arlington National Cemetery’s Tomb of the Unknowns, as Yeoman Seaman Victoria Ruiz, from NHHC a Hacienda Hieghts, Calif. Resident, and Naval Sea Cadet Nicklaus Tollmeo prepare for the start of the wreath laying ceremony . The wreath, honoring veterans of the Dec. 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, was sponsored by the Naval Order of the United States and is part of a world-wide observance honoring the service and sacrifice of those who were there on that day of infamy. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tim Comerford/Released)

Today marks one of the most memorable dates in modern American History – the day Pearl Harbor’s Naval Base was bombed (on Dec. 7, 1941). As a former U.S. history teacher, I often reflect on these events, quotes from leaders (Like FDR), and the messages they have for our present and our future. Most Americans of a certain age remember or know about the president’s “Day of Infamy” speech. See below for details if you have forgotten:

At 12:30 p.m. on December 8, 1941, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt stood before Congress and gave what is now known as his “Day of Infamy” or “Pearl Harbor” speech.

In this speech, Roosevelt declared that December 7, 1941, the day that the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, would remain “a date which will live in infamy.” That particular line has become so famous that it is hard to believe the first draft had the phrase written as “a date which will live in world history.” from: http://history1900s.about.com/od/franklindroosevelt/a/Day-Of-Infamy-Speech.htm

December 7 is a date that does live in infamy as predicted by President Roosevelt. So much has changed in the world since 1941 – some would say our information rates increase so highly exponentially that modern and future generations will be overloaded with information and unable to deeply know or appreciate the historical foundations and events upon which our nation has been built.

I still have faith and confidence in education and our ability, as educators, to facilitate learning for our youth – including remembering, understanding, and analyzing “date[s] which will live in infamy. With so much ready access at our fingertips of speeches, dates, quotes, imagery, etc. it is incumbent upon us “modern people” to never forget events, issues, situations, realities of our past as we attempt to understand our present and prepare our youth for their future – and ours!