Journal 4

My coworkers and I were talking about how we did not learn enough of what to do in real life situations, such as how to pay your taxes, how to fill out a DW2 form, or understanding of different types of insurance. I always hate filling out DW2 forms because it is never clear to me when to put which number. This also reminded me of when I was a student athlete because eighteen year olds are given scholarship checks, and are not given the tools to learn how to properly balance their money. The fact that an eighteen year old is entrusted with a hefty check every month or so, and is expected to use ti wisely boggles my mind. The only real life issue I remember learning about how to deal with was learning how to write checks in 3rd grade, which has stuck with me my entire life probably because it was related to adult life and was exciting!

In Dewey's book he talks about how it is the teachers responsibility to have the children retain useful data that they will need rather than useless data they will never use. I saw this meme the other day that said "and another day has gone by and I have not used the quantum theory once... If a student knows they need to learn something that will be useful to their future it will interest them. 

Another concept that I agree with is that sometimes work does not coincide enough with play, which causes work to only get done as a reward, or to avoid punishment. This leads to half as work. Learning through experience is a way to make work and play come together. For example I have reentry been learning how to make videos on adobe premier pro, and although it is a lot of work figure out how to make certain things happen, it is really fun for me. I am pleased with my work after my video is done! I am excited that I know how to make an even better video than my last one, and it causes me to want to make more. I take the learning into my own hands by searching for instruction, or accidentally learning something from messing around with the tools. Dewey's main focus on learning seems to be learning through experience and allowing the students to fail and to learn things that apply to their world.