Computers don’t create lesson plans, teachers do
Perhaps Brittany Hake [“Teaching with computerized lesson plans?,” Opinion, Northwest Voices, Nov. 20] needs to take another look at her reaction to the current tempest-in-a-teapot education issue in our fair state.
Any new teacher worth her or his salt discovers that lesson plans are the construction girders of education. As a building needs a sound foundation, so a teacher needs a lesson plan to teach a novel.
I taught secondary school for 31 years, and yes from time to time I purchased a lesson plan at the local school-supplies store. There have been great plans for decades, and I always found ways to tailor them to fit my student population.
Does she think this is the easy way out?
I am curious to know Hake’s definition of the computerized lesson plans, which enrage her.
If I were to type my lesson plans onto a computer and teach from them, would that make them computerized? Or, if I were to purchase another teacher’s plans, download them to my computer, or copy them on a machine, does that invalidate their purpose?
Or am I just making use of new technology and sharing ideas with other teachers, ideas that can and should enrich my teaching and my students’ learning?
Computers do not make up lesson plans; teachers do that.
— Margaret Lauderdale, Everett
The hungry family next door: Schools must step up
The economic recession may be coming to a close, but the effects of it will forever have an impact in the future generations [“Hunger’s familiar face,” Opinion, editorial, Nov. 19].
For one in five children living in Washington state, the cycle of poverty prevents them from receiving a school lunch, making it hard to focus. Due to the recession, 425,000 more families had to take advantage of reduced or free school lunches, and some children did not get any food at all.
The economic setback also meant that families are not spending as much money on healthier foods, and instead settling for fast foods, encouraging children to eat unhealthy foods and discouraging good eating habits while they are young. This results in a higher risk of obesity and the risk for future health problems.
In 2009, one in three children has obesity. To prevent this number from increasing, schools need to take responsibility for children, in order to ensure they are receiving the proper nutrition and caloric intake every single day.
This must happen in order for the mind to develop to its full potential, because after all, the child going hungry and without food could be your own.
— Jennifer Briant, Seattle