The above link is the government website with full description of the NCLB legislation. It is a large site with lots of links but could be your official source to answer any question you might have about this law. Hopefully, we portrayed some of the basics of the legislation with our role play but read for yourself to see what we might not have accomplished very well.
There are many questions that can be raised about the process which we experimented with on Monday night. Included are some that come to mind for me.
- Would it have been more beneficial to present the guidelines for NCLB for a few class periods and then complete the exercise? Or does this activity provide you with some context and for some motivation to learn more about it? If you spend a few minutes on the website listed above you will quickly learn that it is a long, detailed piece of legislation.
- Did you make the connections between what we have been talking and reading about in class or should I have been more direct about these connections? Since it is important for all of you to consider learning theory, how students learn best, the relationship or lack of the same between self-esteem and learning, what is meant be "Highly Qualified Teachers" (is this the same as expert teachers?), etc., did this exercise give you the opportunity to see the complexity of all of these concepts in context of a school setting?
- Did you sense how powerful roles can be even when they are assigned for a one hour activity? Can you begin to imagine what the "role" of schools and teachers can differ for all kinds of different groups? Can you visual what you want your ideal role to be as a teacher and in relationship to your students and families?
- How would we begin to test your learning for this activity? Would a grading system have changed the dynamic during the activity?
- Is it possible as a teacher to be bias or value free? Can you work well with people who might strongly disagree with you?
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