Course Reflection -- Changing the Education System

So here were are at the final blog of the EDUC 4P19 .  Coming into this class I wasn't too sure what to expect.  Up to this point in my University career each EDUC and CHYS class that I have taken have all had different expectations and objectives.  Looking at the title of this class Foundations of Curriculum and Assessment I thought "this will be one of those boring required classes that I need to take to help get my degreee".  I was prepared to be memorizing and remembering curriculum documents for 4 months straight and writing a long 5000-word essay on course themes.  But this wasn't the case at all for this course.  This course taught that education is more than memorizing facts and writing exams it is about truly learning and understanding the subject.  Why can't education be fun? why does it have to be about essays, deadlines and tests?  These were all questions that we expanded on in this course.  One major theme that we learned was the transitioning of education from the old story to the new story.  The old story is a traditional model in which a teacher stands at the front of the class while students mindlessly copy notes from the board.  At the end of every month or so there would be a test or a quiz on memorized facts learned throughout that unit.  Only a select few students who know how to beat the education system succeed with this environment while others lose interest and become discouraged and frustrated.  While hearing about this, I thought about myself a once student in highschool who disliked going to school and quote on quote "learning" about subjects that I felt would have no relevance to my future or life.  I still remember grade 10 English class in which I recieved a 55% in the course because my final essay didn't follow the "hamburger method".  Since I've gotten to University I have not once heard of or discussed the "hamburger method" when it comes to writing essays because it is an outdated method.  The new story is one that involves performace assessments not marks, group research projects, genius hour, technology use building upon 21st century skills it makes learning not something dreaded but something that is cherished because knowledge is a wonderful tool if it is used correctly.  In this class we were exposed to a new story education style in which we made genius hour presentations, group RPATs and shared knowledge with one another.  I actually enjoyed this class because I knew that I could go and just learn and not be stressed with copying pages and pages of notes for an exam that tests memory. This class also changed my perspective on education, as why would I as a future teacher want to be someone who teaches in a style that I disliked in my educational path.  We as prospective teachers should take the themes learned in this class and become the change. We need to change education to the new story; use technology, assess performance, be humorous , make education exciting so students want to wake up every day and want to be in your classroom to learn.  And of course make it a welcoming environment for everyone and be the teacher who you want to be.  I know we all have it in us we as young perspective teachers can be the difference in changing education