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By Dr. Harry Tennant
Thursday, April 28, 2011 Trends: Even Bob Dylan Is Probably Shocked By How Rapidly The Times They Are A-Changin'! In the manner of those beyond a certain age, I am fond of thinking about all the ways life is different now than it was just a few years ago! Many reading this can go back further than my recollection of sitting by our dial phone for hours waiting for that certain someone to call. (Just about the time you couldn't take putting off a bathroom run...the phone would ring when you were clear across the house!) Before voice mail, we relied on very unreliable micro-cassette recorders to (when it worked or another family member didn't tape over it) save voice messages for us. Before that, there was no choice but to wait by the phone for extended periods of time just to make sure one didn't miss "that" important call! Nowadays, many of us actually get nervous if we leave home without our cell phone! We are constantly "plugged in." What if something were to happen like you run out of gas or need to reach out to someone immediately?! The story below documents the trend of a dying art form from a near bygone era! The practice of writing and reading cursive is so pre-21st century that it has become perfectly cryptic to many of our young people. Most schools that are still teaching the art of writing in cursive have cut way back on its emphasis. Here are a couple of interesting quotes from the full article you can access from The New York Times by clicking the image below: ...."many districts now teach cursive only in third grade, with fewer lessons." “Schools today, we say we’re preparing our kids for the 21st century,” said Jacqueline DeChiaro, the principal of Van Schaick Elementary School in Cohoes, N.Y., who is debating whether to cut cursive. “Is cursive really a 21st-century skill?” With schools focused on preparing students for standardized tests, there is often not enough time to teach handwriting, educators said. “If you’re a school or a teacher, you can bet that if kids are being tested on it, that it’s going to receive a priority emphasis in your curriculum,” 
Posted at 10:22 AM Keywords: Trends , Cursive Writing , Technology , Assessment , Accountability 0 Comments |