GJHS's district is experiencing major budget shortfalls, and one area that is hard hit are our facilities and classroom furniture. Most of the desks in my classroom contain rotting wood, which makes repairing them nearly impossible. In one instance, the screws holding the wooden desk to the metal frame came loose when a student used the desk to help himself stand up to use the bathroom. The desk then came loose, and smacked him in the face, giving him a bloody nose. As ridiculous as it sounds, our classroom desks are in such bad shape that students are literally being injured by them!
In order to be successful in today's world, a 21st century education MUST teach students how to work together. Collaboration teaches students how to fulfill their role in a group, how to work with people they might disagree with, what to do when someone in your group is not fulfilling their role, and many other skills that go beyond memorizing facts.
Unfortunately, our district does not have the money to replace worn out, individual desks, much less provide students with tables. With these tables, students will not only be able to avoid injury, they will also be able collaborate on projects more easily, such as the Foreign Policy Simulation. In this simulation, students break up into 6 teams, each representing fictional countries, who compete to become the world super power. Students learn about the United Nations, and their limited role in "policing" the world, how countries make decisions about when to avoid conflict and when to engage in conflict, and the role that economics plays in foreign policy. Without new tables, simulations like these become nearly impossible to employ efficiently.
About my class
GJHS's district is experiencing major budget shortfalls, and one area that is hard hit are our facilities and classroom furniture. Most of the desks in my classroom contain rotting wood, which makes repairing them nearly impossible. In one instance, the screws holding the wooden desk to the metal frame came loose when a student used the desk to help himself stand up to use the bathroom. The desk then came loose, and smacked him in the face, giving him a bloody nose. As ridiculous as it sounds, our classroom desks are in such bad shape that students are literally being injured by them!
In order to be successful in today's world, a 21st century education MUST teach students how to work together. Collaboration teaches students how to fulfill their role in a group, how to work with people they might disagree with, what to do when someone in your group is not fulfilling their role, and many other skills that go beyond memorizing facts.
Unfortunately, our district does not have the money to replace worn out, individual desks, much less provide students with tables. With these tables, students will not only be able to avoid injury, they will also be able collaborate on projects more easily, such as the Foreign Policy Simulation. In this simulation, students break up into 6 teams, each representing fictional countries, who compete to become the world super power. Students learn about the United Nations, and their limited role in "policing" the world, how countries make decisions about when to avoid conflict and when to engage in conflict, and the role that economics plays in foreign policy. Without new tables, simulations like these become nearly impossible to employ efficiently.
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