GEN:Metaphor - what do you think?

[Deborah Stafford <Deborah_Stafford@COMPUSERVE.COM>]

Yesterday (Saturday) I attended and presented at a locally produced
conference. One of the themes of the conference was integrating technolog=
y
into the curriculum. While the attendees were enthusiastic for the most
part, I once again heard the comment that "Teachers have too much on thei=
r
plate already".  Today (Sunday) while walking my dog and thinking about h=
ow
I need to get my diet under control again the two thoughts collided.

=46rom time to time I do presentations at workshops and local conferences=
. I
am chewing this metaphor over in my mind for elaboration and refinement i=
n
hopes of using it in future presentations. I know that if there some
weaknesses in my thinking or if someone else has already developed this
theme, my esteemed colleague on LM_NET are the ones who can point these
out.

So, here goes --
We have all heard in the news about the problem in the Western World abou=
t
our diet. We have all heard about the new diet recommendations (cut back =
on
the carbs).  We have all read about items we should be including in our
diet (green tea for example). An eater could easily state "But my plate i=
s
already full,  I don't have room for those things". =


Instead of adding to our plate, it has been recommended that we
"substitute" items on our plate to incorporate the new recommendationsout=

the cheap carbs and substitute complex carbs. Cut down on the soda and
drink a cup of green tea. Substitute some TV time for some exercise. The
result will be a healthier you.

In education take some of the items off our plate and in their place add
collaboration, problem solving, authentic assessment. Eliminate some of t=
he
old activities that might be your favorites and add activities that will
result in high level learning.

If this metaphor looks helpful to you in working with teachers please fee=
l
free to use. However, I would ask that you credit me if deciding to write=

this up for a publication.

Deborah J. Stafford
Gen. H.H. Arnold High School
Wiesbaden Germany
now proudly on the web at http://www.wies-hs.eu.odedodea.edu
Deborah_Stafford@compuserve.com

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