Dear Future President,

Congrats on winning but sadly there is no time to celebrate because we have many problems to solve. The greatest of those all is the way education is taught. Not only is the way we are taught wrong but the learning environment is basic and simple. There is nothing creative or mind opening about a kid in a crunched desk staring at a whiteboard for hours on hours. How about the way people are learning things that are not gonna benefit the job someone wants someday. If you have a seed and teach it to grow straight up only by cutting off all the branches how will it ever grow stronger? How will you teach any student to grow if your only option is straight up. What if you need to take a step back by going down just to relearn something because you didn't understand it the first time. Education has been taught the same since the beginning and since the beginning has cut the real genius’s from the equation.

Following up on the student's environment there are multiple steps shown from chapter “6 The Psychology Of Learning Environments”. It all takes place in a physical environment, with characteristics like teacups and arm chairs that describe what the environment wants to teach you. While small things such as light or even the smell of the room change the way the learner sees the environment. Then it goes on to where the students feel, look, and listen actively, their ability to receive all the information is limited. This information they receive and then piece the bits together from the room, and how the room is rearranged. Whereas circular tables may come off weird to the students due to the expectations from prior education experiences. Also the physical characteristics can affect the student emotionally which leads to the changes in behavior. The way a student receives education environmentally is crucial, if you put a student in a blank room they would quickly become bored and learn nothing, whereas a room full of art and color would help the learner open their mind.

In the article “5 Highly Effective Teaching Practices”, they have multiple ways to better teach education. It is very important for the teacher to set a goal for the class, use models and or examples. It is also good to take a step back and let the class have a discussion about where they are at or find a deeper meaning in what they are learning. This includes feedback so that each student individually can see where they are at and get help. But a key is to have formative assignments, projects or homework that give the learner a greater understanding of what they are being taught in class that sums up what they know and don't know. Being taught something is not handing someone a book or test, but taking them through everything step by step and along the way giving an assignment that can tell you what they need to work on to then take more time on it or move ahead.

Education is a hardship for many students because the way we learn and our environments only reach out to a selective few. They might strive at taking tests, but what about those who actually complete a hands on task? What about the students who have people skills, but not pencil to paper skills? All those kids who are more efficient get removed from the picture because of the way education is taught today. So take a step into the unknown and save all those who have it but just cant test it.  

Sincerely,

Ashton Donaghy 

Junior at Avondale High School