Distinguo

Distinguo Distance learning has caught us all by surprise. This is a closed group for my paying customers to access.

as a Public School teacher, who has homeschooled and has had kids in virtual learning, I understand the struggle.

Education does require learning from books and the internet. It requires us to 'work' and use the tools of learning. I d...
07/14/2023

Education does require learning from books and the internet. It requires us to 'work' and use the tools of learning. I do not believe in unschooling. At times, a child will need to do things that aren't as fun or engaging. This builds their attention spans and teaches them how to memorize and reflect on what they are experiencing. It also helps them to increase their knowledge of a subject, their vocabulary, and to gain a deeper understanding.

My goal is to inspire, encourage, and educate teachers, parents, and students to change their perception of education. T...
07/14/2023

My goal is to inspire, encourage, and educate teachers, parents, and students to change their perception of education. To see the beauty in education.
This is my grandson descending into a kiva for the first time. He won't just read a book or article. He won't just watch a video and answer questions about it. He will face his fears, feel the temperature change, embrace the experience, and understand a period and a people in history in a way that other children, who never experience this can.

This is exploration. This is learning in the experiential. We can use all of our senses to collect information about a p...
07/14/2023

This is exploration. This is learning in the experiential. We can use all of our senses to collect information about a place. I taught my children the tools of learning: reading, writing, and calculation when they were young. Education in my opinion is an adventure. A great education takes time, relationship building, and energy. We must care about the future of our students and be invested in their education enough to do what it takes to help them master the tools of learning, engage their curiosity, and let them explore the world. My kids might not share my same interests, but in sharing my interests, they are learning hoe to explore their own.

The inspiration for this page was my children, grandchildren, and students.This is my son on vacation in the mountains o...
07/14/2023

The inspiration for this page was my children, grandchildren, and students.
This is my son on vacation in the mountains of New Mexico. He isn't playing video games. He is reading and writing. The main picture for my page shows him running down a path on Chaco Canyon years ago. That is how long it has taken me to have the time and energy to really create this.
My ultimate goal was to create lifetime, autonomous learners, and this is what I did.
After visiting sites all day, he prefers to read and write instead of watching TV or playing video games. I'm not saying he doesn't do that. I'm saying this is what he chose to do with his evenings on a seven day vacation.
I love it!!!

07/14/2023

Education is a reflection of society. It is a transmitter of culture.

Have you seen the movie Wali?

Education is important, but what we think and feel about education is even more important.
There has been a major move to reform education since Dewey (1859-1952). The Lost Tools of Learning were written in 1947. The National Commision on Excellence in Education was created in 1981. The report was published in 1983 in a Nation at Risk.

The new perception is that children do not need to be educated. The internet can teach children to read. Anything they want to know is at their fingertips. The jobs are children will have are not even known to us. Kids are under so much pressure and stress today. A child's ability to read, write, and calculate is less important than their ability to socialize. Our educational system is the same as it use to be and it was created for factory workers. I could go on and on.

The facts are that we have changed our methods multiple times. Factory workers could read, write and calculate. They had more tools in 1947 than we have now. We have less excellence today than we did in 1983. No generation before us knew the jobs that it's children would work. There has never been a time when people lived without stress and pressure. Children are not learning to read nor are they using the internet to obtain an education on their own, without prompting or force. Reading and math scores have consistently dropped, and writing is almost a lost art form. We are beginning to see the fruits of the perception that children do not need a good education.

It's not good. So, what is the solution?
I hope to answer that on this page.

01/26/2023

As I teacher I hear first hand all of the excuses for why education is not working. The truth is that it's a spectrum of problems that create a multitude of holes in our boat (system).
1. The belief that newer is better
2. The belief that technology is better
3. The belief that we are evolving and that is why it's not working or that it's changing
4. The idea that their is more change today than a generation ago
5. The idea that children do not need adults to teach them
6. The idea that discipline is not foundational to growth and maturity
I could go on to say...
7. Pesticides and fertilizer contain chemicals that can destroy brain development or slow it down
8. Technology changes the pathways in our brains
9. Technology overstimulates the brain and affects attention span
10. Technology creates isolation and social anxiety

I could go on and on...all of these things and more affect education

01/22/2023

I spent the last three years getting a second Masters in special education and administration while working full time and taking care of my family. I haven't had time to develop this page. Hopefully, now I can devote some time to it because it's my greatest passion. We have traveled quite a bit, both in state and out. My two youngest are 18 and 16, but I'm raising two of my nine grandchildren. I teach high school at the moment, but I'm trying to decide whether or not to switch to elementary SPED or work for Education from a different perspective. Lol....I have also thought of starting a school, but I do not know if the economy would allow me to do that now.
My stance on Education is this, student must master the tools of learning young so that they can be autonomous in their learning later. Students need to connect to the real world and screens should not be introduced until later, once they are introduced, they need to be balanced with real life experiences, and used as tools for learning not the mode of learning.
I will do my best to post at least weekly, if not more often. I know parents are looking for something else, but Education has been, at least, on the surface free for a long time, even though we all pay for it through our taxes. Many cannot afford private education, others don't think paying for it is right, yet they pay hefty for sports and other extra-curricular activities. The average teacher in Oklahoma makes less than $19 an hour. They work on average 50 to 60 hours a week, and yes, we work nights, weekends, and most of our breaks. A true teacher, according to my husband is married to their jobs and view their students as their children. We live and breathe Education. It's changing now, educators aren't born as much today, they change careers and are made. It's not always a bad thing to do that, but it does alter the effectiveness. The system itself is falling apart because it is constantly trying to find the newest, state of the art model, curriculum, and teaching methods to improve its effectiveness.
I have proved it takes stepping backwards, embracing old, tried and true methods, and building healthy relationships with students and parents.
This page is about educating society on what Education is, what it does, and the benefits that it provides us. It's truly an experiential journey, one that requires effort, investment of ourselves and often our money, and last but not least, our time.

02/15/2021

I live on ten acres in rural Oklahoma. I teach at a project-based high school during the week, but I plan to start on some projects that I would love to share with students. If students are in the area, I will be having some Saturday programs as well as a summer one. I will post the program and you can sign up for the ones you are interested in. Some of them might be more than one class long. I will teach via Zoom or is person depending in what is going on with COVID. I also offer homeschooling consulting as well as tutoring in Reading, Writing, and math.

Address

Mannford, OK
74044

Opening Hours

Saturday 10am - 4pm
Sunday 10am - 1pm

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