Following Through

A few posts ago I wrote about a stimulating meeting that I had with members of student government at my school (Winds of Change: Student Style 3/10/10).  During the meeting I challenged them to be active in the change process and provide ideas on how to make NMHS a better place academically and socially.  On their own, the students came up with fantastic ideas in both areas.  In particular they emphasized the importance of accessibility to technology and the use of social media to improve communication in regards to school events, news, achievements etc.

I am proud to write that I took their suggestions seriously and can report the following:

For any type of sustainable change to occur in schools all stakeholders must be a part of the process, especially students.  As educators we must make the effort to not only listen to student ideas, but implement them as well.   After all, they are the ones that we are trying to properly prepare to be successful in society, think critically, problem solve, and evolve into life-long learners.  As digital natives they are even more knowledgeable on the effective utilization of technology than we are.  Leaving them out of the equation as we move to create a 21^st Century learning environment is foolish in my opinion.  Students are needed more than ever to help assist us in changing the ways in which content is delivered.