However, enough rambling and on to my model.
Being part of this program really makes you think. And not just think about the subject matter at hand, but really think about huge life altering decisions about what sort of practitioner you want to be, where you want to make your mark in the world, and who you really want to help with your knowledge. Coming into this program I really thought I wanted to work in a corporate setting, and maybe one day I still will. But I keep coming back to education. In part because I've seen the struggles my brother had from kindergarten on. So if I could work in a setting like that and improve just one aspect of the education system in a school, it would be a worthwhile endeavor.
I see students such as my brother, who for whatever reason are not engaged in the material. For instance: he excels at tests, is an exceptional reader, and blows my mind when it comes to his understanding of math. Despite all of this and an IQ test which indicates that he should be excelling in school and academics, he continually performs at a very low level when looking at his grade history.
My thinking is to create a system that would help teachers create or build upon lesson plans to enrich the material and increase the likelihood of engaging a student such as my brother.
Suprasystem: The school
System: The classroom
Subsystems: Lesson plans, classroom student culture (possibly, I'm not sure of this, but I do believe that in creating an environment for students to be successful in, there needs to be an understanding of the roles that students fill, and the niches that they create for themselves)
Subsystem Interface: Teacher, or instructor
Information channels: Prior student knowledge, outside resources
I may be thinking big, and very possibly could be naive in my thinking and the teachers in the class could very well be thinking 'ha, good luck'. But I have to start somewhere so I'd rather aim for the moon, and fall among the stars....or something like that, anyway.
