2008 Woodie Awards
Levy Lectures Listeners On Classroom Challenges
Rachel Mills
Issue date: 3/2/07 Section: News
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Levy began by having students and faculty express their personal and career goals for the future and asked students to consider what the classroom may look like in the year 2020. She then had audience members exchange ideas with the person sitting next to them.
Chris Beltran, a theater arts student, said he would hopefully be married and raising a family, a few true friends, and that he hoped to act in movies.
Going back to the beginning of formal education in America, Levy began explaining the look and feel of the classroom setting. In the past the school year only lasted nine months at most. Students of all different ages and grade levels were put into one room and learned together.
"Students didn't have homework in those times due to the lack of light resources," said Levy.
Textbooks of the past were rare. The method of teaching conducted was different as well. Students learned in groups more than from he teacher.
Progressing forward, Levy described the educational experience of the years 1950 through 1980. Nine months was still the average length of the school year as it had been earlier, but the new concept of summer school was introduced into the system. Schools started to break up the different groups of students according to age and learning level. Primers were then issued to students at the start of the teaching process. Among these primers one popular series was the "Dick and Jane" series. Other tools that helped facilitate student learning were flash cards and workbooks. The furniture in the classroom started to become more movable and flexible.
The classroom changes up to present were then presented. Desks today are easily moved and can be placed in a variety of shapes and positions. The majority of classrooms had iron desks which were nailed to the floor back in the day. Audio visual and other technologies available play a vital role in student's learning adventures. Now students do not just simply attend school for nine months because the school year is almost year round.
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