Believer, everyone, thanks for the kind words. Honestly, I think the question of computers or no is not as important as the point that somehow we are managing to spend a lot of money that, clearly, doesn’t get to the classroom. Somehow.
That said, I’m a professional geek; my inclination is that kids need to understand and use computers from much earlier than 8th grade. There are just too many opportunities for enrichment and too many chances to find other information on the Internet. I’ll point out, however, that I don’t necessarily think the computers should be on the student desks….
Similarly, there are a lot of curriculum ideas I’d love to see tried. (I tried to take Home Economics in junior high; not only did I like to cook, but all the girls were in home ec. I wasn’t allowed. I’d like to see kids exposed to cooking and basic sewing, basic woodwork, and so on. But I don’t want to fall into the trap of having a common curriculum; as I said, the major issue ought to be that we agree on the outcomes we want. Certainly at first.
