No, information is not a sword. Every time we turn life into a metaphor for war, you know what we get? Death and destruction. Words matter, language matters, metaphors matter. I will not crusade. I ain’t gonna war no more neither.
I think George Lucas is like so many others who haven’t lived and died in the classroom–ignorant of the complexity and a damned fool for simple answers. Swords my ass! Let’s dance instead.

Wow! That’s better dialogue than anything in his last three Star Wars movies. Perhaps society would be better off if George switched from making movies and started building schools.

He’s not coming into my school and convincing my school board that networking verbs like facebooking are symptomatic of a techno-disease, and that we have to run in the way of them. (And mean it in a positive, enlightening way.)

Yoda was supposed to be wise, but now everyone uses his lingo as the sign of hilarious remoteness.

What I think is the most important thing in all of this is that we see those schools in need more like those who are technologically advanced. Put them on the same level, give them equal budgets and more adequate supplies, and instruct instructors who are unable to attend professional conferences and workshops due to a lack of funding.

I love the idea of celebrities attempting to demolish standardized testing, this would be one step in the right direction, they could also use some of their resources to end inequality in schools.

Disagree with the statement which connected schools of education to conservatism. As a student in one of these schools, I have yet to see a conservative method. I believe the disconnect is in the movement from the theory discussed in graduate school to the pedagogy practiced in the classroom. Perhaps Lucas could conceive some sort of preservation or motivation device for keeping the progressive work alive.

We are, essentially, gearing ourselves for battle- to evoke change in a stagnant “industry”, and trying to learn creative ways to do this while keeping our (future) jobs! I believe whole-heartedly with the one person at a time approach, but it is with our ever-growing network of people who share beliefs about what education should look like- and how to use technology in the classroom for 21st century students-that we can really make a difference. We may only be one person in our school, but with the knowledge that my classmates are also dispersed throughout the area fighting the same fight, my faith grows.

So I like to think that perhaps there are other schools like ours out there who are also creating graduates that are not afraid to be that “one person” who is promoting technology, promoting growth in thinking, and making change!

I’m sure the notion is out there, but I think this idea of renaming or rearranging ELA classes is amazing. Creating two types of this class. Reading/Writing/Communication skills would be one class while Literature would be a different subject altogether.

What Lucas says is so true…students need to learn the grammar of the environment that they are living in. Which we ALL know is so much more than words.