Ask any student how
many teachers were exciting, inspiring, and turned them on to a
lifetime of self education? Chances are, if they’re honest, they’ll say
they’ve never really had such a teacher, or maybe one, if they were
extremely lucky. That’s the problem with K-12 education – there are
hundreds of world class, fascinating, teachers out there, but the vast
majority -- millions -- of students are rarely exposed to them. Wouldn’t
it be wonderful if, somehow, there was a way to bring together the
few fantastic, exciting, fun teachers we're fortunate to have with the
millions of students across the country needing them, in every subject
and grade? Wouldn’t it be even more wonderful if, somehow, these
terrific teachers could be combined with stunning video graphics and
sound, like the video games our
kids play an average of 4 hours per
day? The old teaching method of sitting quietly in a classroom,
listening to a teacher talk, just doesn’t work anymore. Amazingly,
teaching methods haven’t changed since our great-grandparents went to
school a century ago. While our kids have advanced, the teaching
establishment has NOT. Thanks to TV, video games, iPods, cell
phones, texting on Blackberries, our kids have developed much quicker
responses and much lower boredom thresholds.
Something
must be done to alleviate this generational discrepancy. Can you
imagine any possible way we could, using 21st century technology, give
ALL students a world-class education?
...well, here’s an idea that just might work…
Classroom Spectaculars (CS) is the name I've given to a revolutionary new concept in K-12 education.
The Problem: Today's
K-12 students are thoroughly bored in class, thanks to daily exposure
to the vivid action and sensational sound of today's video games
& TV shows. This boredom leads to undisciplined classes which
distract teachers from their teaching duties. This in turn makes it
impossible to students to learn what they need to know to become useful
citizens and succeed in life.
The Solution: Classroom Spectaculars (CS)
CS will start as a ingenious new reality TV show, selecting the absolute best K-12 teachers (for every grade and every subject) in the USA.
First,
schools all across the country will submit one hour videos of their
favorite teachers to begin the search. Next, these videos will be
reviewed by panels made up of educators and entertainers, selecting the
top (most dynamic) 10 teacher candidates for each class grade and
subject (about 150 categories total for the 13 years).
Next, the top teachers will compete in a network "reality" TV show (similar to American Idol, The Apprentice and Last Comic Standing)
to select the absolute best teacher for each subject and class level
(category). The winning teachers will have that special presence and
excitement that our students need to really "get into" and learn a given
subject. The TV shows will provide roughly 150 half-hour "shows" of new
educational entertainment content for the TV networks (who'll gladly
foot all the production costs). CS will make a reality show like never
before, since competing teachers would have many more local supporters,
offer VERY interesting content (since they LOVE to teach and LOVE their
subjects) with an enthusiasm you'd never see in an ordinary singer,
dancer or apprentice wanna-be.
Then,
the winning teachers (one for every grade & every
subject) will be professionally video recorded in their actual
home classrooms for one entire school year. These videos will form the
basis for sensational productions, living up to the name, “Classroom
Spectaculars”.
Next, professional
video game creators, along with graphic artists, sound and special
effect creators will turn the in-class video recordings into 30
minute (per class period) DVDs, full of vibrant sound and sweeping video
graphics, that teachers across the land will use to teach their
classes. An accreditation panel (made from top accreditation boards
across the country) will guarantee the DVDs cover ALL material required
to the depth required for the best possible education.
When completed,
the program material will cover all subjects for all thirteen class
years. CS will provide a fully accredited K-12 education on plastic (DVD
disks), as well as preserving forever the very best teachers at the
peak of their teaching careers. Since the winning “star” teachers are
the best of the best, they are most capable of capturing the interest of
even the least motivated student. These excellent teachers are fired up
to get their subjects across to the viewers, since they completely know
and LOVE their subjects, having taught them for years! The result will
be a fantastic, mind-blowing library of “edu-tainment” DVDs. These
(Blu-Ray or HD) high density DVDs (capable of nearly a hundred hours
each) will be made available for use in K-12 classrooms throughout the
country and perhaps, eventually, the entire world, educating children
like never before, in every subject. Our kids will finally be learning
and loving it, and the teachers will become world-class
celebrities! Imagine ... celebrities famous for their knowledge
and spectacular teaching skills rather than their good looks or acting
talent.
The half-hour videos, one for each class period, will
give the home classroom teacher equal time per hour to introduce, pause
the show, elicit classroom comment and answer questions. The videos
won’t be a "threat" to the home teachers; rather, CS will relieve them
of having to insure required material is presented, as well as relieving
them of having to prepare their daily lessons.
Instead of a threat
to the home teachers, CS will serve as excellent examples of the very
best possible teaching techniques and material, in their own subject and
grade. CS should help tremendously to alleviate the ever-worsening K-12
teacher shortage. In-class teachers will be inspired by the excellent
teaching examples and by the possibility of someday becoming celebrity
teachers themselves. The cost of implementing such a system will be
negligible, since the TV studios will be paying all production costs,
and distribution costs will be minimal compared to the billions
currently thrown at our declining educational system today,
with poor effect.
CS videos will be universally available for take-home use
(repetitive viewing is crucial) and for family entertainment. CS will
bring top quality education to the poorest urban ghetto schools and the
tiniest country schools all over the country. They will be made
available to prison inmates to view (and finally get a quality
education) rather than watching ordinary TV or video games. The videos
are a natural for the internet and will also be shown on dedicated CS TV
channels as "edu-tainment", similar to Nova, Cosmos, Discovery &
the History Channel (but MUCH more exciting to watch).
Frequently Asked Questions:
Q - How much will it cost?
A
- This is the best part – CS will essentially be FREE to put into all
our K-12 schools! The TV networks will pay for the reality show
competitions, just to get the
many years of popular entertainment TV
‘content’. Since no celebrities are involved, and the teachers will be
happy to participate for FREE, the only costs will be
for the
graphic artists, sound and special effect creators, who might be willing
to contribute their talents for the good of the educational system.
Even if they charge for their work, those charges could easily be paid
out of the TV network profits. Using new high density DVDs (and perhaps
'Colossal' 100 TeraByte DVDs someday) makes
the number of actual
disks to distribute minimal. Perhaps the government or DOE will foot the
production and distribution bill. Either way, it will cost much less
than the billions thrown at our K-12 system today, with very little effect.
Q – Why did I patent Classroom Spectaculars?
A – Not to make money, just to keep my hand in, and make sure CS turns into the great venture I predict it will someday.
Q – What sort of time schedule will CS take?
A
– This is undetermined now, but for talking purposes I suggest doing
only one or two grade levels per year, starting with Kindergarten. That
way, the kids in the first class will proceed at (or nearly at) the rate
of CS development. They’ll be the best educated children this country
has ever seen.
Q – Doesn't CS undermine local (in-class) live teachers?
A
– No. K-12 classes will still need live teachers, to show the CS videos
and conduct Q&A sessions in the 2nd half-hour. CS also
gives local teachers first-hand examples
of
how to become excellent teachers themselves. Above all, teachers want
order restored to their classes, and they want students to LEARN.
Teachers won't have to
spend
so much time preparing lessons or making sure accredited material is
presented -- that'll automatically be done for them, so they can spend
their time answering questions and conducting review sessions at the end
of the video. Home schoolers will LOVE CS.
Q – What does the NEA (Nat'l Educ Assoc) think of CS? Don't they view it as an assault on the teaching profession?
A
– See answer above. The NEA knows K-12 education has serious
problems, as stated above -- discipline, poor teachers, high
dropout rates, uneducated graduates,
all
problems that CS will alleviate if not completely eliminate. It's only a
matter of time before the NEA and all teachers realize the obvious
advantages and inevitability of CS.
Think of this – CS will:
Get K-12 students enthused about school and lifetime learning,
Preserve videos of our absolutely best K-12 teachers at the peak of their careers,
Provide years of worthwhile "content" for the TV networks,
Give the video game industry a fantastic opportunity to improve our society,
Give underprivileged students a world-class education,
Give all K-12 teachers excellent examples of how to reach and teach their students, and
Produce a crop of high school grads that will revolutionize the world.
The
USA already has the finest universities in the world. CS
makes it possible for us to have the best K-12 schools, too.
by Lee Webb
Broomfield, CO (303) 438-8142 (summers) and
Naples, FL (239) 530-7366 (winters) For more information (or if you'd like to help promote CS), contact: lwebb82@comcast.net
