Daniel W. Rasmus, a former Microsoft executive and now a consultant and visiting liberal arts fellow at Bellevue College, told Valley educators to lose their fear of saying “I don’t know.”
“Let’s just say we don’t know something and co-learn with students,” he said during the annual Snoqualmie Valley Schools Foundation fundraiser. The event raised more than $70,000 for Valley schools.
Rasmus shared his experience as a first-time grant proposal writer. He did not know how, so he asked graduate students for help.
Rasmus told the audience of more than 200 people at the Snoqualmie Ridge Golf Club that one of the fundamental skills of the 21st century is learning how to learn.
“Our tests are multiple choice, short answer and essays,” he said. “That’s how we teach. But that’s not how students communicate.”
As an example, he offered his “Social Media in Higher Education” class at Bellevue College, where students do homework via Twitter and blogs.
With the Valley’s push toward an improved science, technology, engineering and mathematics curriculum, Rasmus reminded educators of the speed of education in those areas.
“Fifty percent of what students are learning as sophomores and freshmen will be obsolete by the time they are juniors,” he said. “We are moving that fast. We have to learn how to deal with that uncertainty.”
Speakers before and after Rasmus offered examples of how education is changing in the Valley.
Theresa Frank, technology teacher at Chief Kanim Middle School, spoke about students using global positioning system devices for classes, including physical education, language arts and math.
The students are so into it, they are asking for GPS devices for Christmas and using GPS technology to learn about the tsunami in Japan, Frank said.
“I’m not teaching that. They are the ones wanting to learn it,” she said.
After Rasmus, foundation board member Jonathan Pearlstein said nothing compared to a teacher making a difference.
“No matter how many classrooms we build,” he said, “Nothing can replace the spark of a teacher really connecting with students.”
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