The school where Silicon Valley executives send their children

What do you think the schools are like where Silicon Valley executives send their children?

How do you feel about technology for teaching children?

There is a school in Silicon Valley with no technology. The chief technology officer of eBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school here. So do employees of Silicon Valley companies like Google, Apple, Yahoo and Hewlett-Packard.

The school’s teaching tools are not high-tech. They are pens and paper, knitting needles and, even dirt. There are no computers. No screens at all. They are not allowed in the classroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home.

All over America schools have rushed to put technology and computers in the classrooms. But the opposite thinking happens at this school which is at the center of technology. They believe computers and schools are not good together.

This school is one of 160 Waldorf schools in America that believe education should have  physical activity and learning through creative, hands-on activities. Those who endorse this thinking say computers inhibit creative thinking, movement, human interaction and concentration.

Alan Eagle’s daughter Andie is one of the children at this school. He says he rejects the thinking that you need technology to teach grammar. You don’t need an app to teach math. That is ridiculous.

Mr. Eagle knows about technology. He has a computer science degree from Dartmouth and works in executive communications at Google. He has written speeches for the chairman of Google, Eric Schmidt. He says his daughter, a fifth grader, “doesn’t know how to use Google.”

Seventy five percent of the students here have parents with a strong high-tech connection.

Other schools in the area brag about their hi-tech classrooms. But, the Waldorf school has an old appearance. It has blackboards with colorful chalk, bookshelves with encyclopedias, wooden desks filled with workbooks and pencils.

Try to guess the meaning of the words in bold and match them with their closest meaning from the choices in the right. Some of the answers are very close and have similar meaning. The meaning of these words is how they are used in the reading. Some of these words have different meanings in the dictionary depending on how they are used.

 The answers are below the table.

A=5, B=1, C=8, D=2, E=7, F=4, G=6, H=3

Some example sentences using the new words or phrases from the meaning of how they are used in the reading to help you understand better.

1. I will take you to one of the best high-tech electronics markets in Korea.

2. My mother frowns on me playing computer games all night.

3. Some people are more hands-on. They learn best by doing than by books.

4. Dramas endorse products by having them placed in the movie or show so you can see them.

5. You need to sleep well. Not having enough sleep inhibits your ability to study well.

6. Old style teaching is where the teacher talks all the time. Modern classrooms are where the students interact with each other.

7. Please don’t wear those pants. They make you look ridiculous.

8. She is bragging to her friends about how she is the top math student in the school.

    

    

Some questions using the new words/phrases. Try to use the words/phrases in your answer.

1. How do you feel about high-tech school classrooms?

2. If you are a teacher, would you frown on students using their smart phones in your class? Why or why not?

3. Are you a hands-on learner? Or can you learn well from hearing and listening?

4. Do you think parents would endorse a school like Waldorf for their children? What would inhibit them from sending their children from going to a school like this?

5. Do you agree that interaction between students is very important in an English class?

6. Do you agree that using an app to teach math is ridiculous? How can an app be good?

7. How do you feel about people who brag?