I worked from home on the Monday following the New Year holiday and noticed that my 14 year old seemed down when he came home from school. He wouldn't say what was bothering him.  At bed time I again tried to get him to talk. He said "school is boring".  I thought, Now we are getting somewhere". We had just learned prior to winter break that he has 13 missing homework assignments, but over the break he winnowed this down to five.

He proceeded to give me very specific complaints and recommendations about school. Halfway through our conversation, I started taking notes (which made him nervous)  because I was amazed at how similar his complaints and recommendations were to the recommendations in the book I'm currently reading called "Disrupting Class".

He said, "They don't make school work exciting or creative". When I asked for an example he mentioned history. He is learning U.S. history right now, and he said instead of focusing on exciting stuff like military strategies and battles, he said they put the focus on economics.  He also gave an example that instead of simply stating that Jefferson had to make cuts when faced with a massive budget deficit he thought they should have turned it into a game or role play of 'what would you do if you were Thomas Jefferson?'.

He also mentioned that he feels he is a visual learner - but they don't seem to teach him in the way that engages his learning style. I don't know who told him he was a visual learner or that there are different styles, but that is what honestly what he said.

"There needs to be a better reward system," he said. He gave examples by saying he wasn't necessarily motivated by a grade (which is why I am trying to motivate him or bribe him with an iPhone if he gets on the honor roll). He said he wants more immediate rewards or feedback the way that video games do.

A better feedback system, accommodating multiple learning styles and simulations are all things that Clayton M. Christensen and coauthors Michael B. Horn and Curtis W. Johnson discuss in the book "Disrupting Class". The widespread use of such technologies and approaches can't happen soon enough if I am going to keep my son excited about learning at school.