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<h2 class="hd hd-2 unit-title">Activity: Betsy's First Day of School</h2>
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<p>Throughout history, educators have experimented with teaching and learning. Sometimes experimentation in the past can look similar to the innovations of today. </p>
<p>The children’s novel <em>Understood Betsy</em> was written by Dorothy Canfield Fisher in 1916. In the book, Elizabeth Ann is a nine-year old orphan who leaves her Aunt Frances in the city to move in with relatives in the country. In the city, she went to a school similar to one you or I might recognize: students were sorted into grades based on age. In the country, however, Elizabeth Ann (now called Betsy) finds herself in a one-room schoolhouse where education is done differently.</p>
<p><img height="141" width="280" src="/assets/courseware/v1/49e394f9b121d2faa3dbd1d1ac59a39a/asset-v1:MITx+0.502x+1T2019+type@asset+block/oneroomschoolhouse.jpg" alt="One Room Schoolhouse" type="saveimage" target="[object Object]" style="float: right; margin-right: 15px; margin-left: 15px;" /></p>
<h3>Instructions</h3>
<p><strong>Read the excerpt “<a href="/assets/courseware/v1/15b15b172f497167f9015473be98b058/asset-v1:MITx+0.502x+1T2019+type@asset+block/BetsyExcerpt.pdf" target="_blank">What Grade is Betsy?</a>”</strong> Now that you’ve read, write down some thoughts in response to the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>What are your<strong> thoughts and reflections on the educational methods used in the excerpt?</strong> How do they compare to what you experienced as a student? </li>
<li>Based on the definitions of CBE you’ve seen in this course, <strong>to what extent would you consider Betsy’s experience in the country school to be competency-based education?</strong> Why or why not?</li>
</ol>
<p>We invite you to <strong>share your thoughts with a trusted colleague</strong> and to read responses from your classmates.</p>
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