Hello, Everyone! I believe that we all know about what a disaster No Child Left Behind was. With little to no support for teachers, and unrealistic achievement goals, NCLB was destined to fail. However, now the law is being revamped in a new way that makes it seem, dare I say, good? Lawmakers from both houses are revamping the law so that it makes things easier for teachers. In the article, which you can read here, the biggest change is that the states would decide if and how to evaluate teachers and what to do about low performing schools. This means that the Federal Government is now out of education, and that this could mean a brighter future for students.
However, this isn't all roses and strawberries, there are still problems to contend with. One is that Common Core is still being in effect, which beings its own set of challenges. Also, the law would still require a lot of standardized testing, which not many people have enjoyed the first time with the old NCLB, and would most likely not improve.
What do you guys think? Personally, I believe that this is a good thing. While it may not be perfect, it is at least something to help our students when nothing else seems to be done in congress about it.Granted saying, "It's better than the old NCLB" isn't saying much, but at least it is something, right?
Monday, April 13, 2015
Sunday, April 5, 2015
Techonology Balance Beam
While reading "Tech Tip: Striking a Balance," I found myself thinking about two kinds of balances with education: balancing technology with "traditional" forms of learning as well as old technology versus new technology, as the article mentions.
Traditional versus Technological.
Personally, I still like reading from paper books and taking notes by hand. Students should have the ability to do this. They should be able to take a class in a traditional setting, and still get their work done. That being said, they should also have the ability to take notes on their laptops, locate journals and other reputable sources online, and have access to online classes if they need them. Both kinds of learning are needed, I feel, to create a well rounded student.
Old versus New.
Why should kids be taught how to use those dinosaur desktop computers? Because not everywhere will have a touch screen iPad. While having the top of the line technology would be nice, it is simply not realistic for all schools, especially for those tight on funding. Often, too, teachers are not equipped to use the newest technology along with their students. Think about a smartboard. I know many teachers that would not know how to best utilize the board, and would rather stick with a PowerPoint, just like I almost gave up on Prezi because it was new and PowerPoint was easier. We have to teach children to use the old and new because we never know what they might have access to. its like teaching kids only how to use Mac computers and then testing them on a PC. It's outside their comfort level. We want them to be comfortable no matter what environment they are in.
How do we make this balance though? Clearly it involves a regular use of a range of technologies, which is easier said than done. But I believe this class has equipped us with the tools we need to do that within our future classrooms.
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Virtually Real Results
A recent article on NPR, "Virtual Schools Bring Real Concerns About Quality" brought to light the quality question of virtual/online schools. While online classes have existed previously for allowing students to catch up on classes, new all-online schools have changed the role of these classes. They allow students to take classes otherwise not offered as well as work at their own pace, be it faster or slower.
The major concern noted in the article, though, is the fact that these new all-online schools are falling below average when it comes to their test scores. The CEO of K12, one of these online schools, says that the reason is that these students are marginalized from their regular classroom peers, thus their scores will not be equal. Many, he said, are low income or their previous school system was not adequate. Thus, they found themselves in an online academy. Additionally, the article notes that these online schools spend significantly less in paying their teachers. The teachers in these online schools are also paid less than their counterparts in a regular school because they have the comfort and flexibility of teaching at home. Also, the schools spend less on hiring well trained special education teachers, although 1 out of 10 kids within these online academies are considered special needs. Some of the classes hold online collaborations in real time, where students have to work with each other regardless of where they are logging on.
The major question of whether or not the online schools are really successful is still a question being researched. I feel like for younger kids, it is not a good option. These are the most formative years of their life, and not allowing them to have a classroom interaction with their peers and teachers may hinder their social abilities. In addition, a substantial amount of research as pointed to limiting a child's time in front of screens. Having their entire education online obviously wouldn't do anything to work with that. Rather, it would increase it tenfold.
The major benefit of having these classes online is the range of classes a student can take as opposed to those offered within a traditional school, particularly when it comes to high school electives. The students will be able to take different languages or more advanced classes that they may not get within their own school district. That being said, the question of quality is still arising. Are these students still getting as good of an education as their peers in a traditional classroom?
While I think that having one class per semester online might be beneficial to children who struggle in that certain subject, having an entire school online for k-12 education could do more harm than good. It's hard to evaluate, though, when the results aren't abundant. It's the same issue with judging the success of charter schools and schools of choice. Once there are results that prove the viability of these online schools, perhaps my tune will change a bit. But until then, I think there is still a lot to be said about learning in a traditional classroom.
The major concern noted in the article, though, is the fact that these new all-online schools are falling below average when it comes to their test scores. The CEO of K12, one of these online schools, says that the reason is that these students are marginalized from their regular classroom peers, thus their scores will not be equal. Many, he said, are low income or their previous school system was not adequate. Thus, they found themselves in an online academy. Additionally, the article notes that these online schools spend significantly less in paying their teachers. The teachers in these online schools are also paid less than their counterparts in a regular school because they have the comfort and flexibility of teaching at home. Also, the schools spend less on hiring well trained special education teachers, although 1 out of 10 kids within these online academies are considered special needs. Some of the classes hold online collaborations in real time, where students have to work with each other regardless of where they are logging on.
The major question of whether or not the online schools are really successful is still a question being researched. I feel like for younger kids, it is not a good option. These are the most formative years of their life, and not allowing them to have a classroom interaction with their peers and teachers may hinder their social abilities. In addition, a substantial amount of research as pointed to limiting a child's time in front of screens. Having their entire education online obviously wouldn't do anything to work with that. Rather, it would increase it tenfold.
The major benefit of having these classes online is the range of classes a student can take as opposed to those offered within a traditional school, particularly when it comes to high school electives. The students will be able to take different languages or more advanced classes that they may not get within their own school district. That being said, the question of quality is still arising. Are these students still getting as good of an education as their peers in a traditional classroom?
While I think that having one class per semester online might be beneficial to children who struggle in that certain subject, having an entire school online for k-12 education could do more harm than good. It's hard to evaluate, though, when the results aren't abundant. It's the same issue with judging the success of charter schools and schools of choice. Once there are results that prove the viability of these online schools, perhaps my tune will change a bit. But until then, I think there is still a lot to be said about learning in a traditional classroom.
Friday, April 3, 2015
Screen Time Take Down
How much time should kids spend on technology, with their noses buried in their phones, tablets, or computers?
This question often arises as it did in the NPR article "An Update On Screen Time." The article says, "The long-standing recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics has been that kids' entertainment screen time be limited 'to less than one or two hours per day.' And for kids under 2: none at all." I couldn't agree more with the latter part of that statement. There is no reason children as young as two need to be staring at a screen for any time; rather, they should be exploring the world!
However, when it comes to kids in school, especially as technology becomes more integrated with teaching and learning, it will become increasingly harder to limit screen time. When students get to high school, they are faced with research, papers, and presentations; sometimes they have entirely online classes. How, then, do we limit them to only a couple hours when their grades depend on so much more? Thinking about the time I spend now in front of a computer to conduct research, create lessons, write papers, check emails, etc., I am probably well over two hours.
It's hard to think there could be an immediate solution for this problem. After all, as more information becomes available online, more time will be spent online. A recent article about the 2016 Presidential Election (sigh, they're already talking about that...) said that "millennials" are primarily reliant on getting their news online and through social media. Not only, then, are they relying on the technology to get their school work done, but they're relying on it to stay up to date on current events.
I hardly find any of this a bad thing, so long as there is eventually a balance made. I used to get so annoyed with teachers who required sources for research that were not online. But now, I see the usefulness of those same sources. Additionally, as a social studies teacher, I could require my students to find an article on a current event not online, so in a magazine or newspaper. Screen time should be limited to when it is essential, yes, but it becomes more and more essential every day for more things.
This question often arises as it did in the NPR article "An Update On Screen Time." The article says, "The long-standing recommendation from the American Academy of Pediatrics has been that kids' entertainment screen time be limited 'to less than one or two hours per day.' And for kids under 2: none at all." I couldn't agree more with the latter part of that statement. There is no reason children as young as two need to be staring at a screen for any time; rather, they should be exploring the world!
However, when it comes to kids in school, especially as technology becomes more integrated with teaching and learning, it will become increasingly harder to limit screen time. When students get to high school, they are faced with research, papers, and presentations; sometimes they have entirely online classes. How, then, do we limit them to only a couple hours when their grades depend on so much more? Thinking about the time I spend now in front of a computer to conduct research, create lessons, write papers, check emails, etc., I am probably well over two hours.
It's hard to think there could be an immediate solution for this problem. After all, as more information becomes available online, more time will be spent online. A recent article about the 2016 Presidential Election (sigh, they're already talking about that...) said that "millennials" are primarily reliant on getting their news online and through social media. Not only, then, are they relying on the technology to get their school work done, but they're relying on it to stay up to date on current events.
I hardly find any of this a bad thing, so long as there is eventually a balance made. I used to get so annoyed with teachers who required sources for research that were not online. But now, I see the usefulness of those same sources. Additionally, as a social studies teacher, I could require my students to find an article on a current event not online, so in a magazine or newspaper. Screen time should be limited to when it is essential, yes, but it becomes more and more essential every day for more things.
Parents and Techonology
Hello everyone! I found an article that talks about what parents should ask of their teachers with regards to the technology in the classroom. You can view it here. In it, there are a number of questions that a parent should ask regarding the usual tech related statements that seem to come up in the classroom today, such as when you talk about using a flipped classroom one question to ask is, "How are you going to use in-class time if you use video lectures as homework?"
I show you this article not to put you against parents, but to prepare you for some of the questions that parents may ask. It may be a good idea to create a handout or e-mail that shows what the flipped classroom is, for example. While I think it is good for parents to ask these questions, and it makes sense that there are these questions about different technological learning strategies, I think these questions is a result of a stigma against technology in the classroom. Many parents for years have been told that they must limit the amount of tech time kids have, but now it is being used everywhere. This is a transition that many parents may not understand and it will need to be prepared for. In an extreme example, some parents may be against the use of technology, asking why don't we use tech that worked when they were in school? This is a question that should be answered, in my opinion, by saying that we are preparing students for the future, and that includes using tablets, laptops, and smartphones. What do you guys think?
I show you this article not to put you against parents, but to prepare you for some of the questions that parents may ask. It may be a good idea to create a handout or e-mail that shows what the flipped classroom is, for example. While I think it is good for parents to ask these questions, and it makes sense that there are these questions about different technological learning strategies, I think these questions is a result of a stigma against technology in the classroom. Many parents for years have been told that they must limit the amount of tech time kids have, but now it is being used everywhere. This is a transition that many parents may not understand and it will need to be prepared for. In an extreme example, some parents may be against the use of technology, asking why don't we use tech that worked when they were in school? This is a question that should be answered, in my opinion, by saying that we are preparing students for the future, and that includes using tablets, laptops, and smartphones. What do you guys think?
Thursday, April 2, 2015
Blog to the world
Earlier in the semester, we talked about the benefits of blogs within our classrooms, from keeping in touch with out students, allowing them to reflect, ask questions, and so forth. However, as educators, blogs can serve another purpose to us.
Additionally, it allows teachers to communicate with each other. By running personal blogs, educators can learn of new things from each other, be it new technologies, apps, websites, or strategies. Often, these kinds of things wouldn't be handed down by administrators unless mandated. I think it might be beneficial for a website to exist for educators only to blog about things like technology or new apps they discover, so its easily accessible for other teachers of their same discipline and grade level. When I was searching for social studies blogs by teachers, it took me a while to come up with one that I thought had a substantial amount of information. Meanwhile, having a domain for educators to collaborate together on the topic would make things like that much easier to locate.
The small town teachers acknowledge that many of the blogs are written by teachers in the suburbs or inner cities, giving them a different atmosphere. The many kinds of teachers writing many kinds of blogs, though, gives us much to learn.
Smart but Dependent
A recent NPR article titled "'Smartphone-Dependents' Often Have No Backup Plan For Web Access" points out something that I have often thought about when it comes to education: What would people do if, all of a sudden, they could not use the web - particularly smartphones - for information?
Many of the people quoted in the article talk about how wireless is not always accessible for them, so the use of data on their smartphones is essential to their lives. But think about that... their phone is essential to their daily life. This bugs me for a few reasons. What if your cell phone provider suddenly lost service for days? Could you still get to work and live your life? What if your phone broke and not everything was "saved to the cloud?" This is why I have a hard copy of my planner and of my phone book. While I love having access to everything online, I also know that I don't want to rely on it for everything.
How does this apply to education? I often find myself just looking things up in the easiest way possible, usually Googling on my phone while I write a paper. As I've learned more as a historian, I find that they information I get from a simple Google search is often incomplete and inadequate. While it might provide me with an immediate answer, I don't get the same amount of information. Rather, going to the library and seeing a selection of books right in front of me with the answers and all the context helps me a lot more.
I won't deny my reliance on my phone, but I also know I'd be able to function without it. Would you?
Many of the people quoted in the article talk about how wireless is not always accessible for them, so the use of data on their smartphones is essential to their lives. But think about that... their phone is essential to their daily life. This bugs me for a few reasons. What if your cell phone provider suddenly lost service for days? Could you still get to work and live your life? What if your phone broke and not everything was "saved to the cloud?" This is why I have a hard copy of my planner and of my phone book. While I love having access to everything online, I also know that I don't want to rely on it for everything.
How does this apply to education? I often find myself just looking things up in the easiest way possible, usually Googling on my phone while I write a paper. As I've learned more as a historian, I find that they information I get from a simple Google search is often incomplete and inadequate. While it might provide me with an immediate answer, I don't get the same amount of information. Rather, going to the library and seeing a selection of books right in front of me with the answers and all the context helps me a lot more.
I won't deny my reliance on my phone, but I also know I'd be able to function without it. Would you?
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