Wednesday, September 26, 2007
New First
Educational change is important to all teachers. It is important to think beyond the bounds of established curricula and to find other areas of necessary growth for students. In the Saber Tooth article, New First wanted to go beyond the standard learning that was being achieved to offer more standards to students to fit the needs of the world. I agree with what is being presented herein, and think that it is vital for educators to find a way to connect our students to what is their world. To this end, I deem it necessary for teachers to constantly be learning the new waves of technology to best help our students to grow in their world.
Time for NJ to Step Up
Get with the times State of NJ Department of Education! Particularly, update your web-site so it can be a useful tool for teachers and administrators.
While navigating this nearly unnavigatable [actually a word?] web-site, it dawned on me that since we are teaching technology to our students, why can't we teach the State Department of Education the same basics of technology. Maybe, what the State really needs, is a group of teachers to reinvent the standards site. I know, in my four plus years of teaching, I have never once found any need to go online for assistance, simply because I feel that the site offers no resources of any value.
While navigating this nearly unnavigatable [actually a word?] web-site, it dawned on me that since we are teaching technology to our students, why can't we teach the State Department of Education the same basics of technology. Maybe, what the State really needs, is a group of teachers to reinvent the standards site. I know, in my four plus years of teaching, I have never once found any need to go online for assistance, simply because I feel that the site offers no resources of any value.
Sunday, September 23, 2007
180 Days
180 Days to fill with a yearlong curriculum. And field trips. And fire drills/intruder in the building drills. Don't forget assemblies. And ASK testing. There's also the half day prior to Thanksgiving.
The theory of 180 class days is just that, a theory. Don't get me wrong, I whole-hearterdly agree with the importance of a field trip, an assembly or two. But I do feel that occassionally classroom interruptions get out of hand. For instance, for each of the past three years, our district has spent big money on bringing in children's book writers for the students to hear about the writing process [side note: Ben Mikaelson, http://www.benmikaelsen.com/ really reached the kids well.] Alright, I get the reasons for it, they can help motivate students to write, to read, etc. But do the same group of kids need to see this same assembly three times in three years?
I think, as an administrator, it is important to include every possible learning scenario for our students. I do think that there comes a time for administrators to try to cut down on some school year interruptions to allow focus time on curriculum.
There is one particular field trip that we spend three days at with our sixth graders. It is a community building trip where students work on social skills and independence that I believe is imperative to their growth as young adults. I think if they were to lose this experience, some would struggle with their introduction to our school and not feel that they would be able to perform as well in their new environment.
The theory of 180 class days is just that, a theory. Don't get me wrong, I whole-hearterdly agree with the importance of a field trip, an assembly or two. But I do feel that occassionally classroom interruptions get out of hand. For instance, for each of the past three years, our district has spent big money on bringing in children's book writers for the students to hear about the writing process [side note: Ben Mikaelson, http://www.benmikaelsen.com/ really reached the kids well.] Alright, I get the reasons for it, they can help motivate students to write, to read, etc. But do the same group of kids need to see this same assembly three times in three years?
I think, as an administrator, it is important to include every possible learning scenario for our students. I do think that there comes a time for administrators to try to cut down on some school year interruptions to allow focus time on curriculum.
There is one particular field trip that we spend three days at with our sixth graders. It is a community building trip where students work on social skills and independence that I believe is imperative to their growth as young adults. I think if they were to lose this experience, some would struggle with their introduction to our school and not feel that they would be able to perform as well in their new environment.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Shame on Teachers
It is my belief that change is necessary and inevitable in education. Our students of today differ greater than students that we had even five to ten years ago. It is the duty of all educators, teachers and administrative, to always keep ears and eyes open for new ideas that can best help to educate students. We need to step out of our professional comfort zone and into a world that can contain a variety of new practices and ideas to assist our students' development. We also cannot react to quickly to a minimal adaptation in student performance. Research shows that it takes 4-6 years for an educational reform to reach its maximized potential ina school environment. I fear that, at least in my district, our administration is always looking for a quick way to raise our standardized scores, and we quickly dismiss eductional methods and gravitate towards other ones. We should be willing to accept long-term change and see how it can help our students before we scrap it to search for new ideas.
Now, I think it is fair to say that educational personnel need to always keep a look out for new ideas that can help in the classroom to add to daily lessons. I think that my main concern with education today is that many in our field feel it is quite alright to rest on their laurels and actually not search for new ways to teach. Once a teacher decides that the way they work their craft is paramount, I believe that teacher needs to retire. We are never going to be perfect at aiding all of our students. I hold that teachers who disagree may simply be unwilling to learn new practices and would probably benefit greater from retirement. I do not wish to come acorss and harsh and combative. I do, however, work with several teachers who go against the ideas that my district promotes [differentiation, lesson study, etc] simply because it would take them to much time to learn these new techniques.
Now, I think it is fair to say that educational personnel need to always keep a look out for new ideas that can help in the classroom to add to daily lessons. I think that my main concern with education today is that many in our field feel it is quite alright to rest on their laurels and actually not search for new ways to teach. Once a teacher decides that the way they work their craft is paramount, I believe that teacher needs to retire. We are never going to be perfect at aiding all of our students. I hold that teachers who disagree may simply be unwilling to learn new practices and would probably benefit greater from retirement. I do not wish to come acorss and harsh and combative. I do, however, work with several teachers who go against the ideas that my district promotes [differentiation, lesson study, etc] simply because it would take them to much time to learn these new techniques.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Prensky Challenge
Prensky has found a way to reach even the most oppositional of students and to help them to reach their maximized potential. If we were to offer students what, quite literally, could be the chance of a lifetime to learn a wide array of useful technological skills, we may be able to reach out to every potential demographic and give them the needed enthusiam that it would require to learn a year's curriculum in a 5 month term. However, there are a few issues that I think would need addressing.
1.) First and foremost, the class that would serve as guinea pigs for this experiment would have to include a group of highly motivated students to begin with. It would probably be best to work with a GT group of students or, at least, a group without mainstreamed Learning Disabled or ESL students who may struggle with the doubly fast-paced curriculum.
2.) It may be wise to teach this class in the manner of a college course. If you have students break up into teams to prepare work on different curricular units, they will be able to prepare lessons for themselves and share them with their classmates. This will take some of the time restraints off of the classroom teacher. Keeping all of the material, including student produced lessons, accounted for by standardized testing and other formal classroom assessments will ensure a strong accountability of your students.
3.) Finally, I think Prensky should also encouarge his students, as a further carrot, to showcase their particular talents in the second half of the course. If a student has a great deal of capability in the robotics field, that students should be able to serve as a sort of guest lecturer in that field to help the other students feel that these grandiose technological projects are attainable even at their young ages.
1.) First and foremost, the class that would serve as guinea pigs for this experiment would have to include a group of highly motivated students to begin with. It would probably be best to work with a GT group of students or, at least, a group without mainstreamed Learning Disabled or ESL students who may struggle with the doubly fast-paced curriculum.
2.) It may be wise to teach this class in the manner of a college course. If you have students break up into teams to prepare work on different curricular units, they will be able to prepare lessons for themselves and share them with their classmates. This will take some of the time restraints off of the classroom teacher. Keeping all of the material, including student produced lessons, accounted for by standardized testing and other formal classroom assessments will ensure a strong accountability of your students.
3.) Finally, I think Prensky should also encouarge his students, as a further carrot, to showcase their particular talents in the second half of the course. If a student has a great deal of capability in the robotics field, that students should be able to serve as a sort of guest lecturer in that field to help the other students feel that these grandiose technological projects are attainable even at their young ages.
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