Response to "South Korea to Replace All Paper Textbooks With Digital Content"

Tablet PCs instead of paper textbooks?  I have mixed emotions about this concept.  On one hand, I think, "Awesome!  What a great way for students to be immersed in technology!"  On the other hand, I can see many downfalls and dangers to this idea.  For one thing, how can we be sure that the content our students are accessing is reliable and accurate?  Secondly, how easy will it be to monitor what students are viewing, when they will obviously need to spend a great deal of time online?  Also, I know for myself, reading print resources are much less of a strain on my eyes--after a few hours of staring at a computer screen, my eyes are so tired!  What are we asking of our children if we expect them to spend that much time reading online resources instead of print resources?


Another point that I found very disturbing in this article was that the South Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security acknowledges that 12 percent of students in the country are addicted to the internet.  To combat this, "the government...plans to increase the number of counselors dealing with Internet addition to 5,500 next year," according to the Associated Press.  It's dismaying that their response to this addiction is to handle it after-the-fact via counseling.  I certainly hope that the issue is addressed beforehand as well, to prevent new cases as much as possible.  It  was somewhat reassuring, though, to read the quote by Kwon Jung-eun, saying that, "What is essential in digital learning is to promote as much interaction between teachers and students as possible, rather than just leaving the students to themselves."  I hope most schools and teachers can follow through with that expectation.

The complete article, South Korea to Replace All Paper Textbooks With digital Content," posted by the Associated Press on July 25, 2011 can be viewed at :
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/07/25/koreatextbooks_ap.html?intc=mvs

Response to "Spurring Creativity Online"

What fun!  This blog post by Laura Ketcham briefly reviews some free, online creativity tools, along with links to the sites.  I could immediately see where students would find these sites appealing, and I could see many classroom applications as well.  For example, using Digi-Color at Crayola's website, a student can choose from a variety of tools (paintbrush, crayon, marker, etc) to create a piece of artwork on an online page.  Using the page with a marker reminded me of writing on a whiteboard, which made me think of having students use this site to work out math problems.  They could do this an individual computers with the teacher checking for accuracy, or on a computer hooked up to a projector in the front of the class.  There are many other activities at the Crayola site as well.


Another site mentioned by Ketcham was Lego's website, which also had a variety of activities available.  These are fun games that can be used to develop problem-solving skills with students.  The games are in categories such as action, strategy, adventure, and so on.  I was hoping to find a game that simply allowed the user to build using online lego blocks, but was unable to locate anything that simple.  I was thinking that a tool like that could be helpful in math class, teaching volume of solids.  If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.

The complete article, "Spurring Creativity Online," by Laura Ketcham, posted on July 26, 2011, can be viewed at :  http://blog.learningtoday.com/blog/bid/63702/Spurring-Creativity-Online

Response to "LA Tries Again to Eliminate Social Promotion"

Social promotion, or the common practice of moving a student on to the next grade level even if he or she shows little or no evidence of mastering the concepts taught at the current grade level, has long been a controversial topic.  According to Connie Llanos, the author of this article, officials at Los Angeles Unified School District, the second largest school district in the nation, are "work[ing] on a new approach that is expected to ensure students advance only if they meet academic goals."  While it seems that this approach to promoting students makes the most sense, past experience has shown that many roadblocks prevent implementation of this type of plan.  The number one roadblock is (as usual): funding.  Often there is little or no money for providing interventions for students who are at risk of failing academically.  After school tutoring, classroom parapros, summer school, and other intervention programs are often cut when funding is unavailable, therefore there is often little evidence that a student who is held back will get additional assistance the second time around.  Another roadblock is the perceived social stigma in regards to "flunking."  Many times parents and teachers don't want to risk damaging a child's self esteem by holding him/her back from advancing to the next grade level along with the rest of the peer group.  In addition, there seems to be confusion over the benefits of repeating a grade--some studies say it's not beneficial to the student, while some say it is.


I actually have a very hard time deciding where I stand on the retention issue.  In some cases, I can see the benefits, and in others, I think the process would be futile.  One big reason, in my mind, as to why retention is such an issue is our whole system of placing students in groups based largely on their birth dates, all the while knowing full well that children develop at different rates.  I know it's a huge pie-in-the-sky pipe dream, but if we could move to a more flexible system of grouping students based on developmental stages, with more opportunities to move among groups, I feel grade level retention could become an obsolete point.

The complete article, LA Tries Again to Eliminate Social Promotion," by Connie Llanos, posted online on July 26, 2011, can be viewed at:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2011/07/25/37mct_socialpromotion.h30.html

Response to "Are You Tapping Into Prior Knowledge Often Enough in Your Classroom?"

This blog post by Rebecca Alber reminds us of the importance of activating prior knowledge before presenting new content.  I think we, as teachers, all know how important that is, but in the rush to make sure we've "covered" everything for the year, do we always take the time to put that knowledge to good use?  I know I, for one, sometimes forget how important it is to pre-assess the students' knowledge, thus missing a valuable opportunity to see where they already are in their knowledge of a topic, or where there might be gaps that I need to fill in before I begin the lesson on the topic we are studying.  Sometimes even the lack of understanding of a few vocabulary terms can make a huge difference in whether or not the student understand the new concept.  


To help in activating prior knowledge, Alber offers a few strategies.  Some are very familiar, such as K-W-L charts, and some are novel, such as "Image Brainstorm."  I am grateful for the helpful hints, and for the reminder of the importance of activating prior knowledge.

The complete blog post, "Are You Tapping Into Prior Knowledge Often Enough in Your Classroom?" posted by Rebecca Alber on July 19, 2011, can be viewed at: http://www.edutopia.org/blog/prior-knowledge-tapping-into-often-classroom-rebecca-alber

Response to "Interesting Ways to get to know your New Class"

This google doc slide show, posted on EDTE.CH, contains 28 tips for ice-breaker activities that can be used in a classroom.  Coming from a wide variety of contributors, there are many unique ideas to choose from.  Some were very familiar to me, and some I had never heard of, but plan to try in my new classroom this coming year.  I feel that get-to-know-you activities and team-builders are very important in a new (and existing) classroom; they help to build a sense of community by allowing the students to know to know one another and find some differences and commonalities in the group.  One of my favorites is an activity I call the "Name Game," which is similar to a  couple of activities presented in this slide show, with a slight twist at the end.  I begin by explaining to the students that I would like to get to know them better, and to begin, I want to learn all their names.  I ask them to think about the first letter of their first name, and come up with another word that begins with that letter that tells something about them.  I give the example of:  "My name is Donna, and I like donuts."  I tell them that they will be expected to pay attention, and remember the names of their classmates and the thing that each told.  I begin with, "My name is Mrs. Tramper, and I'm the teacher."  The student closest to me is expected to say, "Her name is Mrs. Tramper, and she's the teacher.  My name is ______, and I (like, am, etc) _______."  We then continue around the room, with each student starting by introducing me and everyone who went before him/her.  I offer help when needed, but other students are not allowed to shout out the answers.  The twist at the end (which always tends to amaze and delight the students) is that while they're telling their names and something about themselves, I am thinking of a story that connects the students (it really taxes my brain sometimes, but I manage!)  For example: This is Mariana, and she likes monkeys.  One day her monkey went Donna's house, and ate all her donuts!  Donna was so upset, she asked Hannah if she could borrow her horse to ride to the store and buy more donuts..." and so on.  By the end of the activity, I always know every one's name!

The complete google doc, by Tom Barrett and other contributors,  can be viewed at:  https://docs.google.com/present/view?id=dhn2vcv5_650dvtj3dgk

Response to "Great Teachers: Perfectly Imperfect"

In this blog post, David Ginsburg relates two anecdotes about adults who had experienced an incident of ridicule by a teacher as a child, and how those experiences affected these two into adulthood.  The big difference between the two stories, though, is that in one of the incidences the teacher admitted wrongdoing and apologized for the ridicule, while the other teacher never mentioned the occurrence again.  The adult who had received the apology from the teacher as a child viewed the incident in a positive light, while the adult who received no apology still stings from the memory of the humiliation that he had experienced as a child.  Ginsburg's point is that we, as mentors to our students, need to be willing to admit our imperfections and wrongdoings and be prepared to humble ourselves by offering an apology when the situation warrants it.  I think all too often teachers in the classroom refuse to admit that they are human, and that they, too, make mistakes, but by refusing to admit our own imperfections, we distance ourselves from the realites of our students' lives.  As Ginsburg says in his blog, "The point, then, isn't that we should hold ourselves to a standard of perfection in our interactions with students.  But we should hold ourselves to perfection when it comes to owning our imperfections and their impact on students."

The complete blog post, "Great Teachers:  Perfectly Imperfect" posted by David Ginsburg on July 16, 2011, can be viewed at :  http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/coach_gs_teaching_tips/2011/07/great_teachers_perfectly_imperfect.html

Response to "Novels with a Digital Connection"

This article by Laura Ketcham discusses a "hot new craze in children & teen novels," which is to add an online component to the book-reading experience.  Ketcham specifically mentions three popular series using that format:  The 39 Clues, The Amanda Project, and Skeleton Creek.  All three of these series belong to the mystery genre, with both the print books and the online components providing clues to help the reader solve the mystery.  The online sites also offer "extras" such as games that enable the reader to earn extra clues, message boards so that readers/users can communicate with one another, personality quizzes, and publication centers for reader contributions.

These types of "book-to-digital connections could be very motivating for the reader.  The fact that students have the opportunity to interact with a book series using technology could be very appealing to even the reluctant readers in the classroom.  I foresee that there will be more and more books published with an interactive, online component.

View the original article "Novels with Digital Connection" by Laura Ketcham, posted by Lauren Grossberg on July 1, 2011 at:  http://blog.learningtoday.com/blog/bid/60477/Novels-with-a-Digital-Connection

Response to "Fun Online Math Games"

As a companion to my earlier post regarding video games in science class, I wanted to share an article I found about online math games.  Playing games in math class can be very fun and motivating for the students, and I feel children can gain a great deal of math skills by playing games (board games as well!).  As with any teaching strategy, though, I feel it's important to avoid too much repetition, so having a wide variety of math sites to use in class is very helpful.  In this article by Laura Ketcham, there are links to four sites where math games are available for a variety of ability levels.  While these games tend to focus on computation skills, I feel that those prerequisite skills are very important, and without good, solid computation skills, students face greater struggles with higher-level math concepts.

A couple of the sites had unique features that I felt would make them even more motivating for some students.  "Math Mayhem," for example, allowed the player to compete online with others who were also using the site at the same time.  I tried it out for about 10-15 minutes, and during each one-minute round I was joined by at least three other players.  Caution should be used though, because rather than being motivational, this feature could make the game very discouraging to the student who never gets the highest score.

"Math Arcade" had an interesting twist as well--every time you pass a level, you move on to a different game, thus preventing boredom from setting in.  Also, you are provided with a code at the end of each successful level so if play is interrupted, you can enter the code when you return to the site and just pick up where you left off.

The two other sites mentioned in the article, "The Math Magician" and "Sheppard Software" seemed fun and useful as well.  I plan to add all four sites to my LiveBinder and use them with my fifth grade math class this year!

The original article, "Fun Online Math Games" by Laura Ketcham, posted by Lauren Grossberg on July 5, 2011, can be viewed at:  http://blog.learningtoday.com/blog/bid/60693/Fun-Online-Math-Games

Response to "Programming Digital Fun Into Science Education"

This article by Katie Ash points out the advantages of using video games and simulations in science class.  Although, as Ash points out, there is not a great body of research that supports the premise that video games will help students learn science better than textbooks, I don't think any teacher needs to ponder the idea that most students possess a high interest level for playing video games.  These types of games are very motivating for the students, and also tend to provide immediate feedback.  Now, many may say that we want students to spend less time on video games, but the plain fact is that Nintendo DS is here to stay (at least until it becomes outdated and replaced with a more sophisticated game-playing device) and we teachers need to learn to co-exist with it, not aspire to eradicate it from our students' lives!


In addition to the motivation factor, video games and simulations can make abstract concepts more concrete for the student.  Ash mentions some examples of topics, such as photosynthesis and electricity, that can be simulated in a video game, leading to greater student understanding.  According to Ash, many developers are working on software and web-based applications targeted at specific grade levels and topics.  I think this is a great way to teach concepts to the students.  I often use web resources to help teach my science lessons, and the students do tend to find theses activities very motivating--mush more so than answering questions at the end of the chapter in the textbook!


This isn't to say that we should do away with the textbook, but I believe a "good" science class would have a mix of textbook and other print resources; hands-on, project based activities; and video games and simulations.  As we all know, using a variety of teaching methods reaches a variety of students more effectively.

The complete article, "Programming Digital Fun Into Science," by Katie Ash, published online on June 15, 2011, can be viewed at:  http://www.edweek.org/dd/articles/2011/06/15/03science.h04.html?tkn=OSSF%2FawVa7CepD%2FRv0pRoRQwnAT%2BixsNsPMv&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2

Response to "Technology: Teacher Enhancement, NOT Replacement"

In this blog post, author David Ginsburg points out what I think should be obvious to all educators:  great technology will never take the place of a great teacher.  As I spoke about in an earlier post, a lot of emotions are involved in the learning process, and a great deal of what a student learns is driven by the teacher-student interactions that take place.  When I hear about plans to offer the bulk of a high school student's coursework online, versus in the classroom, I feel we are heading in the wrong direction.  Students need face-to-face interaction to be a part of the learning process.  A few years ago, our high school offered a credit recovery online summer school program to students who had failed one or more courses during the regular school year.  Not surprisingly, the program was totally revamped the following year by adding more teachers to help the students with the online work, since hardly any of the students passed the online summer school courses during the first year they were offered.


So, while effective teachers are vital to a student's success, Ginsburg also points out that effective teachers owe it to their students to overcome any fears about new technology in the classroom.  New technologies are what are students are slated to face every year of their lives, both at school and in the real world, so in order to offer our students a well-rounded education, the technology component cannot be ignored.  Of course, this involves much work and planning on the educator's part:  ensuring that appropriate technology is available and working, becoming familiar with the technology and how to integrate it into lessons plans, being flexible enough to have an alternate game plan when the technology suddenly adopts a mind of its own, and so on.  Overall, though, we must recognize our impact on our students' futures, and be ready to combine our "tried and true" teaching techniques with the unfamiliar ground of new technologies.

The original blog post, "Technology:  Teacher Enhancement, NOT Replacement" posted by David Ginsburg on July 2, 2011, can be viewed at:  http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/coach_gs_teaching_tips/2011/07/technology_teacher_enhancement_not_replacement_1.html

Response to "Debunking Five Myths About Project-Based Learning"

This blog by John Larmer discusses five common misconceptions about project-based leaning.  Even though Larmer made strong arguments in the attempt to "debunk" these myths, I still must say that for me, project based learning is still a pretty daunting concept.  Even though I've been reading a multitude of information recently about project-based learning, and I recently attended a day-long PD opportunity about PBL, it's still difficult to get rid of the notions that it won't "take too much time," or be "too hard to manage" ( a couple of the "myths" addressed by Larmer).  I agree that it's a misconception to think that PBL is all about making a "project,"  or that it's not standards based, but I think you have to go in with open eyes and tell yourself, at least the first few times, that project-based learning will be a big time commitment, both from the student and the teacher.  I don't think you can enter this realm halfheartedly, or you're sure to face failure.  Also, PBL has management issues that teachers must consider ahead of time, issues that might not arise with the teacher's current style of teaching.  To be fair to Larmer, he did state that  the time commitment and the management issues can be challenging at first, but then get better with time, but I don't think that calling these issues "myths" accurately portrays the whole picture!


In spite of my misgivings, though, I think that project-based learning is a great idea.  The closest I come to this style of teaching is my Science Fair unit, where students work in groups of three on a self-selected project.  From this experience, I know that students love this style of teaching/learning, so I hope I can get brave and expand my repertoire of projects.

The original blog, "Debunking Five Myths About Project-Based Learning" posted by John Larmer on July 1, 2011 can be viewed at :  http://www.edutopia.org/blog/debunking-five-pbl-myths-john-larmer

Response to "The Power of eMentorship in Student Literacy: An Interview with Nina Zolt"

This blog by Heather Wolpert-Gawron intorduced a literacy program I had never heard of before.  It's called In2Books, and it's a program made up of volunteers who have been through a thorough screening and training process.  These volunteers, according to Wolpert-Gawron, are partnered with students to "discuss books through letter writing that is teacher-guided and teacher-approved."


This program not only breaks down some of the time barriers that prohibit professional adults from volunteering in our school systems, but it allows the students some real-world connections that reinforce the  importance placed on literacy skills.  These connections encourage students to read and write more in their daily lives, knowing that a caring adult (besides teachers and parents) is interested in what they have to say.  For many students, this can have a great impact on their learning.


I plan to check into the In2Books program, and possibly use it with my 5th grade students this year!

The original blog post, "The Power of eMentorship in Student Literacy:  An Interview with Nina Zolt" by Heather Wolpert-Gawron on July 1, 2011 can be viewed at : http://www.edutopia.org/blog/ementorship-literacy-nina-zolt-interview-heather-wolpert

Response to "Do Limits on Homework Lower Expectations?"

The amount of homework that is considered acceptable, and the weight it should carry towards a stuent's final grade in class, have long been matters of debate among teachers.  According to this article by Anthony Rebora, the ultimate decision regarding the effect homework has on grades has been taken out of Los Angeles teachers' hands, because "The Los Angeles school district is instituting a new policy uniformly limiting homework to 10 percent of a student's grade."  The reason for this, says Rebora, is that after researching the situation it was determined that students were being "punished" by homework when their "home academic environment" was less than favorable.


Larry Strauss, a Los Angles high school English teacher, claims this new policy lowers expectations for students, says Rebora.  Strauss points out that while students tend to balk at homework, ultimately they appreciate teachers who hold high expectations for their academic success.


While I, in some respects, agree with the school district's argument that a student's home environment plays a big role in their success with homework, I don't feel that mandating the weight placed on it is the right answer.  For one thing, lowering homework expectations does not prepare a college-bound student for the rigors of independent academic work required at the university level.  Even for students who are not college bound, the self-discipline required to complete independent work at  home builds a work ethic that will enhance a student's success in any area of the workplace.


I believe that decisions regarding homework should rest with the individual teacher.  As long as teachers are conscientious about assigning relevant learning tasks that will enhance a student's academic skills (not "busy work"), I feel it's reasonable to hold high expectations for all of the students, and grade that work accordingly.  Of course, there are always special circumstances, but I feel teachers should deal with those cases on an individual basis and make decisions according to what's best for the student. 


The original blog post, "Do Limits on Homework Lower Expectatons?" by Anthony Rebora published June 30, 2011, can be viewed at http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/teaching_now/2011/06/do_limits_on_homework_lower_expectations.html