As a teacher, I am going to try and remain calm when discussing No Child Left Behind, as it has caused an uproar of frustration in many arenas (public, private, familial). I think the National Education Association magazine said it best in article from a February issue of last year, "Why is the federal government so involved in an area they know little about? Can you imagine the federal government walking into a surgeon's operating room and telling them which instrument to use next or asking questions as to what they were doing with a patient?" (NEA, 2006).
Its not as though I am unappreciative of the effort. The news release, President Discusses No Child Left Behind and High School Initiatives, is a valiant effort to help schools help children & adolescents succeed. But I feel as though the articles just throws amounts of money out there. Does anyone have any idea how such millions of dollars should be appropriated?! Why don't we have a committee on that? The federal government has no idea what goes on behind classroom doors - it is just too large of an area to govern.
With NCLB, I have seen teachers manipulate grades from 50's to 70's just so they don't get reprimanded from their principal. NCLB almost falsifies education. Some parents refuse to acknowledge a child's learning disability, refuse to change their diploma status and I have that child in my biology class with a 74 point IQ. That child has taken the biology SOL three times and because NCLB states that 96% of special ed. students are required to pass, teachers are frustrated and unable to help such students understand certain concepts because honestly, that child's brain just doesn't work the way NCLB wants it to. But they have to pass the SOL - they're in that class and the principal and the child's family is watching you.
Accountability is absolutely essential in education and I understand that is part of NCLB's plan but accountability should not lie within state standards only. Today, learning styles vary from student to student and from school to school. There must be another way for students to show us they are knowledgeable of the material being taught.
In NY, we knew we had Regents exams at the end of the year. But I do not remember the teachers telling us on a daily basis, "This is what you have to know or you will not pass the Regents exams." Other students were placed on a different type of diploma status and they were not required to take the Regents exams. They are successful today. If a teacher is dedicated to education, SOL's should not be a focus - content should be a focus and the SOL will fall into place naturally.
My co teacher and I have taught by the curriculum map and have achieved the highest pass rates in the county for inclusion classes. I am in no way bragging, just saying that we study the curriculum and the important aspects of biology. Then we plan and plan and plan to make sure we have an educationally rich environment, lessons that mean something to the students and something they will remember and understand. We also spent countless hours after school, offering 5% to tests for those who stayed after. Papa John's donated many pizzas for such events too, which always helps. But not all teachers have relationships like this nor do they have the time. Some teachers actually have part-time jobs to attend to after school and so do the students!
Yes, I think the NCLB initiatives are with good intentions but seriously, how much time do you have at the end of a teaching day to tutor or rescue someone from the illiteracy route? We don't have time. With these initiatives, I spend a good portion of my day trying to catch up with the 18 students on my caseload, answer 120 emails to parents who will complain if they are not answered within 24 hours, speak to teachers about so and so's learning style and progress, work on my own lessons, grade papers, document goals and progress, get lessons prepared for the ED classroom and breathe!
If we want to see money well spent, why not allocate funds to pay teachers to stay after school? Why not make a national literacy program so that all schools receive the same books, the same instruction on what is proven to help a child read? Why not have some testing requirements for AP classes? I have seen kids in AP classes that have no business being there, waste the teacher's time and it's all because their parents do not want them in inclusion classes and want them to try and get some college credit.
There just isn't enough time to try and appropriate all these funds being thrown at us. I don't even know where Bush gets these funds. And where do the funds go? Really, we should be appropriating the money to colleges, making the future teachers prepared for what is going to happen when they get into schools. Help future teachers with reading instruction. Get some math incentives out there for future teachers. Help them with the knowledge they will need to get students to succeed in class. Principals of high schools and teachers at universities know education like the back of their hand, have them develop initiatives for a federal plan, not the government - they just do not know enough about it.
Well, some do. You know back in 1976 the late Gerald Ford said, "We do not have the man power to carry out the Disabilities Act. It will tie up administrator's hands and education will be further from the teacher's daily activities" (Education Weekly, 2006). Yes, this is going a tad astray from NCLB but the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) certainly plays a large role in NCLB. Both say, all need to be successful, no matter their IQ, environment (home, school and public) and that is how we will measure the state's standards and the kid's success-NCLB states you will educate that student and they will pass like everyone else. But they can not pass and parents and teachers need to work together in alleviating some of these blunders. Little can be done, however, after identifying an individual disabled because it seems everyone has a disability - 300 students out of 1800 are labeled under IDEA's criteria in my school and we do not have enough man power to develop learning plans for all of these students. Nothing has been done to alleviate IDEA's agenda. Administrators and teachers still have their hands tied and I do not see much in the future in terms of untying those hands. Everyday, I hear the words, AYP or special education or IEP. It's just too much. When did we begin to stray so far away from the basics?
We need more in-services that are dedicated to NCLB's agenda if we are going to survive the field of education. We need proven methods for teaching literacy, math, special education students. We need maybe a parenting protocol for NCLB's initiatives. Why not appropriate some funds to parenting classes?
NCLB is overwhelming and so is education. I think the federal government should delegate some of their own employees to sit down and analyze 8th grade test data for incoming 9th graders and when they see a student at risk or falling behind, go get the student and see what they can do about remediation. Who has the time to work with 48 students that are falling behind in one school, as the population for 9th graders in my school is 496 students! We just do not have the time and that is why so many students have fallen behind in subject areas and that is why teachers fix grades and pass students that warrant too much of their time.
Teachers, parents, administrators, and community members should be the ones appropriating funds and writing initiatives. It would be great if county schools could get together on a paid trip over the summer and really get somewhere in terms of alleviating failing children and counties from all over the country were getting together as well. Then the principals come together and go over planning for such a humongous task. But again, time is such an issue.
Friday, February 23, 2007
Wiske Ch.3, 4, & 5
Well there is certainly a lot to say about these three chapters but not much in terms of what we should already know and already be teaching. I do like the idea of Generative Topics in chapter 3 (Wiske et al., 2005, p.27). These are topics that connect to important ideas and span many subject areas simultaneously, gauge student interest, connect with the teacher, allow many lessons to be applied and often result in questions from students wanting to learn more & continue learning (Wiske et al., 2005). With generative topics in mind, a teacher is almost able to "hide" the lesson within an activity. The students involved in activities like the Math Quilt are utilizing curriculum strategies and may not even realize it. With the Math Quilt, text files, digital photos, etc. allow for much participation throughout the entire class, making a learning environment very successful. Technology certainly helps formulate generative topics and carry them out effectively.
In chapter 4, defining clear goals is discussed along with the implementation of technology in achieving goals. We must put our student goals (and goals for ourselves) into words in which we will gain meaning. Remember, understanding is "described as flexible capability to think with what one knows and to apply knowledge flexibly and appropriately in a range of situations" (Wiske et al., 2005, p. 5). Now, think about what that means and defining/setting class goals, curriculum goals becomes much easier. What do we want our students to be able to do with all the information being thrown at them? We want them to take the knowledge to other classes, apply it to situations outside in their own lives.
I love when a student tells me they were think more about what's out there in the forest when they are walking because of biology. I love it when they tell me what kind of turtle they saw the other day. I love when they tell me they told their mom she scratched 150,000 skin cells off with one little scratch! These kinds of things tell me they are listening and understanding what is being told to them.
Wiske discusses the Water Habitat Project and how the class was able to use new technology in order to successfully implement the teacher's goals(2005). The students began documenting observations of a habitat they were observing daily in Word documents. They even collaborated on-line with other students around the world with a program titled, International Education Resource Network (iEARN), how exciting (Wiske, 2005)!
This type of learning environment only furthers a child's inquiry, learning and success in the classroom. One could easily apply such technological strategies to virtually any lesson.
Of further note, as teachers, we must always revisit and revise our goals as necessary. We must take note of the dimensions involved in constructing our goals: knowledge, method, purpose and forms of expression (Wiske et al., 2005). Therefore, the choice of technology must be applicable to our goals. And we always need to plan our lessons as to achieve meaningful educational experiences. Then we can solicit the help of ITRT's in organizing and achieving these educational experiences!
We learn a lot about performance in reading chapter 5 (Wiske et al., 2005). When we want our students to perform and perform to show understanding, we want the performance to go along with the goals, utilize the vast mind of the student body and show understanding through activities that are well-planned and meaningful(Wiske et al., 2005).
This needs to follow a pattern if it is to be successful. The teacher, for example, should introduce the lesson, lead the students through the lesson, maybe use a Question/Answer session and then help the students in refining their performance and understanding.
Software, digital audio and video technology can help us with student performance and understanding. These technological tools also help peers learn from peers and often spark student discussion with classmates, as they enjoy knowing how to use certain tools and will often jump to the opportunity to help another understand. Tech. tools help in probing a student's understanding of concepts being taught, as they revisit the concept several times with video technology or presentations with digital audio and software; the editing process helps the concept work its way along the brain's pathways and remain a hardened image.
Drafts and exchanges with classmates for review are all useful in the "performing for understanding" process (Wiske et al., 2005). Exchanges and drafts would not be nearly as easy to work with without the use of technology. Even iEARN would be a great tool for students to use in refining their performance and understanding and fine-tuning assignments.
Collaboration among others on-line for teachers and students can be very beneficial to education. Collaboration with colleagues and tech. resources can also be a wonderful help in terms of planning, revising and understanding our goals. Of course, common sense, technology and internet use go hand-in-hand. Use your head and your ITRT to help plan for student understanding.
In chapter 4, defining clear goals is discussed along with the implementation of technology in achieving goals. We must put our student goals (and goals for ourselves) into words in which we will gain meaning. Remember, understanding is "described as flexible capability to think with what one knows and to apply knowledge flexibly and appropriately in a range of situations" (Wiske et al., 2005, p. 5). Now, think about what that means and defining/setting class goals, curriculum goals becomes much easier. What do we want our students to be able to do with all the information being thrown at them? We want them to take the knowledge to other classes, apply it to situations outside in their own lives.
I love when a student tells me they were think more about what's out there in the forest when they are walking because of biology. I love it when they tell me what kind of turtle they saw the other day. I love when they tell me they told their mom she scratched 150,000 skin cells off with one little scratch! These kinds of things tell me they are listening and understanding what is being told to them.
Wiske discusses the Water Habitat Project and how the class was able to use new technology in order to successfully implement the teacher's goals(2005). The students began documenting observations of a habitat they were observing daily in Word documents. They even collaborated on-line with other students around the world with a program titled, International Education Resource Network (iEARN), how exciting (Wiske, 2005)!
This type of learning environment only furthers a child's inquiry, learning and success in the classroom. One could easily apply such technological strategies to virtually any lesson.
Of further note, as teachers, we must always revisit and revise our goals as necessary. We must take note of the dimensions involved in constructing our goals: knowledge, method, purpose and forms of expression (Wiske et al., 2005). Therefore, the choice of technology must be applicable to our goals. And we always need to plan our lessons as to achieve meaningful educational experiences. Then we can solicit the help of ITRT's in organizing and achieving these educational experiences!
We learn a lot about performance in reading chapter 5 (Wiske et al., 2005). When we want our students to perform and perform to show understanding, we want the performance to go along with the goals, utilize the vast mind of the student body and show understanding through activities that are well-planned and meaningful(Wiske et al., 2005).
This needs to follow a pattern if it is to be successful. The teacher, for example, should introduce the lesson, lead the students through the lesson, maybe use a Question/Answer session and then help the students in refining their performance and understanding.
Software, digital audio and video technology can help us with student performance and understanding. These technological tools also help peers learn from peers and often spark student discussion with classmates, as they enjoy knowing how to use certain tools and will often jump to the opportunity to help another understand. Tech. tools help in probing a student's understanding of concepts being taught, as they revisit the concept several times with video technology or presentations with digital audio and software; the editing process helps the concept work its way along the brain's pathways and remain a hardened image.
Drafts and exchanges with classmates for review are all useful in the "performing for understanding" process (Wiske et al., 2005). Exchanges and drafts would not be nearly as easy to work with without the use of technology. Even iEARN would be a great tool for students to use in refining their performance and understanding and fine-tuning assignments.
Collaboration among others on-line for teachers and students can be very beneficial to education. Collaboration with colleagues and tech. resources can also be a wonderful help in terms of planning, revising and understanding our goals. Of course, common sense, technology and internet use go hand-in-hand. Use your head and your ITRT to help plan for student understanding.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students
The article I chose to review matched our ITEC class's guidelines very well. The article, Effects of Technology on Classroom and Students, by Linda Herman and Sid Palmer discussed many ideas that are important to technology instruction and integration. The piece was short but very informational.
The author's discussed and even cited other teacher's views. They find that with the use of technology, students seem to have a greater motivation. There was a great quote from an elementary school teacher stating that a student of hers figured out how to make music using a software program, called, HyperCard. This student would stay inside during recess and make musical creations. His musical pieces often brought the class to a halt and soon all the other students were asking this student to make musical pieces for them as well (Hermand & Palmer, p. 12). The great thing, this student was not all that popular and had many problems facing him at home. The music helped him cope and changed his spirits, made a real difference in his life and school year.
Technology's motivational advantages allow a wider range of students to excel. Technology gives students different sets of obstacles and they are able to show us different ways of understanding the information given. For instance, students are given the opportunity to express their views in a slide-show versus verbally. This avenue helps us stem away from conventional testing methods and multiple choice performance and students become more motivated to perform and do well, almost as if they have a newer sense of empowerment(p.12). Kids definitely feel motivated and empowered when they can do things their parents can not. And this happens often with technology, as technology is more of an environmental staple with them versus the parents!
The authors also noted more student collaboration with peers. Students enjoy helping those in the class that may not know how to complete certain tasks. Technology-based tasks often involve many steps and parts, allowing students greater opportunities to help each other (p.13). The authors' statement, "Students who have mastered specific computer skills generally derive pride and enjoyment from helping others", seems to sum up this point beautifully (p.13). Such collaboration often helps us that are teaching, in terms of supplying a happier environment and an environment that is more conducive to learning, a plus for us all.
With technology as a large part of the teaching curriculum, the use of outside resources becomes more prevalent as well (p.15). Some classes use telecommunications activities and satellite broadcasts. One class would hold teleconferences with classes in other states about one math problem. They were then privy to several ideas about solving one particular problem. What a fabulous idea!
Other wealth brought to classrooms included the improvement of design skils and attention to a student's audience. Although, the authors cautioned that some children can get so caught up in the design of a piece and waste a lot of class-time perfecting fonts and picture details, most of the children improved their skills greatly in this area (p.14). Students become more aware of the points they would like to express, what pictures they want to include in a project, pictures that will help illustrate their points. With this awareness, they are also acutely aware of their audience and "want important words to stand out". The students are looking at their pieces of work differently from written works. They enjoy creating more professional looking products and "have the ability and tools to manipulate the way information is presented" (p.14).
Technology has the ability to create a very wealthy class in regard to skill, knowledge, motivation and positive learning environments. But we need to know how and when to use the technology we have at our fingertips. Thank goodness, it seems the students can help us with such use! The effects of technology can be great if we are all aware of what is out there for us and how we can manipulate the tools we have been given. These authors do a good job of bringing all of this knowledge to us.
References:
Herman, L., & Palmer, S. (2002). Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students. Education Weekly, 45(2), 12-15.
The author's discussed and even cited other teacher's views. They find that with the use of technology, students seem to have a greater motivation. There was a great quote from an elementary school teacher stating that a student of hers figured out how to make music using a software program, called, HyperCard. This student would stay inside during recess and make musical creations. His musical pieces often brought the class to a halt and soon all the other students were asking this student to make musical pieces for them as well (Hermand & Palmer, p. 12). The great thing, this student was not all that popular and had many problems facing him at home. The music helped him cope and changed his spirits, made a real difference in his life and school year.
Technology's motivational advantages allow a wider range of students to excel. Technology gives students different sets of obstacles and they are able to show us different ways of understanding the information given. For instance, students are given the opportunity to express their views in a slide-show versus verbally. This avenue helps us stem away from conventional testing methods and multiple choice performance and students become more motivated to perform and do well, almost as if they have a newer sense of empowerment(p.12). Kids definitely feel motivated and empowered when they can do things their parents can not. And this happens often with technology, as technology is more of an environmental staple with them versus the parents!
The authors also noted more student collaboration with peers. Students enjoy helping those in the class that may not know how to complete certain tasks. Technology-based tasks often involve many steps and parts, allowing students greater opportunities to help each other (p.13). The authors' statement, "Students who have mastered specific computer skills generally derive pride and enjoyment from helping others", seems to sum up this point beautifully (p.13). Such collaboration often helps us that are teaching, in terms of supplying a happier environment and an environment that is more conducive to learning, a plus for us all.
With technology as a large part of the teaching curriculum, the use of outside resources becomes more prevalent as well (p.15). Some classes use telecommunications activities and satellite broadcasts. One class would hold teleconferences with classes in other states about one math problem. They were then privy to several ideas about solving one particular problem. What a fabulous idea!
Other wealth brought to classrooms included the improvement of design skils and attention to a student's audience. Although, the authors cautioned that some children can get so caught up in the design of a piece and waste a lot of class-time perfecting fonts and picture details, most of the children improved their skills greatly in this area (p.14). Students become more aware of the points they would like to express, what pictures they want to include in a project, pictures that will help illustrate their points. With this awareness, they are also acutely aware of their audience and "want important words to stand out". The students are looking at their pieces of work differently from written works. They enjoy creating more professional looking products and "have the ability and tools to manipulate the way information is presented" (p.14).
Technology has the ability to create a very wealthy class in regard to skill, knowledge, motivation and positive learning environments. But we need to know how and when to use the technology we have at our fingertips. Thank goodness, it seems the students can help us with such use! The effects of technology can be great if we are all aware of what is out there for us and how we can manipulate the tools we have been given. These authors do a good job of bringing all of this knowledge to us.
References:
Herman, L., & Palmer, S. (2002). Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students. Education Weekly, 45(2), 12-15.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)