Creativity and Take a chance

Dear Sir Robinson,

I’d almost forgotten about Ben and Asa.  Fifteen years ago I was working at an elementary school as a special education teacher. At that time classroom teachers were just beginning to implement hands on math instruction that used lots of manipulatives to “discover” math concepts before we put them on paper. I had two boys who really struggled to learn math. We built things to learn how to measure.  We cooked to learn fractions.  We danced to learn division.

Our new math curriculum uses some manipulatives, incorporates teaching umpteen different strategies and we’ve extended the class period to 75 minutes so they’ll have plenty of time. The math lessons “spiral” and are designed to revisit previous taught concepts, preview upcoming concepts and introduce or continue on with the current lesson all in one day. It’s all still on paper.  It is no wonder some kids a swirling!

Until this year I’ve been away from teaching math in my role as a reading teacher/specialist.  This year I have fallen into teaching math again.  This time it’s six kids and it’s boys and girls.   They’ve got a pretty good handle on anything that can be memorized.  They have NO idea how, when or why to apply this knowledge to everyday situations that require math.  It’s time to start building, cooking and dancing again.  They don’t have to sit still.  They will learn things they will need to know for real life and probably be able to use the skills again on their own.  It’s real and they may even decide they like math.

Thanks for the reminder of what works.

NETS Activity

Activity Sheet

“The most effective educational technologies are the ones that require minimal behavioral change on the part of the teacher and the learner,” said Byron Connell, chief marketing officer of Livescribe Inc. www.livescribe.com/blog

Links to the article

How do I do this? I've tried the link button that is just above the composing box, but that didn't work. Is it because I'm using Safari?

Turning on the Lights

Prensky, Marc. "Turning on the Lights." Educational Leadership March, 2008: 40-45. Web. 12 Oct 2009. .

Do you agree with Prensky's notion that requiring students to "power down" in school actually impedes their learning?
I agree and disagree at the same time. Technology is a powerful learning tool IF it is being used for learning. It IS powerful BECAUSE it is entertaining, engaging, fast paced and nearly limitless. In that sense not being able to use technology is almost disabling. At the same time, the entertainment qualities can also become a distraction. The lack of limits is scary. There are some things we may not want to know that could be forced upon us.

How might allowing students to use technological devices in class help or hinder their learning?
The use of technology in the classroom is helpful. I have 5 computers in my classroom and yes; I know I’m lucky. My students use these computers to practice their reading, phonics and math skills. Being able to use the Lexia software and access online math games helps to take some of the drudgery out of practice. Lexia is a “smart” program that keeps track of student’s answers and can increase or decrease the level of difficulty automatically. It also allows teachers to monitor their use and alerts us to areas where students are not making progress. It spits out fancy reports and offers resources for direct instruction. I also use Read 180 a product put out by Scholastic.

What place do you see in the classroom for laptops, cell phones, mp3 players, social networking sites, Wikipedia, and other technologies?

We use laptops throughout our school for the Lexia software mentioned above. The machines are also available for publishing writing, for research and other projects.

What is your school's policy regarding technology in school?
Kids aren’t allowed cell phones or handheld games during the school day.

Do you believe your policy meets the needs of your students? If so, why? If not, what changes would you make?
My school is K-5 and at this level it is enough. We teachers are learning and slowly incorporating what are, I hope, the best ideas and uses of technology for students. Blogs to publish writing, share books and photo projects and hopefully much more to come.

How can teachers and administrators balance the desire to stay up-to-date with the need to always make sure that teachers can use the techniques and technologies that best suit their students?
We need to try it for ourselves and try it with our kids. What works one year may not work the next. What works for one kid may not work for another. We no longer make every child write with his/her right hand, yet we haven’t got every child plugged in either.

World without Walls

Richardson, Will. "World Without Walls: Learning Well with Others." Edutopia 12 2008: n. pag. Web. 10 Oct 2009. .

It’s now 2:52 pm. I started this assignment at 7:00 this morning. What is wrong with me! I read the article and come across the links and CLICK! I’m off in another world. And I keep clicking and clicking and clicking. I came across many useful ideas, blogs and sites. Which one do I use first!
Is this how kids feel when they’re online?

Richardson states, “These tools are fast changing, decidedly social, and rich with powerful learning opportunities for us all, if we can figure out how to leverage their potential.” Figuring out how to funnel this energy into a useful purpose IS the most challenging part. We want what we invent/create/design to be useful, to provide some sense of accomplishment and achievement. In a blog post on Classroom 2.0 one-teacher states:
I don't believe that technology is supposed to make life easier, but that it's supposed to enhance your life. However, there is a limit to the amount of extra work that I'm willing to do in addition to everything above-and-beyond that I already do. By Kerin Ho Mayne on July 11, 2009 at 8:47am
I hear her. It’s overwhelming and I’m on the fence. I want to go forward and re-invent how I support students learning because I know they’ll find it as exciting as I do and at the same time I want to avoid mayhem and it’s really easy to get pulled into doing work 24/7.
Do kids really view technology as a learning tool? There are two teenagers, seniors who will graduate next spring up stairs right now. I’m going to go ask.
Me: Do you think that your school has integrated the use of technology into your classes?
Them: Oh, yeah…everything is a powerpoint these days. We have projectors. We can e-mail our stuff.
Me: Are there any restrictions that you feel impede your learning from technology.
Them: The firewall keeps out a lot of sites. Not even the teachers can use YouTube to show us how to do stuff.
Me: So how do you access the information you need to know?
Them: At home.
Me: What is technology to you?
Them: (pointing to the X-box) That! Entertainment.

So … not a scientific survey by any means and maybe it was bad timing on my part because they were in the middle of a game. I’m pretty sure they have the technological know how. There are times when I’ve asked for help with my Mac and my son can show me lickety-split what I’ve tried to do on my own. But is he learning digital citizenship, collaboration skills, and how to produce high quality work? I think that SHS has begun to embrace the new paradigm, but is more or less as on the fence as I am.