Video games start to shape classroom curriculum

In this article by Huma Yusuf, a few schools flirt with a new concept of using video games as a learning tool. In one example, they talk about how Sega’s “Sonic the Hedgehog” will essentially teach eighth graders about Homer’s “Odyssey”. I personally think this is a horrible idea to enforce video games on students especially at an eighth grade level. They are completely consumed by them in their spare time; I think there should be a separation of spare time and school work. I also don’t think teachers should fully trust a game to do their job as a teacher. Over the summer, I worked in a special education program for students in elementary school and one of the students could only function and learn by using educational gaming tools. Although this student did have special needs, it still always worried me. I wondered if he was extremely used to being able to use video games as an option, he completely shut down every time someone asked him to do schoolwork and then would throw a tantrum. Hearing about how schools are replacing written schoolwork criteria with virtual games and adventures seems a little too liberal for schools. Many parents will also argue this as well. Their children spend enough time inside playing video games; they wouldn’t want them to be enforced to do it as homework. This also goes along with work ethic, if students get used to being able to opt out of written work and perform in video games, this gives a student the wrong idea about their future. They can not do this when they obtain a “real” job. I think this is giving students a terrible work ethic and the wrong concept of what hard work is.

"Sharing Your Notes Online--And Getting Paid For It" (Article by Andy Guess)

I found this article to be extremely interesting, so much so that I had to read every single comment that was posted on it! Andy Guess discusses a new web site, Knetwit, that is paying student note takers to post their notes and other helpful information that allows their users to view a variety of information on their intellectual topic of choice. I find this to be a mix between Wikipedia, sparknotes and its competitors, as well as those horrible free essay sites. There are obvious benefits and problems with a site like this, all of which Guess offers to readers to think through. As a student, I think it's awesome that I could earn extra income simply by uploading several well thoughtout and organized drafts of different notes. I do not, however, feel that essays should be turned in because that will simply lead to plagarizing.
I see the value in viewing notes that offer the same subject matter in a variety of ways. I think that this could be useful for the start of a research project, or extra help before a test. At the same time, I see how these notes could easily cause legal matters with professors and the universities these professors work for, who use their lectures as a basis for material they may publish at some point. If students used this site simply as more of an academic discussion board of intellectual thought and multiple specific subject matter than I could see endless opportunity and enjoyment. For example, if our whole class could post our notes on the ELA Standards, that would be extremely helpful in our comprehension and daily use of said standards, beyond any testing on the subject.
This said, overall I feel that classes should NOT be note-based. Rather, and several commenters on the article felt the same, students should be learning through a give-take, take-give method that rarely includes note-taking. If a student is simply taking notes, he or she is learning through one vision that does not require thought, but only memorization. By giving notes, a person is saying, this is it and this is how it always is. I disagree with "always". Wouldn't it be best that students are always questioning information they are given? If something is REALLY important, then type it up and hand it out to students, or cite the source that made the informationso valuable and hand that out. Professors should provide a place for thought to begin, but do not need to plan out how thought will start and end for every class. As a student, I want to be able to mold and shape ideas as my peers and I encounter them. As a teacher, I would like my students to discuss so I know they understand, simply writing what I say down only means they will be able to spit it back up for test. I want them to take it, make it their own, and then spit it back up when they need to. (Sadly, this may be mostly a dream due to NCLB).

The Grade Game

In this article a teacher decides on not giving grades to his students in hopes that they will learn to appreciate the material. He instead used colorful picture stamps and comments in place of the grades. I feel the same way this teacher does in that a grade does not really give a student the motivation or feedback they are usually looking for. An animal stamp in different colors is something to make the student smile. Its letting them know that their work was appreciated not only for its grade value. I also think that the amount of comments this particular teacher wrote on each paper would come in handy for assignments to come. It would let the student know what the teacher liked/ disliked and what ideas it brought to the teacher. I also understand that some students really need to see a letter grade on their work to which I feel that this teacher also covered. Although I do not feel that a student should pick their own grade I do feel that meeting with the students to go over their work was a good idea. By meeting with each student individually you are able to go over their work explaining to them why they received a certain grade. It is a good chance to really get to know your students and for them to get to know you.

Who Wants to be a Teacher? A Whole Lot of People, A New Survey Finds.

The article I read was about the alarming number of people who have considered leaving their current jobs to become teachers. A survey by the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation in New Jersey concluded that 42 percent of college educated 24 to 60 year olds would consider making this switch. There are two ways to look at this: as a student studying to become a teacher, and as a potential parent who will someday be putting their own children through school.

As a parent, this influx of teachers is very promising. Pretty soon, the baby boomer age will have to retire, leaving countless slots open in our country's classrooms. All the potential career switchers can make up for this deficit. The fact that they WANT to be teachers is also a very good thing. Rather than just having someone teach because that's what they ended up doing, students will be taught by people that actually want to teach. The survey sites that giving back to the community and helping others are two huge reasons why people would make this switch.

As a student studying to become a teacher, like many of us are, this is a very scary statistic. To think that we will pay for and attend up to six years of school, and not have a career afterwards personally terrifies me. My only consolation is that most schools still require that you major in the field you want to teach. This will make it at least somewhat difficult for these career switchers to pick up teaching.

In a world where people can seemingly switch careers on the turn of a dime, am I being selfish in my fear? I could think as a parent and just be glad that students will be taught by people who want to teach them - but I am one of those people.

McCain Promises to 'Shake Up' Schools

Recently at the GOP National Convention, Senator and Republican Nominee for President John McCain made a statement saying, "Education is the civil rights issue of this century." It is in question what exactly McCain would do to achieve national and state standards if he should be elected President. Will he "alter NCLB law?" Although McCain has not been active on education issues in the past, he did vote in favor for the NCLB legislation in 2001. The controlling idea of the bill was and is aimed at holding schools and teachers accountable for their student's academic achievement, measured adequate yearly progress in the forms of standardized testing. McCain has been labeled "the champion of rigorous assessment and accountability in public education" by his supporters. When asked what he would do differently from President Bush on federal education policy, McCain said that he would "seek immediate help for students in failing schools" and "expand private school choice." With the future of NCLB unable to be determined, what should educators be concerned about? Will the NCLB legislation remain as is in the coming years? Or will it be reinterpreted and improved? The article also states that many congressman blindly voted for NCLB, not completely understanding its implications. Will the election of a new president bring innovation?

Relaxation of English Spelling Rules

In this article Professor John Wells of University College of London, gives several examples of how we should make English easier to understand and write. Along with that there is a conversation that is in this article that you can listen to that is of Professor Wells speaking of how we should make spelling easier on children so that they understand everything better. Making spelling ore difficult for children makes it that much harder for them to learn how to read and spell at the same time. Professor Wells speaks of text messaging now a days and how when texting, people shorten the spelling of words up to save time, but they still know what the word means either way.

I've always been a good speller for as long as I can remember, when it comes to texting I usually don't take shortcuts when it comes to that. I see where Professor Wells is going with his theory of bending the rules slightly. For instance, he says with the words, their, there, and they're, there should only be one "there" because the meaning will always stay the same if we just use one of the words. Allowing people to spell everything their own way may not always make them better learners or spellers. I don't think anyone should really try to take anything away from the English language such as spelling. Maybe there should be an easier way of teaching students how to spell properly, that wont make it so that we need to change the way we spell. Coming up with new techniques of teaching students how to spell better and testing it out is not always a bad thing, but in the long run spelling everything the correct way can be beneficial as well.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2008/09/080908_english_spelling_wup.sl.shtml

What defines a struggling reader?

It is apparent that defining standards for children becomes harder every year. Kylene Beers was able to obtain one answer from a seventh grader who claimed that he loved to read, but didn't have the time to do it; however it only showed Beers that he wasn't struggling with reading.

The frustrating part of this "mystery" is determining who is struggling and why, and how to fix it. The author has activities suggested in this article that involve starting at birth and reading to children throughout the day, rather than at night. Also, finding out what kids want to read will help in focusing their attention to the reading and get them to want to read. Being surrounded by literacy exercises will tend to have a positive effect on children when they enter into school.

But that doesn't always work and there are many reasons for this. The author touches upon the "developmental lag" and how it is considered outdated. Parents need to be able to distinguish between the "developmental lag" and a "skill deficit." Since there is a wide variety of skills that revolve around reading, the author suggests on finding out the key areas that the child is struggling in. Reading involves more than looking at the text - one must be able to comprehend the meaning behind it and make sense of it as it fits into the whole picture.

One statistic mentioned in this article that alarmed me was "More food for thought: 90 percent of kids entering first grade as poor readers remain so." I find a few things wrong with this. One, though "struggling readers" has been redefined by the author as "a child who can’t manage the demands of reading independently," why are the children continuously being labeled as "poor readers?" Since there are many issues affecting a child's ability to read, such as poverty, mental incapacity, attention span deficits, or simply not enough time, sometimes it is difficult to pinpoint these factors and have a solution.

Another interesting point mentioned was summer break, and how "at-risk" kids tend to lose focus and obtain a large cumulative gap in the reading achievement category. I remember being in fourth or fifth grade, and the school held a program for students to take part in over the summer. The goal was to read six books (the exact number mentioned in this article) and read them during the summer, then come back with written summaries of the books. In return, students who succeeded received gift certificates and other neat accomodations. I participated and succeeded in this activity, and it makes me wonder what motivated me more; the certificates or the goal of staying on task and focused? Either way, I'm sure it never harmed my reading acheivement.


http://www.mspmag.com/education/raisingreaders/raisingreaderssept08/112808.asp?ht=

The iPod in schools

http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/1191389.html

Culbreth Middle School could be the catalyst for a technology explosion in the classroom. The iPod Touch is being introduced as a classroom instrument and there are concerns about whether or not this will benefit learning or hinder it. The school officials face the problem of monitoring what the students are downloading, because this technology is designed for convenience, it will be convenient for students to download music instead of the assigned lesson. Susan Wells, the principal at Culberth, feels that it is time to make the necessary upgrades to the classroom and she is confident that this can be done. More and more classes require internet access and full courses are being taught online for credit. The change might be inevitable but this Chapel Hill school will be the first to implement this sort of experiment. The school is just waiting to see if they will be able to get the proper funding for all of this. It will cost tax payers and privet backers $230,000 for all the students and teachers to have their own iPod’s that they have with them for the school year, and then they must return them.
The technology is necessary, but I’m old-fashioned in the sense that I am not good with computers and I have harder time learning from them. Students, now, who are in K-12 grew up with electronics all around them, so they are more comfortable with this change. When the iPod touch takes over the classroom, some teachers might be a little behind and students, who are used to computers and new technology. The problem is going to be, not only that it will be hard to monitor what the students are downloading, but also managing time. If the class has to all be on the same page and everyone has to wait for a program to download or if the teacher is trying to walk students through a program on the web; then less content teaching is being taught and more time is being wasted. Other then time management and keeping the kid’s attention, there really isn’t a negative effect for the students. The money needed for funding is expensive but if this is the path the future is heading towards, then it is a necessary investment. Computers are used in the classes that I’m currently taking and I find that more communication can be done with the internet, but some procedures to find links and websites is discouraging for people who are not very familiar with them. I do however, think that people like me are going to have to accept the technology, and stop being victims of technology advancement because it is not going away; its spreading everywhere and it is going to dominate the schools.

The iPod in schools

An iPod Touch for each student?
School would tap it as learning tool
byMatt Dees
http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/1191389.html

Culbreth Middle School could be the catalyst for a technology explosion in the classroom. The iPod Touch is being introduced as a classroom instrument and there are concerns about whether or not this will benefit learning or hinder it. The school officials face the problem of monitoring what the students are downloading, because this technology is designed for convenience, it will be convenient for students to download music instead of the assigned lesson. Susan Wells, the principal at Culberth, feels that it is time to make the necessary upgrades to the classroom and she is confident that this can be done. More and more classes require internet access and full courses are being taught online for credit. The change might be inevitable but this Chapel Hill school will be the first to implement this sort of experiment. The school is just waiting to see if they will be able to get the proper funding for all of this. It will cost tax payers and privet backers $230,000 for all the students and teachers to have their own iPod’s that they have with them for the school year, and then they must return them.
The technology is necessary, but I’m old-fashioned in the sense that I am not good with computers and I have harder time learning from them. Students, now, who are in K-12 grew up with electronics all around them, so they are more comfortable with this change. When the iPod touch takes over the classroom, some teachers might be a little behind and students, who are used to computers and new technology. The problem is going to be, not only that it will be hard to monitor what the students are downloading, but also managing time. If the class has to all be on the same page and everyone has to wait for a program to download or if the teacher is trying to walk students through a program on the web; then less content teaching is being taught and more time is being wasted. Other then time management and keeping the kid’s attention, there really isn’t a negative effect for the students. The money needed for funding is expensive but if this is the path the future is heading towards, then it is a necessary investment. Computers are used in the classes that I’m currently taking and I find that more communication can be done with the internet, but some procedures to find links and websites is discouraging for people who are not very familiar with them. I do however, think that people like me are going to have to accept the technology, and stop being victims of technology advancement because it is not going away; its spreading everywhere and it is going to dominate the schools.

Adolescents Reading: A Field of Dreams?

In this article, by Teri S. Lesesne, the author takes the general concept of belief and persistence found in the movie "A Field of Dreams" and brings it to the classroom. The author argues that in order to get students to read more, which is a common goal among all English teachers, we must first be persistent in our efforts to achieve this goal, and we must believe that this goal is possible to achieve.

Lesesne begins this article by disputing the common argument that teens these days are reading less. She believes that teens these days are in fact reading as much, if not more, just not in the classical sense. Lesesne says that teens are online reading blogs, interviews, and sports scores. She also includes audio books in this unconventional reading that teens are surely doing these days. I personally don't know whether or not I would count audio books as reading. Audio books only call on a students listening skills, rather than their reading skills.

Lesesne has a plan to encourage teens to read more, even if they are not avid readers. She proposes that we offer choices, and read summaries of books that may spark interest to the students. Going along with this theme of choices, she also proposes that many different forms of text be offered, including audiobooks, in attempt to spark every one's interests. In a way to incorporate today's advanced technology, she suggests that teachers record themselves reading a book to put onto a student's MP3 player. She also proposes a plan on how to go about introducing students to books that might interest them. By paying attention to student's favorite genres, tv shows & movies, it can assist in helping students find books that will be interesting to them and also keep them reading.

All in all, I feel that the author's analogy of "Field of Dreams" to the classroom is a good one. Persistence and belief in what we are trying to accomplish will of course produce results and increase numbers of teens who read regularly!

Bringing Standardize Tetsing to Kindergarten Level

I feel as though standardized testing is becoming more of a concerning issue. After reading and listening to the segment on why many New York State officials feel that children should start to be assessed at a lower age level, I am more against the idea. It is evident that many elite feel that students should be assessed in order to know what the students are learning and gaining from their education. Though standardized test are thought to become a "center piece" of education, it is stated that the tests in general are not looking to see what the teachers have taught or have not taught.
I for one am against this idea especially at such a young age. Children between the ages of 5-7 years old are just learning how to transform into the school routine and adjust. I don't think that it is fair as educators to try and get the students in the habit of always being tested. I don't understand what happened to simply teaching students, and allowing them to work and grow at their own pace. I don't always feel that it is okay to force children to move at the same rate as other children because the truth is simply each child learns and comprehends each method and concept differently. It is not fair to the children to put the pressure of testing on consecutively and at such a young age.
I think that trying to assess students in the lower grade level, such as kindergarten is absurd. Kindergarten is when children learn how to develop relationships with one another and with themselves. Student's learn independence and creativity, the basics of math and reading. However, it is now evident that younger children are going to be forced to focus more on the rights and wrongs, and the do's and don't of learning with the phrase "standardized testing" laying in the back of their minds throughout their education.

Standardized Testing: Expanding the Frontier to Kindergarden

New York City is about to take the standardized tests to a new level.  They will be implementing a program in which kindergarden, first and second grade students will be taking standardized assessment tests.  This program will encompass close to 12,000 students and the tests will range from multiple choice based, one on one correspondence with the teacher to video game based tests.  The supporters of the program state that there has already been assessment based testing and that this is an upgrade to what has already been in place.  They relate it towards a thermometer in which the original assessment tests were like a thermometer that told you if you had a fever, where the new program will be like a thermometer that will differentiate a fever of 103 degrees from one that is 104 degrees.

I am not a supporter of standardized tests which would mean that such a program would not be my cup of tea.  I believe that it is extremely important to focus on, especially in the lower grade levels, socialization, creativity, life lessons, and the importance of multiple intelligences and finding out which one of these intelligences applies to you.  Standardized testing takes away from all of these aspects with rigorous studying and preparation.  Students miss out more on things like music and art because of the rigid structure that these tests put forth onto teachers.  This is because with insufficient test scores comes less funding and the potential for people to lose their jobs which no one wants, therefor they put more effort towards these tests, which are fallible ways to assess children, which to me is something that is not okay especially for kids who are just entering school who are trying to adjust to the life as a student and socialize healthily.

Technology In School: Where Do We Draw The Line?

The article, An iPod Touch for each student? (http://www.newsobserver.com/news/education/story/1191389.html), by Matt Dees, raises some interesting and potentially controversial questions. The article deals with Culbreth Middle School and their Principal Susan Wells' decision to use iPod Touch units in the classroom as an educational tool. Principal Wells believes that in a world that relies so heavily upon technology it is foolish to try and keep it out of the classroom. If the project recieves proper funding, students and teachers alike will recieve iPod Touch units, and curriculum and courses will be developed based around the units. For example, students would be able to recieve art credit for learning guitar by taking online lessons at home.
Now, I'm completely behind introducing technology into the classroom and I feel that Wells is absolutely right when she says that its foolish to attempt to keep technology out of the classroom. However, to what degree will we allow technology to affect education? In my opinion, one of the most important things about education is the interaction and communication between human beings. The introduction of technology such as the iPod touch could potentially hurt the important tie between student and teacher and hamper a students development of healthy communication. So much of communication is based in facial expression and body language and technology eliminates that. And while we're on the subject, let's look to the future. Will technology eventually replace the classroom setting altogether? Is that something we want to replace?