WEBSITE LIST: Web Page Rubric Presentations

http://www.teacherplanet.com

http://www.scholastic.com

http://www.brainpop.com

http://www.bhs.bboed.org/schools/14/index.html

http://illuminations.nctm.org/

http://www.historyplace.com/

http://www.kidsbiology.com/

Web Based Educational Resources

I think of myself as rather technology-savvy but I am amazed each time I read the blogs and each time we get together as a class at the many, many web-based educational resources that are available out there for teachers. Any teacher who does not use them is foolish as, with a discerning eye, you can definitely find the best of the best and adapt it to your students to the benefit of all - you and your students.

Wired.com did a great review of the top online learning resources (http://www.wired.com/culture/education/news/2007/08/education_resources). Each one is chock full of information, covering all subject matters and all grade levels. Any teacher who does not use this is not doing the best for themselves or their students.

And - if you have a great lesson or idea, find a place to post it and share it with your fellow teachers!!

Educational Software and Hardware in the Classroom

Software and Hardware in the classroom is beneficial if used properly. Teachers should make an effort to train themselves on proper, innovative and efficient uses of technology in their lessons. Students today are so tuned to technology and it is an integral part of their life so teachers should take advantage of that to meet the needs of the students and appeal to their interests.



The major roadblock to the software and hardware availability in the classroom is, as with most innovation, economic. Many districts cannot afford new hardware or software or are in old facilities that are not prepared to handle this. It is unfortunate but true and this means teachers have to be even more innovative in properly using one or only a couple of computers to serve a class of 20-30 students.

Volunteerism in Schools

Recently, Education Week reported on volunteerism and civic duty being taught in schools (http://www.edweek.org/login.html?source=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F11%2F06%2F190509txyoungvolunteers_ap.html&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.edweek.org%2Few%2Farticles%2F2008%2F11%2F06%2F190509txyoungvolunteers_ap.html&levelId=1000&baddebt=false). I think this is a great concept as it is very important. Today's younger generation does tend to be very much a ME generation and programs such as these are great exposure to outstanding character education which I think is very important.

I have heard of schools that may require this as a graduation pre-requisite. I am not sure that I agree with this as there are different reasons a kid might not be able to or other factors here. However, I think exposure to this and the opportunity and encouragement to do so for this generation is definitely advantageous.

Webquests Reaction

I really enjoyed the webquests. I was so very impressed with the creativity and range of levels of the webquest presentations from K (Fire Safety) to high school (Crusades). The varying approach based on level was interesting and the fact that you can take one idea and adapt it for a wide range of grades (like the newspaper ideas). There were some great webquests that I plan to save and use in the future when I am teaching 2nd, 3rd or 4th grade.

Online courses for high school students?

The Governor of Minnesota recently announced that he would like all high school students to take at least one online course while in high school (see http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/10/23/pawlenty/). He discussed the fact that all colleges are now offering and the tech savvy generation of K-12 students should do the same. However, I think that the average high school student will not do well in this environment. Taking an online course requires one to be very responsible and diligent in keeping up, completing assignments, etc. I am not sure that the average high school student will be very good at this on their own.

I do think that maybe this can work for AP courses or in a highly supervised environment initially. For example, maybe a teacher can meet once a week but have students work independently the other four days. The other thing that I think is most important is for high school teachers to incorporate technology and independent, technology-related activities into their lessons so that students are prepared for online courses in college.

NETS

I had the opportunity to review the NETS technology standards in education. I think they were all good concepts but frankly think they were awfully general and unfortunately, the fact that they are not part of the NJCCCS makes it less likely that they will actually be fulfilled intentionally. However, I do think that most good teachers these days do incorporate technology into their lessons both because it might make their lessons easier to implement and also because the students might be able to related and find it more interesting. The Technology Literacy NJCCCS standards are those that must be implemented and are most likely to be carried out. Inherent in those are some of the concepts in NETS but again, I think NETS is more conceptual which is sometimes hard to ensure implementation.

Why are teachers forced to choose?

The following article recently appeared in the Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/23/AR2008092303835.html. It talks about the new system proposed by the chancellor of schools in Washington DC to try to compensate teachers more. Unfortunately, it requires teachers to make a difficult decision - either earn a higher salary but forgo tenure, going on a one-year probation or earn a lower one and maintain tenure. I have my own doubts about the merits of the tenure system but why do teachers have to choose in order to be highly compensated for the difficult work that they do. I would be interested to know what the process is for letting a teacher go after their one year probation if they forgo the tenure. Although I know in corporate America, there is no such thing as tenure, I also know that any reputable company has a system for firing an employee which, beyond actually committing a crime, for the most part leaves the burden of proof to the employer to make a case for firing the employee (except in the case of layoffs which there are plenty of these days :)). I just feel that there must be some way to provide fair, reasonable compensation to teachers without putting anyone in these uncomfortable and tension-laden situations.

Recalculating Graduation Rates

The following article was in the Newark Star Ledger today: http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/09/newark_to_lead_state_in_adopti.html

Check it out. It is about using a new, consistent formula for calculating graduation rates throughout the state of New Jersey and even the country. Each state is adopting these on their own schedule and some states are not even committed to adopting yet which I find not right. The federal government, in conjunction with NCLB, should demand that all states adopt it at the same time so there can be an apples to apples comparison of graduation rates. I am glad to see that NJ will adopt it and fear it may be a rude awakening to the accurate graduation rates in many of NJ's districts. The plus side, however, will be that the shocking accuracy of some of the numbers may be the catalyst to changing the way some things are done as they reveal problems that are unknown or are swept under the carpet. What do you think?

Blogging

Not sure how I feel about this blogging thing. I have not been too good so far about going onto it on a regular basis. I did view the "Blogs in Plain English" video which was very cute - simply done, clever and very plain english for sure. But, still not sure I get it. For something like education insight for example, you just are not sure how smart or in touch the blogger actually is and it is sometimes overwhelming to sift through this stuff on the internet. I guess if I could find a couple of bloggers whose opinion I trusted, I might follow them specifically. Who knows? Maybe that will be someone right here in class!! "Chat" with you on Wednesday night. Enjoy!

Welcome

My first post - looking forward to it!