Book Banning

"Book Banning is Still a Real Thing" posted on October 28 on my Classroom Technology RSS Blog Feed made me reflect on my own experiences with book banning. I graduated from college 6 years ago and in my children's literature class we had to explore the topic of book banning. I was amazed at the long list of books that were on the banned list for one reason or another. We had to choose ten of these books to read and give our own book report discussing why we felt the books were on the banned book list. Mainly the books were on the list because they included swearing or sexual inuendos. In some instances I felt angered at the author that they would include a few swear words in the text and cause the book to be banned. Why would anyone want to deprive kids of awesome literature because of a couple of swear words? I work in a Catholic school and our librarian reads every book that is put on the shelf. There are some books that don't make it on the shelf for these very reasons. I guess making book selections for libraries, based on content, is also a form of book banning. Pity.

Reference:
Love. (2010, October 28). "Book Banning is Still a Real Thing". Retrieved on November 26, 2010 from http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fjlove1127.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault.

Create Your Own Educational Games!!

I was very excited to see what my favorite RSS Feed had for me this week and I was not disappointed. Free Technology For Teachers RSS Feed "Seven Ways to Build Your Own Educational Games" gives annotations about seven different websites in which you can make your own games. I already do classroom Jeopardy, make puzzles, etc, however, these sites allow you to post your games on your blog or wiki, as well. Here is a sample puzzle that I created using proprofs.com:

Michigan Landmark sliding puzzle game » slide puzzles

Reference:
Byrne. (2010, November 26). "Seven Ways to Build Your Own Educational Games". Retrieved on November 26, 2010 from http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Ffreetech4teachers%2FcGEY

Project-Based Learning

In the November 26 Eutopia article "Project-Based Learning: A Case for Not Giving Up", Suzie Boss discusses some of the problems that educators face with PBL and some reasons not to just give up. I teach in a school that uses mainly the old methodology of textbook, lecture, note-taking, testing. I try to incorporate group work, however, I myself never liked working in groups in school so I find myself shying away from it with my students. I understand the frustrations that they face when working with a group: some slackers, some control freaks, etc. I tell my students that they need to learn how to deal with these problems because someday they will have a job that requires them to work with a group to solve problems. I have learned to collaborate on my own by being put in group work situations. I think my problem is that I never learned problem solving techniques when I was in school so I have trouble teaching them to my students; I have made this one of my goals for this schoolyear - more groupwork.

Reference:
Boss, S. (2010, Nov. 26). "Project-Based Learning: A Case for Not Giving Up". Retrieved on November 26, 2010 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/project-based-learning-not-giving-up-suzie-boss?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader.

Timeline Creator

I love my RSS Feed, "Free Technology for Teachers". There are so many great websites out there for teachers and this feed brings them all right to your door! Many of the blogs even give ways to use the sites in your classroom. One that I ran across this week was a timeline creator on the Life magazine website. Life magazine is famous for their photo journalism and students are able to use award winning photos to create a timeline. You can also use your own photos to create a timeline on this site. Check it out at http://www.life.com/timeline.

Reference:

Byrne (2010, November 10). "Life photo timelines and timeline builder". Retrieved on Novmeber 19, 2010 from http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Ffreetech4teachers%2FcGEY.

Using Technology During a Test

Edutopia's November 15, 2010 survey, "Should students be allowed to use technology to access information during a test?" was a real eye-opener. My thoughts went immediately to "absolutely not". If the skill being assessed is research or affective internet use, then maybe. I understand that in today's tech savvy world information is at our fingertips, however, students still need to have information stored in their own brains as well. We do not always have access to technology and need to be able to retrieve information from our own minds (if there is any stored up there).

http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2FEdutopiaNewContent

Great Tech Links

I was really excited when I read the Tech & Learning RSS Feed, "Students, Ownership, and Creativity: 35 Resources. Shelley Terrell gives 35 resources to technology sites to use with your students. Sources include a great site in which students can create web posters and several different video/audio design sites. She also provides direct links to the free educator subscriptions. Check out the link to Glogster, an web-based poster creation site. Very cool!

http://www.techlearning.com/article/34614

Value-Added Teacher Assessment

“The value-added method compares student performance from one year to the next to evaluate a teacher's abilities. It has been sharply criticized by some union leaders and experts as flawed and unfair, but applauded by others, including President Barack Obama.”
I have mixed emotions on the use of the value-added method to assess teacher performance. On the one hand, I would like to know how effective my teaching is and would love to use the information to make changes to my teaching methods if needed. On the other hand, the use of standardized tests to determine the future of my teaching career gives me a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach! Standardized tests have been criticized for decades. There are so many factors that can inhibit the score that it does not seem fair to have a person’s career hinged on them. The value-added method compares student performance from one year to the next to evaluate a teacher's abilities. "It has been sharply criticized by some union leaders and experts as flawed and unfair, but applauded by others, including President Barack Obama."(Llanos)

Reference:
Llanos, C. (2010, Nov. 11). Los angeles to develop value-added teacher evaluations. L.A. Daily News. Retrieved on November 12, 2010 from http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2010/11/11/mct_cateachereval.html?utm_source=fb&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=mrss.

Kids and Mobile Media

“Learning, Is There an App for That?” a Tech & Learning RSS Feed, shares the results of research conducted of kids and the use of mobile devices. The research examined how often kids are “passed-back” mobile devices from their parents when driving in the car and the educational impact that such devices have on kids. The research estimates that kids spend one hour a day with a mobile device and that educational apps available on mobile devices do have an impact on student learning. The article is also suggesting that more educational applications should be developed for this very reason.
I was a little surprised at how long an average child spends on a mobile device and that most of this is from the device being passed-back to the child while the parent is driving. How much time are these kids spending in the car and why would you let a child play with your $150-200 iPhone? I think the research screams volumes about the “give the kid anything and everything he/she wants” mentality of parents these days; anything to keep the kid quiet in the car. What ever happened to playing games such as license plate bingo, practicing addition/subtraction facts, or - now this is a crazy idea – talking about life in general with your child???

Reference:
Chiong, C. and Shuler, C. (2010, November 10). Learning is there an app for that? Tech & Learning RSS Feed. Retrieved November 12 from http://www.techlearning.com/article/34528.

Veteran Teachers vs New Teachers

Edutopia Poll, “Are New Teachers More Effective Than Veteran Teachers? “, really strikes a nerve with me. How can you generalize about two huge populations of teachers? Both bring to the table different qualities that make for effective teaching. Both groups have ineffective and effective teachers found in them. I have known people that have had no teacher education training that have all of the components of being an effective teacher: creativity, patience, love for children, innovative ideas.
While I do agree that current research helps us to understand what today’s children are bringing to the classroom and that all teachers should keep current on trends in education but I also think that many veteran teachers keep up on these trends and try to incorporate them into the way that they interact with their students.

Reference:
Ring, S. (2010, Nov. 8). Are new teachers more effective than veteran teachers? Edutopia RSS Feed. Retrieved from http://www.edutopia.org/poll-new-teachers-more-effective?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Using Google Tools

I have never felt technically ignorant until on started receiving RSS Feeds from the Read/WriteWeb. 90% of the information that I receive I have never even heard of. I now realize that I have a limitless number of things to learn about technology education and the things that I can incorporate into my teaching and my private life. I am receiving RSS Feeds from Free Techology for Teachers. This feed is great because it provides links to very useful (and free) websites for teachers but it also provides links for training. One such link is http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/11/twenty-google-tools-tutorials-for.html. This link gives tutorials for many of the different tools that Google has to offer. I keep hearing about Google Docs and I did'nt have a clue what it is used for. Now I do!! Check it out!!

Byrne. (2010, November 3). New google docs community offers how-to videos. Retrieved on Novmeber 6, 2010 from http://www.google.com/reader/view/?hl=en&tab=wy#stream/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.feedburner.com%2Ffreetech4teachers%2FcGEY

Long Live the Pen

Lisa Nielsen’s, 12 Reasons to Ditch the Pen – Why It’s No Longer Mightiest Against the Sword, really struck a nerve with me. I am the person she is complaining about to a T. What is funniest about it is that I was the fastest typist in my high school typing class and can rattle out about 100+ words a minute without batting an eye – but I still refuse to give up my pen! I take notes long-hand, record my grades in a gradebook and then transfer them to my web-based gradebook, I even write the rough draft of a research paper.

I am totally the person that refuses to buy a Kindle or a Nook. I love the smell and feel of a book and the quality of the illustrations. My parents scoff at my “dead tree books” because they both have e-Readers and think it is funny that I refuse to capitulate. Long live books and pens!! (I did enter grades this week on the computer WITHOUT first entering them in my gradebook – there may be hope for me yet.)

Nielsen, L. (2010, November 1). 12 reasons to ditch the pen-why it's no longer mightiest against the sword. Retrieved November 5, 2010 from http://www.techlearning.com/article/34122.

Curriculum

How to Stay Up With the Curriculum by Rebecca Alber gives some wonderful guidance on what to do and what not to do regarding meeting curriculum goals. I work for a small, private school that is still working on creating a curriculum and aligning it with state standards. The teachers in my school do not have a schedule to follow, we make our own. Most classes have only one section so we don’t have team teachers to compare ourselves to when considering how we are progressing. We are very isolated. The GLCE’s (Grade Level Content Expectations) are our guiding force.

Alber suggests that many teachers focus only on completing the curriculum and not on the student learning that is taking place. Racing to the finish becomes more important. I can remember my first year of teaching a colleague said to me, “You should already be on the sixth story in the reading book, you better pick up the pace!” I sat down on the floor and cried. I was having fun teaching and doing some really great things with my students and was instantly deflated and feeling incompetent. I suddenly realized what was driving the teaching in that school, not learning but books. Most of Alber’s suggestions sound like the way that we were taught in college to plan, by setting goals and learning objectives and planning our lessons around them, not the other way around.

Alder, Rebecca (2010, November 2). How to stay up with the curriculum. Retrieved November 5, 2010 from http://www.edutopia.org/blog/curriculum-how-to-stay-caught-up-rebecca-alber?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EdutopiaNewContent+%28Edutopia%29&utm_content=Google+Reader.