Should Laptops Replace Textbooks?

The Edutopia Poll by Sara Bernard asks the question, "Should laptops replace textbooks?".  The poll revealed that 70% of people think that laptops should replace textbooks.  I personally do not agree with this poll.  Yes laptops should be used more in education, but they should not completely replace textbooks.  I think especially for younger students (elementary) the issues would be many: the laptops aren't working one day, the Internet connection is down, there are other distractions when working with on a  computer,  teachers can't see the screen and the students face at the same time, the electricity bill would go up, and so on.  I wouldn't have a problem with using laptops daily in high school and college, but let's just keep them out of the elementary classrooms.

Students and Parents Who Don't Care

Harvey Craft wrote an article on suite101.com about how difficult it is to teach students who do not care about education.  It seems that the problem is worse when the parents of these students do not care either.  The students are unmotivated and the parents are doing nothing to help.  It is difficult for teacher to stay motivated to teach when parents do not support the teachers.  Changing a person's attitude (student or parent) is very difficult for a teacher alone.  I believe this is what frustrates teachers the most and causes them to stop caring.

Grading vs. Checking Homework

Laura Varlas from Conference Daily wrote an article about homework.  She believes that homework should not be graded.  Rather, it should be checked for understanding.  It is not fair to grade students lower if they are slower to grasp the material.  I can see her point.  Homework doesn't need to be stressful and it shouldn't require help from a parent to do every night.  Parents can help from time to time, but they have other things to do to.  The most important thing I got from this article is that homework must be evaluated by an instructor on a daily basis.  If the teacher is going to give assignments, then there needs to be feedback either through grades or checking for understanding.  Otherwise, it looks like the instructor doesn't care and the students won't know how they are doing in the class.

School Maintenance Staff

Here is an idea, the next time you see your school maintenance person thank them.  Thank them for everything they do in the school.  They are very under appreciated.  A little recognition goes a long way with students and teachers alike.  It is not any different for the maintenance staff members.  Running a school takes more than teachers and students.  Everyone knows this fact.  A clean school is very comforting.  It provides students, teachers, administration and parents with a welcoming environment.

Parent Enablers

Parents too often are friends to their child rather than a parent.   Parents need to realize that it is okay for thier children to be mad or upset with them at times.  I have witnessed how parents and children interact at my school.  Some students get whatever they want.  Some students call home during the day because they forgot their lunch or text book or homework and the parents run right to school and deliver it to them.  How are kids going to learn responsibility this way?  The answer is, they won't!

Bad Teachers vs. Bad Parents

It seems like when a student is under performing in school, it is automatically the teachers fault.  That is how teachers are being judged these days.  Let's not forget about the parenting side of things.  Judy Fowlkes from Mlive.com mentions how "there may be a few bad teachers, but many bad parents."  President Obama has mentioned that he wants to weed out the bad teachers.  Judy Fowlkes says, "how are we going to weed out the bad parents?"  Parents are becoming less involved with their children's education.  They are defending their child rather than siding with the teachers.  When parents do that it is really deflating for the teachers.  Who knows better, the experienced teacher or a grade school kid?  Are teachers really to blame or are the parents?

Classroom Decoration Makes a Difference

I couldn't imagine a classroom without anything on the walls.  I couldn't imagine a classroom without any colorful decorations.  I couldn't imagine a classroom without any excitement!  You wouldn't decorate your house without anything on the walls or colorful decorations.  A classroom should be inviting for students.  It should be a place they are excited to come to.  When teachers change the decorations and bulletin boards frequently, it brings excitement to the room and energy to the students.  Students need this energy.  It helps motivate them to learn.  They need to feel comfortable in that classroom because that is where they spend most of their time.  Motivating quotes in the room are also beneficial for the students to stay on track when they get frustrated or confused with school and/or life.  There are so many different ways to make a classroom visually pleasing.  It does truly make a difference!

Social Skills and School

School is not just about reading, writing and arithmetic.  There are so many more things that go into the school experience.  Social skills are basically being able to sense other people's emotional states and reacting appropriately.  Also for children it is about being able to control and react reasonably to their own emotions.  Group work, team sports or activities, sitting at the lunch table, making friends, showing respect toward teachers and classmates and good classroom behavior are all dependant on a person's social skills.  I think we have all met someone who is super intelligent, but not easy to work/get along with.  We have also met someone who is not really intelligent, but very easy to work/get along with.  The fact is that I think we sometimes spend too much emphasis on the school work and let some of the behavior issues slide.  We focus on everything we need to cover, curriculum wise, in the allotted time more so than stopping to address the social skill development of the students.

Self-Esteem and School Work

Self-esteem is very important to a child.  Kids are very fragile emotionally.  Parents, teachers, family, friends and peers all play a big role in a child's self-esteem.  A child with good self-esteem typically has more confidence in themselves and their school work shows it.  When they answer questions in the classroom, they are very sure of their answers.  These students tend to have less issues with tests and exams.  As teachers we must do our part to encourage those students who do not have high self-esteem in addition to those that already do.

Teachers Are Not Parents

Over the past several years I have noticed that most of the poorly behaved and under performing students come from parents that have little to do with their kid's education.  An article by Mary Bousted from The Observer stated, "We have, as a nation, to do more and to do better in our duty of care to our children."  Some parents drop their kids off at school and expect the teachers to raise their kids for them.  When there are problems at school with their child, the parents blame the teachers for it.  There have been reports from The Observer that "parents often come into school and threaten staff and some staff have been attacked by a pupil's parents."  Mary Bousted goes on to say, "Schools do not exist in a vacuum.  If they are to succeed, then more parents have to put more effort into their parenting and into creating the conditions in which their children come to school ready and willing to learn."  Teachers are not their students' parents and they shouldn't have to be.  If education is really to improve in this country, then the parents are the ones that will make it happen.  The Observer article is linked below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/apr/05/children-social-skills-parenting

Grades Before Sports

A debate that has been around for a while is whether or not a student should be able to participate in sports if they have poor grades.  At the high school and college level students are not allowed to play if their grades are below a C average.  However, there is not a strict policy about elementary school children.  If a young child is not doing well in school, does that mean they can't play sports?  I agree wholeheartedly with the high school and college rule.  I don't necessarily agree with holding an elementary school child out of sports due to grades though.  I think sports at a young age is good for helping with the development of social skills and boosting self-esteem.

The School Secretary

Anyone who has been in education knows that the school runs smoothly because of the school secretary.  They are so important.  They know everything that is happening on a daily basis.  They deal with so many situations and take care of so many issues throughout the day dealing with parents and students.  Sometimes I feel like we take them for granted.  Every once in a while we should stop and truly thank them for everything they do. 

Administration can be rated too

There a suggestions that teachers should be rated based on student test scores.  If this is how teachers are to be evaluated fairly, which I do not agree with, then how are administrators to be evaluated?  The support of administration is very important to the teachers of a school.  I believe that if a teacher is rated low based on test scores, the administration must also be evaluated before just deeming that teacher as a poor educator.  Has anyone heard of the way administration is to be evaluated under this system?

Using Current Events in the Classroom

Some teachers love to use current events in their classroom instruction.  Suzie Boss wrote an article in Edutopia about this very thing.  One of the examples she brought up was the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  A teacher used this disaster to facilitate instruction in her class.  She used it for math by having the kids estimate how many gallons of oil is being wasted by day, week month and so on.  The students were then to hypothesize solutions and discuss the effects of this oil spill.  This is a great way to connect real world issues with education.

Rating Teachers by Test Scores

A current issue in education is finding a method of evaluating teachers.  The big push is to reward good teachers and get rid of the poor ones.  One of the suggested methods of evaluating teachers is through their students' standardized test results.  Their performance on these tests is to determine a teacher's worth.  This is a terrible idea.  If this evaluation method becomes widespread and standard procedure in education, there will be negative results.  The teachers are going to focus all of their efforts on the standardized tests.  They will be more concerned with saving their job rather than teaching effectively.

Staying Sane During Standardized Testing

It is unfortunate that our educational system bases so much on standardized testing.  Due to the emphasis placed on these tests, it can get a little crazy in the classroom.  Kids and teachers alike can stress out about these tests.  I think the most important thing as teachers is to keep the kids as relaxed as possible.  Try not to make these tests seem so important and for lack of a better word "scary".  Also, teachers and administration should remember to keep an eye on each other and provide encouragement to those who look like they need it.  The government is not going to change their views of these tests anytime soon, so all we can do is work together to make the process as smooth and comforting as we can.

Teacher Leadership

As teachers we are considered the leaders of our classrooms.  However, our leadership role can extend beyond the classroom.  As we get older and more experienced it can be important to pursue administrative roles in education.  We would then be able to see the issues firsthand and be better suited to address them when we have the power to do so.  Even if there was no interest in being anything but a teacher, our voices can be heard through active participation in extracurricular school related matters.

Staying Caught Up with the Curriculum

Rebecca Alber from Edutopia mentions how teachers are always telling each other how far behind they are with the curriculum.  For example, their class should be on lesson 12, but they are only on lesson 9.  The debate becomes: Is it more important to rush through all of the topics that need to be covered in the curriculum or to slow down and enjoy teaching a little more?  I think the important thing to consider here is that many times people who are not teachers are the ones who are deciding the curriculum content.  What these non teachers fail to realize is that there is a lot more to teaching than just the subject matter.  School projects, social interactions and behavior issues are just a few of the many other aspects of teaching.  My vote is to slow down and cover as much material as possible without stressing out too much.

Digital Fitness vs. Traditional PE

The Edutopia Poll by Sara Ring brings up a good debate.  New technology is always being implemented in schools.  Digital  fitness is one of those technologies in question.  While digital fitness may have similar benefits to traditional PE as far as aerobic conditioning goes, some people including myself wonder if the other intangibles are being compromised.  Teamwork, competition, fair play, intense social interactions, and physical abilities are aspects that seem to be missing.  These are very important things for children to learn about at young ages.

Halloween Activities

The classroom can be a stressful place sometimes for kids.  Children can get burnt out just as teachers can.  We need to remember that the students need a break from the routine every once in a while.  Having the kids do fun activities around a holiday are great for teachers and students.  Halloween is right around the corner and there are plenty of fun and educational projects to do with them.  One online search is all it takes.

School Reform: Focusing on College Prep is Key

Having just a high school diploma nowadays is not going to get our students a great job anymore.  Therefore, we need to be focusing on preparing them for college and university courses as much as possible.  Standardized tests are not the best assessment methods, but they are necessary.  Many college courses rely heavily on tests.  Students need practice in the testing area as well as developing study habits that will help them succeed.  Schools should be gearing their programs toward these goals.

Magnet School Attracts Students to Careers in Health

The video "A Magnet School Attracts Students to Careers in Health, by the Edutopia Staff, explains how learning real world skills instead of just a lot of theory is highly beneficial.  The motivation and involvement of the students is exceptionally high.  The students can actually see why what they are doing is important and relevant.  Sometimes in the classroom, students say things like, "When am I ever going to need this?".  This particular magnet school takes kids into a health related workplace and treats their learning experience as if it were an internship.  I think theory is one thing, but actual experience is another.  This is a great way of educating our youth!

Increase Student Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics

The National Science Board reports that American students score low internationally in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.  The Edutopia Poll, by Sara Bernard, suggests that the reason for this is simply a lack of interest.  She addresses the possible solutions to this problem.  One option is to illustrate how these subjects correlate to many different careers in hope of inspiring students to become interested.  Another option is to prepare teachers with more exciting lessons in these areas.  The thought process here is that more engaging activities will lead to greater interest and achievement.  A combination of these methods could also be used.  However, some feel that neither of these options will work because teachers don't have the time and have too many other issues to deal with in the classroom.  I think administration is the key here.  They need to provide the time and training for the teachers to be able to interest students in these subject areas.

Mathematics All Day

The video "Teaching Students the Magic of Math", by the Edutopia Staff, indicated that test scores have improved in math for schools that use it constantly throughout the day.  Every subject (science, geography, language arts) including specials (music, physical education, art) is required to include math instruction in their lessons.  The students become very familiar with math concepts and terminology.  Workshops for teachers are held regularly.  At these workshops all of the teachers get on the same page so that their lesson plans focus on the same concepts being learned in math at that time.  This is the first I have ever heard of anything done like this with math.  I think the extent these schools go to to ensure their students succeed in math is wonderful.  I feel like the administration has a well thought out plan and is implementing it nicely.  It is a shame more schools are not functioning like this.