Reinventing Schools for the Future

This was an interesting article that I read about reinventing schools for the twenty-first century. The article speaks about how most school buildings are in need of repair and updating. Most times the building is repaired but nothing inside has changed. A library still looks like a typical library and a classroom still looks like a normal classroom. Twenty-five students or so are put into a room for eight hours to learn.
Instead this article speaks about making personalized learning communities. These communities would be made up of one-hundred to one-hundred twenty-five students. Four to six teachers would be there to help facilitate learning. Instead of classrooms these would be called learning studios with common areas. The groups would have to be smaller so personal interaction could occur. The studios would be filled with hands on activities, critical thinking, and creativity. Peer activities could even be created with other kids from around the world using proper technology. Classes would be more of student centered learning instead of the traditional teacher centered learning.
Technology would also be different in the new schools. Technology would be everywhere with schools being the hub for new technology. Laptops for every student, Smartphone’s, hand held computing devices, and videoconferencing at any time would be available. Any student could go on the internet at any time to access information.
Physical education is spoken about as well. Instead of having big indoor recreation centers, have indoor/outdoor ones. These could be used for yoga, dance, walking, nature trails, and gardening. Learning could take place on the inside and also the outside. Nature trails could also be used to help students learn about science.
Comfort is also a necessity. Learning spaces would need to have seating that is easily changeable, has enough daylights, plenty of fresh air, and well-designed lights and acoustics. As stated in the article, “Facilities that are created with respect for students are, in turn, respected by students.”
Money would also be used to better the arts programs. Art, music, and performances would be encouraged at new schools even more so than today. The arts help to infuse students with culture and learning. The article even states that science could also be brought into the arts for learning purposes.
Some other points that were mentioned in the article include making the schools green to help students understand about living on a healthy planet, so they too can continue to help with this effort. Teacher professionalism was also brought up. They spoke about how, “Teachers need quiet places to plan lessons and work one-on-one with students, areas where they can collaborate in interdisciplinary teams with peers, and access to the latest technology.” I agree one-hundred percent with this thought. Lastly, schools should look colorful and attractive for parents and for the community.
I thought this was a very interesting and bold article. Some of the ideas brought up are interesting and thought provoking, however I am not sure that everything is possible. First, teachers would need a lot more planning time in their day to accomplish such a hefty change and to keep up with it. New technology sounds like it would constantly be flowing into the classes. This would mean teachers would first have to learn these technologies. For some teachers, just keeping up with the technology we use now is enough let alone constantly changing new technology.
As far as the learning communities and large room studios, I think these are a little bizarre. Just from doing cafeteria duty, I know how loud and crazy a large room of kids can get. How would teachers keep all of the students on task and able to focus with that many students in one room? How would the teachers be able to check to see who is working and who is not? I would think assessment would have to be a huge factor in implementing this idea.

Issues Related to Technology Usage in Schools

I read an article titled Urgent Emerging Issues Related to Technology Applications in Schools by Peter Martorella. The article was broken down into five sections.
The first section was about ethical concerns in technology usage. Thefts of computers are computer components are becoming increasingly prevalent in schools. Thefts are even worse today now that computers are becoming smaller and smaller and with fewer wires to tether them down. However, the worst problem is theft of software because it breaks copyright laws and hurts the authors and publishers of their owed compensation. Plagiarism is another problem with the Internet. Most sites do not give the author credit and copying and pasting has become so easy to do. The author suggests that teachers explain plagiarism and model behavior of acknowledging the author.
The second section was about Internet Usage. One problem is using modems for connecting to the Internet. Modems are slow and if one goes onto a website during peak hours, they become extremely slow. Another problem is verifying the truth found on websites. Students do not know what is true what is not when searching on the web. They often are easy to believe whatever they read. This is a major problem and teachers can help students by teaching them what to look for when deciding if they site is credible.
The third section was about the first amendment and privacy acts. A problem that is occurring is being able to control the freedom of speech. It is hard to regulate what people can say and put on the Internet thanks to the freedom of speech. Due to this freedom, children can now have access to indecent and salacious materials. The only way to fix this problem is to have firewalls created or software installed on computers that block adult material from children.
The fourth section was about personnel shortages. Computers are great but it still takes a human being to maintain such technology. People have to understand that technology sometimes breaks and needs to be fixed. Teachers now have to worry about not only their lessons, students, adding technology in their lessons, but being able to troubleshoot and fix problems associated with technology. Also, teachers have to stay current with today’s technology. Technology changes so quickly that it is hard for everyone to keep up. Technology workshops are being used more and more in professional development seminars. Lastly, teachers that are current with technology, who try to juggle all of the extra duties that teachers now have to do, tend to burn out a lot quicker.
The last section was about ascendancy of the technology critics. The cost of computers is the real problem in this section. Computers cost less today but the upkeep on them is getting more and more costly. This is especially hurting schools that are starving for even the basic school supplies and have little money to spend. Therefore, not every school is equal in the amount of computers it has compared to others. This is the same as how many students have computers at home. Schools in affluent areas are going to have a large number of students that have at least one computer at home. In a not as affluent school area, not as many students will have a computer at home. This hurts the student in school because it puts them behind students that have a computer at home and use it on a daily basis.
The article ends with a conclusion summing up what the author has explained throughout the article.

Technology is a great asset, however there are many problems to think about and keep an eye on when using it. This article did a great job in listing some of these problems and is a good article for teachers to read before introducing a new source of technology into the classroom. What do you think?

Music Technology, Where is it Going?

I read an article titled The Future of Music Technology: Web-Based Software by Dr. John Kuzmich, Jr. The author feels that most music teachers are not utilizing technology in the classroom. Instead, most music teachers tend to stick to the traditional ways of teaching music. He thinks that most teachers are not switching because of the demands of learning new software. The author says that only nine states fully use the national standards of music while twenty-nine of them only use some of the national standards. The answer to this is web-based software. This software has to be able to be used at home as well so it is used effectively.
Next, the author explains the story of a teacher from New York who posted rhythm and practice exercises online. He used a program called Sibelius Scorch and also created his own webpage for the students. This teacher also went on to do a cross curricular project on the American Revolution and the music of its time period. He created an interactive fife and drum curriculum and this encouraged the students to practice more at home. Lastly, this teacher also created solfege lessons on his site. These are also interactive and give the students good practice that they can do anywhere that has a computer and internet. Students have to sign in on the solfege site this way the teacher can see who is practicing.
The author then goes on to list and explain some good music software programs. The first list shows programs that are over the internet. There is a second list that explains and lists a few CD-Rom workstation software programs. Next, the author explains some things that teachers will need to know first before switching over to these types of technology. He gives examples of some things that can be done with the different websites.
I thought this article was interesting. I am excited to go online to these different sites and try them out. In one of the discussion questions I had written about a program called Smart Music which has a lot of the same ideas as the sites listed, however with Smart Music, you have to pay a thirty dollar fee to use the program for one year. This could deflect parents from getting it for their children. Thirty dollars does not seem like much but to a family who is already struggling, it would be difficult. The programs listed in the article don’t seem to have a fee for the individual student so that is a plus.
I would definitely like to use more technology when teaching band but for me, the problems I face, are that of the building be dated. I have one plug where I teach and I share a computer with others. Therefore, I cannot be using the computer during my teaching because others would not be able to use it. Secondly, I would need more computers to have my students use these sites. My one school does not even have a computer lab at all. I am not sure of how this would work. I am hoping that in the following years when we do get a new building, I will be able to incorporate these technologies listed into my teaching. I think it will make learning more fun and encourage students to practice, especially at home.

Do All Students Receive the Same Chance?

I read a report titled A Question of Equality: Do All of My Students Receive the Same Chance? By Jonathan D. Haraty. This report is about a science teacher who teachers in a school where students often get into trouble as far as criminal problems. Recently, the school had to be changed from a high school plus minimal middle school to one building with separate sections. The teacher use to have to teach middle and high school but with the new reform, he only teachers high school with other new teachers now teaching middle school separate from high school. The teacher now has only fifteen students per class but most students have IEP’s and other learning disabilities. Another challenge this teacher has to face is the challenge of having several students out of class at a time due to court action and being “locked up”.
One student complains to him that her work is too easy and that her mother also agrees and they think that this will lead to her getting into trouble because she is not being challenged enough in school. The teacher started to look at his teaching more carefully. He was tending to gear his lessons to students who were at the remedial stage of learning. The teacher also had students that were learning English as their second language. This was also a problem because the school was trying a school-wide teaching method of using a lot of reading and writing assignments and activities in the classroom. Since this teacher had ESL Students, he had to slow down the pace for the rest of the class because of this. He noticed that many of his students that were completing their work and getting good grades were often looking out the window and distracting the other students during class. This was due to them being bored mentally. The teacher decided to do a survey with his classes. He figured by doing this, he could find out what the students felt was not challenging enough about the work. He then could interview them to find out what they need as individuals. The teacher told all of the students about the survey and explained to them what it was for, told them there was a consent form to sign for the survey and the interview, and explained that they did not have to do either if they did not want to. Also, the teacher explained that the survey and interview would in no way benefit or harm their grades.
The findings came out that during the one week period that the survey was given; only thirty-five percent of the students completed the survey. The teacher teaches grades nine through twelve and found out that the younger students were the ones who were most intrigued and interested to participate in the survey. Even more interesting, the students ended up saying that they wanted to keep up with the status quo that was already established meaning, they did not want anything in class to change. The students said the work was a good level for them and also none said it was too hard. Only two students said that sometimes in the past the work had been too easy. When asked how they would feel about getting more work to do, most students thought it would benefit them.
The discussion segment showed that the teacher was only able to interview two students. This was due to gang related problems. One student said that the reform helped her because before she felt she was not being pushed enough in her work, while now she feels the work is at a good level for her. Another student said that he doesn’t like extra work and that he shuts down when he has to do it. The teacher said that this student needs to pushed a little and that the work for him was not too hard. In the end, the teacher thinks that he has changed his teaching since the reform. Before the reform, he could easily differentiate lessons for students, but now, the reform makes that more difficult. How does one differentiate a reading lesson when the whole class is being read to out loud? Differentiation is something that the teacher would like to pursue more and plans to research more.
I thought from reading the title of this report that this report was going to be about students’ backgrounds and home life, and how it relates to how they do in school. I was surprised how I was completely wrong. However, I did feel that this was an interesting report. I can somewhat relate to it from the school in teach in. Although, I don’t have nearly as many problems and things to take into consideration with my students like this teacher had. I thought his findings were interesting. Many students did not participate due to gangs. Most of the students that did participate would not have an interview with the teacher.
In Maryland, we work in counties instead of small school districts. They have been talking about reforming schools especially in the middle schools. Reform can be good, but as we found out here, it can hurt the individual needs of our students, therefore forcing us to be more creative with developing work for these students.
Interesting article, what are your thoughts?

PLC's: How to Do Them Right!

The article entitled, “The Parable of the Blind Squirrel” by Thomas W. Many, first starts off with a story. A grandfather and his grandson were outside one day watching a squirrel. The squirrel was old and blind but was able to find acorns. The grandfather explained to the boy that in life if you work hard for things, you will get them and good things will happen to you using the squirrel as an analogy. The author then goes on to explain how this story relates to him. He sometimes feels like the squirrel when leading school improvement. The faculty always tries hard and does all of the correct things although sometimes performances levels are uneven in grades and other times he faculty is unsure of why things were successful. The author wanted to not be part of the blind squirrel story, but instead wanted to work more efficiently not harder. The faculty then went and read a book entitled, “Professional Learning Communities at Work” by Richard Dufour and Robert Eaker. After reading this, the faculty realized that much of what the book spoke about was already in place. They then decided to focus more on creating these professional learning communities.
The article goes on to explain how the math program was lacking in the district. The high school teachers wanted more students to pass algebra in eighth grade. Due to this wanted change, the math curriculum would then need to be updated. A group of willing teachers worked on creating a new math curriculum. After much time and planning, the new curriculum was put into place. With the change, more than ninety percent of the elementary students now met or surpassed set goals in math. This was great news to the faculty who worked long and hard to make this happen. However, now there was a gap between math and reading scores and the math scores were now higher. This gap lasted for close to ten years and no one could figure out why. After this persistently long gap, the district decided in 2001 that by the 2003-2004 school year, they wanted ninety percent of all third graders to meet or exceed the state standards in reading. The administration continued to tweak their goals and kept referring back to the book they had read. With their research, the administration decided it was time for some changes. They adjusted goals, made common planning time for teams, added a standardized curriculum framework, and made a list of data that they collected from the year. Teachers also aided with this in that they researched and read books as well as attended summer courses on the topic. Learning had then become the main focus point for teachers, not teaching.
One year later the district saw improvement in reading scores. Two of the elementary schools had made it to their ninety percent goal with two more working on reaching that goal. This proved that the students could reach high goals in math and reading consistently. In comparing the reading and math goals, it took six years to reach the math goals, while it only took one year for parts of the district to reach the reading goal. This success is marked by becoming a better professional learning community. The district intends to continue the use of professional learning communities to align themselves and to become a better district.
I thought this article really showed how professional learning communities are suppose to work. It showed how there was a problem and how the district went about fixing it. It proves that PLC’s work if they are used correctly.
In all, I think the way this article researched a topic and pursued it to better students learning was the true way to run a PLC. If my county could work on something like that it would be better than the way we do PLC’s now. It would be a large undertaking and would be tough because within the county setting you have to worry about different living demographics that make each school different from one another. However, I think it would worth the effort and we could focus more on problems we have as county, solve them, and better ourselves as a county. I enjoyed reading this article and could relate to it. This article was definitely a worthwhile read and gave me some ideas of how our county could now use PLC’s. What do you think?

Homeschooling: Friend or Foe

In completing this weeks discussion questions, I thought I would look more deeply into homeschooling. In researching this on the web, I found an interesting article related to homeschooling and is it as good as public school. The women who wrote the article, Barb Shelton, seems to be more one sided on this decision. In her article, she explains she has been a homeschooling mom for seventeen years. She thinks that homeschooling is best because it opens the doors to spending more time with your children and more freedom for high school aged students to explore their options to see what they want to do with their life. This woman also sells books on this idea.
Another article I came across was one about homeschoolers coming of age. One student who was homeschooled said he feels he did not miss a thing from homeschooling. Most people think that a child who is homeschooled misses out on socialization and activities associated with school. This student says he is happy he missed out on some of those things because some of those activities can include bullying and peer pressure, something he never had to succumb to. This article also speaks about homeschooled children being freer to explore their creativity and what their interests are.
Here’s another site I found on the subject of homeschooling. This one speaks more about the bad sides to homeschooling. This site, written by Greg, says that homeschooling is a way of cheating the system, provides children with less opportunities and resources, lower quality teaching, is ideologically driven, and oversight testing. In the end, the author agrees with most in that he is also undecided. He sees the good in homeschooling as well as the bad. He personally would pick public schooling over homeschooling.
As far as looking at these sites all together, none of them really produced much data or research on the topics. They were mostly opinions. Still, I found them to be very interesting and they did bring up some good points. In realizing this, I then decided to look to see if I could find any data or statistics on homeschooling. I did come across this article about academic statistics on homeschooling. This site explains studies conducted about homeschooling. At the end, it agrees that homeschooling is possible and works. It even explained how homeschooled students tend to outperform public schooled students by thirty to thirty-seven percentile points in all subjects. It gave many other facts and was very interesting.
After reading all of these articles, I still think public school is the way to go. I can see how homeschooling would work, especially because the pupil receives more one on one time than they would in a traditional classroom. Do you agree? After checking out some of these sites, did your opinion of homeschooling change?

Updating Blooms Taxonomy for Technology

In reading this week’s chapters in the book, I read a lot about Blooms Taxonomy. This is a topic I remember learning quite a bit about in my undergraduate work at West Chester University. I also remember completing an in-service at Fallston Middle School that was about using higher level thinking and Blooms Taxonomy in the classroom. In reading this week’s chapters, I decided to further research Blooms Taxonomy. I came across and interesting article about integrating Blooms Taxonomy into the digital world. This article first describes what Blooms Taxonomy is and how it works. It them explains how one of Blooms student’s later revised the taxonomy to make it easier to understand. The author of the article then explains how one could insert digital concepts and skills into the revised taxonomy. For example, under the creating or evaluation skill, besides including: designing, constructing, planning, producing, inventing, devising and making, the digital world could add: programming, filming, animating, blogging, video blogging, mixing, remixing, wiki-ing, publishing, video casting, podcasting, and directing/producing. I think this is a smart move to make being the world is transitioning into the digital world in every facet. For instance, this is something our professor could use in our class. We are learning and using technology in our class and she could use this new version of Blooms Technology to figure out if we are using higher level thinking and reasoning. This could even be useful to the everyday teacher. Schools are being encouraged more and more to use technology in the classroom. A teacher could use this digital taxonomy to see if students are learning at higher levels.
On the bottom of this article a few people wrote comments. One spoke about another site that also relates Blooms Taxonomy to technology. This site goes a little more into depth about how one would integrate this idea to Blooms Taxonomy. First, this site lists the definitions of for each level of the technology domain. Next, the article explains what action words go to represent every level. Finally, the article explains each learning objective. This is done by giving an example of the learning objective, listing the taxonomy level, listing the condition, behavior, and criteria.
I feel from reading these two articles that I have a better understanding of Blooms Taxonomy. I also now know how I can update it to apply better to technology in today’s world. Do you think this could aid in your teaching? How would you use it in the classroom? Would you change either technology taxonomy? If yes, what would you change?