Let Them Read Books!

Recovered from a day of futile technology class that won't work on public education computers with dinner, great conversation and the porch with a good teacher friend of mine. We discussed a lot of similarities in our schools, our teaching practice, our troubles in the classroom and within the school around the school yard it's neighborhoods, it's tax dollars, it's sociological percentages and FRL's.

Should schools invent the wheel or recognize and utilize technology that is already in place but corporately owned websites such as facebook and youtube? Is it a detriment to the classroom to not recognize that computer gaming, social networks, texting, video on demand, and search engines have changed the school age child in America and must therefore be reflected in their learning processes?

Should I focus on Fig. 15 on page 26 or show the video I downloaded from youtube, posted to my FB and on my blog, and sent you the link in a text?
Should I type all my students' parents emails into a Blind Distribution list or add them as friends to a FB group?
Should technology in the classroom rely on the privacy and the anonymity of its users?
How much blocking of the internet is required at school? What sites are okay for kids? What sites are unnecessary? What sites should block school age students? What is the definition of social and private? How much blocking is too much? How do parents restrict and monitor student computer use? How do teachers monitor student computer habits? How long are students on computers each night? How long should they be? How long are they reading? How long should they be?

And how, after only 9 years in this business, can I be shocked at how far we have come with technology. When I started teaching most adults had cell phones. Sometimes you checked your email. We did attendance with bubble scans. Grades were bubbled too. Kids passed your class, they passed the class. Sept 11, 2001. The access to instant information, live coverage of the event on the classroom TV. By my third year of teaching most teachers had purchased their own laptops. My fifth year of teaching started YouTube, Katrina, we watched the event from sea to shining sea from satellite, weather channel, cnn, youtube, myspace, news.com. STEM became a theme among schools to inspire innovation and technology in schools. New technology with cords and probes and adaptors and software and batteries. The phones got thinner, all kids had phones. Then there were iPods and wireless. And then iPod and wireless got married and had a baby iPhone. Emails were sent daily by bosses and their bosses and parents and subcommittees. And now... the news is in your hand at a moment's click of the big button. Parents can view a teacher's gradebook from Internet. A new song downloaded, a new email sent, a picture text sent with a video link, a streaming video of the NFL kickoff in your hand from outside at a birthday party. And you can send a lesson plan, check attendance, record quizzes, and report to parents from the iPhone from a beach. (Well, I think you can... I'll try it out next vacation)

How can I complain that the wiki and voki and gofster and wordle and magic box and comix I made today didn't work or display with the embed codes?

Let them read books.


Next post will discuss "The achievement gap".


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