Athletics or Laptops?

On the dangerously irrelevant, Bill Bradley brings awareness to an interesting point. In thinking that the cost of laptops would be ridiculous,but take a look at what your school's budget athletic budget. With athletes required to meet eligibility standards, should money be going towards the sports programs or the classroom to keep students eligible to play.
Being a varsity volleyball coach, I see that most of the money in individual sport programs account comes from fundraising.
With budget being tight in most school districts, several in Michigan have gone to a 'pay to play' program, in which each athlete pays a predetermined amount for each sport they play.

http://dangerouslyirrelevant.org/2010/12/athletics-or-laptops.html

Google: Reading Level

The Free Technology for Teachers website wrote an article on Friday Dec. 10, 2010 about being able to set your Google search according to readability. You would be able to set your search at a basic, intermediate, or advanced level. This would allow teachers to set computers to find results that are closer to their students reading range. I can't help to be excited about how beneficial a program like this would be.
I think about a group of 5th grade students that I am currently working with on a science research project. They have had to find information about a topic on the solar system, print information, and give a presentation on their topic. The students were able to print article after article of information, but the problem was once they had it they could not read it nor understand what it meant.
I wish that I would have known about setting the reading range earlier to help students be more successful independently on their projects.

http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/12/sort-google-search-results-by-reading.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+freetech4teachers%2FcGEY+%28Free+Technology+for+Teachers%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Songs for Education

I came across the Blog from the Educational Technology Guy, (http://educationaltechnologyguy.blogspot.com/2010/12/rush-band-some-great-songs-for.html) about Rush-the band, having great songs for education. I think that music is one of the best ways that teachers can influence students to connect with material. I have found that by teaching riddles and songs for tricky information students are able to better remember.
I think back to school and can remember seeing School House Rock for the first time. Even thinking about it now several songs pop right back into my head. If I were to sing those songs today, I would most likely not miss a word.
With technology and new advanced tools developing, I think that it is important to not forget the strategies that worked before these tools came along. With the help of technology and the internet, music and educational songs are at our fingertips. Music is a resource that teachers can not afford to forget about.

Teaching Typing

Integration of technology into classrooms is overwhelming. There is an endless amount of applications, software programs, and tools that can be used as supplemental activites and instruction. What I see in my school is the lack of focus on teaching the skills of typing.
With state and technology standards being administered to introduce and use technology at a younger age, there is still a need to teach computer skills and typing. The Edgalaxy website posted four games online that can be used to teach and reinforce typing skills. ttp://www.edgalaxy.com/journal/2010/12/2/4-great-typing-games.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Edgalaxy+%28Edgalaxy+-+Where+Education+and+Technology+Meet%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
I remember when I was in elementary school, we would go to the computer lab as a special class and work on our typing skills. Now, the computer lab is used to complete projects and type papers, even when students have not mastered the keyboarding skills and proper hand placement. I find that there is a need to focus on the basic skills of technology usage before we can ask students to use properly.

Getting students Excited about writing

Writing is probably the least liked subject by mt students, but I have one student that is not interested in writing at all. Everyday seems to be a struggle to find ideas or topics for him to connect with and be interested in. As I was searching through the RSS feeds I found a website on free tech4 teachers.com.
Tonight I came across the website writecomics.com. As I look at this website, all I can think of is how much I think my particular student would love it. I am excited to return to school on Monday to show him what he is capable of creating on this website. By allowing him to pick backgrounds, characters, and write the script, I am hoping he will see how much fun writing can be. It will allow him to use his creativity in a new way where he is able to use technology to construct and organize his ideas.
Websites like writecomics.com make me thankful for the usse of technology in my classroom to be able to reach exceptional students use their strengths to improve upon areas of difficulty.


http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2010/12/write-comics-simple-comic-strip.html

Should laptops replace textbooks??

In response to the Edutopia poll "Should Laptops Replace Textbooks?" http://www.edutopia.org/poll-laptops-replace-textbooks, I found arguments to support both sides. I can understand that there is a need to replace out of date texts with more accurate and up to date information. For instance, in some of the science and social studies books the author is referring to the future as the 2000's. With technology at our fingertips almost everywhere it would seem pratical to use laptops to access the information that is the most up to date.
On the other hand, I still think that there is importance in using textbooks. Prior to the advances in technology information was passed from generation to generation by oral telling and written documents. In order for students ti understand history there needs to be some access to those texts. Even with technology, books are not things that will disappear. Students need to be able to use and navigate through books to find information.
I was actually surprised by the results of the poll thus far. Sixty-nine percent of people thought textbooks should be replaced by laptops and thirty-one percent said they shouldn't. In an age of technology and with the prevalence of technology usage I thought there may be a bigger gap in those percents.
I find that both, textbooks and laptops are valuable and beneficial to education, but I feel there needs to be a balance between both mediums.

Friday after Thanksgiving: School???

The Edutopia poll: Should schools be closed the day after Thanksgiving caught me by surprise. This was honestly something, even as a student, that never crossed my mind. Since I went to pre-school, the friday after Thanksgiving was given off. 83% of the voters in the poll responded that requiring students and teachers to return to school on that Friday would ruin many Thanksgiving plans and would not have great attendance. With many people traveling for the holiday to visit family would cause difficulties to get back in time for school. If there was school on friday, I could see where many students would not attend, being that they would miss one day of school.
I can see how as an educator it would be difficult to return to school for one day and then head into the weekend. Much of the instruction during the week flows together and connects. Especially in the lower grades, it is difficult for students to connect information and content when there is a break in the instruction.
When thinking about why many schools do not have school on the friday after Thanksgiving, my only hope is that it has nothing to do with Black Friday and shopping.

http://www.edutopia.org/poll-schools-closed-thanksgiving-friday