The Old Argument About Class Size: What's Really Important?

Teachers know that smaller classes mean more time for each student. It's logical, isn't it? Shouldn't this mean better achievement? Maybe. Maybe not. Some studies suggest that class size doesn't matter, but for the most part, the research agrees with the teachers: smaller classes are better. A recent article in Education Week discusses a British study that found "students tend to be "off task" more often when they are in larger classes. Another study reported in Education Week found that smaller classes resulted in higher achievement test scores but didn't make much difference when it came to closing achievement gaps. So what's the answer? Campus Report Online has a nice summary of what it calls Class Size Wars. It concludes that we should stop worrying over class size and focus on what we know improves achievement: good teaching. It's the teachers that make the difference; parents and students don't need research to tell us that.

Where Are We in Internet Safety?

It seems as if we've been writing about online safety on the Web forever, and even before the Web became so popular we were writing about safety on online services. Are we getting anywhere with keeping our children safe online? Certainly there are more programs to keep kids safe today, but there are also more problems-probably because so many more people are online and kids have learned to get around the safety nets we put out for them. Like drugs, smoking, and alcohol abuse education, we've tried scare tactics, monitoring, and reasoning. With technology, we've also tried filtering. Through it all, we've learned that we (teachers and parents) are the best Internet filters, monitors, and guides for our children-better than any program. One of the problems we face is that kids think they know so much more than we do about the Internet and think we are overreacting when it comes to their safety online. So what do we do? Because we can't watch our students all the time, we have to educate them and hope that they'll make the right decisions when we are not there to watch. What else can we do? Ideas?

Tech Panic: Be Ready for It

If you are the Information Technology (IT) guru in your school or simply someone who knows a bit more about computers and related digital devices than others in your building or district, you understand what happens when the Net or individual computers go down. Or perhaps it's a printer or a projector. Panic. Teachers have Internet lessons ready and their lessons are ruined or they want to print a test that they are giving next period or ... Even though everyone knows that these things happen, most are not prepared for it. An article in TechWorldNews, Don't Panic: Human Nature in IT Disaster Response talks about tech disasters on a larger scale, but it contains the message that we need to be better prepared. In making disaster plans we should consider technology and the people who depend upon it. Even if it's not a disaster, but simply a lack of service for some time from our Internet provider or a burned out bulb on a projector, we need to be prepared. That doesn't only mean having the Internet Provider's contact information handy or keeping extra projector bulbs in your supplies, it means preparing your teachers and administrators for possibilities that are bound to happen. It means developing a system to keep everyone informed. The Net will go down and sometimes it may be slow. Computers and printers will malfunction. But we don't need to panic. It won't help.

eLections: Politics for Your Students

Cable in the Classroom offers the free interactive game eLections: Your Adventure in Politics to help students (or anyone who wants to have a great time playing it) understand what's happening in our elections. In the game, players can run their own presidential campaigns, become the actual candidates for election, create a platform, get involved in fund-raising, learn about poll numbers, react to news events and negative advertisements.... The game includes 30 video clips from the cable networks-CNN, C-SPAN, and History^TM . The clips are designed to help students understand political history and media context. Everyone will appreciate George Washington as the game host, Vote Notes that highlight major election themes, and options for school-based competitions for number of games played. Why not try the game yourself first and see how it will fit into your lessons? Send any questions about eLections to Cable in the Classroom.

Inspiration's Kidspiration Literacy Lesson Plan Book

If you are using Kidspiration, especially Kidspiration 3, you'll want to take a look at Kidspiration® in the Classroom Reading Essentials. This is a resource book ($29.95) that includes 50 standards-based lesson plans that will help you with integration of technology and visual learning into the K-5 curriculum. The lessons feature vocabulary building, reading comprehension, context clues, phonics, literary analysis, and more. For Grades K-2 the emphasis is upon literacy skills and effective reading instruction, while the Grades 3-5 suggestions relate more to reading comprehension, vocabulary building, and content literacy skills. There are lesson on matching synonyms, building compound words, spelling patterns, identifying phonograms, making plurals, retelling stories, nonfiction, storyboarding, creating mental images, and inference. The clever ideas in the resource book make effective use of the visual learning and graphic organization that is Kidspiration and Inspiration software.

Teens & Their Secret Digital Lives

Prevention Magazine (April '08) published The Secret Life of Teens and a number of other articles (Secret Life of Teens by Rich, Secret Life of Teens: Clubbing by Cuomo) and books (The Secret Life of Teens by Patnaik and Shinseki) have targeted this topic as well. Those writing about teens cover topics such as alcohol and drug abuse, teens' lives, hopes and dreams; teens' nightlife; and how to help teens survive these often exciting and dangerous years. It's evident that teens look to online communities and digital communication for interaction. Going to FaceBook, for example, helps them get away from the adults in their lives. In an online community they can share their secrets, which often aren't secrets for long. It's their world, and probably many of us ex-teens would have liked to have that world available at times when we were teens. But it's also a world that can become addictive. Aside from the possibility of online dangers, there's the danger that teens are so drawn to digital communities that they go there instead of interacting with those around them. It's not just online communities that are keeping our students from being part of the real world. Katie Baldo, the guidance counselor quoted in the Prevention piece warns that kids, because of being wired to their digital connections, aren't getting the practice they need with non-digital social interaction. She recommends that use of technologies such as cellphones, MP3 players, and video games be limited to one-hour on weekdays and two-hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Of course, teens and even pre-teens would say that this digital world is an important part of their real world.

Let Your Students Write Help Guides

Why not let your students help other students and your faculty by preparing tech guides? For students who know tech, this is a challenge they'll enjoy. Students in Maine created a Google Docs guide using what looks like the program Comic Life and the free online pdf  viewer called Issuu. Although they could print and distribute their work, by using Issuu, they've posted their guide online and the pages turn just like they do in online catalogs. It looks very professional. Kids are also making video help guides, which can be perfect help sources for all in a school community and beyond. Besides, when kids create for others, they are learning so much themselves not only about the subject being covered, but also about presentation. Once their work is distributed online and offline, it's a plus for their self-image and will look good on college applications as well.

Early Bird Teacher Winner & More Winners to Come

In celebration of National Teachers' Day, einstruction^TM chose one entrant at random in its 2008 sweepstakes to receive a 32-unit Classroom Performance System valued at $2000. Anna Love, a language teacher from South Side High School in Fort Smith, Arkansas was the surprise early winner. Additional winners-one at the elementary level, one at the middle school level and one at the high school level-will be announced May 19, 2008. These winners will each receive a classroom technology makeover package that includes approximately $8000 worth of equipment and training. You can enter the sweepstakes until 11:59 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, May 13, 2008. To enter, go to einstruction and click on Content Meets Technology Sweepstakes. After you enter, check out the Google Maps mashup on the site.

How's Your Memory? Too Many Things Happening at School?

The Evernote (BETA) site says that it will help you stop forgetting things, and it will help you find what you haven't forgotten. What it does is to allow you to capture information using just about any digital device and using just about any platform (Mac OS Leopard, Windows XP/Vista, Windows Mobile, Web Clippers). The Overview Video explains it all.  Called your external brain, the software is currently free to download to your computer. Once you have it, you can store ideas for lessons and projects or whatever else you need. Use it to store class pictures, text you want to remember, and parts of Web sites. Once stored, it's easy to go back and find what you saved. Evernote can even search for words that are inside pictures and decipher cursive writing in your images. Pretty neat. You can take photos with a camera or your cellphone and enter these in Evernote. You'll think of all sorts of useful ways to use this one for your classroom. To subscribe to the BETA, you'll need to go to the site and request an invitation.

Do 5-7-Year Olds Need to Work on Conflict Resolution?

Yes, according to the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services (FMCS) and several universities. Young children need to work on social skills "such as negotiation, compromise, and empathy," advises Professor Melanie Killen of the University of Maryland. They need to be given "a positive alternative to the violent images that pervade the video game world." To help primary level children with these skills, gaming author F. J. Lennon developed Cool School: Where Peace Rules, a lively game that does not involve physically aggressive behavior present in most video-type games.  Designed to help children with problems such as respecting others and sharing, Cool School will help you with peer difficulties that may be cropping up in your classroom. You can download the game (It's free.) and teachers' materials at the Curriki Web site.