Tech Tips for Non-Techie Teachers

Technology overload -- we techie educators suffer from it, but perhaps, we don’t take time to think about how difficult it is for educators who haven’t yet jumped into tech use and/or don’t believe they can master it.  Brianna Crowley in her Education Week Teacher article, Tips for Tech-Cautious Teachers, advises those who are feeling frustrated with their attempts at tech use in the classroom to:

1. Take time to experiment and play around with the digital device or app before trying to put it into actual use.
2. Keep in mind that you don’t need to use all of the app options or software and that you don’t to need use tons of programs. Use what makes sense for you and your students.
3. Explore. Don’t assume that you have to use the technology for a specific purpose.
4. Think about whether it will be useful to you. If not, no matter how wonderful it is reported to be, don’t waste your time on it.
5. Use technology for your own learning. That will help you better understand how you can use it to help your students. 

Using Cartoons in Learning

Daryl Cagle’s newsletter and site, The Cagle Post Cartoons & Commentary, features cartoons from some of the best-known editorial cartoonists around the world. You’ll find cartoons about current happenings, politics, education, and just about any topic that’s been in the news. There are links to “Best of the Year” cartoons and important cartoons from previous years. Many of these cartoons are excellent for getting students to think about a topic and to explore additional information on it. Keep in mind when using the cartoons that you’ll want to check ahead of time to make sure that what you plan to use is grade and student ability appropriate. Because the cartoons are copyrighted, it’s best to give students links to cartoons you plan to use in a lesson. To keep up to date with what’s available from Daryl Cagle, you can subscribe to his newsletter.

Grants for School Libraries

The Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries provides grants of up to $5000 to help school libraries improve and diversify their collections of books and magazines. The grants are for low-income schools in which 80% or more of their students qualify for the free or reduced lunch programs.  The deadline for submissions is December 1, 2012.

Website Madness

It used to be that a teacher, administrator, or tech person created the school website. Few schools continue that tradition today, because school websites have simply become too large and too complicated. Although, I know of schools with dynamic Websites created by students under the direction of talented and dedicated Webmasters who work in the summers and after school, most often sites are created by district Webmasters or outside companies. Even when the sites are created by others, those in local schools have to take on part of the Web duties themselves. Someone has to keep up the calendars, provide parents with forms, post photos, oversee programs such as Moodle, etc. As parent expectations for school Websites grow, who is going to keep up with supplying and editing the information that must go online?

Do Teachers Have the Tech They Want?

We could have predicted the outcome of a PBS Learning Media survey conducted by VeraQuest Research. The survey, completed in December 2011, sampled 500 randomly selected teachers in the United States. Findings show that while most teachers (91%) have access to technology in their classrooms, only one-fifth of these teachers say they have the right level of technologies needed to accomplish what they want with their students. The problem, according to the teachers sampled, is lack of funding for classroom tech needs, not lack of knowledge or training, not slow Internet connections, not materials that don’t enhance the curriculum, or other possible difficulties.

How Important Are the Social Studies?

With the emphasis on the STEM subjects and reading, social studies seems to have become a neglected step-sister in the curriculum. Although, many states require students to have a social studies course in high school, few test to see if students know what they should about subjects such as civics, history, and geography. As we prepare students for the future, knowledge of geography, politics, and history cannot be pushed backstage. Maybe the jobs aren’t there for those majoring in the social sciences, but good citizenship may depend on a revival of the importance of the social studies in our schools.

Bringing History to Life: A Battle in the Classroom

Watch the video of a segment in teacher David McCollister’s lesson about the Battle of Bunker Hill. This is part of a lesson series he gave for 9- and 10-year-olds at Boone Trail Elementary School, Missouri. McCollister, who is a high school teacher, believes in reenacting parts of history in order to light a fire in students. According to his principal at Lutheran North in St. Louis County, Missouri, where McCollister has taught for 45 years, “You can sense the energy in his voice.” A student at Boone Trail Elementary said, “I like when teachers are energetic,” and noted that he wished he had Mr. McCollister (Mr. Mac) for a teacher. McCollister attributes his good teaching techniques to some of the teachers who inspired him years ago and also to “The 20^th Century” with Walter Cronkite. McCollister believes in telling his students why what he’s teaching is important, and he adds acting to his teaching tools. Think of the power of this teacher in the classroom or even online through our 21^st Century technologies.

Wearable Computing—eTextiles, eThread

Using alligator clips, eThread, fabric, sewing skills, and imagination, students are creating wearable technology. Some have done projects in college, but others are in middle school and high school. The Hacket is an eJacket designed by an eighth grader to flash stars from it when a sound is detected, to show a flashing heart (which the designer plans in the future to show his actual heartbeat), and to play music when anyone hugs him. A college student created a glove that electronically detects pressure to the hand. It’s meant to help those with diabetes and other diseases in which people lack feeling in their hands. In the video about wearable tech, you’ll also see how this technology is a great way to create costumes.  Think of how this might be used in art, tech, or engineering classes, along with in extracurricular club experiences. Designing wearable technology is a great way to motivate students to learn about electronics, science, technologies, and design—all while they are having fun. Materials for eTextiles can be found at Sparkfun Electronics, where you’ll also find tutorials.

Why Hasn’t Project-Based Learning Caught On?

First of all, it takes time, energy, and lots of planning on the part of a teacher. If a project is to be cross-curricular, how do teachers of different courses find the time for collaboration.  Second, when it’s happening, it looks messy and seems too noisy. Students are not in their seats working in the traditional manner. They’re bored, according to 17-year-old Nikhil Goyal, author of the book, One Size Does Not Fit All: A student’s Assessment of School. Goyal calls for anti-disciplinary education, not interdisciplinary education. “The bottom line is that you don’t have to learn the boring stuff before you start applying it. Start rolling around in the dirt from the get go.”

Online Grading: What’s Your Opinion?

Online grading is a fact in many schools, whether teachers and administrators like it or not. With the speed of technology development, it looks like we’ll be able to track and report everything students do all day long.  There are certainly many positives for schools being able to give parents online access to their children’s grades. No longer are there problems such as students not bringing home test papers and report cards. Parents can see what’s what and team with teachers if help is needed.

I’m all for teachers having online grade books and for report cards being published for parents online, but I’m not so sure that parents should have immediate access to all tests, quiz, and essay grades before students can go home and explain the grades and show their work to their parents. For some parents, such access encourages “micromanagement” of their children’s work as they react to a number rather than the reasons why the grade was received.  There has to be a happy medium here since online reporting of grades takes away any flexibility teachers may have in adjusting grades of students who had troubles at the beginning of the term, but have done much better work as the term progressed. Some teachers complain that their school’s reporting systems take time from their teaching because many have to post assignments and grades, sometimes in more than one administrative program.  —And then, if grades are already online, does this mean that teachers will be less likely to call parents and less likely to request face-to-face conferences?