Education Technology in the classroom: What should it look like? � SCUSD Observer

Education Technology in the classroom: What should it look like? � SCUSD Observer

SCUSD Observer

Education Technology in the classroom: What should it look like?

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My name is Alice Mercer, and I am an ed tech blogger (I blog about education technology). I am and educator and a computer and technology teacher at an elementary school in Sacramento City Unified School District. In addition, all of my teaching experience both in the lab and out, has been in high poverty schools. I believe in the power of technology to change education, but I also believe that if we are really going to change education, all students need to create and not just consume their education. If we can’t make it work with poor and minority children, we won’t really change how we are teaching, but if it can work where I teach, it can work anywhere.

Technology is one of the “new” and trendy things to talk about in education, but what does it mean? First, just knowing your way around a computer and the Internet doesn’t mean you’re ready to teach technology. Effective use of technology is more important than the technology itself. Why is this? Let me give an example. I have a dad who is super smart, and was a math wiz. He would sometimes attempt to “help” me with math, but all his smarts did not make him a great tutor for me. Ideally, we should be using technology to make a lesson richer, more effective, and more enticing for students. Getting to that point requires learning, time, and most importantly, support.

Next, you need to know not all technology is the same, and how it is used is where the real differences come out. Some people approach “learning” to use a computer as though it is like “learning” typing. Although there are skills involved in learning technology, the potential uses are much richer, and more complex than how one

Alternate Path for Teachers Gains Ground Education News - The New York Times

Education News - The New York Times

Alternate Path for Teachers Gains Ground

By LISA W. FODERARO 1 minute ago

Fred R. Conrad/The New York Times

Dan Cosgrove, in his second year with Teach for America, in his classroom at Leadership Prep in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

The New York State Board of Regents is expected this week to allow alternative teacher preparation programs to offer a master’s degree, delivering a blow to education schools.

Girls in Private Schools Ask, Thin Mints or Samoas?

By JOANNE KAUFMAN

At New York’s elite schools, membership in the youngest Girl Scouts troops more than doubled this year.

At Upstate Campus, Saving Energy Is Part of Dorm Life

By LISA W. FODERARO

Two residence halls at the college in upstate New York earned Energy Star labels as part of campus efforts to be environmentally friendly.

John Jay College Accused of Bias Against Noncitizens

By NINA BERNSTEIN

A Justice Department lawsuit says the college demanded extra work authorization from noncitizens that it did not require from citizens.

Florida Governor Splits With G.O.P. on Teacher Pay

By TRIP GABRIEL and DAMIEN CAVE

Gov. Charlie Crist’s decision spurred speculation he would abandon the party to run for Senate as an independent.

Charter Extension Denied to Low-Scoring Stanford School

By CAROL POGASH

Responding to low test scores, the Ravenswood school board denied a charter extension to a K-through-12 school created and overseen by Stanford University.

Despite Budget Woes, University Still Has Money for Bottled Water

By SCOTT JAMES

The University of California may be in horrible budget straits, but it still has spent about $2 million in recent years on brand-name bottled water.

School’s Out! (Temporarily); The Auditorium Collapsed

By WINNIE HU

Classes at Mount Vernon High School were canceled after a 60-by-100 foot piece of wall in the auditorium collapsed on Monday. No one was injured.

Wyoming: Ex-Radical Sues Over College Speech

By DAN FROSCH

William Ayers filed a federal lawsuit on Thursday against the University of Wyoming over its decision to bar him from speaking there.

U.S. Falls Short in Measure of Future Math Teachers

By SAM DILLON

American college students earned a C on a new test comparing their skills with their counterparts in 15 other countries.

Critics Turn Out at Open House on N.Y.U. Expansion

By LISA W. FODERARO

As New York University formally unveiled its 25-year expansion plan, residents of Greenwich Village were among the chief critics.

• Times Topics: New York Univ

Schools Matter: New research confirms that California's Prop 227 was a mistake

Schools Matter: New research confirms that California's Prop 227 was a mistake

New research confirms that California's Prop 227 was a mistake

by skrashen

New Research Shows that Prop 227 was a Mistake.
Sent to the Capitol Weekly (Sacramento, CA), April 18, 2010

Two studies have just appeared that show that children in bilingual programs learn about as much English as do children in English-only programs.

One study, headed by Robert Slavin of Johns Hopkins University, compared English learners in five states over five years who had the same program of instruction, except that one group was taught entirely in Spanish in kindergarten, with more English gradually introduced until the program was entirely in English by grade three. The researchers found only very small differences between the groups on English tests given in grades three and four. The second study, done by Christopher Jepsen of the University of Kentucky, looked at children in California: Those who had bilingual education did just as well as similar children who did not on tests of English in grades four and five.

Both studies show that the children in the bilingual programs made the same progress as comparisons in

This Week In Education Media: Darling-Hammond Tells Her Version

This Week In Education

Media: Darling-Hammond Tells Her Version

by Alexander Russo

In this email, Linda Darling-Hammond decries this recent New York Times' article as riddled with errors and describes the ins and outs of her involvement with the elementary school and the high school. I meant to contact her earlier in the week, and will now see what the Times reporter Carol Pogash has to say. Meantime, read the email below. Picture unrelated.
The couple of stories I’ve seen, especially one from the New York Times, were riddled with errors. I thought you might want to have the facts.
I was one of a number of people who helped to start the high school in 2001 at the district's request, because they lost their only community high school during desegregation and the students were bussed out. I was a faculty advisor until spring of 2008 when I left the board while working on the Obama campaign and later transition. I have just returned to the Stanford New Schools board as an advisor to the high school, and am getting up to speed myself on the last couple of years of its work.
The high school has made great progress over the years since it was founded. It has created a strong, highly personalized college-going program and currently has a graduation rate of 86 percent,

The Perimeter Primate: Grannan: Is firing bad teachers really the solution?

The Perimeter Primate: Grannan: Is firing bad teachers really the solution?

Grannan: Is firing bad teachers really the solution?

by The Perimeter Primate

Guest post by Caroline Grannan

Education historian/commentator Diane Ravitch points out that the states with non-union teachers (who thus have little or no job security) tend to have lower academic achievement than the states with strong teachers' unions.
That should put to rest the myth that bad teachers with ironclad job security are the cause of the challenges facing public education.
As Ravitch adds, the state reported to have the consistently highest academic achievement is Massachusetts -- a strong union state. (It’s also widely called "Taxachusetts" by the right -- could there be a connection?) Ravitch emphasizes that she's not necessarily saying that unionization and job security LEAD TO higher academic achievement, but the facts show that unionization and job security clearly don't work AGAINST higher academic achievement. They are correlated.
I thought it was worth looking for some data. But not officially being a statistician, I wasn’t really

This Week In Education Weekend: Catching Up On A Busy Week

This Week In Education

Weekend: Catching Up On A Busy Week

by Alexander Russo

New York City To Stop Paying Teachers For Doing Nothing NPR: The centers have been a source of embarrassment for both the Bloomberg administration and the United Federation of Teachers, as articles in newspapers and magazines detailed teachers running businesses out of the rubber rooms or dozing off for hours on end.

Add National Prayer Day Ruling To Reading List NPR: Because her legal opinion is likely to be a subject of discussion for a while, it's well worth taking some time to read U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb's controversial decision Thursday that holds that it is unconstitutional for the president to proclaim, under Congress' direction, a National Day of Prayer.

Your Text Messages And E-Mails May Not Be 'Private' If You Use Co. Equipment NPR: There's a case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court that should be of interest to anyone who has an employer-provided cell phone, computer or other device that can be used to send electronic messages.

Arizona School Bans Lunches With 'Processed' Foods NPR: Children's Success Academy in Tucson, Ariz. doesn't allow any foods made with processed and refined ingredients.
Judge To Mississippi County: Stop Segregating Schools NPR: The order issued today by the court requires the district to modify its transfer policy to permit students to transfer to a school outside their residential zone only if the student can demonstrate a compelling justification for the trans

On-Line Learning Going Mainstream: Your Pace & On Demand - Ready Or Not, It is Here - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

On-Line Learning Going Mainstream: Your Pace & On Demand - Ready Or Not, It is Here - THE DAILY RIFF - Be Smarter. About Education.

On-Line Learning Going Mainstream: Your Pace & On Demand - Ready Or Not, It is Here

A Fad? It's Like Calling The Internet A Fad!
The NY Times: Free On-Line Courseware In "Education Life" Special Report

When I decided to have my tween "opt-out" of a Spanish class mid-year to do Rosetta Stoneinstead, (with the school very cool about it), other parents looked at me with wide eyes and jaws-dropping. "Wha'?? Why did you do it? How did you do it?" My answer?

She tried it and liked it better, plus she can continue through the summer and when she is out sick/weekends.

When I asked my daughter what she liked about it (after more grilling from parents - not even from the same school or even state!), she said, "because I can work at my own speed. . . .going back if I need to . . . and it's not a big deal".

What a concept. A bit more background?

We tried it briefly this summer as an enhancement but since it did not parallel with her Spanish class once the school year started, we stopped

EducationCEO's Blog

EducationCEO's Blog

And another one bites the dust!

April 18, 2010

It’s official! As of this past Friday, DeKalb County Superintendent Crawford Lewis’ contract was terminated by the school board amid allegations of less-than-legitimate involvement with the district’s construction bids. I am not surprised that he was fired, just surprised that he was able to serve as the superintendent for so long. Especially considering the manner in which he came into the position.
I first started working for the DeKalb County School Systemin August 2002; that was my first teaching job and I was excited about leaving South Bend for Atlanta. Yep, I was wearing some big-A rose-colored glasses back then! That year also marked the first year for then-superintendentJohnny Brown. Now I will say that Brown made a lot of (incompetent and probably lazy) people uncomfortable when he started in DeKalb because he was committed to making some significant changes, e.g., those who were not qualified or worthy of district-level positions were sent back to schools. No leader will be popular with the masses; Brown was no exception. I did appreciate his desire to clean-house because there were secretaries making nearly 6-figures when he came in, while degreed teachers were barely making $36,000. I also liked his challenge of teaching Algebra to all

California Progress Report Joint Letter At Democratic Convention Urges Delegates To Oppose Water Bond

California Progress Report

Joint Letter At Democratic Convention Urges Delegates To Oppose Water Bond

by kaldveer

By Traci Sheehan
Planning and Conservation League

Leading California Democrats are joining environmentalists, consumer advocates and environmental justice groups in urging Democratic Party activists to oppose an $11 billion water bond slated for the November ballot. In a joint letter distributed at this weekend's convention of the California Democratic Party in Los Angeles, signatories called the bond measure "ill-timed, unaffordable [and] loaded with political pork."
The bond does little to address our immediate water needs or to create a more

Feuer, Fuentes Discuss Progress on Reforming Broken System

by kaldveer

By Assemblymembers Mike Feuer and Felipe Fuentes

In this Democratic weekly address, Assemblymember Mike Feuer (D-Los Angeles), Chair of the Assembly Select Committee on Improving State Government, and Assemblymember Felipe Fuentes (D-Sylmar) provide updates on legislation being heard before the Assembly and Senate budget committees that will fix the state’s budget process by advancing reforms proposed by the bipartisan good-government group California Forward.
Click onto the following link for the English language MP3 file. The running time is 3:12.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20100416RadioAddressGovt...
Click onto the following link for the Spanish language MP3 file. The running time is 3:33.
http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/Newsline/Audio/20100416RadioAddressFuen...
Website of Assemblymember Mike Feuer: www.asm.ca.gov/feuer
read more

D.C. School Principal Found Fatally Shot - AssociatedPress

D.C. School Principal Found Fatally Shot - AssociatedPress

Young Native Writers Essay Contest

Young Native Writers Essay Contest

The 2009 winners at their Honor Ceremony, held July 30, 2009, at the National Museum of the American Indian, Washington, D.C. REACHING OUT TO NATIVE AMERICAN YOUTH TO INSPIRE READING, STUDYING, AND HIGHER EDUCATION The Young Native Writers Essay Contest is a writing contest for Native American high school students and is designed to encourage young Native Americans to think about the critical issues impacting their tribal communities today. The voices that emerge from this program honor the legacy of every Native American who has ever lived. Add your words to the thousands submitted

The California Majority Report // CDP Morning Report

The California Majority Report // CDP Morning Report

SHERRY GREENBERG

CDP Morning Report

April 18, 2010 @ 1:08 PM

On the final day of the California Democratic Convention, various speakers, including CDP officials and legislative leadership, threw red meat to the base. Several speakers rejected the Maldonado "open primary" initiative, noting that the two likely results are: Republicans picking the Democratic nominee they prefer to run against in swing districts and Democrats having to spend vast sums in Democrat against Democrat general elections in safe seats.

New Assembly Speaker Perez gave a powerful speech, noting how exciting it was to be able to say that we now have health care reform. Perez also spoke about how not so far in the past, gays and Latinos could not be elected to office, but he, a gay Latino is now Speaker.

Senate Pro-Tem Steinberg spoke at the confab despite having just lost his father-in-law this weekend. Steinberg passionately addressed the economic hardships and state budget crisis. Steinberg noted that in the last budget crisis, he saw Republicans unfairly blame immigrants. The Pro-Tem said that Poizner's immigrant-bashing ads remind him of Pete Wilson's commercials.

After speeches came the consent vote on endorsements. That immediately lead to the Winograd challenge. Chairman Burton allowed each side four minutes to make its case. Winograd forces attempted to paint Harman as a Bush enabler, if not

Schools Matter: Rethinking Schools Article on TFA

Schools Matter: Rethinking Schools Article on TFA

Rethinking Schools Article on TFA

by Kenneth Libby

Be sure not to miss Barbara Miner's article, TFA: Looking Past the Spin, which appeared in the most recent issue of Rethinking Schools.

InterACT Can Schools Teach Parents to be Involved?

InterACT

As my school’s Gifted and Talented Education coordinator, a large portion of my time is spent working with middle school parents on how to understand the Los Angeles Unified School District’sbyzantine web of programs and school options. Doing this work for over 15 years has led me to some understandings about parents in this urban, minority district, and a realization about how much work we have left to do to fully maximize their potential.

In my school’s community, GATE parents usually demonstrate a strong interest in all aspects of their child’s education. They seem to understand that their Gifted child is different, has unique needs, and the school is a good place to get help. Many times, gifted children have gifted parents, and these see the pivotal role school plays in improving their child’s future possibilities. This is not to say general ed parents don’t care about education; but for every 10 conferences requested by parents, 8 out of 10 are usually for my Gifted/Honors students.

Our school participates in the Schools for Advanced Studies (SAS) Program, where gifted and advanced students from throughout the city are allowed to attend SAS schools outside of their attendance area. When we first started the program, we admitted 25 students. The next year, as the acclaim grew, we admitted 100 more students. Last year, we admitted around 125, bringing our advanced studies total to 250 students from all over South Central Los Angeles, a low socio-economic community in Los Angeles.

The admissions process has introduced me to a whole subset of parents that impress me with their scope and diligence in securing the best educational opportunities for their children. These parents actively researched all options available to them and sometimes landed at my school, 5, 10, 15 miles from their own neighborhood in a program that does not offer transportation, only solid academics.

Some of these parents and students take the public transportation to get to our school. Some carpool with their Advanced Studies neighbors. Some bite the bullet and make that round trip journey by car twice a day, through traffic congestion and gasoline spikes. Several pay someone to pick up or drop off students every day.

Sounds an awful lot like middle class parents, doesn’t it? But I’m getting to that.

Once at our school, these parents become fixtures. They participate in the shared governance councils. They attend every single parent conference and back to school night. They schedule meetings with teachers if their child’s grades fall below an A. In the GATE program, there are mandatory and optional parent meetings, and they are sitting in the front row, at every meeting.

Chancellor Joel Klein claims victory on rubber rooms, goes after seniority to keep best teachers

Chancellor Joel Klein claims victory on rubber rooms, goes after seniority to keep best teachers

Chancellor Joel Klein claims victory on rubber rooms, goes after seniority to keep best teachers

Chancellor Joel Klein took a victory lap Friday to celebrate a deal to close the "rubber rooms," but skeptics question whether the city can transform teacher discipline.

Bolstered by the agreement with the teachers union to shutter the notorious reassignment centers, Klein told "Morning Joe" on MSNBC that he hopes to build a similar groundswell to tackle teachers' rights to seniority during layoffs.

"That's what I think happened with the rubber rooms. Now I'd like to deal with this seniority issue," said Klein, who wants a possible 8,500 upcoming layoffs to be based on teacher quality, not seniority.

Some education watchers said it was too soon for Klein to declare victory, since it's unclear if the city will meet its deadline of closing the rubber rooms and eliminating the backlog of accused teachers by year's end.

"It remains to be seen," said Brooklyn College education Prof. David Bloomfield, a former General Counsel for the old Board of Education. "I'm dubious, but at least both sides are attending to the right things."

The agreement ridding the city of the rubber rooms - where accused teachers sit and do nothing while awaiting judgment - focuses on a faster timeline for charging teachers and completing hearings, shortening the process from an average of 18 months to less than six months.

Officials hope to bypass the lengthy hearing process and use mediation to clear the existing backlog of cases - 550 teachers and 90 school employees.

That could be a tall order. Since July 2009, the city has fired just 19 teachers for

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/04/17/2010-04-17_good_luck_burning_rubber.html#ixzz0lTqC2sLr

Will Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of education bill impact race | Gainesville.com

Will Fla. Gov. Charlie Crist's veto of education bill impact race | Gainesville.com

Will Crist's education bill veto impact race?

Experts differ on whether he will run as an independent, stick it out in the GOP primary or drop out.

By Ron Word
Capitol correspondent

Published: Sunday, April 18, 2010 at 6:01 a.m.
Last Modified: Saturday, April 17, 2010 at 11:56 p.m.

TALLAHASSEE - Gov. Charlie Crist's whole life has been tied to education.

He is the son of a former school board chairman, his two sisters are teachers, and he once served as the state's education commissioner.

But in the end, it will be his decision last week to veto an education reform bill that could determine his political future.

In his veto message, the governor said his decision was not political but the result of "the incredible outpouring of opposition by teachers, parents, students, superintendents, school boards and legislators."

School boards and teachers unions across Florida came out against the bill, including some South Florida educators who stayed home from school in protest.

All week, those opposed to the bill came to the Capitol to try to buttonhole lawmakers and the governor to express their opposition to the bill, which would have tied future salary increases to student test performance, would have ended tenure for new teachers and would not have considered a teacher's advanced education or experience.

Supporters say the bill's goal was to reward the state's best teachers and make it easier to get