When I first saw the topic of generating and testing hypothesis my mind automatically went to scientific method and I was curious as to how this was going to fit into this week’s assignments. I read the first sentence and realized I was wrong. In the book Using Technology with classroom instruction that works, it states that “when students generate and test hypotheses, they are engaging in complex mental processes, applying content knowledge” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007) in all subject areas. When applying generating and testing hypotheses in the classroom it is important to “make sure students can explain their hypotheses and conclusions, as well as teachers need to use a variety of tasks to guide students through generating and testing hypotheses” (Pitler et al., 2007).
Students being able to generate and test hypotheses allow students to be creative in trying to figure out a possible solution to the problem given in front of them. When they generate a hypotheses it allows each student to “construct his/her own meaning” (Orey, 2009), which is a characteristic of constructivism, there is no absolute. Once the student has come up with their own ideas and solutions, it is time for the student to test their hypothesis. With the development in “probeware and interactive applets, allow students to spend more time interpreting data rather than gathering the data” (Pitler et al., 2007). The use of various web resources makes is easy and interactive for students to generate and test hypotheses on a particular subject area and they are also able to see the “outcome of their hypotheses in virtual situations that would be impossible or financially unfeasible in real life” (Pitler et al., 2007). Using the following: spreadsheet software, data collection tools, and web resources students are able to generate and test hypotheses easier and are more engaged because they are not having to gather all the information which can be “tedious and error prone” (Pitler et al., 2007) for students.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2009). Constructionist and Constructivist
Learning Theory.[Motion Picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction, and technology.
Baltimore: Author
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Cognitivism in Practice
Cognitive Learning theory is primarily revolved around information processing (Orey, 2009). It is important for students to know how to takes notes and summarize information given to them and in a way where the information will be placed into their long-term memory. A “primary mechanism for storing information into long term memory is elaboration” (2009). In order for students to store information into long term memory, we as teachers want to make as many connections as possible to the material presented (2009).
When teaching students new subject material advance organizers are very beneficial (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 73). Using advance organizers “provide to students before a learning activity to help them classify and make sense of content they will encounter” (2007, p. 73). Any types of organizers that will help the learner organize the information that is going to be important for the student to understand and store in their memory will be beneficial. All students are going to want to use different organizers, cues, and summarizing to relate the information to them in a way that is beneficial to them personally.
These types of organizers can be used when teaching health and physical education. For example in P.E. our goal everyday is to get students moving, raise heart rate, and turn them onto physical education so they can live healthier and more productive lives. If we gave tests in P.E. which we rarely do, using organizers would probably be the best idea to help students learn and remember the important information. Students do not bring down pencil or paper to P.E. so the best way for this to happen would be for me to put up important vocabulary and facts that are important to the activity we are doing at that time, and then ask the students to come up with an organizer that will help them remember the information clearly and then they will turn those in and from that I will see if they understood the material or if I need to explain to them more thoroughly and allow them to do it over to make sure they have included all the important facts.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program five. Cognitive Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H. , Hubbell, E. , Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA. ASCD.
When teaching students new subject material advance organizers are very beneficial (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, & Malenoski, 2007, p. 73). Using advance organizers “provide to students before a learning activity to help them classify and make sense of content they will encounter” (2007, p. 73). Any types of organizers that will help the learner organize the information that is going to be important for the student to understand and store in their memory will be beneficial. All students are going to want to use different organizers, cues, and summarizing to relate the information to them in a way that is beneficial to them personally.
These types of organizers can be used when teaching health and physical education. For example in P.E. our goal everyday is to get students moving, raise heart rate, and turn them onto physical education so they can live healthier and more productive lives. If we gave tests in P.E. which we rarely do, using organizers would probably be the best idea to help students learn and remember the important information. Students do not bring down pencil or paper to P.E. so the best way for this to happen would be for me to put up important vocabulary and facts that are important to the activity we are doing at that time, and then ask the students to come up with an organizer that will help them remember the information clearly and then they will turn those in and from that I will see if they understood the material or if I need to explain to them more thoroughly and allow them to do it over to make sure they have included all the important facts.
References:
Laureate Education, Inc. (Producer). (2008). Program five. Cognitive Learning Theory [Motion picture]. Bridging learning theory, instruction and technology. Baltimore: Author.
Pitler, H. , Hubbell, E. , Kuhn, M., Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom instruction that works. Alexandria, VA. ASCD.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Behaviorism in Practice
Behaviorism in Practice
First off effort is very important for a student’s success. Of all the attributes that contribute to success “Effort is the one that is within an individual’s control” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Maleniski, 2007). As a physical educator effort is very important. My students gets grade for effort, rather than performance, as long as the child put forth effort they receive a hundred for the day. It is the students’ decision whether or not they want to put forth the effort during class time or suffer receiving a bad grade in Physical Education.
I like the idea given in the book Using Technology with classroom instruction that works, when it states an easy way to show effort and achievement is with a spreadsheet. I believe this is something that can be very beneficial for my students in P.E. I could create a spreadsheet that shows amount of effort put forth determines what you will get out of the class (Pitler et al., 2007). In P.E. the main goal is to get students heart rates up and help them get into shape, while playing fun and engaging activities. When handing out my syllabus in the beginning of the year I can include a rubric that will tell the students how they will be graded, and how much effort is will take to make the grade they want to receive. In physical education I find the more encouraging you are the better the effort seems to be. Teachers need to always provide positive reinforcements to their students if the student does something well. I try to everyday at least encourage all my students at least once during the class period. Positive reinforcements could be but not limited to, “smiling at students after a correct response or in my case performs the skill or activity well, commending students for their work or effort, call parents and let them know how well their child did that day (Orey, 2002). This is a great example for the behaviorist learning theory.
Effort is very important for students’ success and well-being. It was also stated in the text about homework. I do not give homework and our school does not allow us to give homework, but I believe that homework is very important because it helps the “student deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (Pitler et al., 2007). I as a physical education teacher would not give homework but I think that for classroom teachers it should be required at my school to give at least get 2 nights worth of homework. I know for the students at my school that they have real difficult time writing, they write like they talk. In the book it talks about all the available tools that can be used in Microsoft word (2007), I think that teachers should familiarize these tools with their students and then for homework write a paper with a rubric given and use the tools they have learned about. Students showing effort and having homework to reinforce skills that are being taught are very important and all contribute to a child’s success.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kunh, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Orey, M. (Ed.) (2002). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Behaviorism.
Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
First off effort is very important for a student’s success. Of all the attributes that contribute to success “Effort is the one that is within an individual’s control” (Pitler, Hubbell, Kuhn, Maleniski, 2007). As a physical educator effort is very important. My students gets grade for effort, rather than performance, as long as the child put forth effort they receive a hundred for the day. It is the students’ decision whether or not they want to put forth the effort during class time or suffer receiving a bad grade in Physical Education.
I like the idea given in the book Using Technology with classroom instruction that works, when it states an easy way to show effort and achievement is with a spreadsheet. I believe this is something that can be very beneficial for my students in P.E. I could create a spreadsheet that shows amount of effort put forth determines what you will get out of the class (Pitler et al., 2007). In P.E. the main goal is to get students heart rates up and help them get into shape, while playing fun and engaging activities. When handing out my syllabus in the beginning of the year I can include a rubric that will tell the students how they will be graded, and how much effort is will take to make the grade they want to receive. In physical education I find the more encouraging you are the better the effort seems to be. Teachers need to always provide positive reinforcements to their students if the student does something well. I try to everyday at least encourage all my students at least once during the class period. Positive reinforcements could be but not limited to, “smiling at students after a correct response or in my case performs the skill or activity well, commending students for their work or effort, call parents and let them know how well their child did that day (Orey, 2002). This is a great example for the behaviorist learning theory.
Effort is very important for students’ success and well-being. It was also stated in the text about homework. I do not give homework and our school does not allow us to give homework, but I believe that homework is very important because it helps the “student deepen their understanding of the content and to gain proficiency with their skills” (Pitler et al., 2007). I as a physical education teacher would not give homework but I think that for classroom teachers it should be required at my school to give at least get 2 nights worth of homework. I know for the students at my school that they have real difficult time writing, they write like they talk. In the book it talks about all the available tools that can be used in Microsoft word (2007), I think that teachers should familiarize these tools with their students and then for homework write a paper with a rubric given and use the tools they have learned about. Students showing effort and having homework to reinforce skills that are being taught are very important and all contribute to a child’s success.
References
Pitler, H., Hubbell, E., Kunh, M., & Malenoski, K. (2007). Using technology with classroom
instruction that works. Alexandria, VA: ASCD
Orey, M. (Ed.) (2002). Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Behaviorism.
Retrieved from http://projects.coe.uga.edu/epltt/
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
We as teachers all have students who are chronic and severe behavioral problems in our classes. What makes you different from other teachers is how to choose to handle the student. Before reading and listening to the resources that were presented to me in my masters class this week, I handled these students badly and gave the student no chance to state their case. As stated in our readings I used my horsey-doggy brain (Laureate, 2008) as soon as the student exemplified the behavior. This behavior I am talking about is constantly trying to be center of attention. I have learned that there are other ways and better ways to handle this student’s behavior. First off this student in a 6th grader and just as every other 6th grader they are making that transition from being babied and having their hands held to an environment that is not so sheltered and they want to find their place in the school, which by the way no middle schoolers wants to be in the not so cool place.
This student is an “attention-seeking child, he is always wanting attention, is always trying to be funny and make the other students laugh” (Laureate, 2008). He thrives on making people laugh and doing anything and everything he can do to work my nerves for the 80 minutes I have him.
Instead of going automatically to my horsey-doggy brain I should try to use the “Escalations of Interventions” that were discussed by Dr. Wolfgang. I think the first thing I would do it try a knee-to-knee intervention with the child (2008). I would put him in front of me with no one else around because just as all other kids they feed off each other. I would casually and calmly discuss with him his actions and that there is a time and place for those actions and that when I am talking or explaining or someone else is talking that is not the time. It is ok to be funny but again there is a time and a place. I would start using the relationship-listening approach (Laureate 2008) mentioned by Dr. Wolfgang. I would discuss with the student using I messages: I would say something like this; I do not like it when you talk or try to be a class clown when I am talking or explaining rules to the game, if you continue doing this you are stopping other students from learning and understanding the rules and procedure, and this makes me upset and concerned because a student, you, or myself could get hurt if the rules are not followed or someone does not understand the procedures (2008), once I did this I would ask the student if he understood what his actions could lead to and what he can do to help me out and his classmates out in this area. If this did not work, I would use a second knee-to-knee intervention, and specifically ask the student to “stop” and ask him what are the rules when I am talking, how can you change the behavior, and we need to come to an agreement and make a contract on what you think will help change the behavior (2008). I would again document this discussion. I will make sure that the student and I have a specific plan (Jones & Jones 2007). If the action continued I would skip the time-out stage just because it is hard to have a time-out in PE, but I would contact the parents immediately and again document this (2008). I will also express my concern to the principal and get her assistance on the situation. I would conduct a conference with his parents and the principal (2008), expressing my concern for the actions of the boy and that I am worried about him harming himself or another student since he is preventing them from learning and understanding the rules of the game. By having documented all my tries and discussions with him and his parents I would have evidence that this is a chronic problem and is something that is going to take higher power than just myself.
I believe I could also get his classroom teachers, counselors and his other connections involved and see how he behaves in their classrooms. It may be that the student requires a team or staff as mentioned by Dr. Wolfgang (2008) to help out throughout the school day, since I only see him 80 minutes every other day. I believe that by using a behavior change plan will help me out greatly as well. I document every time the student performs the behavior, and how he exemplifies the behavior as well as document every time I personally try to alter the students’ behaviors (Jones and Jones 2007). This will give me plenty of back up and documentation that I have tried to do something about it, before turning to parents and administration and if it came to the severity clause I have a case to present on the child and his behavior.
Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2007). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of
support and solving problems (Laureate Education, Inc., custom 8th Ed.). Boston: Allyn
& Bacon.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Interventions for severe and chronic behavior problems. Baltimore: Author
This student is an “attention-seeking child, he is always wanting attention, is always trying to be funny and make the other students laugh” (Laureate, 2008). He thrives on making people laugh and doing anything and everything he can do to work my nerves for the 80 minutes I have him.
Instead of going automatically to my horsey-doggy brain I should try to use the “Escalations of Interventions” that were discussed by Dr. Wolfgang. I think the first thing I would do it try a knee-to-knee intervention with the child (2008). I would put him in front of me with no one else around because just as all other kids they feed off each other. I would casually and calmly discuss with him his actions and that there is a time and place for those actions and that when I am talking or explaining or someone else is talking that is not the time. It is ok to be funny but again there is a time and a place. I would start using the relationship-listening approach (Laureate 2008) mentioned by Dr. Wolfgang. I would discuss with the student using I messages: I would say something like this; I do not like it when you talk or try to be a class clown when I am talking or explaining rules to the game, if you continue doing this you are stopping other students from learning and understanding the rules and procedure, and this makes me upset and concerned because a student, you, or myself could get hurt if the rules are not followed or someone does not understand the procedures (2008), once I did this I would ask the student if he understood what his actions could lead to and what he can do to help me out and his classmates out in this area. If this did not work, I would use a second knee-to-knee intervention, and specifically ask the student to “stop” and ask him what are the rules when I am talking, how can you change the behavior, and we need to come to an agreement and make a contract on what you think will help change the behavior (2008). I would again document this discussion. I will make sure that the student and I have a specific plan (Jones & Jones 2007). If the action continued I would skip the time-out stage just because it is hard to have a time-out in PE, but I would contact the parents immediately and again document this (2008). I will also express my concern to the principal and get her assistance on the situation. I would conduct a conference with his parents and the principal (2008), expressing my concern for the actions of the boy and that I am worried about him harming himself or another student since he is preventing them from learning and understanding the rules of the game. By having documented all my tries and discussions with him and his parents I would have evidence that this is a chronic problem and is something that is going to take higher power than just myself.
I believe I could also get his classroom teachers, counselors and his other connections involved and see how he behaves in their classrooms. It may be that the student requires a team or staff as mentioned by Dr. Wolfgang (2008) to help out throughout the school day, since I only see him 80 minutes every other day. I believe that by using a behavior change plan will help me out greatly as well. I document every time the student performs the behavior, and how he exemplifies the behavior as well as document every time I personally try to alter the students’ behaviors (Jones and Jones 2007). This will give me plenty of back up and documentation that I have tried to do something about it, before turning to parents and administration and if it came to the severity clause I have a case to present on the child and his behavior.
Jones, V., & Jones, L. (2007). Comprehensive classroom management: Creating communities of
support and solving problems (Laureate Education, Inc., custom 8th Ed.). Boston: Allyn
& Bacon.
Laureate Education, Inc. (Executive Producer). (2008). Interventions for severe and chronic behavior problems. Baltimore: Author
Saturday, February 28, 2009
As my course comes to an end:
This course has taught me many things pertaining to technology. I have known for awhile that technology played and was going to play a big part in our students and the future of our students, but I never realized how much work it is to incorporate technology into the schools. During our podcast assignment, when I was interviewing my class I was surprised at how much my students used technology and what they used it for, and how they all thought that our school does not offer enough technology for teachers or students use. This course has encouraged me to research and explore the different technological advances that I can incorporate into my physical education classes. When I saw how much technology impacts my students lives and how much of a vital role technology will play in my students future, I want to learn and do all I can do in order to help my students feel success in their future lives and careers.
I have also thought of how I can teach my students in a way where they can learn the best. All students are not the same and most are not able to learn from textbook, lecturing, and testing. Students need interaction and experience in learning a new skills or standard. It is important that students figure things out by themselves by using many different resources and the teachers role is more of a guiding figure to assist students in their learning of the skills or standard. As I interviewed my students majority of students said they wish teachers would let them research the material and learn it the way they can learn best, and the teacher is there as a guide or assistant in helping students when needed.
I have always believed that teaching should be student centered, rather than teacher centered. As teachers we are trying to teach and touch the lives of our students and should want to do anything we can to help our students reach success. If we teach where the teacher is the center of the teaching then many students are not going to respond well. In the world today there are so many distractions that prevent students from learning during the school day, and if a classroom is student centered, I believe this will allow the students to stay focused and interested in the material being taught and that the students will gain more from the lesson. In my school many of my students have been brought up to believe that to achieve anything they must do it by themselves and work at something to achieve that goal. I believe this applies to the classroom as well. All students learn differently and it is important to accommodate for all the learning styles of your students.
I believe that one way I can stay up to date with technology and make sure I am doing all I can to help my students is to attend workshops and other classes to improve my knowledge of technology and incorporating that into my teaching. I also think that the teachers of my school, we all need to work together and help each other out to stay up to date on the advances of technology and implementing the 21st century skills. We need to especially reach the older teachers because they are usually set in their ways and again have the philosophy of “it is not broken so why fix it?” We need to help these teachers out because many of them are resistant to change. It is important that schools and even the county all come together to ensure that students are getting to best education for them to be successful in life.
Two long terms goals I would like to aim for would be implementing more technology into physical education and another goal is for me as an educator to become more knowledgeable and up to date on the advances of technology. Some obstacles that I can see I would face is the implementing more technology into my physical education classes. Students love coming to physical education because it is a chance to let their hair down and relax. Most students are not going to like the idea of going to a computer lab maybe once a week instead of participating in physical education. I can see it taking a good deal of convincing my students that it is going to benefit them and help them in the future. Students come to P.E. to play, not to work. That is one of the biggest obstacles I can see myself facing.
I have also thought of how I can teach my students in a way where they can learn the best. All students are not the same and most are not able to learn from textbook, lecturing, and testing. Students need interaction and experience in learning a new skills or standard. It is important that students figure things out by themselves by using many different resources and the teachers role is more of a guiding figure to assist students in their learning of the skills or standard. As I interviewed my students majority of students said they wish teachers would let them research the material and learn it the way they can learn best, and the teacher is there as a guide or assistant in helping students when needed.
I have always believed that teaching should be student centered, rather than teacher centered. As teachers we are trying to teach and touch the lives of our students and should want to do anything we can to help our students reach success. If we teach where the teacher is the center of the teaching then many students are not going to respond well. In the world today there are so many distractions that prevent students from learning during the school day, and if a classroom is student centered, I believe this will allow the students to stay focused and interested in the material being taught and that the students will gain more from the lesson. In my school many of my students have been brought up to believe that to achieve anything they must do it by themselves and work at something to achieve that goal. I believe this applies to the classroom as well. All students learn differently and it is important to accommodate for all the learning styles of your students.
I believe that one way I can stay up to date with technology and make sure I am doing all I can to help my students is to attend workshops and other classes to improve my knowledge of technology and incorporating that into my teaching. I also think that the teachers of my school, we all need to work together and help each other out to stay up to date on the advances of technology and implementing the 21st century skills. We need to especially reach the older teachers because they are usually set in their ways and again have the philosophy of “it is not broken so why fix it?” We need to help these teachers out because many of them are resistant to change. It is important that schools and even the county all come together to ensure that students are getting to best education for them to be successful in life.
Two long terms goals I would like to aim for would be implementing more technology into physical education and another goal is for me as an educator to become more knowledgeable and up to date on the advances of technology. Some obstacles that I can see I would face is the implementing more technology into my physical education classes. Students love coming to physical education because it is a chance to let their hair down and relax. Most students are not going to like the idea of going to a computer lab maybe once a week instead of participating in physical education. I can see it taking a good deal of convincing my students that it is going to benefit them and help them in the future. Students come to P.E. to play, not to work. That is one of the biggest obstacles I can see myself facing.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Technology Use among Teenagers
The following is a podcast which includes student interviews and demographics of one of my classes. I chose my 8th grade class which had 31 students in the class. I asked them numerous questions about technology and how they use technology. I also asked them their opinion of how well our school does with implementing technology and if enough is offered. It was a great assignment and I thoroughly enjoyed interviewing my students and seeing how much technology plays a role in their lives.
http://schools.bibb.k12.ga.us/16602091194944950/podcasts/browse.asp?a=399&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=69714
http://schools.bibb.k12.ga.us/16602091194944950/podcasts/browse.asp?a=399&BMDRN=2000&BCOB=0&c=69714
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
21st Century Skills
After reading the article Partnership for the 21st century, I had many different reactions. For most of the article I agreed with what the authors said. It is very important that we start teaching our students more than just core content knowledge. This meaning we need to blend the academic world to the real world as stated in the article. We must also teach them real life skills and how to use 21st century skills, in order for them to be successful in life. As in the article, 21st century skills will not happen immediately, but incorporating 21st century skills is a challenge that our country can not afford to ignore (Lang).
While reading this article I was very surprised with the statistic that the United States is near the bottom among developed countries on problem solving. This surprises me because with the access our students have whether it be, technology, money, and freedom to a free public education it is hard to believe that our students are near the bottom. It also surprised me when the article stated that test scores can increase up to 11% by improving a schools physical environment. This surprised me because with all the emphasis that is placed on test scores, for example funding for my title I school that I work at, you would think that this would already be being done and students should be passing with a high success rate. One last thing that took me by shock was that by 2013 it is estimated that schools will reach a record level of enrollment and that it will cost $30 Billion annually for construction and maintenance. Where as I do agree with this and I can see this happening, how are we suppose to get the money for this when there are schools who are located in lower income, poor neighborhoods and students are on free and reduced lunch?
One thing that I disagreed with in the article was when they said "it is not finding time and money to support use of 21st century skills, but to adequately support the use of these skills. If you do not have the money as say in a title I school, how can we support 21st century skills, without having the access to expose the skills to our students. Funding may not be a big emphasis over supporting use of 21st skills, but how are we to use the technology when we are lucky to have 2 working computers in each classroom and very little money for more up to date technological machines.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article. It was very interesting and neat to see what other states are doing in order to expose our students to the skills of the 21st century, and not just emphasising on math, language arts, science, and social studies. I do believe that we need to start doing away with all the emphasis on core subjects and start applying some real life skills into our teaching, but again there is the problem with funding and finding time to teach the skills, when so much emphasis is put on testing and passing tests in order to meet annual yearly progress especially in the elementary and middle school levels. Since funding is limited in some counties, I think it is important that teachers are kept up to date with the skills and that sometime throughout the day they should find time to incorporate these skills into teaching, even if they have to use one computer and show the class as a whole. Our students are growing up in a changing world, and a world that is going to continue to get more complex and advanced in the technological aspects, and it is our job to make sure our students leave with the feeling of success, understanding and standards of what is going to be expected of them when they are out on their own in the real world.
While reading this article I was very surprised with the statistic that the United States is near the bottom among developed countries on problem solving. This surprises me because with the access our students have whether it be, technology, money, and freedom to a free public education it is hard to believe that our students are near the bottom. It also surprised me when the article stated that test scores can increase up to 11% by improving a schools physical environment. This surprised me because with all the emphasis that is placed on test scores, for example funding for my title I school that I work at, you would think that this would already be being done and students should be passing with a high success rate. One last thing that took me by shock was that by 2013 it is estimated that schools will reach a record level of enrollment and that it will cost $30 Billion annually for construction and maintenance. Where as I do agree with this and I can see this happening, how are we suppose to get the money for this when there are schools who are located in lower income, poor neighborhoods and students are on free and reduced lunch?
One thing that I disagreed with in the article was when they said "it is not finding time and money to support use of 21st century skills, but to adequately support the use of these skills. If you do not have the money as say in a title I school, how can we support 21st century skills, without having the access to expose the skills to our students. Funding may not be a big emphasis over supporting use of 21st skills, but how are we to use the technology when we are lucky to have 2 working computers in each classroom and very little money for more up to date technological machines.
Overall I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article. It was very interesting and neat to see what other states are doing in order to expose our students to the skills of the 21st century, and not just emphasising on math, language arts, science, and social studies. I do believe that we need to start doing away with all the emphasis on core subjects and start applying some real life skills into our teaching, but again there is the problem with funding and finding time to teach the skills, when so much emphasis is put on testing and passing tests in order to meet annual yearly progress especially in the elementary and middle school levels. Since funding is limited in some counties, I think it is important that teachers are kept up to date with the skills and that sometime throughout the day they should find time to incorporate these skills into teaching, even if they have to use one computer and show the class as a whole. Our students are growing up in a changing world, and a world that is going to continue to get more complex and advanced in the technological aspects, and it is our job to make sure our students leave with the feeling of success, understanding and standards of what is going to be expected of them when they are out on their own in the real world.
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