We are pushing our children...but towards what?

I saw this documentary earlier this year about the dark side of the achievement culture. It made me stop and think. We are pushing our children more and more in today's society, but what are we pushing them toward? Personal achievement? Personal success? A "me-centered" individual? How does that jive with the equality and community we are trying to create in our classrooms?   It's worth watching. It's working thinking about. It's worth being the change. 

"Featuring the heartbreaking stories of young people across the country who have been pushed to the brink, educators who are burned out and worried that students aren’t developing the skills they need, and parents who are trying to do what’s best for their kids, Race to Nowhere points to the silent epidemic in our schools: cheating has become commonplace, students have become disengaged, stress-related illness, depression and burnout are rampant, and young people arrive at college and the workplace unprepared and uninspired.

Race to Nowhere is a call to mobilize families, educators, and policy makers to challenge current assumptions on how to best prepare the youth of America to become healthy, bright, contributing and leading citizens.

In a grassroots sensation already feeding a groundswell for change, hundreds of theaters, schools and organizations nationwide are hosting community screenings during a six month campaign to screen the film nationwide. Tens of thousands of people are coming together, using the film as the centerpiece for raising awareness, radically changing the national dialogue on education and galvanizing change." 

See the film. Be the change. 


This  blog post is also related to the topic. What students want the nation to know about education. 

Equal Access?

I've been thinking lately. Scary, I know. But I've been thinking about technology and equality. Why is it that some schools have little or no technology, while others are using the latest gadgets and have closets full of technology related items they aren't even using. If technology is a tool that can be used to "level the playing field," then why don't more schools have access to technology? And will this desire for equality and learning, in turn, create a larger gap between the "cans" and "cannots"? Those that can  purchase, use, and learn technology will purchase, learn, and benefit from technology. While those that cannot purchase, and therefore use or learn from technology won't be able to. And won't that widen the gap? 
And this ins't just with individuals. What about schools that can purchase iPads for their students to use or other digital readers? How does a school that is still using overhead projectors even keep up with what other schools are learning from technology. 
While the reality is that some schools and individuals have the means to purchase and benefit from technologies, that doesn't mean other schools aren't providing their students with a quality education. Yes, technology can enhance and enrich what students are learning, but just because they don't have an iPad doesn't mean they aren't getting a quality education. I believe technology should be built into the current curriculum content, not the content built into the technology. 

Wonderful and Wacky!

What's your attitude about teaching and technology? Should you use it? Why or why not? How do we keep kids safe online and when using technology? Don't children already spend enough time in front of a screen? Why should we use it in the classroom too? Books and pencils, that's what we need, right? 

When it works, technology is wonderful! However, when it doesn't, I can go wacky! In our classroom, technology will be used to support teaching and learning. The guiding question in deciding if and when technology should be used is “Will it enhance and enrich the content and interactions with the content?” For example, sometimes students use flashcards as a tool to memorize facts or other pieces of information. Will using technology enhance and enrich the content and interactions with the content? Maybe, but not necessarily. For the student with the writing disability, it might be beneficial for him or her to be able to create electronic flashcards instead of actually writing them out by hand. For another student though, the act of physically writing out the flashcards will allow the student to interact with the content on a basic level of knowledge. Technology can be used to support teaching as well. In a science lesson, perhaps the school does not have access to the funds or materials for a dissection experiment. But the teacher knows that there are videos available and online demonstrations. In this case, yes, technology would enhance the content and allow students to have an interaction with the content that they may not have otherwise.

Technology will be used in our classroom to increase and expedite parent communication, as well as provide opportunities for differentiation among the students. Connecting with parents makes a huge impact on student success and technology can be used to increase and facilitate communication. Teachers can send emails or post blogs and newsletters about what is happening in the classroom. They can post photos of events to an online photo gallery or classroom website. This allows teachers to not only tell what happens in the classroom, but to show it as well. Technology will be used for differentiation of instruction as well.  According to Price and Nelson, “Differentiated instruction is another approach or philosophy of teaching with the goal that all students will learn. This type of instruction begins with the assumption that students in a class will vary in their readiness for a particular learning task, and in their personal interests and preferences.” Differentiation can occur in three areas: content, process, and product.  The readiness of the internet allows students to choose topics of interest and research them quicker and more thoroughly than some text books. This is differentiation of content; what is taught. Programs such as Microsoft office allow students to work from their skill level to an improved skill level. This is differentiation of process. Finally, various technologies including websites, blogs, SmartBoards, etc. allow students to create different products to showcase what they have learned.

With all of the technologies present, there are concerns as well. Are children getting too much “screen time” – activities where they are in front of a screen, like a TV, computer, iPad, video game, etc. How do we know that children are going to be safe when online? What happens if something breaks? In the classroom there will be safeguards to ensure children’s safety. There will be limitations on what websites children can use. There will be rules and guidelines in place on how long and when children are allowed to use computers and other technologies. There will be programs in place to help children understand how to properly use the technologies so it doesn’t get broken. As a teacher, I will reflect on the process and practices that we use to be sure students are getting the well-rounded education  that they all deserve.

Finally, why is this all important? We are living in a technology age. Children who want to succeed will need to be able to have the skills necessary to manage the technologies that are being used. This doesn’t mean they have to use them, but they should have the skills to be able to do so. Depending on how success is defined, some say to be successful you have to be the best.  Some define success as being the one who puts others first. Technology can do both. It can help raise students to the top, but it can also “level the playing field” by creating opportunities for all students to learn. Personally, I think using technology is necessary and because it is always changing, it is always providing opportunities for new teaching and learning. After all, isn’t that our goal? To be teachers and learners?