We are talking about using blogs in the classroom in Educ 604 here at UMass Amherst. A thought: have a class blog and give extra credit for every post over 50 words. I think I want to use Task Stream and the internet in general in my class as much as possible, even down in Springfield. I know I expect too much of the kids right now...I really don't know what they can handle, but I am really just generating ideas now. Maybe I could use the computer lab once a week for my classes to be writing, researching, etc.
Bob Maloy just said that studies show that on the writing MCAS, student who write in class do better and kids who use powerpoint, internet surfing, or games in class do worse. Makes sense. Powerpoint, internet, and games are not high learning activities and every moment is important to use in a classroom.
Erica said something interesting today. She said that she usually doesn't try to lecture late in the week because students can't listen. It made me worried about how teachers ever can get in enough learning. Miss Stone was also talking about not being able to fit in enough material and how Springfield students cannot comprehend as much knowledge as other students in other places. Kathy also was telling me that the students usually fail the MCAS because a lot of them can't read. A lot of think about.
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Not being able to read, or read beyond "My name is _____ I am thirteen years old," is a HUGE problem, and one that shocked me. I experienced it in my job through the fact that we had one 12 year old who had been PROMOTED to the seventh grade who could not read without assistance, and a fifth grader who, rather than receive one on one time with a teacher, was given a typing machine to assist him in writing. I don't know how a typing machine was going to help in sentance formulation. All it did was make his fragments legible.
Behaviorial problems often eclipse academic achievement. In my opinion, kids would behave better in school if interest was taken in their academic development because it would boost their self esteem. They would feel proud of their work and not need to act out of frustration or boredom.
Speaking of boredom, you don't have to LECTURE in order for kids to learn. We used to do hands on math every Friday in one middle school class I had. Or in another, we would pull our chairs in a circle and talk about our papers. She said she didn't LECTURE- she didn't say the kids couldn't learn.
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