New Technologies and the Classroom Teacher

Oh my, it is fall and there is so much to write about--the beginning of school, teacher strikes, class size, high school football, back to school shopping, and H1N1 flu. No wonder some parents get stressed.

But I want to write about something different--nay, I need to wrtie about something different in education. For years, we in education have been opening schools, welcoming students, passing out textbooks, and preparing classes for another year of learning. But today's teachers have a bit more on their plate.....facebook, twitter, web pages, and cell phones......among other technologies to hit the classrooms. In some ways I am envious of what is available.

So let's start with cell phones or mobile phones. Should kids have them? If I were a parent I would want my kids to have the phones. "I won't call you during class but I want to hear from you when class is over." I love the comic strip, Zits (by Jerry Scott and Jim Borgman) where the teenager texts his Mom who is in the same room with him. I wonder what the fifth grades will be texting home during class time.... But still I think having a communication system with home is a good thing. The challenge for the teacher will be to get the kids to put the cell phones away during classes. I suspect it will be a major job for teachers to devise some way to put the phones on hold.

Facebook could be another challenge. I'm sure the upper elementary and middle school students will be telling all about their classes on facebook. Hmmm. Sounds like a good sociology project for some graduate student. I remember telling my fifth grade parents at the first PTA of the year that "...I promise not to believe half of what I hear about your family life if you promise not to believe half of what goes on in my classroom." While my kids' parents and I laughed it was a good bargin. At the moment I don't know what to say about my students and facebook. Maybe a up-to-date active teacher could tell us what they are doing....

But then we have some technologies in the classroom that I wish I had had. I would have loved to have had a "Smart Board" (See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SMART_Board_interactive_whiteboard). I've already mentioned this device--an interactive white board which can be hooked to a computer for presenting and saving of learning material. Instead of the teacher spending valuable time writing on the blackboard (or regular white boards) to present material, the teacher can type it on the computer and the material will appear on the board for the class to see. Not only is it a saving of time but it is easier for the kids to see. I think the best part of this new technology is that when we are at a stopping point in the lesson and need to go on to something else, I can save the material for tomorrow and I won't have to repeat writing on the board the same material once again. Having a Smart Board must be a delight to have. I find it interesting that Bellevue schools (rated in US News and World Affairs for the top high schools in the State of Washington) have these devices in the classroom. Oh my I was born too soon. By the way, you can also project clips of movies on this board, for example, a clip of Hamlet's soliloguy rather then having someone in class read it aloud. I never understood the beauty of Shakespeare until I was in college. Well, the Smart Board would be a device I would want in my classroom.

Another device would not exactly be in my classroom but on the school web server. It would be the software program, BLACKBOARD. This is a classroom management software program that allows the teacher to put the handout, the assignments and the homework schedule so that kids can access it from home or elsewhere. One of my graduate students once developed a program much like this for a high school math class so that the parents could sign in (their code word only) and see how their child was doing.....and what grades he/she was getting. Some parents liked it and some didn't want to know. But it was available. The Blackboard program does that to a sense--keeps the parents informed as well as the student. The problem here is that all students need to have computer access and not all do.

What else would I like. I would really like to have a computer/video projector, particularly if I did not have a Smartboard. I could do lesson plans to project on the board for all to see--to some degree the same as a Smartboard but it does not have the capabilities that that device has such as saving of writing on the board. But still, a video projector would be cool.

So of course I would want several small camcorders. I have used camcorders before and they are phenomenal. For example, you can hand a camcorder to a middle school science student and say, "Show me three examples of erosion." OR to a high school civics class, you can ask them to show you a problem in the town and how would they fix it. Letting the students use the camcorder can be a learning experience for not only those that record something but for those that watch as well. Okay, so I want two or three camcorders in my classroom....along with the vidco projector.

And I want a web page of what my class is doing....done by the students but with my supervision. So many parents work at times not condusive to coming to parent/teacher conferences. If I couldn't have the Blackboard software program then I think a web page would help parents know what is going on in the classroom. What are we studying and what are the assignments. I think communications with parents is critical for student success. Parents and teachers have to be on the same page for success to happen.

There are a number of software learning programs I would like to have in my classroom for the elementary and some tuning devices for my high school band. Playing in tune can be fun when you're watching it on a computer screen. Yeah, there are a number of technologies now on the market that are amazing. But if a mechanic needs certain tools to repair or fix a car, or if those building a Boeing plane need a device to accomplish the task, why can't we teachers have tools that help us teach the chidlren and young adults. The new technologies will help those learn more in a more effieicent manner. I want 'em--the new tools of the trade.

Can you tweet? Then twitter a teacher and thank them for the help they gave your child.

$125,000 salary for some teachers

It has been in the news, on the web and on television--a report about eight teachers being selected to teach at a charter school in New York.  They were selected from all over the country and will be paid $125,000 dollars per year.

Two of you have written and asked that I comment about this story.  I have several thoughts that have been raging through my mind in the last few days.  Let's first look at the obvious.  These teachers can't fail.  They are all good.....already.  A puzzlement in my mind is why did the CEO of this project go all over the country.  I suspect one could find just as good teachers in the New York area.   But that is the theme of this blog--that teachers in general are pretty terrific people.  Most could do many other jobs but prefer to teach.

Here is something else to consider.  These selected teachers will be teaching at a charter schools.  Charter schools are ones that get a little extra attention.  The administration will talk up their charter schools--like souping up a car or giving a restaurant four stars.  What does this do then?  Parents hear about this and want their children to go to that school.  Right there we have a variable that is important for success--parental involvement. Any time you can get the parents to come to your school, interact with the teacher, even help out in the classroom, then you will have a successful school.  Consider private secular schools that charge large tuitions.  Already you have de-selected your students.  You have students who already know that they will be successful.  I suspect that is why so many parents want to place their children in a private school if they can afford it.  Bill Gates and Paul Allen graduated from private schools.

I'm not knocking private schools--most are very very good.  And they have great teachers. What they don't have are students with single parents and students who come from a stressful environment.  What they do have is a homogenous student body.....that thinks alike.  I saw this in Norway schools--very few minorities.  And the parents were involved with the school.

I do give this project higher scores in one area.  They will hold a raffle to see what students will be admitted.  But given the fact that the parents will have had to fill out forms and submit them to the project already means a certain type of parent.  I see success written all over this school already. 

Also given the fact that this is a charter school with well paid teachers I suspect there are some other factors coming into play.  I suspect they will have enough textbooks for everyone, enough desks (and the proper size) for each child, and that the physical plant, the school building itself will be in good shape.  But I wonder--will they have blackboards or white boards or the new technology, Smart Boards (Smarttech.com).  I also figure they will have enough computers for all the children.  Why pay large salaries for a number of teachers and not give them the necessary tools to accomplish the task.  So it is not just large salaries that will make a difference--but it will promote a better environment for learning.

I do have another concern however.  The articles reporting about these teachers do not mention other teachers--how are they going to be paid?  Studies have been done in which a few teachers were paid a larger salary and interaction between the better paid and the lower paid teachers decreased.  If I were one of the lower paid and wanted to get a pay raise why would I share my ideas of teaching the kids with other teachers?  It just doesn't compute in my mind.

If I were a principal today, I would want my faculty to be a team--not individual stars.  

So I am delighted to see eight teachers getting a decent salary.  I wish we could do that for all the teachers in this country.  But I hope at the end of the first year we try to compare this charter school against other schools in the area.  We will be comparing apples and lemons...and you can't do that.

If you've read all this and are pondering what your education might have been with higher paid teachers, be sure to thank a teacher because you are doing the thinking that they wanted you to do.