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What's So Great About Technology?
When it comes to technology, everyone seems to want more--more equipment, more speed, more memory. But to what end? If it's just to use computers to record grades or write reports, educators may find it hard to regard technology as more than an overhyped teaching fad. But in Washington state, educators like Shelee King are showing their colleagues how to harness the true teaching potential that technology harbors with a project called The Learning Space. "Most teachers have used computers as a basic tool to accomplish something they already had been doing or teaching," says King, a technology integration specialist in the Mukilteo school district. "We're able to show them how to use advanced skills, such as video conferencing, Web design, and Internet search projects, to get students really excited about learning." King has worked on the Washington Education Association's Learning Space project since its creation in 1996. She's part of a cadre of 70 teachers who've showed other educators how to use technology to turn around their teaching practice. Training workshops, an online learning community, an annual technology showcase called "Tomorrow's Classroom," and The Learning Space Web site are all part of the package--and you don't have to live in Washington to take advantage of them. Thousands of teachers, from all across the world, are now logging on to www.learningspace.org, exchanging ideas for using technology to improve student achievement. The site features an online lesson plan publisher, interactive chat room, Web page hosting, links to project resources and virtual field trips, online newsletters and technical assistance, and technology grant information. Because teachers like King built The Learning Space from the ground up, everything is tied to state essential academic learning requirements. One example: Carolyn Hinshaw, a fifth grade teacher at Birchwood Elementary, coordinates the Across Washington project, which helps students learn about their state while satisfying state academic learning mandates. Her online projects include Spring Across Washington, a six-week effort that has students create a Web site to document what spring is like in their region. Students involved in the project post digital photos and poetry and use E-mail to compare results with other classrooms around the state. Thanks to the practical nature of what The Learning Space has to offer, interest in incorporating technology into teaching has exploded. Last year, King and 11 other Learning Space volunteers kicked off the first Tomorrow's Classroom technology showcase. More than 200 teachers, helped by WEA stipends of $200 each, created booths to share the variety of learning projects they implemented throughout the year. The event attracted 10,000 educators, administrators, students, parents, and the general public from across the state. "Tomorrow's Classroom 2000: A Digital Journey," held this past August, emphasized how classrooms have become collaborative and interactive. Theme-based pavilions focused on topics such as distance learning, curriculum assessment, homework help, teacher training, and a back-to-school technology mall. All this may strike some educators as too futuristic. But Learning Space educators see these technological advances as classroom realities. "The biggest change we're seeing is the infusion of technology into the curriculum," says Carolyn Hinshaw, an original cadre member and Learning Space lead teacher. "Technology is becoming an everyday part of the regular classroom." "Technology is the whole notion of knocking down the walls of the classroom," adds Shelee King. "The only way our students are going to achieve in this world is through the use of technology." --Michelle Y. Green For more: Dilemma One way is to supplement old textbooks with today's newspapers. In my classroom, I use the Buffalo News. You need to be flexible, because the paper arrives minutes before the students do. But there are many flexible lessons that require only scissors, glue, maps, and a lot of space. We also go online to the Buffalo News to find out the continuing story the next day or to go to other sources for information on a discovered topic. You can't get more up to date than that. For teachers who think their students would have difficulty reading the news, I would encourage giving it a try. My students, grades four through six, are almost all identified as educationally handicapped or in need of remediation. Newspaper day is usually the best day of our week. Elaine Hardman I found myself in just this predicament nine years ago. Though I'd been hired to teach sixth grade language arts, I ended up teaching several sections of seventh and eighth grade social studies and language arts. To complicate my challenge, I discovered that the seventh grade social studies text was copyrighted before these students had been born! The students and I decided to use the text to determine the scope and sequence of what we would study, and we began a year of discovery of the Western Hemisphere together. We used the media center extensively, as well as other resources in our community. This was before the Internet and iMac labs. The students and I looked forward to our discoveries and relied on each other for information. In cooperative groups, independently and as a class, we undertook to research and update our tired text. We even collaborated on test questions. I think that taught students how tentative some information is, and how vital it is to hone our research skills. In my experience, the outdated textbooks freed my class and me to create our own learning--ultimately, the best! Sandra Gotfred It's relatively easy to get examination copies of the new textbooks from textbook suppliers, and they make a wonderful resource for updating and enriching an older textbook. I speak from experience: The chemistry book I teach from was published in 1983. I've gotten not only new ideas from the new books, but safer and more environmentally sound labs, too. As a final bonus, when the department decided to get new books this year, picking the text was easy, since I was already familiar with the new chemistry texts on the market. Susan Smith Idea Exchange Red Ribbon Week
Michelle Welch Multiplication Patterns I then remind them that math is filled with patterns and ask if they can discern any. Soon, someone spots that any number times zero is zero. I erase 25 problems from the board, and we're off and running. They quickly teach themselves the rules for multiplying by ones, twos, fives, 10s, and most of the 11s. Someone notices that 3x4 is the same as 4x3 and that there are others like that, so the remaining duplicates are eliminated. What we have left are a paltry 29 multiplication problems to write down. We practice a few each week, since distributed practice is how students learn their facts, and, in a couple of months, all the second graders know their multiplication facts through the 12s. Jay Edwards Have a great idea? You can pass along your tips to NEA Today's more than 2.4 million readers in one of five ways:
New Teachers Get a Boost
When seventh grade English teacher Tim Webber wended his way through his first year in the classroom, he had plenty of help. For one, Webber had a mentor. But he also benefitted from having participated in Case Study Seminars for Beginning Teachers, a five-session training series developed by the Massa-chusetts Teachers Association that shores up classroom skills and keeps new teachers up-to-date on education issues. "The MTA sessions gave me a broader perspective of issues," says Webber, who's now in his third year of teaching at the Bromfield School in Bellingham, Massachusetts. "They helped me become a reflective practitioner--and assess myself as I go along." When first grade teacher Colleen Faris started her first year in the classroom, she, too, had plenty of experience to back her up--her own. Faris had operated a private preschool for 23 years and earned a master's degree in special ed before coming to Fallbrook Elementary. Yet "when I saw the ad in MTA's monthly newspaper," Faris recalls, "I said, 'I'm not a young kid, but as far as being specifically tuned to the issues of the time, I need a refresher course.'" Like Webber, Faris gleaned a lot of practical knowledge from the seminars. She was brought up to speed on standards-based assessment, and she found the information on new issues in special ed to be particularly helpful. Amid a turbulent climate of education reform, NEA's Massachusetts state affiliate is helping "new" teachers of all ages and backgrounds develop a firm footing in the classroom. "We've looked at the needs of the many new teachers coming in," says Mary Nowasaki, a geography teacher at Auburn Middle School who's one of the MTA trainers. "As the education climate has changed," notes Nowasaki, "we've concentrated on presenting information on education reform, recertification, and the statewide testing program." More than 200 teachers in six Massachusetts districts were trained last year in standards-based curriculum instruction, classroom management, assessment, issues in special education, and instructional technology. Funded by the state board of education, the Association seminars were offered to first- and second-year teachers, who received professional development or continuing education credits. Nowasaki and her co-trainer, Judy Ferrari, an English teacher at Westborough High, made sure the three-hour sessions were structured so that participant eyes didn't glaze over. Sessions were held several weeks apart, taking place right after school, with a pizza break in the middle. And the course wasn't a "lecture" series. "We split into small groups, and people went back and forth about special ed issues," Colleen Faris notes. "It was very interactive." The seminars have helped new teachers in Massachusetts gain confidence, sometimes showing them that what they think they're doing right is, actually, right. "The session I enjoyed most was on integrating the Massachusetts curricular framework into our lesson planning," says Tim Webber. "It was good getting to know about other teachers' approaches and to reaffirm that what I'm doing is working out." In the end, the seminars provide one special resource that both new and veteran teachers can benefit from: thinking time. "I used this block of time to think about lessons I've done," says Webber, "whether they worked well, and how I could do things better." --Michelle Y. Green For more: How do you say 'no' to extra assignments on the job? My most effective "no" was given the day my principal asked me to serve on another committee this year. My first impulse was just to tell him "no," but I asked him for a couple of hours to decide. I went back and made a list of all the school events and responsibilities currently on my agenda. When I saw the principal later that day, I asked him which items I could eliminate in order to assume the new committee assignment. I didn't have to say "no" because my principal could see that I was already overcommitted. He withdrew his request. Barbara Kissler My solution is simple, but sometimes the hardest thing for me to do. As a 20-year veteran, I've been on a ton of committees. So, every five years or so, I put myself on a "sabbatical" from committees. I purposely wipe my slate clean. I gently tell everyone, including my principal, that next year is my year off all unnecessary committees. That year that I'm off, I delight in listening to the intercom announce yet another early morning or after school meeting that's starting, that I don't have to go to. The following year, I pick and choose which things I'll get myself back into. Somehow, by the time the next "sabbatical" roles around, I'm up to my eyeballs again and ready for some well-deserved time off. The people on my staff don't seem to mind. In fact, some have followed suit. Mary Beth Solano I use creative statements to turn a negative into a positive situation. One possibility: "No, thank you. The students I currently serve deserve 100 percent of my time and energy." Another one: "No, thank you. It's important that you give less experienced colleagues an opportunity to serve" (or "to gain that valuable experience"). Jan Zurenko First, give yourself permission to say "no." It doesn't mean that you're less of a professional or lazy. You decline because you have already established your priorities and allocated your time. That has to include some personal time for you. Second, rehearse how to respond, so when an administrator approaches with yet another "opportunity," you can gracefully say, "I appreciate your confidence in me. I am, however, focusing my energy on these items at the moment." It's true that the busiest teachers are often called on to perform just one more task, and then one more, and so on. It's your duty to yourself and your profession to know when to draw the line. Jan Bowman Got an Answer?What do you do when parents show no interest in things like IEP meetings? E-mail your answer to dilemma2@neatoday.nea.org. You can also fax to 202/822-7206 or use regular mail. Please include your name, city, state, job title, and grade level, if applicable. Published respondents will receive a new NEA Today mug! How I Did It Yomare Polanco To keep 57 middle school students interested in science and still follow state curriculum guidelines, I created a cross-curricular project called "Looking for the best grain." Drawing from my background as a chemical engineer, I wanted to combine the rigors of the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards with a hands-on approach to science. The "Looking for the Best Grain" project combines mathematics, science, and Internet research while fostering a passion for learning at a young age. Students apply problem-solving skills to real-life situations by determining which type of grain--soft white wheat, dark spring wheat, or hard winter wheat--makes the best bread. To do this, they have to learn how to conduct a scientific experiment by separating the hull from the endosperm in the grain and creating a hypothesis about which grain makes the best baking flour--projects that meet New Jersey Core Curriculum Standard 5.2. To progress on their projects, students must recognize the basic structure of grain, which leads them to meet Standard 5.6. They must integrate mathematical charts, meeting Standard 5.5. Working with the grain involves various pieces of machinery, so students review safety procedures, which in turn meets Standard 5.4. Not only are students enjoying science, but they finally have an answer to the question, "When will I use this in real life?" The activities demonstrate to students how, in modern industry, chemists, engineers, and scientists work and care about the production of quality food. Locally, the Stevens Institute of Technology and K.Jabat Inc. enhance this project by showing my students the practical applications of their results in real-life jobs. Students also post the data from their experiments on the Web and then discuss them with scientists around the world via E-mail. For the complete experiment and findings, visit the Web at www.angelfire.com/nj/suprema/. |
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