First WebQuest

I have attached the first assignment handed in for the WebQuest Project. I am so proud of my student. The WebQuest was called Budgeting for the Future and it seems that my student learned alot and had fun doing it. I can't wait to see the other 155 of them!

WebQuest - a blast from the not too distant past!

I am proud to announce that my students are using the WebQuest that was created for this class and I have received a positive response from them. They are so excited and cannot wait to explore it. They asked so many questions last week in reference to the WebQuest - such as - "did you actually to this?" to many questions regarding careers, taxes, interest,etc - some did not know that you had to pay property tax in addition to the tax that is paid to the government and state on April 15. I know that my students will take away not only a great learning experience but this will spark many questions -some answered and some not about things they may have never considered. I am looking forward to creating three additional WebQuests which will be a summer project that my students will have to do for each quarter.

Thanks again Dr. Luongo for making us aware of this product!

CLRN

California Learning Resource Network is a great educational tool for administrators, teachers, students and parents of California and of course, anyone else, (not just Californians) who can use this tool to obtain additional information on subjects that they may have difficulty in or would like to supplement. This is an extensive database and there are many search mechanisms that can be employed to find any resources that you are interested in finding additional information on.

The California Learning Resource Network is aligned to California Curriculum State Standards -but those who are not familiar with California Standards can still use one of the many other search mechanisms to find subject matter of interest. Search results are listed in a table with a link and you can specify as many search criteria that you may have.

I have clicked on Mathematics under the Learning Resource (ELR) tab and there are so many valuable links to many - many Internet sites for many different math topics for every grade level. It would actually take about a week to go through everything this web site has to offer so that maximum advantage could be taken of all it has to offer. I think that this is a "good job" for the summer. It does not matter that the curriculum standards are not the same for New Jersey as California.

Technology-Enhanced Lesson Planning

I just finished my technology enhanced lesson plan. This lesson plan is serving two purposes - one for Dr. Luongo and the course requirements, and the other as a base for our NJASK8 review scheduled for next week, during which I will be evaluated by my supervisor. The lesson plan that I sent to Dr. Luongo, will be modified for my classes to include another objective, interest - which must be added to the existing objective of reviewing commission, sales tax, percent of earnings. These four objectives must be reviewed in one 40 minute period.

In this 40 minute period, we need to grasp our students attention, teach the material, have them do some practice work, see of they "get it" and then give them some homework so that we may further evaluate and they may have some more practice. When I see the lesson plans on paper - it seems like a really big task and sometimes it is - but somehow we get it done!

I usually use an overhead to introduce the lesson and I have a projector and a laptop - our book comes with pre-written power point lessons for those students who are more visual learners.
This time - I will introduce the WebQuest at the end of clas and my students - all of them are actually going to do this project - that I wrote during this course - as a project assignment. The project is going to be "kicked off" during their computer period by the computer teacher and me. I am very excited about this and so are they - something new and fun! This gives addtional time for independent learning - as we have to move on to the curriculum specified for 4th quarter. The WebQuest provides a way of revisiting old material and hopefully helping those who did not master the material, get a better understanding.

There was a lot of information given to us in the course - so much that it will take some time to go through it and take advantage of what will pertain to each of us individually. I know I am sometimes a little on the negative side about technology - actually the misuse of technology - but I really believe that technology does enhance the curriculum - we just have to be responsible and keep our kids in check - we need to make sure we don't become lazy and expect technology to do our jobs for us - because we know that as long as we work very hard - and make sure our kids do - we will make a difference.

Thanks Dr. Luongo for all of the great information!

Classroom of the Future

This video left me wondering about a lot of things. It made me think of the past - my past growing up and being educated, my children's elementary and high school days and what is in store for the future.

This video made me think back to sitting in my classroom in the 70's and when the teacher would bring in a movie - on the very old fashioned projector and reel and show it on any flat wall in the classroom. There would always be a clip before the movie began and the voice sounded exactly like the voice in the video - Classroom of the Future. The clip would usually be about something that was progressive - a new invention - like the "telephone" (only kidding) - but something that was being introduced to our society to make our lives easier. Now - we are getting new classrooms complete with flat screen televisions, computers at every station, and state of the art furniture. Wow - where are the blackboards, the manipulatives, the things we used to see in school - where are the children - have they been replaced with robots? Yes, I know technology has taken us to a point that we are not using slate tablets instead of paper - but we never replaced a human teacher with a video!

The video actually made me think about how obsolete humans are becoming - how "Jetson" like our world is - we no longer need to have phone operators, or speak to a human when we need our calls directed - a machine can do that for us. We no longer need to talk - we can tweet (and who really cares if we are walking down the street or washing our hands (who has the time to type this stuff in anyway), or leave a voice mail or maybe have our voice mail leave a message for a friend's voice mail. You no longer have to have "my people call your people" - you don't need people any more - the phone will do it. WHAT WOULD WE DO IF WE DID NOT HAVE A PHONE....HOW MANY PHONES ACCOMPANY THEIR OWNERS TO THE BATHROOM?
I even sometimes forget that when I use a LAN line I don't have to press SEND. We even have toilets that flush for us and sinks that the water turns on. You just wave your hand and the paper towel comes out.

I know I may sound insane - but did you really ever stop and think about all of this stuff? What are we creating in the name of technology? What kind of human beings are we molding - those who cannot exist unless instantly gratified - is it technology that excites them or is it they cannot do without it because they are incapable?

Are we creating a society that will become mental vegetables because every THING "thinks" for us and we don't have to do it for ourselves?

What will the new classrooms be like - according to the video - technology rules - will there be a master teacher sitting somewhere in "SPACE" and the teacher in the classroom -will just roam around (like the ROOMBA) making sure everyone is on task!

I just don't get where we are going - is the technology that is created by humans going to outsource the creators?

Employment opportunites through Social Networking

LinkedIn is an online network of more than 25 million experienced professionals. LinkedIn members have the opportunity to "speak" to perspective employers and employers have a large number of resumes to sort through. "Friends" can be easily connected and a job match may be the result. LinkedIn is a very valuable resource to those who have lost their jobs - their relationships made during their careers now extends from those they have met and made an impression on to all their new "friends" that they could be linked to.

LinkedIn is different than face book - although it is a social networking site - because it is predominantly used to maintain business relationships. Face Book is is strictly used to maintain social relationships. Face Book is checked by employers, however when researching hopeful employees. People should be very careful when posting on Face book.

NetSmartz.org Social Networking TIPS

This video was very informative and would most definitely appeal to the students that I teach. I teach 8th graders who are immersed in Face Book. I do not think that they are aware of all the ramifications of their postings. They are very trusting in so many ways and I am fearful that some of them will get into unanticipated trouble if they are ignorant of how "bad" people can disguise themselves are their friends. As soon as we are done preparing for NJASK and there are a few minutes "breathing" time in each period, I will show this video to them or ask the computer teacher to do it. Thanks for letting us know about this video!

Introducing the Book

That was a very funny video and was accurate in depicting the ignorance one has with anything new. If we think about it - everything that is old in the world - that is - man made inventions were once very new to people. With every new invention - the wheel, fire, ...paper....computers....smart board...and on and on - people had to adjust - they had to investigate, learn and master and then accept.

This video of course portrayed a great parallel between the "book" and the lap top - I think it was well down. The part I really liked was when the man asked the assistant if he wanted water - how contemporary was that!

Connecting Student Learning and Technology

The information in the website http://www.sedl.org/pubs/tec26/flash.html is extremely informative and supports including technology to support traditional lectures/experiences. It is stated that "Computers can support the variety of ways learners construct their own understanding. Students who gather information from the Internet can be self-directed and independent. They can choose what sources to examine and what connections to pursue. Depending on the parameters set by teachers, the students may be in complete control of their topics and their explorations". I support this methodology and have used computers for this purpose when I taught 6th, 7th and 8th grade math in a math lab. Computers became "the other teacher" through the use of interactive math web sites which allowed differentiated instruction to be implemented with ease. This website and the websites that Dr. Luongo posted under the F2F blog complement each other. Reading the information on these websites reaffirms how I feel about technology in the class room and distance learning for undergrads but does make me more receptive in certain areas. Sometimes "ignorance is bliss" because not knowing does not warrant any additional action - then something triggers your interest and you need to explore what's out there so you can, once again, fine tune your opinion and thoughts. So many times, Dr. Luongo thanks us in our blogs for making her think about something - but thank you, Dr. Luongo - you are making me think...I mean re-think!

If We Didn’t Have the Schools We Have Today, Would We Create the Schools We Have Today?

This is a tricky question -not a trick question, in my opinion. This article has many good points but there is alot more to this than meets the eye - we can also ask if we didn't have the big American businesses and corporations which employ many Americans in buildings on Wall Street or Madison Avenue - would we have them today? Would we pay rent and high salaries to American workers or would we use technology to out source some more American jobs? How many Americans are losing their jobs because technology made it possible? How many people lost their jobs - educated and have many years experience in their professions because it is cheaper to get help in abroad? Please see http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1887779,00.html and find out what IBM has done to its United States employees. IBM - one of the biggest computer/technology companies in the world is beginning to fail its American employees.

What will the consequences be for the new generation of Americans if we eliminate schools as we know them? What should replace our schools - our building filled with classrooms and children interacting with one another and getting a good sold education? Well - we can replace our schools with condo's and have everyone educated in their own homes on their lap tops. We can have a society where no one interacts in a classroom environment - where each student logs on to a computer and your teacher comes up on your screen via video conferencing. There will be no formal assessment, limited social interaction and if you have to answer a question - you must change your color tab to yellow or red. There will be no verbal discussion - just alot of typing - students will not learn the art of handwriting or how to spell - they can type and use spell check.
Are we setting the stage for a future implosion ?

I am not, in any way, against technology - and I understand it is here with much more to come - I am very capable of understanding most aspects and worked in many years in the computer industry but I tend to wonder about the pros and the cons. I am enjoying this course - where there are limited in class meetings - but this course warrants this type of teaching - it is a technology course where much is done independently on the computer. However, I don't think this an online course would have applied to any of the computer science courses - programming courses - that I took for my undergraduate degree - I actually needed interaction with my professors.

Granted we should infuse technology into the curriculum, include more hybrid classes, etc. but when and where is the line drawn? I don't know any of these answers - I just wonder what will be in store for our children and grandchildren! Yes, technology is here to stay and its effect on our lives is not measureable - but at what point will it's effect be detrimental?

School Web Page

I asked if we are able to use the Scholastic Web Page and we are in the district I work for. I asked why no one uses a website, like Scholastic, to post individual web pages, and some of the teachers stated that it is really a lot of work to maintain the web site and after doing it for a while some of them stopped. I can understand this happening - keeping your web page up to date is alot of work and if it is not maintained properly, one leaves themselves open to much criticism from administration and parents.

A few years ago, I was the web site administrator for the school's web site that I was working for. If this site was not updated immediately with school emergency information such as snow day or sports information like basketball games, the parents complained. Some of the veteran teachers were opposed to maintaining a web site as they were not interested in learning something new - many felt that a web site was not necessary and they also complained.

Although I sometimes do not agree with some of the comments regarding usage or over usage of technology in the classroom, I do believe that a web page is extremely informative and helps parents, students and teachers equally.

WebSite Evaluation

Just a reflection - having done the web site evaluation when this course began and really thinking about the questions posed to us by Dr. Luongo, I felt that I was in a better position to recommend web sites on "my web page". I actually thought about what makes this website a good website before putting the link on my web page. I am going to find out if I can use my web page tomorrow....I hope so!

WebPage

A few years ago, my husband who has been working for IBM since 1981 donated much time and software on behalf of his company and created a great web site for a local parochial school that I was working for. We not only set up a web site, but a complete computer lab comprised of 30 computers networked together. This computer lab was also my math classroom where I taught math for grades 6, 7, and 8 and basic computer applications to the entire elementary school. In the math class, I had total access to the computers and was able to incorporate technology into my daily lesson plans whenever I wanted to. This allowed for much differentiated instruction in math class.

I was also the school's web site administrator and this was almost a full time job in itself. I had to make sure that all teachers' web pages never became stagnant and were all up to date as well as keeping school new up to date.

In class, tonight, Dr. Luongo had mentioned that parents will complain if information is not kept current and this is very - very true. I remember the web site was a big hit - it was the first time that this school had a web site and we kept a tally of the number of "hits" the website received daily and it was amazing. Parents and students alike canvased the website for information on sports, academics, news and notes, announcements, etc.

Now I work for a public school district and you are not at liberty to have a web page without consent of the district - there has to be conformity across the district and this is regulated by the technology district supervisor. Even so, creating this web page under the Scholastic utility was alot of fun. It was extremely user friendly and would benefit many of the students, parents, and teachers in our district. This is definetly a tool worth using and I will introduce it to our school's "computer teacher". Thanks to Dr. Luongo for letting us explore this utility!

Point and Click

According to http://www.library.jhu.edu/researchhelp/general/evaluating/ (John Hopkins University) "The World Wide Web offers information and data from all over the world. Because so much information is available, and because that information can appear to be fairly “anonymous”, it is necessary to develop skills to evaluate what you find. When you use a research or academic library, the books, journals and other resources have already been evaluated by scholars, publishers and librarians. Every resource you find has been evaluated in one way or another before you ever see it. When you are using the World Wide Web, none of this applies. There are no filters. Because anyone can write a Web page, documents of the widest range of quality, written by authors of the widest range of authority, are available on an even playing field. Excellent resources reside along side the most dubious. The Internet epitomizes the concept of Caveat lector: Let the reader beware. This document discusses the criteria by which scholars in most fields evaluate print information, and shows how the same criteria can be used to assess information found on the Internet."

It is great to have our students using the WEB to find information - what better resource - that is - if we are using resources which are based on fact and not someones opinion. We, as educators must remind our students that when they back up their opinions in their papers on what they have researched they have researched from a reputable source. It is great to point and click and cut and paste and retype in one's own words - but we need to teach our students that they must be using sources that are reputable. Our students do provide the web sites they used but do many teachers check that the web sites are viable. Do we go the full distance to make sure that the information is valid or do we just check that they do not plagiarize and supply the web site to support their findings?

Did You Know?

The Did You Know video was extremely informative. A few of the points that I found very important were that "today's learners will have 10 to 14 jobs by their 38th birthday" and that many of today's college majors did not exist 10 years ago.

I tend to wonder why our learners will have 10 to 14 jobs by their 38th birthday - is this symbolic of a "throwaway society" or is it an example of that if one is not gratified instantaneously, one picks up and leaves in a quest of something which is more appealing? I often wonder if our learners will be ready to handle the real world and real problems because solutions to problems may not always be a keystroke away.

I don't want to come across as one who disagrees with technology and its place in the classroom - I support technology in the classroom, innovative tools which enhance our quality of life, etc. but I sometimes wonder if there has to be more of a balance of both. Our learners hunger for technology - the question is why - is it easier to get an answer with the stroke of a key or think for yourself. I have three of my own children. They all have computers, ipods, cell phones, and at times I see them reaching for the key board to find an answer rather than looking in a book - it is easier to use google than to look it up!

One of the other points (and there were many great points in this video) that I found interesting is that many of today's college majors did not exist 10 years ago. The fact is many of the jobs that our kids will have are not yet even "invented". Currently, scientist are experimenting with spider DNA and injecting it into cows to see if spider webs can be produced from cow milk. Some spider webs have been made from DNA injected cows but the technology to perfect this is still evolving!

It is believed that Kevlar - a light weight product produced by DuPont and is used for bullet proof vests, is the strongest material on earth - stronger than steel - but the truth is " spider silk is one of the 7 great wonders of the animal kingdom. That a small animal, often less than a millimeter across can make a substance that we humans with all our technology are unable to reproduce, a substance that is tough, stronger and more flexible than anything else we can make is surely a humble reminder of the fact that Nature created us and not the other way around"(http://www.earthlife.net/chelicerata/silk.html)

"Spider silk is extremely strong -- it is about five times stronger than steel and twice as strong as Kevlar of the same weight. Spider silk also has the ability to stretch about 30-percent longer than its original length without breaking, which makes it very resilient." (http://www.howstuffworks.com/question87.html)

Isn't it amazing that our learners will be scientists producing spider webs from cows milk. The material produced can save police and military lives. These are jobs that we would never imagine but are just around the corner!

This image was uploaded from www.gifs.net

Web-Based Educational Resources

One web-based educational resource that I was introduced to, early on, in this course was Ask Dr. Math. Ask Dr. Math is different that many of the other math web based educational resources as it is not a "fun" site - it is very "matter of fact" and gets right down to the informative answer. This web site was one of the web sites that we were asked to do the web site evaluation and is a great resource for both math teachers and math students alike. This web site offers many things - it offers grade appropriate explanations for basic math skills as well as in depth answers to open ended difficult, at times - somewhat mind boggling questions. The site handles questions from the elementary level to the college level. There is also a blog area where teachers pose questions, answer questions or discuss experiences. Students can also Ask Dr. Math a question. This site is a terrific educational resource.

Another web-based educational resource that is appealing is Brain Pop. This site provides many math topics and presents these topics in a manner that is appealing to the student. This site is both fun and formative at the same time. It may be a site that students are more apt to visit in comparison to Ask Dr. Math because it is more appealing to their senses.

Blogging

I really never paid attention to what blogging is and who "blogs" until coming to Dr. Luongo's course. I remember hearing all about Rosie O'Donald's blogs about one of her co-workers on the View and I was immediately turned off to blogging. I quickly thought this was another mechanism to exploit someone. Years ago if one was angry at someone, they may argue or tell their friends about the problem. If the people were celebrities and worthy of national attention, it make get a 10 second spot on the news, but if not no one knew of someone else's problems. Now the whole world knows that there was a "situation" and the blogging is biased. The person or situation being blogged about has to respond to make it right from their perspective if they care to re- inform the "world". Prior to this course that was my idea of "blogging".

With the advent of technology, a whole new world is open to us and this world is expanding every day. Yes, technology --- like computers, the Internet, new medical technology, etc has brought us so much good. Technology gives us a platform to "speak" - one we have never had to this magnitude before.

Blogging allows us to share our ideas with those who are interested in what we have to say. We can collaborate with professionals in our field who live in other places of the world that we have never met. We can constantly exchange information and learn from each other.

The Make A Difference Movie

I never knew how difficult teaching was until I became a teacher. I must admit that I used to think teaching, as far as difficulty and time, did not compare to working in the business world. Prior to teaching, I worked in the computer field and worked about 10 hours per day, carried a beeper for 24 hours support and worked weekends and holidays when needed. I thought that teachers had the "life" and worked 9-3 with all of the perks of having off all the vacation time.

It wasn't the perks that attracted me to teaching, it was really something I wanted to do. As the time progressed and I became more and more familiar with my new job and the needs associated with it, I quickly realized that this is the most difficult, all consuming job - emotionally, physically and mentally that I have ever had. I also realized that in order to make a difference I must give my all to teach the whole child - each and every "whole" child and to know that child entirely. I need to know what motivates the child, what upsets the child - what works for the child. I realized that in order to get the child to "work" for me, I have to make him or her want to work. I have to make a connection with the child and find out all that is necessary for him or her to be successful. The Make a Difference Movie was extremely moving - we really don't know what some of our kids are going through, but yet we expect them to come in "bright eyed and bushy tailed" each day and give their 100% on classwork, homework and other assessments. We don't know what their personal lives are really like but sometimes some of us are quick to judge their failures with laziness and lack of interest rather than something else - maybe difficulty at home.

I met a young man today at my gym and he was talking to me about a mutual friend that also worked at the gym and left the gym to get another job. This young man commented that his friend got a great job with the state and but that he was still in a community college and he lacks knowledge in certain subjects and sometimes needs help. He commented that he had many family problems while he was growing and not only had to take time off from school but did not even live at home for a few years because his parents could not care from him. He mentioned that when he was in high school he met his algebra teacher that took an interest in him and helped him so much that he has never forgotten him. He is going to try to find his algebra so he could drop him a note to let him know how much help the teacher was to him. He said that he never told the teacher this and never forgot him. I told him that this teacher will appreciate that more than he will ever know. That will make any difficulties that the teacher may be experiencing - and we all experience some during the course of the year - be all worth it. This young man has the desire to learn, despite his difficult life and is going to persevere because this teacher believed in him, just like the teacher in the video believed in the little boy. The teacher saw something in this young man - and I believe this allowed this young man to want to persue his dreams. I think this teacher inspired him to reach and strive for and attain his goals. I know this young man and I think that he will make it despite the things in life that have been against him.

I think teaching is probably one of the most difficult jobs - not the content that you are teaching, but the fact that what you do or don't do will have an affect on the child for life. Someone once told me a child can negatively affected for life if he or she experienced just one "bad" teaching year! I believe that is true -but I also believe that one good teacher - a really good one - can positively affect a child for life as well! We have a duty to positively affect our kids - we feel a sense of satisfaction not because we are remembered by them but rather because we have gave them the tools to become all they could be. We always remember the nicest, the kindest and the sweetest teachers, but we also remember those teachers who had the largest impact on our educations and that is what lasts a life time.

Inspiration

I have downloaded both Kidspiration and Inspiration and have watched the videos. Although I do see how they both can be effective in the classroom , (especially Kidspiration for younger students where access to technology in terms of Smart Board, and computers are easily accessible and available to teachers and students), I do not think it would be a useful tool for me, my students and the curriculum that I have to teach. I do not have much to implement a plan for students to explore an discover. Forty minute periods with a very concentrated curriculum does not allow for that. WebQuest is a great tool for me to implement and use in the classroom - because the preparation is done by the teacher and complements the lesson. This allows the teacher to add the "extras" and expand the time used for subject matter as a project when class time does not allow for the extras. These tools are wonderful, but there are so many that one has to spend the time evaluating their effectiveness for the area, the students and the resources you have.

I do think that Kidspiration is more teacher and student friendly than Inspiration. The math portion, in Kidspiration, offers students some "hands on" practice with graphs and fractions. I may use this tool if I taught lower grades and had access to computers in the classroom as part of instruction. It would be more "fun" for the kids to use instead of manipulatives. I do not think that I would use Inspiration to support what I am teaching.

I am "sold" on WebQuest, but need to investigate Inspiration a little more - maybe I just don't know enough about it!

NJ School Report Card

I have reviewed the NJ School Report Card - especially for the district I work in and the town that I live in. I was somewhat happy when I looked at the scores for the school I work for. Our scores for this particular school increased about 30% from NJASK7 to NJASK8. We all, as a team, worked very hard - the administration and supervisors make sure that our curriculum is ready to go - all on CD's that are distributed to every teacher in the district on Sept 1. This curriculum is aligned with our books and the NJCCCS. We have benchmark tests given each quarter to insure that we are all where we are supposed to be - all at the same time. There is direction and we all work to get our kids where they have to be and it is successful. At times, the amount of work is overwhelming. Teaching is not like work in a factory - where the number of items produced can indicate productivity, - your success, as a teacher, cannot be measured by what you are doing - it is measured by what others can do based on what you are doing.

Although I sometimes think, what is demanded of is us is overwhelming and impossible, I work harder, along with my students and coworkers, to meet the demands of the challenge.

WebQuest

I have been spending alot of time doing the WebQuest project and there is a large amount of work necessary to create a WebQuest. You must really think about the flow of your project and the questioning mechanism in WebQuest really makes you think about if you have given your students all the information necessary to complete the project successfully.

What it does allow is the student to work independently because you have thought it out in a more thorough manner - more so than if you were presenting or lecturing. In a WebQuest you are contemplating answering all of the questions before they are asked.

I am actually going to use this project as an actual project for this marking period and am working in conjunction with the school's computer teacher. Our computer teacher is excited about this project as well. She has just completed power point instruction and was going to teach EXCEL and now has a project to go along with her curriculum. WebQuest also makes cross curriculum teaching to be attained.

Webquest Assignment

There are so many WebQuests published on the Internet and they are excellent. The WebQuest videos are extremely informative and will be a huge help. WebQuests are great for cross curriculum projects that are very interesting, informative and will be fun for our students. I can't wait to start and am going to use the WebQuest for this assignment as an actual 4th marking period project assignment for my students. What a great idea!

NETS (National Education Technology Standards)

Having an undergrad degree in Computer Science I totally support the infusion of technology as part of our curriculum, but we must make every effort to have technology be supportive of the curriculum and not be the only means by which we teach. Our students, in our society, are becoming lazy and dependent upon technology. They no longer want to use their brains - their very own personal computer - to think any more. If there isn't instant gratification or an instant answer - that is - if they have to think a little - they don't want to continue with the exercise.

When I was a child - we did not have calculators. I had to learn how to solve and graph quadratic equations without benefit of a calculator. I had to add, subtract, multiply and divide the old tried and true way. It is stated in Chapter 3 of our book that many teachers teach the way they have learned and feel comfortable with - the old tried and true strategies. It goes on to say that these strategies continue to be valuable, but new technology may enhance these strategies. I think many forget that technology is there to enhance not to take the place of. I often think of childhood experiences and one that comes to mind was an experience I had when I was five years old. A neighbor, who was a merchant marine and spent alot of time in Japan, taught me how to count from one to ten in Japanese. He did not teach me how to count to 99 because he said that I only needed these numbers and I would figure it out someday.

I have copied the following from this web site www.shotokankarate.ca/counting%20in%20japanese.htm
(if anyone is interested).
What I often think of is that children in Japan have to think mathematically when reciting their numbers - they are in actuality adding their numbers in order to count from 1 to 99. Many times, our children are handed calculators for simple arithmetic in early elementary school. We are creating a society that cannot "do" math because they were taught to rely on calculator.

Our children have to take state mandated tests in every grade. Sections of these tests do not allow calculators. We need to prepare the them the good old fashioned way - the tried and true way of using one's brain. I am not at all opposed to technology - I worked as a Senior Technical Consultant for 20 + years and this profession required intense programming along with above knowledge of mathematics however, we must be mindful of how we use it!

The following is taken from the web site: In order to learn count up to ninety-nine all you really need to know are the Japanese terms for the numbers 1 through 10 - after that it is just a matter of remembering to combine these numbers in a specific sequence to get the desired result. The numbers from one to ten are pronounced as follows: one ichi two ni three san four shi five go six roku seven shichi eight hachi nine kyu ten ju Above ten the numbers are pronounced differently: for example the number 11 in Japanese is translated as "10 plus 1" eleven ju ichi twelve ju ni thirteen ju san fourteen ju shi fifteen ju go sixteen ju roku seventeen ju shichi eighteen ju hachi nineteen ju kyu Above the number twenty the numbers are again pronounced in a slightly different manner. For example the number 20 in Japanese translates as "2 - 10's" and continuing on therefore, the number 21 would be considered as "2 - 10's plus 1" twenty ni ju twenty-one ni juichi twenty-two ni juni and so on - all the way up to the number 99. For example the number 56 would be "5 - 10's plus 6" - or - "gojuroku" - the number 61 would then be "6 - 10's plus 1" - or - "rokujuichi" and so on and so on.

Internet Safety

The Videos are Internet Safety were well done. Internet Safety I was very powerful and almost "scarey". This is an excellent video to show middle school students. Internet Safety II and Know the Rules are excellent for young children. Today children are surfing the internet younger and younger. I taught computer applications to grades k-8 a few years ago and I was amazed of how much these kids were capable of and how much of what they witnessed their parents and older siblings doing. Some of them could not spell "big words" but they were capable of remembering a web address.

Children a very innocent and trusting - a the undesirables - can hide and easily befriend children under false pretenses. As a teacher, I have heard of students getting into trouble on the internet. I have heard of them being threatened by others and bullied. The internet is a source of endless information and is a tool that most of us cannot live without. We must educate our students and our children with all of the "bad" that is out there as well.

NJCCCS and NETS

I have worked for three different schools in the past few years. One school was a Catholic School which abides by archdiocesan standards, the second school was a charter school which did not adhere to the NJ core curriculum standards and the school that I currently work for has the curriculum for each subject in total alignment with NJ standards as well as bench marks in place to test progression for each quarter.

Working for a school that does not have any direction, that is any alignment with NJ standards was extremely difficult. I was given the task to create the curriculum for the charter school with teachers from other grades. It was our task to align our math curriculum with state requirements. The task was a difficult one, but necessary. As we plowed through the material, we recognized how important teaching and student mastery was for each instruction being taught in each grade level.

When I went to work for the current district that I currently work for, I was impressed with the level of organization and the ease of teaching a subject where the teacher was given direction. The Core Curriculum Content Standards are extremely necessary to ensure that all students receive the same education for each grade everywhere in the state regardless of where they come from. It is very difficult for the teachers to achieve this task due to time constraints and situations that arise that are beyond our control. We must, however, try to meet all tasks specified in the CCCS.

Regarding technology, it is extremely important that our students be taught with innovative tools and learn all how to use the technology available to them. However, technology must not take the place of the core subjects such as math, language arts, science and social studies but must be used to support and enhance these subjects. I was a programmer prior to teaching and worked with computers, etc for twenty plus years, however if I did not have a solid academic background, I would never had been successful in a career in technology. It is important to find a balance between teaching traditional academics and introducing technology as support, as a tool and as a subject in itself.

Hi - I have never blogged before! I have never taken the time to find out how to go about creating an account and am glad that I have the opportunity to learn. Looking forward to the experience.