Article 8: Give Girls a Chance: Building a Bridge to Science and Technology

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Furger, R. (2003, September 03). Give Girls a Chance: Building a Bridge to Science and Technology. Retrieved June 03, 2011, from edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/techbridge-science-technology-girls

Article 7: The New Literacy

Summary:

This article was written by Sara Armstrong and David Warlick and is an overview of technology in use today. They discuss use in reading, arithmetic, writing, and ethics on the internet for educational learning to be effective. They state students should be educated for work that is known, but mostly for unknown jobs in the future. Armstrong and Warlick ask educators to not highlight old skills, but to emphases the new. The authors suggest technological resources to use in the classroom and give definitions for detailed technology use and how it applies. They have listed particular web sites to use for integration of their ideas presented.

Reaction:

I found the article informative for the time that it was written. Many of the links are not true working links, which is disappointing. The information from this article was dated though I believe the technology is the future and the advice for educators to be true especially today since we are in a world with information at our fingertips.

Armstrong, S., & Warlick, D. (2004, September 15). The New Literacy. Retrieved June 1, 2011, from TECH&LEARNING: http://www.techlearning.com/article/2806

Article 6: Avoiding the 5 Most Common Mistakes in Using Blogs with Students

Summary:

The article is by Ruth Reynard who is an associate professor of education who has used blogging with university graduate students for five years. The article lists and explains the five most common blogging mistakes for university students. The first is ineffective contextualization when students do not understand the benefit of blogs. They need to have base knowledge of the content in order to decide how to use blogs. Second are unclear learning outcomes where the student should clearly analyze, syntheses, come up with new ideas, and then applies what they have learned in the blog. Third are misuse of the environment, it is not a wiki but a place for students to communicative their thoughts in. Fourth are illusive grading practices stating instructors need to have detailed rubrics for grading. And fifth are inadequate time allocations, in which her article suggests leaving the time allotted to be for the whole length of the course.

Reaction:

The article seems to hold good suggestions to encourage instructors to use blogging a choice in education. It would be useful for teachers to assess understanding of the curriculum in any subject since students post their own thoughts. I agree that it requires students to participate to a greater degree, and I do believe it shows students critical thinking. A negative side to these suggests are there is more time spent reading and it would mean instructors might have to spend many hours catching up on blogs at the end of the term.


Reynard, R. (08, October 01). Avoiding the 5 Most Common Mistakes in Using Blogs with Students. Retrieved May 23, 2011, from Campus Technology: http://campustechnology.com/Articles/2008/10/Avoiding-the-5-Most-Common-Mistakes-in-Using-Blogs-with-Students.aspx?Page=1

Article 5: Technology-Supported Math Instruction for Students with Disabilities: Two Decades of Research and Development

Summary:

The article describes some of the problems students with disabilities have in comprehension in solving mathematical equations and facts and suggests ways to solve this problem. It describes how math knowledge is built using research and comparison charts of students who are able to solve math and those who are not. Research discussed is for math fact fluency, math fact recall, math problem solving skills, and computer use to learn skills.

The article suggests Fluency and Automaticity through Systematic Teaching with Technology (FASTT), an interference designed to assist students in development of stated fact understanding. The authors suggest FASTT as an effective assistive skill and FASTT features are:

1. Identification of fluent and non-fluent facts;
2. Restricted presentation of non-fluent information;
3. Student generation of problem/answer pairs;
4. Use of "challenge times;"
5. Spaced-presentation of non-fluent information;
6. The appropriate use of drill-and-practice; and
7. Computer monitoring of student performance.

Other tools to help in mastering math skills include calculators though some myths are that:

• calculators will promote student laziness
• students will not be stimulated/challenged if they use calculators
• using calculators impedes the development of basic mathematical skills, and
• the use of calculators will create a dependency on technology

But the truth is the use of calculators:

• promoted achievement,
• improved problem-solving skills, and
• increased understanding of mathematical ideas  

The authors have identified programs such as GO Solve Word Problems, TinkerPlots in an attempt to point out important areas needing development and research.

Reaction:

This article was informational and useful for Math problem solving that a student with disabilities might encounter. Some of the information was unknown to me and will be beneficial in teaching not just in special education, but in general education classes.  The resources are priceless and I will use them. The article's negative side was the length, the information could be less wordy for me.

Hasselbring, A. C., & Zydney, J. M. (2006). Technology-Supported Math Instruction for Students with Disabilities: Two Decades of Research and Development. Retrieved May 18, 2011, from LD online: http://www.ldonline.org/article/6291

Article 4: Teaching Special Kids:Online Resources for Teachers

Summary:

The article reveals resources for internet searches for teachers working with special needs students by narrowing the list to particular topics. It particularly covers lessons and activities for special students, informational resources, technology sites, and additional special education sites with a short concise explanation of each. The links are in the informational paragraph of the subjects covered.

Reaction:

The article is valuable for my future teacher plans, since I plan on working in special education. The information for a variety of teaching resources is on the same page and the explanations are to the point. When an issue arises I want a solution fast and this article solves lengthy searching online. The article’s link for The Instant Access Treasure Chest is broken, however it is available at http://www.has.vcu.edu/for/ld/ld.html. That is the only problem with the article since I found it useful and informative overall.

Moore, S. (1999, April 15). The Foreign Language Teacher's Guide to Learning Disabilities . Retrieved April 30, 2011, from The Instant Access Treasure Chest : http://www.has.vcu.edu/for/ld/ld.html

Star, L. (2010, June 08). Teaching Special Kids:Online Resources for Teachers. Retrieved April 30, 2011, from Education World: http://www.educationworld.com/a_curr/curr139.shtml

Article 3: Classroom-Management Tips for Teachers

 Summary:

Spot lights favorite tricks of the trade for classroom management. The first one covered is a kindergarten classroom where students ask to get a drink of water or to go to the bathroom in sign language. The teacher answers back in sign language; it is less disruptive to the rest of the class. Then the video covers redirecting students when they are focused on unwanted behavior. The example is a student crying because she misses her mother, the teacher asks the student to get a Kleenex. The student is redirected to get a tissue and it is all that it takes for the crying to be over.
Next trick is using “Fishbowl” for discussions to learn manners and math, they are asked to look for evidence of subjects for discussion then talk about it after wards. It is helpful for how to use manners, when to ask questions, identifying particular types of language, ways to ask questions, and how to disagree.  Once foundation is built the academics can be more thoughtful. This is the pair and share concept where they are guided to understand the concept correctly.

The next tip is how to quiet the classroom by not raising your voice louder than the students. Counting backward is the example, and clapping or flicking the lights, as long as you don’t raise your voice, since students will talk louder also creating chaos.

Next tip is to reinforce lessons each day by greeting students at the door to the classroom with a handshake and a question. The criteria for each student are to have a firm handshake and to answer questions correctly or go to the end of the line to be asked again and they cannot enter the room. Questions are from lessons taught four weeks ago and the way the teacher connects with his students.

Reaction:

The article adds vast ideas for managing the classroom I particularly like the “Fishbowl” idea. After teaching a class at the high school level it was hard to tell if the students actually pair and shared the lesson. To have gone over the reason for the pair and share first would have made the idea concrete to students.  All of the ideas are good and I would use all of them. In the self-contained classroom some of the students are non verbal so sign language is a vital instructional tool, I had not thought of teaching basic sign language for the bathroom and getting water for general education. Super tips!

The George Lucas Educational Foundation. (2008, 11 19). Classroom-Management Tips for Teachers. Retrieved April 18, 2011, from Edutopia: http://www.edutopia.org/classroom-management-teacher-tips-video

Article 2: The Backwards Class

Summary:

This article explains how Stacy Roshan uses pre-recorded lectures for her class to watch the night before class. The idea is to watch the lecture to come to class knowing how to do their AP Calculus assignments; then when students have questions about assignments they have a Roshan able to give for 1 on 1 assistance the day. The process requires Roshan to spend more time recording lectures, but more time helping students in a fast paced class that before the recording left students bewildered.

Reaction:

This has been one of the best ideas for using technology resources since the chalkboard. It saves time giving a lecture without people asking questions and teachers stopping to answer. Also if a student has basic need thoughts (hungry, restroom, or is tired) they can satisfy those needs by pausing the lecture and coming back to it fully attentive to the communication. The negative side recording the lesson would be the time invested in it, and then if the curriculum changes the lectures would need to be updated.

Schaffhauser, D. (2011, Febuary 02). The Backwards Class. Retrieved April 05, 2011, from The Journal: http://thejournal.com/articles/2011/02/02/the-backwards-class.aspx

Article 1: A School That's Too High on Gizmos

Summary:

This article is in The Washington Post by Patrick Welsh, a teacher who has taught for more than 30 years at T. C. Williams High School in Alexandria. The high school he teaches at has been replaced by a $98 million building with ceiling-mounted LCD projectors and 126 security cameras; teachers received “school pads” to use in the classroom to control overhead projectors. “the Magna Doodle pads we had as kids. It's another way to waste money for people who are too lazy to write on the board.” (Welsh, 2008) In his article he points out the reaction of teachers of the district pushing technology at a high price, even when there are resources that have worked well in the past and in many cases is a better choice, with laptop computers not uploading programs for class, outdated technology, and failed connection to the wireless server. His message is for the district to know great teachers have completely different styles and not all need to use expensive “gizmos”.

Reaction:

The article leads the reader to believe that school districts are blindly supplying technology to students and teachers. It would not be far to believe Welsh is on target with his view of technology being pushed too hard. However these tools are here for the long run, and some people have trouble with change. Learning the process will require extra work and time, though one would believe it be economically feasible for the future. It is the job of the school districts to be cost efficient and this appears to be the case, at least it seems to be an attempt for that goal.


Welsh, P. (2008, February 10). The Washington Post. Retrieved 3 29, 2011, from The Washington Post Web site: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/08/AR2008020803271.html