One of the most important aspects of educational reform is to recognize the importance of early childhood programs in developing children who are ready for schooling. That is why the Friends of Early Childhood reception for New Mexico Legislators at Rio Chama Steakhouse was a lobbying event in truly in the public interest. Hosted by the NMAEYC, Voices for Children and the New Mexico Community Foundation should have been attended by every NM legislator. For even if a legislator believes that responsible parenting is the key to child development, it is important for them to recognize that it is not the fault of the child if the parents are not responsible parents.
The attendance was better than anticipated with many familiar faces from both the house and the senate showing support for our youngest citizens. There were over 40 supporters from the legislature and various departments of state government impacted by early childhood programs. Of particular interest was the attendance by Representative James P. White from District 20 in Bernalillo County which includes some of the East Mountain communities. That is one of the areas in NM in need of assessing their early childhood programs because of the rapid pace of change due to an exploding population.
Aron Segotta, the NM State Police Chief, addressed the gathering and stated his belief that early childhood programs will eventually reduce the amount of crime in our state and reduce our prison population. Dorian Dodson, the cabinet secretary of CYFD, was there to show her support. She stated that close to half of her budget goes to early childhood programs and the rest to programs in the juvenile justice system. With funding of more early childhood programs the future of this department could be one which spends less money repairing the damage done to children in their early stages of development.
The program included a viewing of the video Change The First Five Years and You Change Everything made available to all NM legislators by the Decade of the Child organization. This video was produced to help develop a better understanding of why preschool children need these programs and influence the legislature to find more money to help early childhood programs in New Mexico.
Baji Rankin from Decade of the Child and Emily Nunez-Darnell from the New Mexico Community Foundation were hosts of this event. Our youngest citizens are grateful for your attendance, but talk is not enough. Will the programs to help children in need be funded?
- Rick Albright
- Yrisarri, NM, United States
- Inside every old person is a young person asking what in the hell happened!
Friday, February 5, 2010
Sunday, January 31, 2010
College For All: An Unnecessary Goal for Public Schools
Some Useful Websites
Lure of the Labyrinth- A cool way to develop pre-algebra skills
Map Maker is a great site for middle school and high school students who want to add maps to a report.
Architect Studio 3D On this Web site, you can design a house, walk through it in 3D, and then share it with the world. You can also learn more about architecture, past and present, and explore Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work.
The How-To Series The five posts from the blog Free Technology for Teachers give directions on how to use Web. 2.0 tools in the classroom
Articles to To Read
Revolution and Evolution in Educational System by PRof.MSRO ICFAI, University of India
Happiness and Education by Nel Noddings
Educational policy reform is being driven partially by the idea that our public school system should prepare all students for college. This is not only unnecessary but it is unrealistic and based upon arrogant beliefs about the value of work.
The goal is being proposed by well-intentioned people who believe in diversity and want all Americans to have the advantages of a college degree. The argument is that statistics show that a person with a college degree is more likely to have a higher salary than their peers who do not. As a matter of fact, as you progress on the educational ladder you statistically improve your chances of higher lifetime earnings.
While that is true, what about individual desires? Why should we base educational goals on population wide statistical analysis? There will always be individuals who are not ready or do not want to enter into a program of studies at a college. Many of our high school graduates can benefit from going to work, or doing volunteer work to help them make informed decisions about their futures. Why should they have to prepare for college in the public schools?
It is arrogant to think that the only pathway to success in America is through a college education. There has been a misguided notion about the trades and their importance in our society. After all, Benjamin Franklin was a printer who was as erudite as his better educated peers. The value of work should not depend upon completion of a program but upon the quality of that work. It seems to me that in today’s world the value of work is determined by the needs of corporations. They provide large salaries to workers they need to create more money, not those who provide a high quality of work.
We seem overly concerned about another set of statistics. Those that measure success in being able to make high scores on tests. Our children’s relative standing among nations of test takers seems too low for many and we have to improve. Once again we are not thinking about quality education but about being able to pass a test. America has always been at the forefront of innovation because our educational system has worked. We have provided the best scientists to the world, not the most.
College is not truly necessary for success in America. What contributes to America’s success, however, is our ability to go to college whenever we are ready. This requires a citizenry that values education for its own sake and pursues learning as a normal part of life. A recent study indicates that anxiety and depression have increased exponentially in our children over the past 50 years. This is not going to provide a foundation for success in the future. As long as we place our values on statistics and corporate needs and not on individual needs and desires, our foundation for success will be weak.
Lure of the Labyrinth- A cool way to develop pre-algebra skills
Map Maker is a great site for middle school and high school students who want to add maps to a report.
Architect Studio 3D On this Web site, you can design a house, walk through it in 3D, and then share it with the world. You can also learn more about architecture, past and present, and explore Frank Lloyd Wright's life and work.
The How-To Series The five posts from the blog Free Technology for Teachers give directions on how to use Web. 2.0 tools in the classroom
Articles to To Read
Revolution and Evolution in Educational System by PRof.MSRO ICFAI, University of India
Education and character are two sides of same coin and one without the other makes no sense. Money can come and go, but it is the character that is valid from the beginning to the end of life. Any person, whether they can be equipped with the formation of character of each part of the world beyond. To put it in the words of Martin Luther King Jr. Put “The function of education to teach an intensive course, to think and think critically intelligence and character ….. .. .. This is the goal of true education. “Meeting Kids Where They Are-Not Where We Wish They Were by Jack Schneider From Education Week
Precious, in all likelihood, is not going to college.Adolescence and Mistake-Based Education by Carl Pickhardt PHD in Psychology Today
This runs contrary to the aims of the dominant players in modern school reform, who, whether they are in government, school districts, or philanthropic organizations, routinely employ the phrase “excellence for all” in justifying their expenditures. The theory of change among the educational entrepreneurs, it seems, is simple: Find what works and make it available to all students. As Teach For America’s chief executive officer, Wendy Kopp, has said of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan: “He just wants to find and scale the ideas that work"
In childhood, the age of dependence, a conscientious parent is often the best teacher. In adolescence, the age of independence, confronting hard consequences is often the best teacher.The Dramatic Rise of Anxiety and Depression in Children and Adolescents: Is it Connected to the Decline in Play and Rise in Schooling? by Peter Gray in Psychology Today
Rates of depression and anxiety among young people in America have been increasing steadily for the past fifty to seventy years. Today five to eight times as many high school and college students meet the criteria for diagnosis of major depression and/or an anxiety disorder as was true half a century or more ago. This increased psychopathology is not the result of changed diagnostic criteria; it holds even when the measures and criteria are constant.Books to Read
Happiness and Education by Nel Noddings
Jonathan Kozol, author of Savage Inequalities and Ordinary Resurrections says, 'Noddings' thesis and argument that happiness and education not only can but should coexist must be taken seriously by everyone concerned about preparing children and young adults for a truly satisfying life in our democratic society.'
Quote of the Week
I used to think that a college degree was the leg up to success in life, an accomplishment that made you a better person, a stronger contributor. I thought it mattered less where you went to college than what you did with that education. Now, I understand that as a first-generation graduate of Regional State U, and a Baby Boomer, I was simply part of "credential creep." Quote from Nancy Flanagan in the blog, Teacher in A Strange LandThoughts from Yrisarri
Educational policy reform is being driven partially by the idea that our public school system should prepare all students for college. This is not only unnecessary but it is unrealistic and based upon arrogant beliefs about the value of work.
The goal is being proposed by well-intentioned people who believe in diversity and want all Americans to have the advantages of a college degree. The argument is that statistics show that a person with a college degree is more likely to have a higher salary than their peers who do not. As a matter of fact, as you progress on the educational ladder you statistically improve your chances of higher lifetime earnings.
While that is true, what about individual desires? Why should we base educational goals on population wide statistical analysis? There will always be individuals who are not ready or do not want to enter into a program of studies at a college. Many of our high school graduates can benefit from going to work, or doing volunteer work to help them make informed decisions about their futures. Why should they have to prepare for college in the public schools?
It is arrogant to think that the only pathway to success in America is through a college education. There has been a misguided notion about the trades and their importance in our society. After all, Benjamin Franklin was a printer who was as erudite as his better educated peers. The value of work should not depend upon completion of a program but upon the quality of that work. It seems to me that in today’s world the value of work is determined by the needs of corporations. They provide large salaries to workers they need to create more money, not those who provide a high quality of work.
We seem overly concerned about another set of statistics. Those that measure success in being able to make high scores on tests. Our children’s relative standing among nations of test takers seems too low for many and we have to improve. Once again we are not thinking about quality education but about being able to pass a test. America has always been at the forefront of innovation because our educational system has worked. We have provided the best scientists to the world, not the most.
College is not truly necessary for success in America. What contributes to America’s success, however, is our ability to go to college whenever we are ready. This requires a citizenry that values education for its own sake and pursues learning as a normal part of life. A recent study indicates that anxiety and depression have increased exponentially in our children over the past 50 years. This is not going to provide a foundation for success in the future. As long as we place our values on statistics and corporate needs and not on individual needs and desires, our foundation for success will be weak.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
National Standards
Websites for Learning
Funology has all kinds of acitivities for kids ages 5-8!!
Time for Kids - A powerful teaching tool, TIME For Kids builds reading and writing skills and is easily integrated across your curriculum, including social studies, science and math.
Discovery Kids is based on the Discovery Channel and has many interesting science and and nature activites and information.
Articles to Read
Differentiate Don't Standardize by Nel Noddings
"What do advocates of national standards expect to accomplish? Unless the ends sought are both significantly important and feasible, we should turn our attention to problems that are truly pressing, such as reducing the number of high school dropouts and curbing youth violence."
Debunking the Case for National Standards by Alfie Kohn
"I keep thinking it can’t get much worse, and then it does. Throughout the 1990s, one state after another adopted prescriptive education standards enforced by frequent standardized testing, often of the high-stakes variety. A top-down, get-tough movement to impose “accountability” began to squeeze the life out of classrooms."
We've Always Had National Standards by Diane Ravitch
"Most educators believe that the United States has never had national standards in education, but this is not correct. Without any action on the part of the federal government, we have indeed had standards in the past, and we have them now. They were not written in a document, nor are they now, but they are real nonetheless."
College and the Workforce: What 'Readiness' Means by Catherine Gewertz
"As the standards movement has evolved, one of its key questions has shifted. Instead of simply asking what students should know and be able to do to complete high school, educators and policymakers are now asking what students need to master to be prepared for the higher-level demands of college and career."
Teachers' Letters to Obama by Anthony Cody
"The overwhelming message is that, although we supported President Obama as a candidate and continue to have hope today, we do not feel heard by this administration, and have grave concerns about many of the actions of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan."
Educational Delema: Rigor v Relevance by Tom Vander Ark
"I remain committed to the idea that we can build rich instructional systems around fewer, clearer, higher standards--systems that incorporate content-embedded assessment (e.g., score from a learning game), performance assessment (e.g., essays and projects), adaptive assessment (e.g., quick online quizzes), as well as summative assessment--that promote rather than detract from engaging personalized learning experiences."
Thoughts from Yrisarri
In a mobile society standardized education seems an essential ingredient for success. The big question is how do we standardize instruction across a vast population with diverse needs and wants? Should all students in our public schools be studying the same thing at the same time? Are national standards a limiting factor to one of our national strengths ie: creative thinking? Will national standards prepare all students for their future? Will national standards cause teachers to become little more than technicians for a program? Will national standards solve our education dilemma? Do we truly have a dilemma?
These questions and more come to mind as I follow the debate on implementation of national standards for our schools. My primary concern really comes down to the question of how we view our children. It seems like we are experiencing another top down educational reform by people who are not cognizant of the true needs of our children. Seldom are children mentioned as something other than a statistic to be manipulated by reform so that our national interests will be served.
If there is an educational dilemma it is based in my observation that many students see no connection between what they learn in school and what they perceive to be needed for their future. By and large our students are not motivated to learn, and those who are learn to pass the tests.
I believe there have always been standards in our schools and that those students who desire to go to college are able to acquire what they need to succeed in college from their high schools. Those students who did not wish to go to college have had various options during high school to pursue their perceived needs. But, high school has not provided a well-balanced curriculum that provides for intellectual, physical and emotional growth. Without this balance we are sending our young people to confront life with only part of the skills they need.
Our emphasis has historically been on the intellectual side of the balance scale and today we have inactive kids who have a difficult time getting along with others who are different from them. I believe that if we are going to create national standards they should be geared around developing programs that decrease our need for prisons,develop healthy and inquisitive young adults.
It is time we reorganize rather than reform education. Instead of spending our time developing programs that have students lock stepping through an education, we should develop and organize our education system to allow for individuality and creative thinking. A caring system that values the individual will cause more students to be motivated and prepare themselves for their futures.
There is agreement that we have a problem in particular with keeping our kids in school and that problem manifests itself around the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence. Why don’t we address the problem at that level? Most of the information needed for further learning is in place by that time in our children’s education. Why not graduate our students from mandatory education at age 15? If they have learned the information that our society deems necessary for understanding our society we should acknowledge it. In New Mexico we have a pass or fail test given to students at 15 testing that type of knowledge. Why should a student go on if they can pass that test?
After graduation, with basic knowledge for living in our society in place, let students choose what they wish to study for, college, business, vocation, military, or paraprofessional work. As the Australian's call it, let us develop a useful tertiary education system from ages 16-20. They can all be rigorous programs that teach all students workforce skills at the same time. Aren’t workforce skills the ability to understand that you must be on time, you must focus on your work, you must take responsibility for what you do? Reading is not the problem in our youthful workforce; it is attitude!
While my idea is not perfect and perhaps not workable, let us use the strength of America, creative thinking, to solve our problems. Let us work together to identify the true problems and then create local solutions to those problems. If we continue the path we are on we will only do more of the same, continue to create students as products rather than individuals whose futures are in their hands not ours!
Funology has all kinds of acitivities for kids ages 5-8!!
Time for Kids - A powerful teaching tool, TIME For Kids builds reading and writing skills and is easily integrated across your curriculum, including social studies, science and math.
Discovery Kids is based on the Discovery Channel and has many interesting science and and nature activites and information.
Articles to Read
Differentiate Don't Standardize by Nel Noddings
"What do advocates of national standards expect to accomplish? Unless the ends sought are both significantly important and feasible, we should turn our attention to problems that are truly pressing, such as reducing the number of high school dropouts and curbing youth violence."
Debunking the Case for National Standards by Alfie Kohn
"I keep thinking it can’t get much worse, and then it does. Throughout the 1990s, one state after another adopted prescriptive education standards enforced by frequent standardized testing, often of the high-stakes variety. A top-down, get-tough movement to impose “accountability” began to squeeze the life out of classrooms."
We've Always Had National Standards by Diane Ravitch
"Most educators believe that the United States has never had national standards in education, but this is not correct. Without any action on the part of the federal government, we have indeed had standards in the past, and we have them now. They were not written in a document, nor are they now, but they are real nonetheless."
College and the Workforce: What 'Readiness' Means by Catherine Gewertz
"As the standards movement has evolved, one of its key questions has shifted. Instead of simply asking what students should know and be able to do to complete high school, educators and policymakers are now asking what students need to master to be prepared for the higher-level demands of college and career."
Teachers' Letters to Obama by Anthony Cody
"The overwhelming message is that, although we supported President Obama as a candidate and continue to have hope today, we do not feel heard by this administration, and have grave concerns about many of the actions of U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan."
Educational Delema: Rigor v Relevance by Tom Vander Ark
"I remain committed to the idea that we can build rich instructional systems around fewer, clearer, higher standards--systems that incorporate content-embedded assessment (e.g., score from a learning game), performance assessment (e.g., essays and projects), adaptive assessment (e.g., quick online quizzes), as well as summative assessment--that promote rather than detract from engaging personalized learning experiences."
Thoughts from Yrisarri
In a mobile society standardized education seems an essential ingredient for success. The big question is how do we standardize instruction across a vast population with diverse needs and wants? Should all students in our public schools be studying the same thing at the same time? Are national standards a limiting factor to one of our national strengths ie: creative thinking? Will national standards prepare all students for their future? Will national standards cause teachers to become little more than technicians for a program? Will national standards solve our education dilemma? Do we truly have a dilemma?
These questions and more come to mind as I follow the debate on implementation of national standards for our schools. My primary concern really comes down to the question of how we view our children. It seems like we are experiencing another top down educational reform by people who are not cognizant of the true needs of our children. Seldom are children mentioned as something other than a statistic to be manipulated by reform so that our national interests will be served.
If there is an educational dilemma it is based in my observation that many students see no connection between what they learn in school and what they perceive to be needed for their future. By and large our students are not motivated to learn, and those who are learn to pass the tests.
I believe there have always been standards in our schools and that those students who desire to go to college are able to acquire what they need to succeed in college from their high schools. Those students who did not wish to go to college have had various options during high school to pursue their perceived needs. But, high school has not provided a well-balanced curriculum that provides for intellectual, physical and emotional growth. Without this balance we are sending our young people to confront life with only part of the skills they need.
Our emphasis has historically been on the intellectual side of the balance scale and today we have inactive kids who have a difficult time getting along with others who are different from them. I believe that if we are going to create national standards they should be geared around developing programs that decrease our need for prisons,develop healthy and inquisitive young adults.
It is time we reorganize rather than reform education. Instead of spending our time developing programs that have students lock stepping through an education, we should develop and organize our education system to allow for individuality and creative thinking. A caring system that values the individual will cause more students to be motivated and prepare themselves for their futures.
There is agreement that we have a problem in particular with keeping our kids in school and that problem manifests itself around the end of childhood and the beginning of adolescence. Why don’t we address the problem at that level? Most of the information needed for further learning is in place by that time in our children’s education. Why not graduate our students from mandatory education at age 15? If they have learned the information that our society deems necessary for understanding our society we should acknowledge it. In New Mexico we have a pass or fail test given to students at 15 testing that type of knowledge. Why should a student go on if they can pass that test?
After graduation, with basic knowledge for living in our society in place, let students choose what they wish to study for, college, business, vocation, military, or paraprofessional work. As the Australian's call it, let us develop a useful tertiary education system from ages 16-20. They can all be rigorous programs that teach all students workforce skills at the same time. Aren’t workforce skills the ability to understand that you must be on time, you must focus on your work, you must take responsibility for what you do? Reading is not the problem in our youthful workforce; it is attitude!
While my idea is not perfect and perhaps not workable, let us use the strength of America, creative thinking, to solve our problems. Let us work together to identify the true problems and then create local solutions to those problems. If we continue the path we are on we will only do more of the same, continue to create students as products rather than individuals whose futures are in their hands not ours!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
School LIbraries
Websites for Learning
Digital Storytelling is an Open Thinking Wiki with some good resources for teaching about stories.
LibraryGames.com is committed to making the Library fun and Librarian's lives easier by creating entertaining educational library games, library videos, and Cds for school Media Centers and Public Libraries.
Zotero is a free easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources.
ICyte enables you to highlight and save text on any webpage, allowing you to recall the most relevant
information.
Brain Games contains scientifically designed games to help you imporve memory and attention.
Articles to Read
The Impact of the School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement from the ERIC Digest
Proficient Readers Need Good School Libraries by Gaby Chapman from Education Week
School Libraries key in Teaching Information Skills by staff of ESchoolNews.com
Thoughts From Yrisarri
A local televsion news commentary program recently featured a panel sharing thoughts about different aspects of funding state and city programs. During the discussion one panelist pointed out that library funding needed to be on the table. His reasoning was that libraries are “antiquated institutions” in today’s world. If you go to a school or public library you will find that they are busy places. So why do so many people believe the library is an antiquated institution?
Perhaps it is a misunderstanding of the multifaceted roles of libraries and librarians. One must view this institution through a wider lens that focuses on the needs of all members of a society rather than individual needs. As a school librarian my roles have included purchasing all types of media, organizing that media, circulating the resources, serving as the school media specialist, integrating technology into the services, teaching information retrieval, reading great books to children, finding good resources for teachers, assisting in literacy programs, designing facilities, serving on committees, and more. What I did in my job depended upon the vision of the school board, administration and teachers about the purpose of school libraries and librarians. In my view the best schools demanded that the library and librarian be at the center of the school both physically and intellectually.
An important component of today’s lbrary is technology. Narrow visions of the library can keep it from developing the technology infrastructure needed to deliver effective services. Early in the technological revolution money was cut from the library budget to buy computers. By cutting the budget without disucssion, I felt the library’s role in the digital revolution was being minimized. That I believe is at the heart of the vision of the “antiquated" library.
Many today believe they can find whatever information they need on the internet making the library irrelevant. What these people do not know that librarians know is that only a small fraction of total information is available. Everyone agrees that you get what you pay for and that knowledge is power. So why do people believe that the power of knowledge is free? The most current, complete and accurate information costs money. That is what libraries have been about, gathering that expensive knowledge and making it available to everyone no matter what media is being used to share the information.
Historically the school librarian has been at the center of curriculum, using the library budget to acquire materials and services to suport teachers and students in their work. School library programs are being overlooked in the current round of educational reform presses forward. Some schools do without librarians using assistants to check out books to the students. The next step is to get rid of school libraries all together. After all they are “antiquated institutions”.
Excellent schools have excellent libraries where students love books and know how to find the best information. Technology is an integral part of a library used to find books and other information offered by the library. In these schools the librarian is a resource using the library to provide programs and services which assist teachers and students in their pursuits. By the way, these schools with excellent “antiquated institutions” also have high test scores.
Digital Storytelling is an Open Thinking Wiki with some good resources for teaching about stories.
LibraryGames.com is committed to making the Library fun and Librarian's lives easier by creating entertaining educational library games, library videos, and Cds for school Media Centers and Public Libraries.
Zotero is a free easy-to-use Firefox extension to help you collect, manage, and cite your research sources.
ICyte enables you to highlight and save text on any webpage, allowing you to recall the most relevant
information.
Brain Games contains scientifically designed games to help you imporve memory and attention.
Articles to Read
The Impact of the School Library Media Centers on Academic Achievement from the ERIC Digest
Proficient Readers Need Good School Libraries by Gaby Chapman from Education Week
School Libraries key in Teaching Information Skills by staff of ESchoolNews.com
Thoughts From Yrisarri
A local televsion news commentary program recently featured a panel sharing thoughts about different aspects of funding state and city programs. During the discussion one panelist pointed out that library funding needed to be on the table. His reasoning was that libraries are “antiquated institutions” in today’s world. If you go to a school or public library you will find that they are busy places. So why do so many people believe the library is an antiquated institution?
Perhaps it is a misunderstanding of the multifaceted roles of libraries and librarians. One must view this institution through a wider lens that focuses on the needs of all members of a society rather than individual needs. As a school librarian my roles have included purchasing all types of media, organizing that media, circulating the resources, serving as the school media specialist, integrating technology into the services, teaching information retrieval, reading great books to children, finding good resources for teachers, assisting in literacy programs, designing facilities, serving on committees, and more. What I did in my job depended upon the vision of the school board, administration and teachers about the purpose of school libraries and librarians. In my view the best schools demanded that the library and librarian be at the center of the school both physically and intellectually.
An important component of today’s lbrary is technology. Narrow visions of the library can keep it from developing the technology infrastructure needed to deliver effective services. Early in the technological revolution money was cut from the library budget to buy computers. By cutting the budget without disucssion, I felt the library’s role in the digital revolution was being minimized. That I believe is at the heart of the vision of the “antiquated" library.
Many today believe they can find whatever information they need on the internet making the library irrelevant. What these people do not know that librarians know is that only a small fraction of total information is available. Everyone agrees that you get what you pay for and that knowledge is power. So why do people believe that the power of knowledge is free? The most current, complete and accurate information costs money. That is what libraries have been about, gathering that expensive knowledge and making it available to everyone no matter what media is being used to share the information.
Historically the school librarian has been at the center of curriculum, using the library budget to acquire materials and services to suport teachers and students in their work. School library programs are being overlooked in the current round of educational reform presses forward. Some schools do without librarians using assistants to check out books to the students. The next step is to get rid of school libraries all together. After all they are “antiquated institutions”.
Excellent schools have excellent libraries where students love books and know how to find the best information. Technology is an integral part of a library used to find books and other information offered by the library. In these schools the librarian is a resource using the library to provide programs and services which assist teachers and students in their pursuits. By the way, these schools with excellent “antiquated institutions” also have high test scores.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Help not Punishment for Struggling Teachers, Schools and Students
Some Useful Websites
AAA Math features a comprehensive set of interactive arithmetic lessons. Unlimited practice is available on each topic which allows thorough mastery of the concepts. A wide range of lessons (Kindergarten through Eighth grade level) enables learning or review to occur at each individual's current level.
Energy Kids-Find energy related stories, hands-on activities, and research articles for your classroom! These curriculum-based lessons are separated by age-grade.
The Open Door Web Site is a reference source for both students and teachers. The contents of this site are designed for use by students between the ages of 9 and 17.
Articles about Cognition, Affective Education and Pyschomotor Benefits
Emotional Intelligence Is the Missing Piece -This article is explains how social and emotional learning can help students successfully resolve conflict, communicate clearly, solve problems, and more.
Why Exercise Makes you Less Anxious - At a time when high stakes testing is imposed upon our students this article by Gretchen Reynolds point makes it clear that Physical Education should be more important to our curriculum than before.
Proficient Readers Need Good School Libraries - Gaby Chapman's article focuses on the fact that studies show that reading achievement in a school is directly related to the quality of its library but says,
Book Review
Mind Reading- by Allison Gopink is a book review for Stanislas Dehaene's new book about the reading and the brain called Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention . Neuroscientist are discovering that reading has not been around long enough for humans to have become an inate part of the human brain.
Thoughts From Yrisarri
In my years of teaching and working in schools I came across a few poor teachers. But, as I listen to to the movement for reform it seems as if there are many more bad teachers than I ever imagined. One of the cornerstones of the current push from the Secretary of Education and other reformers is to rid the schools of bad teachers. It seems that teacher unions and teachers themselves are to blame for the education disaster in America!
Once again the Department of Education is missing the point of the future for our children. It is more important in today's workforce to know how to cooperate, punitively firing teachers who are deemed "bad" teachers by some objective or subjective criteria, is not going to help create a culture of learning that teaches our children good values. Competition is between companies, not between workers in the companies. The current thinking seems to be that competition is the missing equation in education. This includes students and the teaching force. It is as if teachers and students are always applying for the job but never get to practice their skills.
Instead of calling for dismissal of teachers for doing poor work, let us first decide that we will help any teacher who does not meet basic benchmarks without threatening the job of someone who invested personal treasure in themselves to become a teacher. Perhaps schools that don't meet the benchmarks can be assured that their community will be helped without a threat of takeover or dismantling of a community investment. Maybe we can even make it clear to our students that we want to help them not fail them. I think that message is not received by many of our students today.
What I suggest is that our first instinct be to help others rather than dismiss them. One of the great reforms for education could be to create a culture of kindness and a tradition of caring about others. We can begin this by finding ways to "dismiss" the punitive natures of some of our classrooms and schools. One way to begin this reform is by committing to help struggling teachers, schools and students rather than punish them when they fail.
AAA Math features a comprehensive set of interactive arithmetic lessons. Unlimited practice is available on each topic which allows thorough mastery of the concepts. A wide range of lessons (Kindergarten through Eighth grade level) enables learning or review to occur at each individual's current level.
Energy Kids-Find energy related stories, hands-on activities, and research articles for your classroom! These curriculum-based lessons are separated by age-grade.
The Open Door Web Site is a reference source for both students and teachers. The contents of this site are designed for use by students between the ages of 9 and 17.
Articles about Cognition, Affective Education and Pyschomotor Benefits
Emotional Intelligence Is the Missing Piece -This article is explains how social and emotional learning can help students successfully resolve conflict, communicate clearly, solve problems, and more.
Why Exercise Makes you Less Anxious - At a time when high stakes testing is imposed upon our students this article by Gretchen Reynolds point makes it clear that Physical Education should be more important to our curriculum than before.
Proficient Readers Need Good School Libraries - Gaby Chapman's article focuses on the fact that studies show that reading achievement in a school is directly related to the quality of its library but says,
School libraries are slowly but steadily being replaced by an onslaught of packaged reading programs designed to teach “virtual reading,” in which students can learn everything about reading without actually doing it.
Book Review
Mind Reading- by Allison Gopink is a book review for Stanislas Dehaene's new book about the reading and the brain called Reading in the Brain: The Science and Evolution of a Human Invention . Neuroscientist are discovering that reading has not been around long enough for humans to have become an inate part of the human brain.
Thoughts From Yrisarri
In my years of teaching and working in schools I came across a few poor teachers. But, as I listen to to the movement for reform it seems as if there are many more bad teachers than I ever imagined. One of the cornerstones of the current push from the Secretary of Education and other reformers is to rid the schools of bad teachers. It seems that teacher unions and teachers themselves are to blame for the education disaster in America!
Once again the Department of Education is missing the point of the future for our children. It is more important in today's workforce to know how to cooperate, punitively firing teachers who are deemed "bad" teachers by some objective or subjective criteria, is not going to help create a culture of learning that teaches our children good values. Competition is between companies, not between workers in the companies. The current thinking seems to be that competition is the missing equation in education. This includes students and the teaching force. It is as if teachers and students are always applying for the job but never get to practice their skills.
Instead of calling for dismissal of teachers for doing poor work, let us first decide that we will help any teacher who does not meet basic benchmarks without threatening the job of someone who invested personal treasure in themselves to become a teacher. Perhaps schools that don't meet the benchmarks can be assured that their community will be helped without a threat of takeover or dismantling of a community investment. Maybe we can even make it clear to our students that we want to help them not fail them. I think that message is not received by many of our students today.
What I suggest is that our first instinct be to help others rather than dismiss them. One of the great reforms for education could be to create a culture of kindness and a tradition of caring about others. We can begin this by finding ways to "dismiss" the punitive natures of some of our classrooms and schools. One way to begin this reform is by committing to help struggling teachers, schools and students rather than punish them when they fail.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
The Educational Crisis
Some Useful Websites
NCS-Tech! is a mix of K-8 educational technology resources, commentary, lesson ideas and more, for members of any school community and the world.
Crayola Digi Color is a site from Crayola where your young chldren can choose a type of pen and color and then scribble or write whatever they want.
Classtools.net allows you to create free educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge!
Rethink Learning Now is a powerful website where people share their most important learning moments, you can share your story here too!
Neuroscience for Kids is a site where you can discover the exciting world of the brain, spinal cord, neurons and the senses. Do experiments, activities and games to help you learn about the nervous system.
Some Articles to Read
When Teaching the Right Answers is the Wrong Direction
Dyslexia: Some Very Smart Accomplished People Cannot Read Well
Cognitive Scientists Debunk Learning-Style Theories -Scroll down the articles in the blog Inside School Research to access the article.
Thoughts from Yrisarri
I recently read Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them by Benedict Carey in NYTimes.com. This article is primarily about teaching young children focused math education based upon brain and learning research. Current research indicates that a number instinct is hard-wired into the anatomy of the brain. Stanislas Dehaene, a cognitive neuroscientist believes that
I have always believed that the most important part of an early education are affective and psycho-motor learning not cognitive skills acquisition. My experience and some early studies in learning revealed that by age 8 most children were in about the same place with their reading skills. Brain research is teaching us that our brains are plastic and although there are optimal learning times for some things, any "learning deficit" is not irreversible.
If our "hardwiring" for sound-letter recognition is not fully developed by age 11, why are we pushing our children to learn to read before the age of 8? The article in NYTimes.com indicates to me our children could be much better served by focusing their learning on math rather than reading. I think that it would be even better if we added second languages, dancing, singing, art and lots of movement into the early learning curriculum creating language rich and non stressful environments for learning. They will learn to read when they are organically ready and motivated to do so.
It is my belief that we do not have an educational crisis. The reform that needs to take place in education has to do with adults and their perception of what is important for children and what constitutes success. Many successful people are poor readers, yet we are planning to put teachers jobs on the line if they can not teach their classes certain reading skills within a certain amount of time.
We do have a crisis in our inner cities. That has been well documented by authors such as Johnathon Kozol. When children are coming to school stressed from their environment they are not going to be able to learn. We need to address the crisis in their environment and give them schools where learning does not add more stress to their lives. When they are ready to learn we need to teach them skills that will lead to their success.
NCS-Tech! is a mix of K-8 educational technology resources, commentary, lesson ideas and more, for members of any school community and the world.
Crayola Digi Color is a site from Crayola where your young chldren can choose a type of pen and color and then scribble or write whatever they want.
Classtools.net allows you to create free educational games, activities and diagrams in a Flash! Host them on your own blog, website or intranet! No signup, no passwords, no charge!
Rethink Learning Now is a powerful website where people share their most important learning moments, you can share your story here too!
Neuroscience for Kids is a site where you can discover the exciting world of the brain, spinal cord, neurons and the senses. Do experiments, activities and games to help you learn about the nervous system.
Some Articles to Read
When Teaching the Right Answers is the Wrong Direction
Dyslexia: Some Very Smart Accomplished People Cannot Read Well
Cognitive Scientists Debunk Learning-Style Theories -Scroll down the articles in the blog Inside School Research to access the article.
Thoughts from Yrisarri
I recently read Studying Young Minds, and How to Teach Them by Benedict Carey in NYTimes.com. This article is primarily about teaching young children focused math education based upon brain and learning research. Current research indicates that a number instinct is hard-wired into the anatomy of the brain. Stanislas Dehaene, a cognitive neuroscientist believes that
The firing of the number neurons becomes increasingly more selective to single quantities, he said; and these cells apparently begin to communicate with neurons across the brain in language areas, connecting precise quantities to words: “two,” “ten,” “five.”
A similar honing process is thought to occur when young children begin to link letter shapes and their associated sounds. Cells in the visual cortex wired to recognize shapes specialize in recognizing letters; these cells communicate with neurons in the auditory cortex as the letters are associated with sounds.There is some research indicating that the brain does not fully fuse letters and sounds until a person is about 11 years old.
I have always believed that the most important part of an early education are affective and psycho-motor learning not cognitive skills acquisition. My experience and some early studies in learning revealed that by age 8 most children were in about the same place with their reading skills. Brain research is teaching us that our brains are plastic and although there are optimal learning times for some things, any "learning deficit" is not irreversible.
If our "hardwiring" for sound-letter recognition is not fully developed by age 11, why are we pushing our children to learn to read before the age of 8? The article in NYTimes.com indicates to me our children could be much better served by focusing their learning on math rather than reading. I think that it would be even better if we added second languages, dancing, singing, art and lots of movement into the early learning curriculum creating language rich and non stressful environments for learning. They will learn to read when they are organically ready and motivated to do so.
It is my belief that we do not have an educational crisis. The reform that needs to take place in education has to do with adults and their perception of what is important for children and what constitutes success. Many successful people are poor readers, yet we are planning to put teachers jobs on the line if they can not teach their classes certain reading skills within a certain amount of time.
We do have a crisis in our inner cities. That has been well documented by authors such as Johnathon Kozol. When children are coming to school stressed from their environment they are not going to be able to learn. We need to address the crisis in their environment and give them schools where learning does not add more stress to their lives. When they are ready to learn we need to teach them skills that will lead to their success.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
NCLB a Noble but Misguided Policy
Some Useful Websites
Kids Count Data Center is a place where you can "access hundreds of measures of child well-being" from state data and data across states.
Coalition for Better Education is a site"Created to dignify the autonomy of our children and of their teachers."
Some Interseting Articles
It Is Time to Refocus on Education, R&D and Innovation If We Are to "Think Different" from the Huffington Post, this article points to the importance of creative thinking.
Talking to your child about technology is like having the sex talk. Except kids are helping to write the rules is a series of articles in the Laptop website about children and technology from a parents point of view.
I Don’t Need Your Network (or Your Computer, or Your Tech Plan, or Your…) is from a blog by Will Richardson and points out what our children can expect from technology that we don't get.
Thoughts From Yrisarri
No Child Left Behind is a noble but misguided effort to level the playing field for all members of our society. It is noble by its very mission. To acknowledge that school has not paid dividends for a some of our citizens is the next step in the civll rights movement. But the the cure for this problem targets all students in our schools instead of just those in need by gathering data from test results rather than taking constructivist action.
George Siemens recently stated in his blog that the term learning really has no meaning.
NCLB’s cure for what ails education is not based upon “sense making” but as Dr. Deborah Waber says in an address at a Learning and the Brain conference, the cure is finding deficiencies in subject areas. Therefore, reading scores are deficient because teachers and students are lazy. So instruction time is increased, tests are given, and failure is punished. These deficits are seen as pervading all of our schools because there are students who do not succeed in all of our schools. Instead we should be focusing our intervention on those students who need help by understanding the conditions that have caused them to be termed deficient.
Brain research is clear about the results of stress on learning. The data is also clear about who comes to school stressed. NCLB seems to be based on the philosophy of the Education Equality Project . They believe, and I agree, that "what happens in schools has a tremendous impact upon the achievement gap in our country". What I don’t agree with is a one size fits all prescription. That prescription has led to instructional practices that do lead to later success in life. Joe Williams from the Education Equity Project in an interview in EdcationNext says,
So we can slow down! Testing is not the answer especially for our younger children. It only causes more stress. We can develop language rich environments with projects and activities and teach young children to read and other academics when they are ready. We do not have a reading deficit if we do not expect all children to learn the same thing at the same time no matter the cirucumstances! We need to help students make sense of the vast body of knowledge at their fingertips rather than force feed information to them. All kids come to school ready to learn, but we place them in competitive, stressful classrooms and tell them they have deficits before they have had time to make sense of the information they already have. If we treat our youg chldren as individuals, when they reach the upper grades they will have the skills they need to begin making sense of the larger world!
Kids Count Data Center is a place where you can "access hundreds of measures of child well-being" from state data and data across states.
Coalition for Better Education is a site"Created to dignify the autonomy of our children and of their teachers."
Some Interseting Articles
It Is Time to Refocus on Education, R&D and Innovation If We Are to "Think Different" from the Huffington Post, this article points to the importance of creative thinking.
Talking to your child about technology is like having the sex talk. Except kids are helping to write the rules is a series of articles in the Laptop website about children and technology from a parents point of view.
I Don’t Need Your Network (or Your Computer, or Your Tech Plan, or Your…) is from a blog by Will Richardson and points out what our children can expect from technology that we don't get.
Thoughts From Yrisarri
No Child Left Behind is a noble but misguided effort to level the playing field for all members of our society. It is noble by its very mission. To acknowledge that school has not paid dividends for a some of our citizens is the next step in the civll rights movement. But the the cure for this problem targets all students in our schools instead of just those in need by gathering data from test results rather than taking constructivist action.
George Siemens recently stated in his blog that the term learning really has no meaning.
....... our focus is not on some esoteric concept of learning. Instead, the intent is to orient ourselves to a complex set of phenomenon and to plan potential courses of action.We are always learning, it is a function of our brain’s reaction to its environment. Siemens wants to replace the term learning with “sense making “ That should certainly be the mission of our schools in todays interconnected world where every kid will soon have access to all the information in the world on their phone. I would add that that part of “sense making” is focusing our learning on environments appropriate to our cultural and societal needs as well as individual needs.
NCLB’s cure for what ails education is not based upon “sense making” but as Dr. Deborah Waber says in an address at a Learning and the Brain conference, the cure is finding deficiencies in subject areas. Therefore, reading scores are deficient because teachers and students are lazy. So instruction time is increased, tests are given, and failure is punished. These deficits are seen as pervading all of our schools because there are students who do not succeed in all of our schools. Instead we should be focusing our intervention on those students who need help by understanding the conditions that have caused them to be termed deficient.
Brain research is clear about the results of stress on learning. The data is also clear about who comes to school stressed. NCLB seems to be based on the philosophy of the Education Equality Project . They believe, and I agree, that "what happens in schools has a tremendous impact upon the achievement gap in our country". What I don’t agree with is a one size fits all prescription. That prescription has led to instructional practices that do lead to later success in life. Joe Williams from the Education Equity Project in an interview in EdcationNext says,
We keep finding ourselves debating that key distinction with people who argue that the external forces in a child’s life represent obstacles too large for even great schools to overcome. While we are very sympathetic to the obstacles that impoverished children face to their physical, emotional, and educational development, and support policies to address these deficiencies, we believe that when conditions outside of the classroom are less than stellar, it is even more important that we get the schooling piece rightThis philosophy seems to ignore the reality of many “deficit” children’s lives and rejects the brain research on stress and learning. Children from low income families are are at risk for educational achievement. Studies find that these children are more likely to experience violence than their middle and upper income peers. All indicators of stress are at higher levels for children from low income families. That puts them at risk for developing the affective skills needed for academic success. Executive capacity in our frontal lobes is responsible for development of self-regulation and if a child can not self-regulate learning becomes almost impossible. Impossible that is until we determine that they have a problem that needs medication. Stress is cumulative and releases hormones into the brain that inhibit learning. A child’s language development is another predictor of academic success and students from low income families come to school with about 25% of the vocabulary of their peers from higher income families. The good news is that our brains are plastic!
So we can slow down! Testing is not the answer especially for our younger children. It only causes more stress. We can develop language rich environments with projects and activities and teach young children to read and other academics when they are ready. We do not have a reading deficit if we do not expect all children to learn the same thing at the same time no matter the cirucumstances! We need to help students make sense of the vast body of knowledge at their fingertips rather than force feed information to them. All kids come to school ready to learn, but we place them in competitive, stressful classrooms and tell them they have deficits before they have had time to make sense of the information they already have. If we treat our youg chldren as individuals, when they reach the upper grades they will have the skills they need to begin making sense of the larger world!
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