Volume 30, no.15, January 12th, 2011
The article titled "Cyber Students Taught the Value of Social Skills" discusses the ever growing population of students receiving an online school. Some of these are charter schools and some are not. Students share classrooms with other students from all over the country. One of the chief complaints or concerns with an online education is how to teach the students about social skills, a topic that often cannot be taught but rather needs to be experienced. So the newest idea is to have fieldtrips, one day a week that they can meet or other outings with students in similar geographical regions. Another idea online charter school, Commonwealth Connections Academy has come up is sending around a vehicle converted into a science classroom. It parks in a different Pennsylvania neighborhood each week. Students who participate get a change to work on science with peers (classmates) and a teacher. Other online programs use networking to join their students socially. These may include Facebook, My Space, Blogging and the Big Think (an alternative to Facebook. Although there is much concern about the socialization skills of students who participate in a full time online education, studies have shown that they are just as social as their counterparts who attend traditional schools. In fact the online students rated higher than students participating in traditional education. Also problem behaviors were rated as significantly lower in students enrolled in online schools. Another issue discussed is the lack of adult role models in an online education.
Overall, I find the whole idea of cyber schooling uncomfortable. I myself learn better in a traditional classroom environment and I think many children need that human interaction to help keep them interested and motivated. I also don't know how this change to cyber schooling is going to address those person's with special needs or behavioral issues. My true fear is the online schooling will eventually completely replace traditional education. I worry that my child or grandchildren may not have the choice of having a real teacher, a real classroom and real classmates and friends. Most of this change will be forced eventually as it's a cheaper way to educate and school budgets continue to get cut. My only hope is that it will take a very long time to happen as my career as well as my children and grandchildrens education may be at stake.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Ed Weekly Blog #3, 1-19-11
Volume 30, No. 16, January 13, 2011
The aritcle titled "Finding Efficiencies in Special Education" addresses the financial aspects of special education and what can be done about them. The first issue raised talks about FAPE, a free and appropriate education for students with special needs. Fape does not address the current budget cuts many schools are going through. This creates a discrepency with parents and administration. Parents are used to not being told no. If their child needs something for their education it has mostly been supplied to them. This dilema puts the schools in a tight spot. Can they turn parents down? Can they say no to certain needs of the student if they cannot afford it in their new limited school budget? And if they have to say no are they in fear of a lawsuit? In the past when students with disabilities have not received appropriate services the school has been sued and lost quite a bit of money. Does this mean that Special education students will receive services even if the school cannot afford it? Each state is given a special education budget annually and their districts are at the mercy of what the state gives them.
The arguement is now becoming about how efficiently the monies are being spent rather than just reducing the budget. A huge push for inclusion is one way to save budget money. Another is to clossly look at each students IEP and determine if all things listed are still neccesary.
I agree with both the family (parents) and the schools argument on this issue. First of all the schools should be able to say no to some services. For example when I worked in Hawaii one the Autistic students at our school received dolphin therapy, a cost the school paid for. Dolphin therapy has not been scientifically proven to help with Autism, so eessentially the schools are paying out quite a bit of their budget to unsubstantiated therapies. I also agree with the parents in that their child needs a free and appropriate education. Parents may feel that if the school is given the right to say no to services that they may take that too far and a free and appropriate education may no longer be free or appropriate. The bigger question of this issue is "what is appropriate"? The answer is something that must be agreed upon by all parties involved. If all parties are reasonalbe and cognicent of the constant lowering of school budgets an agreement may be easier to come by. Unfortunately this is usually not the case. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens to the future financial state of special education.
The aritcle titled "Finding Efficiencies in Special Education" addresses the financial aspects of special education and what can be done about them. The first issue raised talks about FAPE, a free and appropriate education for students with special needs. Fape does not address the current budget cuts many schools are going through. This creates a discrepency with parents and administration. Parents are used to not being told no. If their child needs something for their education it has mostly been supplied to them. This dilema puts the schools in a tight spot. Can they turn parents down? Can they say no to certain needs of the student if they cannot afford it in their new limited school budget? And if they have to say no are they in fear of a lawsuit? In the past when students with disabilities have not received appropriate services the school has been sued and lost quite a bit of money. Does this mean that Special education students will receive services even if the school cannot afford it? Each state is given a special education budget annually and their districts are at the mercy of what the state gives them.
The arguement is now becoming about how efficiently the monies are being spent rather than just reducing the budget. A huge push for inclusion is one way to save budget money. Another is to clossly look at each students IEP and determine if all things listed are still neccesary.
I agree with both the family (parents) and the schools argument on this issue. First of all the schools should be able to say no to some services. For example when I worked in Hawaii one the Autistic students at our school received dolphin therapy, a cost the school paid for. Dolphin therapy has not been scientifically proven to help with Autism, so eessentially the schools are paying out quite a bit of their budget to unsubstantiated therapies. I also agree with the parents in that their child needs a free and appropriate education. Parents may feel that if the school is given the right to say no to services that they may take that too far and a free and appropriate education may no longer be free or appropriate. The bigger question of this issue is "what is appropriate"? The answer is something that must be agreed upon by all parties involved. If all parties are reasonalbe and cognicent of the constant lowering of school budgets an agreement may be easier to come by. Unfortunately this is usually not the case. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens to the future financial state of special education.
Ed Weekly Blog #2, 1-19-11
Volume 30, no.17, January 19th, 2011
The article titled "High Schoolers Attend College In 'Second Life'" is about students at Kinston High School in North Carolina who attend virtual college classes. Yet another program created because of budget cuts. The High School can no longer afford to send their college bound students to the college campus to take classes or see what college classes are like. So, their idea is to allow High schoolers a chance to get online and have a virtual class through East Carolina University. Most of the students really enjoy the opportunity to see what college is like withoug actually having to go on campus yet. It may be that some of the students live to far away right now or they just dont have the funds to go take a class on campus. Either way this program that is correlated with the students high school schedule allows them to have a similar experiencew. The students in the past have felt like they are detached from the University through distance learning, so this program named "Second life" connects the student with avatars (other students) and a professor. The online classes are sometimes in the format of a game which tends to really draw the interest of these teenagers.
I thing this is an interesting idea and I can see how we are being pushed toward this sort of instruction because of budget cuts. I do not although think that it can replace the actual visiting and attending a college class. That is a unique experience that can not be mimiced. I do although think that the "Second Life" program would be a good economical way to take and participate in an actual class. This program would save trips to campus and time out of the school day. For this I would give it a thumbs up, otherwise it gets a thumbsdown for me. Obviously, if I thought an online education was better than I wouldn't be attending a traditional on campus Master's program.
The article titled "High Schoolers Attend College In 'Second Life'" is about students at Kinston High School in North Carolina who attend virtual college classes. Yet another program created because of budget cuts. The High School can no longer afford to send their college bound students to the college campus to take classes or see what college classes are like. So, their idea is to allow High schoolers a chance to get online and have a virtual class through East Carolina University. Most of the students really enjoy the opportunity to see what college is like withoug actually having to go on campus yet. It may be that some of the students live to far away right now or they just dont have the funds to go take a class on campus. Either way this program that is correlated with the students high school schedule allows them to have a similar experiencew. The students in the past have felt like they are detached from the University through distance learning, so this program named "Second life" connects the student with avatars (other students) and a professor. The online classes are sometimes in the format of a game which tends to really draw the interest of these teenagers.
I thing this is an interesting idea and I can see how we are being pushed toward this sort of instruction because of budget cuts. I do not although think that it can replace the actual visiting and attending a college class. That is a unique experience that can not be mimiced. I do although think that the "Second Life" program would be a good economical way to take and participate in an actual class. This program would save trips to campus and time out of the school day. For this I would give it a thumbs up, otherwise it gets a thumbsdown for me. Obviously, if I thought an online education was better than I wouldn't be attending a traditional on campus Master's program.
Ed Weekly Blog #1, 1-19-11
Volume 30. No. 17 January 19th, 2011
The article entitled "School Restructures Student Grouping" is about grouping students in the classroom by ability for efficeintly run academia. This type of teaching is an experiment for this school to see if grouping really is better. The experiement is being conducted at Park Preparatory Academy in Detroit, Michigan.
The school discusses recent budget cuts to their school and labor-management relations contentious. Because of this they had to try something new. So, they now group their students according to their level in a particular subject. This method of grouping similar abilities has been refered to as differentiated instruction. It is said that this type of grouping helps those students who have struggled to grasp key concepts and may at risk of getting even farther behind. This school also adopts a teacher run school in which case the teachers take on the budgeting and management duties that are normally done by an administrator.
Another new approach by this school is that the students have personalized schedules. This is supposed to help the students stay more engaged in their work and minimize their frustration. With the personalized schedule the students are grouped by whether they need more of the basics, more intensive or more in depth instruction. Basically the teachers are targeting the same standards but the difference is in the breadth and depth of how the material is taught. At the end of the school day the teachers meet and decide if any students need a change in where they are grouped according to their ability on any given day, week or month. If needed students will be changed to a group that better fits their needs. It is said that this sort of grouping is more like having an IEP for each student. Mointoring of progress of this program is still underway as it is a relatively new program. The staff at this middle school are hopeful that with progress shown they will be able to continue their program next year.
I really enjoyed this article because it is a real life example of my teaching philosophy. I personally believe that their must be a way to differentiate instruction for all students, not only the ones on IEPs. I think that grouping as long as it is equitable is the best way to teach students. I know for myself I learn much better when I am taught information at a level I understand and with peers who are at a similar level.. I certainly wouldn't want a professor to make his lecture simpler than it needs to be to accomodate the lower acheivers in a class. At the same time I would not want to sit through a lecture that teaches to the highest level learners in the class, leaving the rest of us lost. Most times in public school the lessons are taught to accomodate the lower learners. This is a diservice to the other students, but if you are going to blanket teach (teach the same way to all students) then you would have to make it simpler rather than harder to see student acheivement and progress. I think grouping by ability makes much more sense. In the school I work at, I use differentiated teaching during learning lab for efficientcy. I group those with similar assingments (and similar ability) together. Then I can lecture and work with this group knowing that they are all about on the same page. If confusion occurs it is usually something the whole group can benefit from further explanation. Overall, this is a great method of delivery and I plan to use often in my teaching career.
The article entitled "School Restructures Student Grouping" is about grouping students in the classroom by ability for efficeintly run academia. This type of teaching is an experiment for this school to see if grouping really is better. The experiement is being conducted at Park Preparatory Academy in Detroit, Michigan.
The school discusses recent budget cuts to their school and labor-management relations contentious. Because of this they had to try something new. So, they now group their students according to their level in a particular subject. This method of grouping similar abilities has been refered to as differentiated instruction. It is said that this type of grouping helps those students who have struggled to grasp key concepts and may at risk of getting even farther behind. This school also adopts a teacher run school in which case the teachers take on the budgeting and management duties that are normally done by an administrator.
Another new approach by this school is that the students have personalized schedules. This is supposed to help the students stay more engaged in their work and minimize their frustration. With the personalized schedule the students are grouped by whether they need more of the basics, more intensive or more in depth instruction. Basically the teachers are targeting the same standards but the difference is in the breadth and depth of how the material is taught. At the end of the school day the teachers meet and decide if any students need a change in where they are grouped according to their ability on any given day, week or month. If needed students will be changed to a group that better fits their needs. It is said that this sort of grouping is more like having an IEP for each student. Mointoring of progress of this program is still underway as it is a relatively new program. The staff at this middle school are hopeful that with progress shown they will be able to continue their program next year.
I really enjoyed this article because it is a real life example of my teaching philosophy. I personally believe that their must be a way to differentiate instruction for all students, not only the ones on IEPs. I think that grouping as long as it is equitable is the best way to teach students. I know for myself I learn much better when I am taught information at a level I understand and with peers who are at a similar level.. I certainly wouldn't want a professor to make his lecture simpler than it needs to be to accomodate the lower acheivers in a class. At the same time I would not want to sit through a lecture that teaches to the highest level learners in the class, leaving the rest of us lost. Most times in public school the lessons are taught to accomodate the lower learners. This is a diservice to the other students, but if you are going to blanket teach (teach the same way to all students) then you would have to make it simpler rather than harder to see student acheivement and progress. I think grouping by ability makes much more sense. In the school I work at, I use differentiated teaching during learning lab for efficientcy. I group those with similar assingments (and similar ability) together. Then I can lecture and work with this group knowing that they are all about on the same page. If confusion occurs it is usually something the whole group can benefit from further explanation. Overall, this is a great method of delivery and I plan to use often in my teaching career.
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