Why do we go to school? It’s an absurd question, really. If you ask students, they’re usually suprised by it. Everyone goes to school. There’s no real choice. We have to go to school. It’s what we do. And parents are generally in the same boat. They may say something about preparing students for the future, but really, kids go to school because society tells … Continue reading High School Knowledge
As the father of a high school senior, I’ve spent some time on college campuses over the last several months. We’ve visited elite private schools, small liberal arts colleges, and large state institutions. We’ve talked to admissions counselors, students, professors, and department heads. We have toured campuses, attended classes, listened to the promotional talks, and asked a lot of questions. The goal of this, of … Continue reading College Ready
A couple months ago, I surveyed the teachers in my district about classroom technology. Over the last few years, we have focused a lot on improving student access to technology. While this has meant unprecedented growth in tech resources available to students, it also means we haven’t devoted much time or resources on the technology that our teachers use. One problem with surveys like this is … Continue reading Do We Need Teachers?
The change that is happening in the middle grades right now continues to astound me. Eighteen months ago, our sixth grade teachers asked that we get rid of the carts of computers in their classrooms and just assign devices to the kids. It’s a small shift, really. Instead of having a set of computers in every classroom, we now have a computer in each student’s … Continue reading The Change is Here
This is an excerpt from a post I wrote in February, 2008: In the fall of 2005, I had read about podcasts, and was very interested in them. I drive 40 minutes each way to and from work every day. If I could find some good podcasts to listen to in the car, I could really improve how I was using that time. If I … Continue reading Remembering Bob Sprankle
Shortly after school ended in June, the custodial staff descended on the high school media center. They removed all of the books and bookshelves. This move had been coming for a while. Book circulation has been remarkably low for years. This year, the number of books checked out was smaller than the number of students in the school, averaging fewer than eight books per school … Continue reading Sans Livres
I’m a believer in personal learning networks. I’ve often said that I have learned far more from my colleagues than I have from any graduate course or workshop or conference. I’ve connected with people from all over the world, exchanging ideas, debating instructional approaches, and uniting in finding the best ways to leverage technology to improve learning and best meet students’ evolving needs. The technologies … Continue reading Are We There Yet?
I am not an early adopter. I used to be cutting edge. I’d download and install beta software. I would pine for the latest gadgets. I was firmly in the camp that believed in the latest AND greatest. Newer is always better. That’s what we mean by “progress.” But the new thing almost always has a dark side. The new version of Microsoft Office has no … Continue reading New and Improved
“The purpose of teaching a child is to enable the child to get along without the teacher.” In elementary school, we have a lot of structure. We line up a lot. We go to the restroom and to art and to the cafeteria as a group. Academically, we do a lot of things together. Even in centers, most students move through the whole rotation, so everyone does … Continue reading Fostering Independence
You didn’t go to Grandma’s house without eating. There were always baked goods: cookies, coffee cake, donuts. As soon as you sat down, she’d put on a fresh pot of coffee and start cooking. What can I make you? Want a sandwich? Macaroni and cheese? She would start going through the icebox and pull out everything. Have some braciole while I fry up some zucchini. … Continue reading Feed the Hungry
One of the frustrations with the current conversation in public education is that we’re not all talking about the same thing. We’re all experts in education, because we’ve all spent thousands of hours in school. But when it comes to some of the fundamental questions surrounding education, we’re not all on the same page. Here are five things we don’t agree on: What’s the purpose … Continue reading 5 Things We Don’t Agree On
One of the trends right now in educational technology is a move toward individual computing devices for each learner. Whether you go with a 1:1 program, a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model, or a hybrid approach with several different solutions, it’s clear that we are moving to a world where computers are assigned to people, not places. This personalization of technology is a trend … Continue reading Places to People
Taste of Tech 