I found this article very interesting. I'm running into the opposite problem this year. Though I have lost the ability to post my grades online, I do have a class website, calendar, wiki and use edmodo to communicate with students and families. Even though I have all of this, my students do not voluntarily look at any of the available resources (except edmodo) and my emails to parents now always include links to the resources I've created. I've encountered a couple of parents this year who don't want to look for the information themselves; they want me to send it to them in a personal email.
Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.
Showing posts with label washington post. Show all posts
Showing posts with label washington post. Show all posts
23 December 2009
29 April 2009
Be Still My Geographer's Heart!
Okay, my journalist's heart needs to be still too. The Washington Post has put together a visual representation of the spatial distribution of news stories around the world. What could be better?
The embedding feature isn't working real well right now, but this link takes you to the map for April 29 about 8:15 pm.
Though clearly sponsored by Sprint, the Post has written up a wonderful description of the in-house development of this tool.
The embedding feature isn't working real well right now, but this link takes you to the map for April 29 about 8:15 pm.
Though clearly sponsored by Sprint, the Post has written up a wonderful description of the in-house development of this tool.
21 December 2008
Most Textbooks Should Just Stay On the Shelf
From WashingtonPost.com education reporter Jay Matthews, this story discusses the problems we have with textbooks. Certainly, history books have become sanitized and distorted as Matthews points out.
My favorite teacher, Al Ladendorff of Hillsdale High in San Mateo, Calif., used our U.S. history text like a bull's-eye on a firing range. He had us identify factual distortions and analytical flaws in the thick tome the state had chosen for us. I never got over the realization that textbooks, presented as revealed truth all those years in school up until then, sometimes had as many mistakes and wrong-headed assumptions as my own term papers.Several years ago, during a textbook adoption process, I found that each of the books under consideration gave different casualty numbers for the First Battle of the Marne. Unfortunately, it seems to be difficult to convince school communities at large that having a textbook does not make a class good.
18 December 2008
Educational Pressure Cookers
The Washington Post.com reported December 1 that 64% of US students admit to cheating in school.
Recently, I've had several conversations with parents about the pressure their kids are under to do well in school. Students and parents are worrying about getting into the "right" college through a confusing blend of academic rigor, sports and community activities.
I reflected on my own high school experience. I had the time to take a challenging academic course load (but now would probably be considered remedial) and met the requirements to apply to University of California schools my senior year. I also had time for extracurricular activities and socializing.
Today, students are taking biology their freshman year and they had better be taking geometry by then too or they will be behind. Haven't taken Trigonometry by sophomore year (it wasn't even OFFERED at my high school)? That's a bad thing. What, only three AP classes your junior year?! Slacker!
Maybe this unseemly pressure is backing kids into a corner and they feel they have to cheat in order to keep their heads above water. I am NOT advocating cheating, but I do see the dark circles under the eyes, the anguished tears and the frustration that accompanies today's heavy course load. Maybe it's time we changed what we're doing in American education. There has to be a way to have a rigorous education without driving kids to the brink.
Recently, I've had several conversations with parents about the pressure their kids are under to do well in school. Students and parents are worrying about getting into the "right" college through a confusing blend of academic rigor, sports and community activities.
I reflected on my own high school experience. I had the time to take a challenging academic course load (but now would probably be considered remedial) and met the requirements to apply to University of California schools my senior year. I also had time for extracurricular activities and socializing.
Today, students are taking biology their freshman year and they had better be taking geometry by then too or they will be behind. Haven't taken Trigonometry by sophomore year (it wasn't even OFFERED at my high school)? That's a bad thing. What, only three AP classes your junior year?! Slacker!
Maybe this unseemly pressure is backing kids into a corner and they feel they have to cheat in order to keep their heads above water. I am NOT advocating cheating, but I do see the dark circles under the eyes, the anguished tears and the frustration that accompanies today's heavy course load. Maybe it's time we changed what we're doing in American education. There has to be a way to have a rigorous education without driving kids to the brink.
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