Finally!! But...

Nation & World | Obama asks Congress for education bill by Sept. | Seattle Times Newspaper
Urging Congress to send him a new education law by fall, President Barack Obama focused Monday on the big concerns of parents and lawmakers alike: how student progress is measured and how schools that fall short are labeled.

Finally, someone in power recognizes what a mess No Child Left Behind (NCLB) has created in our country. President Obama cites new estimates showing that "four out of five schools may be tagged as failures this year under provisions of the Bush-era No Child Left Behind law." Really!?!? I get that we can improve upon what we do; if I didn't I wouldn't be teaching. But 80% of us are failing? I find this hard to believe. Were schools really so bad ten years ago that we had to turn education on it's data-driven head to be good at what we were doing? I graduated from high school in 1999, and I think I had a great K-12 education. I learned the core curriculum well enough to earn a number of scholarships and score highly on the ACT; I developed a value for the arts; I was a three-sport athlete; and I learned many valuable skills in my vocational agriculture classes. Programs were not cut because they didn't produce high test scores, and I wasn't forced into a 7-period day with no electives and class sizes pushing 30+. Were some students left behind? Absolutely not, especially not as many as we are leaving behind today. Sure there were some who did not excel in the core curriculum, but these students had numerous other programs, including a great vocational school, in which to participate and gain valuable experiences that I know served them well once they too graduated even if there were no tests for them to demonstrate their success.
No child left behind? Gimme a break! You can place a name like that on a mandate, but that alone doesn't make it come true. In my humble opinion we are leaving more children behind today than we were 10-15 years ago. Sure, a name like that appeals to every teacher who hears it, but it is completely unrealistic to expect 100% proficiency in every level of every content area. And further, it is criminal to withhold funding from schools who are not. Are we finally moving out from under this NCLB mushroom cloud? I hope so.
But wait! What do we have to look forward to? Race to the Top (R2T)! Another handily acronym-ed program that comes from every teacher's Bag o' Cliches. To be honest, I don't really know which, NCLB or R2T, scares me more. I see the same standards-based assessment programs (albeit a different "common" set of standards), the same support for charter schools (choice), the same data driven dependence on test scores, and the same focus on non-performing schools. But, now we can also look forward to "revising teacher evaluation, compensation, and retention policies to encourage and reward effectiveness" according to the White House. I'm not completely opposed to the idea of merit pay, but it needs to be based on more than test scores and I just don't see that happening here.
Diane Ravitch seems to be the only person talking that is making any sense arguing, screaming, that "the latest vision of education reform is deeply flawed." She continues, "the Obama administration is promoting the privatization of large segments of American education and undermining the profession of teaching." Why does it feel like no one is listening to us, begging them to just let us do what we do? Just let me teach! My teachers did it, and they did a damn good job of it, catchy acronym-ed mandate or not.

Family Tech: Non-geeks love tablets | InsideNova

Family Tech: Non-geeks love tablets | InsideNova

I couldn't help but think of my rant last week regarding teachers not interested in using technology in their classrooms suddenly very interested when the prospect of being given a tablet from the county's shared technology office. But, I think I've gotten over my initial feelings and come to look at this from a more positive angle.

These tablet devices may just be the key to getting technology in our schools. I'm seeing this happen more and more, non-tech geeks are very excited about these tablets, and if we can get the disseminated to our teachers we may just get this technology ball rolling... finally. Could this be the key?

So, what now?

As of today my course is complete.  I created this blog as a course requirement, and along the way found myself enjoying posting in this space each week.  It was a way to share, learn, vent, collaborate, etc.  But, what now?  You see for the last 8 weeks, I knew I had an audience.  I had a reason to share my thoughts, but if I'm not sure anyone is following, is it worth my time even if it's enjoyable?  Without being "required," will I still have a reason to post?  If I do lose my audience, how do I gain a new one?
I guess I'm a bit lost.  I have found an enjoyable, useful tool, but where do I go from here?

Seriously?

Is anyone other than John Stewart calling foul on what is going on currently, both in Wisconsin and in education.  This is the first segment from the show on February 28; why are we taking this?

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What will make teachers embrace technology?

Cool toys!
Today our principal forwarded our staff an email from the shared technology department of our county RESD stating that they were going to be coming into possession of some iPads and Android tablets to pilot the educational use of these tools and some selected apps for them in some districts throughout our county and the neighboring county.  They are looking for some volunteers across the districts and grade levels to volunteer to use these devices and report back to provide data on their educational benefit from administrators and teachers.  Of course I replied with a firm, exclamatory yes, and asked them to sign me up.  Hopefully the fact that I am nearly through a degree in Educational Technology will help me stand out as a good choice for this pilot.
The surprising part to me, however, was all of the other teachers in our building also asking to be considered for this project.  Some of the same teachers who are slow to implement new technology into their classroom, or resist and fight it altogether, all of the sudden are very interested!  I guess we're not as excited about building online content on a school webpage or utilizing ExamView software or using wikispaces for student projects because we can't take them home and play with them.  Or maybe it's because these things aren't the subject of a brilliant TV marketing campaign.  But an iPad... now we're talking educational technology we can all buy into.
C'mon guys, you're either in our out.  There isn't a box to check that says, "Only if it's cool."
But I suppose there is a lesson to be learned here.  If we invest in some of these cool toys, maybe we could get some more teachers on board with the real value technology can offer to our schools.  Dress up the windows and maybe they'll come in.  When they come in, they're sure to buy in.