K-12 News Blog: A Blog About Usings Blogs In Class

Wow! These blogs are coming fast and furious now! Hopefully this one will not sound as hasty as my last post... In fact I might fix that... Okay done! That is one of the nice things about blogs is that you can edit your post so easily. Because of the ease of doing something like this, and the general ease of use and organization when it comes to using computers, many teachers are now using web logs, or blogs, as tools in their classrooms as well. This blog itself is part of its own classroom assignment, making this posting the most "meta" of any posting thus far. But it is no surprise why some teachers are using blogs in the classroom. Even I am thinking about doing it with my students if I am allowed, I'm just not sure how yet. A college teacher could easily use a blog for their classes, and in my own experience I have seen more college teachers use classroom blogs than K-12 teachers (though this might also be due to my age). Still the slight problems some students may have figuring out the technology seems to be out weighed by the benefits of keeping a class blog of some sort. I have included three links in the Link list that I consider testimonials to this fact. One is from TechLearning, and it describes why web logs are here to stay and some of the concerns about using a web log effectively. The another is direct feedback from a teacher who uses web logs themselves. And the final one is a web site that will give a teacher effective steps toward creating a classroom blog. These testimonials along with my own experience using a class blog have made me think of using one for one of my classes at one time; probably the best compliment of all.

K-12 News Interactive Web Sites

What is an interactive website? you might be using them and not even know it! An interactive website is one that is meant to be manipulated towards a goal. Websites that run games such as Pacman or Tetris can be considered interactive. But websites can also be used to create educational material. In the list to the right I have provided a couple of Interactive Web site's that a teacher could use to help students grasp some simple skills. For instance there is an antonym matching game to help students quickly learn what the concept of antonyms are. There are also test you can use to drill students on specific subjects, such as the life of Ben Franklin. The website quia.com seems to have a whole bunch of these types of web pages, though you must pay to use them after a free trail period. Still interactive games such as these are great tools for helping people learn certain skills, especially for those who learn well by "doing". If a teacher can easily integrate using a web page such as this, it could be a great method of helping a student learn. What is nice is the fact that these games are all web based (running on java or sometime just within the browser) it makes it much easier to use and accesses. Interactive web sites could easily be used to go over easy vocabulary terms or run true false quizzes. If a teacher could learn how to create one of these types of web sites they could easily create some fun content for their classes to use.
*Edited from 1st posting*

K-12 News - In Depth: No Child Left Behind

Today I will be focusing one the issue of No Child Left Behind by focusing on a a related series of stories. U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings has been touring the United States recently trying to promote NCLB and quell any nay sayers or people with problems. She recently visited both West Virginia and Virginia about the subject, and to put it kindly, she did not go over very well. Most of the news coming out of any article about the visit was generally negative, ranging from simple complaints about how to test students who are of Limited English Proficiency, to outright discussion of pulling out of the bill, some commenting that the tour is just "a fly-by" and "...going through the motions". No matter how you look at it, things look dubious for NLCB at the moment. Spellings does not seem to want to budge on much either. She does acknowledge that there are some problems with NCLB, but she also says that they are fixable and we should not worry. Furthermore, she warns VA lawmakers that "it wouldn't be in VA's best interest to walk away from such federal resources." It seems pretty clear that things are getting nasty and pretty serious though if the state is willing to threaten to pull out of the deal. This isn't to say that NCLB still does not have supporters. It should be noted that VA already receives substantial leeway in certain area's including the number of minority or disabled to be cut off at 50 children rather than 30. The four latest links in the K-12 News Links are all about NCLB. It chronicles Spelling's trip to W.VA earlier in March followed by her trip to Richmond VA later that March.

Thomas's K - 12 News

Interested in some K-12 Education news? I thought you might be and it just so happens I have a couple of new news bits to share myself.

The Virginia Dept. of Education has recently posted online tutorials for middle school math teachers. The tutorials are designed to help teachers learn new techniques for teaching fractions, statistics, and measurement. The new initiative seems to have been spurred by concerns over the previous year’s nationwide test scores as well as a desire better prepare students for college and careers that require mathematics (there is a need for workers with such skills, especially in Northern VA).

On separate note, the debate about No Child Left Behind seems to be raging on. Both the state senate and the House of Delegates have passed bills that contemplate the pulling out of the program. Virginia could even be the first state to set a deadline for withdrawal. Lawmakers are looking for more flexibility with the current law’s requirements.

For more information on these issues, just click on the links provided on this page. Please note the No Child Left Behind story is linked to an editorial page and the views discussed are not necessarily my own.

Where in the World is.... Thomas Gordon

For any of you who have been following my blog (not many of you I know...) I'm sure you have been wondering... what happened to Thomas? He used to come in to class and talk computers, ask questions and pretty much be a huge nerd... But he hasn't been in class these past two weeks. What's going on? Well I feel I have a pretty good answer for you... The first week I was out was because I came down with an awful case of the flu. The doctor told me to DEFINITELY not do anything for the next couple of days because I was contagious and he gave me some strong medicine (the kind you only have to take for 5 days)... so by Tuesday I was indeed feeling better. Tuesday night however was a completely different story... I woke up at around 4AM with a severe pain in my abdomen on the right side. By around 8AM I decided to go to the emergency room because the pain was not going away, but instead getting worse. It turns out I have a kidney stone about 4mm to 5mm large. If you don't know much about kidney stones check here for more information

Kidney Stones

As the article on wikipedia mentions, the main symptom is pain "often described as the worst pain I've ever experienced" and I must agree. They put me on heavy pain medication and told me to return to the emergency room if the medication did not help with the pain. I left the hospital around 2PM that day... I had to return to the emergency room Saturday after experiencing another long night of pain. The doctors then put me on even heavier medication (oxycodone) and I was put on a fast track schedule with the Virginia Urology clinic. I saw the urologist Mon. (yesterday) and he gave me some medication that makes me slightly less loopy and I am scheduled to have a Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy this next Monday. If I still do not pass my stone then I will then require surgery. So I have had a slight run of bad luck. I am trying my best to hang in there however and I am crossing my fingers hoping that I will not need surgery. I'd like to personally thank my parents for all the help they have given me during this ordeal (I know you guys read this) and would also like to thank my friends and family for keeping me in their prayers. I hope I never have another experience such as this again.

My Feelings on Computers and the Internet

So I'm sure that people in class have now figured out that I like computers... but that doesn't mean I think they are the greatest thing ever to do everything. I personally hate sites such as "Myspace" or "Facebook" and I sometimes hate how computers allow people to be so impersonal. I saw an interview on The Daily Show which expresses my feelings quite well. Check it out.

Thomas's K - 12 News

Well if you’re looking for some news about what has been happening here in the state of Virginia in Education, look no more...

It seems that Governor Tim Kaine has been having budget problems for the Commonwealth of Virginia lately, coming short $1.4 Billion. Because of this he is now trying to find ways to come up with said money and instead of raising taxes, he's cutting government spending in Education, support for local governments and more. Supposedly the cuts in education will not affect money going to operating K-12 Schools, but the construction of new ones.

Also it seems that more and more schools are using the money that they do get into modernizing their equipment and trying to network together different systems for ease of use and convenience. More than ever this means that teachers should be able to use this technology to make information available to parents and students.

Albemarle County wants to create a parent/teacher "portal" with secure access to student data. With such a tool parents could easily look up information such as student absences and grades. The system would probably be similar to U of R's Banner Web or Blackboard services.

That's all for this update! For more information on these news bits click on the links provided on this page and check back later for more education news!