stevedesantis's blog

A departure from traditional school cell phone policies?

While working as a substitute teacher, I regularly have the opportunity to tell students to put away their cell phones and iPods.  Obviously this happens more often in Junior High and High School classrooms, it is not uncommon to remind the students as young as 2nd grade that they are not permitted to use their phones during classtime.  After reading the following article at edweek.org: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2009/11/27/315972usschoolscellphones_ap.html I have mixed feelings about the wisdom of using cell phones as a teaching tool in the classroom.

MapSkip as a Tool for the Classroom

It is time for me to revisit the web2.0 site MapSkip.  I initially investigated this site's suitability for use in the classroom as part of an assignment for a teacher certification class.  I saw some real opportunities for using this site in the classroom. 

Today I received an email from Thomas Sturm, Co-founder of MapSkip with a link to his blog on the MapSkip site. 

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In this blog entry, Thomas outlines the details of a teacher function added to the site.  This function allows a teacher user to protect the privacy of a student user, and allows the teacher to monitor the students' use of the site.

For the basics of the site, I created a wiki page with a review of the site along with an initial explanation on how to use it. 

A funny video for math teachers

I was looking for the classic "Who's on First" bit on YouTube and I came across this bit that I thought any math teacher might enjoy.  Evidently, for Lou Costello, the product of 7 and 13 is 28.

abbot and costello on math

YouTube video to show to introduce Literature discussion.

I would like to begin a discussion of Bud, Not Buddy, By Christopher Paul Curtis by showing this video to my class.  It is the style of music the protagonist experiences in the book.

Computer Animation in U.K. Elementary Schools

I thought that this would be of interest to the group after we had such fun editing our EyeSpot videos.  On the TeachersTV network site from the UK, I saw a video on doing stop motion animation in the classroom, at the Elementary level.  The video outlines the process of having students animate their own artwork on the computer.  The link for this video is: http://www.teachers.tv/video/2743, it is 15 minutes long.  To watch this video, you will probably be required to sign up for the site.  Don't worry I only receive one email from them per week.

Students 2.0

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Since we have all spent the semester reading and writing blogs about Education, I thought some of us might be interested to read what some students are blogging about at students2oh.org.  The site just went live 2 days ago, on 12/10/07.

This site is a forum for selected students to give us, their teachers some feedback, and voice their concerns about education.  The initial group of bloggers include students from 14-17years old from the USA, Korea and Scotland. 

The entries I read so far were on concerns about plagiarism, global villages and the future of the student blogger movement. The entries I have seen so far have been beautifully written and very thoughtful.  I encourage you to bookmark this site so you can visit it and get the student's perspective from time to time.

And the $15,000. Winners Are...

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The winners of the Interwrite Learning Classroom Makeover contest have been selected.  These videos were student/ teacher collaborations in 3 different grade level categories.  All of the 220 finalist entries were hosted on TeacherTube.com.  

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The winner for the category: Grade K-5 was the Canandaigua Primary School from Canadaigua, NY, USA! 

The Winner for the category: Grade 6-8 was the Ilminster Intermediate school  from Gisborne, New Zealand!

The winner for the category: Grade 9-12 was the J.M. Tate High School from Cantonment, FL, USA!

If anyone missed seeing these videos, check them out. They are all pretty funny and they highlight the need to upgrade technology in the classroom.

NCLB and Tech. Literacy

I receive occasional notices of educational chat sessions from EdWeek.org.  To date I have participated in one or two chats, but I thought this one might interest someone in the class.  Chat Starts: Wednesday, Nov. 28, 2 p.m. Eastern Time.  You can submit questions before the chat starts or you can read the results later.  Check it out here if you have the opportunity. 

About the Guest(s)

• Cathy J. Poplin is the Deputy Associate Superintendent for Educational Technology for the Arizona Department of Education.

Inclusion article in the Wall Street Journal

Inclusion article in the Wall Street Journal

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I know that this is not on the subject of Ed Tech, but it is an interesting article about the the pros and cons of inclusion.  While I agree that inclusion can benefit many special needs students, it is not necessarily the best option for everyone.  An IEP is supposed to be an Individual Education plan.  If the Individual is not benefiting, it needs to be changed.  Sometimes, these students do better in separate classrooms.  This should always be an option.

wow, I guess...

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Just in case you are wondering what level your writing is on.  Just click here.