MAKING THE GRADE

Every Sunday, without fail, I make a point of purchasing "The Record" newspaper.

Why you ask? Well, there is a special segment dedicated to Education [Making The Grade]. The weekly segment focuses on teachers going "above and beyond" their defined scope of responsibilities in assuring they are meeting students' needs.

As educators, I find the readings indispensable on several fronts:

• Highlights effective "best practices"
• Fosters idea sharing
• Pinpoints successful teacher traits and teaching methods
• Speaks to shared experiences

This Sunday and perhaps ongoing, I suggest you purchase a copy and let me know what you think.

In the spirit of full disclosure, I do not work for, nor do I have a stake in the newspaper.

WEBQUEST

In reviewing Dr. Luongo's below posting to another student's blog, upon further reflection, her comments hit the mark:


"Even if you never use one again! Another thing you can take from the experience is the self-awareness of how frustrating it can be for your students when they are forced to learn something new."


If one of the desired goals was to put us in the students' shoes [when faced with a new challenge, or attempting to complete a very daunting assignment], from my perspective, mission was definitely accomplished!

WEBQUEST

Let's see now, where do I begin?

Here we go, in the spirit of taking a diplomatic, but also an honest stance on this assignment, this by far, has been an extremely daunting experience!

As a first timer to WebQuesting, but someone that is always up to the challenge, at first glance I said to myself: "There is no way I will be able to accomplish this assignment". In perusing the innumerable samples, along with the plethora of sites and tutorial, it just seemed overwhelming!

With all that said, once I actually delved into the assignment, I actually grasped the concepts fairly quickly. Although WebQuesting is a very time-consuming process, the positive outcome [once you look at the end product] is immeasurable!

Without giving any mixed messages, overall, this was a very rewarding experience. However, if I understand the functionality of Quest Garden accurately, the only downside is, after one year, after putting so much effort into this assignment, my WebQuest will be deleted forever.

ADVER-TESTING

It's a Saturday night @ 10:00 P.M. More specifically, it's 2/14/2009 [Valentine's Day] and I'm watching the channel 5 10:00 P.M. news. You may ask why am I watching the 10:00 P.M. news on Valentine's Day, well that's another story.

Now on to the more important story. While watching the news, there was a very interesting segment on education. The segment focused on a California H.S. math teacher, particularly as it related to budget constraints and funding. Due to continued tough economic conditions, the teacher was only allotted $300.00 for the year to cover classroom expenses for his students. As you might imagine, this was not nearly enough to cover his classes for the entire year.

So, using some very interesting creativity, the teacher came up with the concept of "Adver-Testing". The concept entails reaching out to local business owners, and offering them the opportunity [for small donations] to advertise their business services on the students' test papers.

The marketing idea [which was a overwhelming success,] affords the local business owners to effectively reach out to their community and market their services, while at the same time helps provide much needed funds to the school. As a result of the initial success, other teachers within the school are using this same method to raise funds.

SECRET BUILDERS

Although the site appears to be a "work in progress" initiative [did encounter some flaws], after navigating through some of the features, using some creativity, Secret Builder can be a pretty useful educational tool for students, parents and teachers alike. I particularly like the fact that the idea was a collaborative effort between parents and teachers.

The [free] site has various links and interactive activities which caters to the different age groups. It also has safety features that should put parents at ease. The contest feature offered is a definite "hook" for younger children, which will only serve to keep them intrigued to explore the site's features further.

I must admit I spent a good amount of time playing an old-time favorite: "hang man". Overall, a solid site, and it is free! I urge you to check it out.

NJCCCS

Coming from the corporate arena [Financial Services], without fail, we constantly lived by the motto: "If you can not measure it, you definitely can not manage it." As I continue to become acclimated with the education field, I find it more and more, this motto is applicable to teaching/learning as well.

You get no argument from me, succinctly, the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards for Technological Literacy are a must! The ability to assure our leaders of tomorrow are thoroughly prepared to compete globally, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the standards appear to be well drafted to address such. At the risk of dating myself, times have really changed/advanced since I attended high school - Computers and other technological apparatuses were NEVER utilized. It is good to see that technology now plays a huge part in the teaching/learning process.

In teaching, I guess the real challenge is in incorporating the standards into the lesson plans. I would imagine there has to be a delicate balance between a tendency to focus solely on the standards and making certain one does not lose connection with the students.

As it relates to Special Education broadly, which is the area of education I wish to pursue, there appears to be a separate set of standards [New Jersey Department of Education Special Education Self-Assessment]. Because I truly want no student disadvantaged when they ultimately enter the marketplace, so that these students can also realize their full potential, at what point do we look to integrate students with learning disabilities into the main stream? Or as adults, will they face the "sink or swim" mentality that definitely exist?

PODCASTING, ANYONE?

In perusing the articles, I'm convinced, quite simply, classroom podcasting is just an exceptional concept! Just imagine the healthy and competitive environment it would foster.

However, realistically, in this current and awful economic down-turn, how many of our schools have the necessary funding to support such an initiative?