New Technologies

We have been learning about so many new technologies in this course. What new technology will you adopt first for your classroom this year as we go back to school in about one month? I want to blog for each of my classes. I want to learn and get more proficient with Prezi presentations. I want to be able to access YouTube in my classroom for to show their on-line tutorials from OWL for example. I will encourage my students to use and open SKYPE on the night before an assignment is due. I would love to incorporate the iPad into my classroom with one classroom set of iPads as some teachers already have in the state. At the very least, it would be nice for a technologically minded teacher to have an iPad to use in class. The possibilities there are endless. These are just a few examples. How do you plan to incorporate these new technologies into your classroom activities?

High Stakes Testing and Cheating . . . by Teachers!

Supt. B. Hall ignored the misconduct and cheating by teachers and administrators while accepting praise for the high test scores achieved, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In light of the Atlanta, Georgia cheating scandal, we see that even teachers will cheat when the stakes are high. When merit pay is connected to higher year end scores, teachers look at that fact and decide to 'teach to the test' instead of working on the skill sets outlined in the Core. Teachers should always teach the core skills in their classroom, if they are not, something should be done by their administrators. This is one example but I'm sure there are more. When test scores are linked to 'more money' and merit pay increases, the lure to 'teach to the test' is there and difficult to ignore. Have you seen the movie Bad Teacher? What do you think about this national reliance (as a result of NCLB) on test scores and AYP as determining what a 'failing school' really is?

New Core: English and Math: Gates Model

What will be the biggest challenge for you as a classroom teacher as we roll out the new Core? Have you had your Core Academy training yet? What were the positives and negatives of the training? Do you feel ready to begin with at least one lesson this year?

NWEA

Which districts currently use NWEA Assessments? What are the positives and negatives? How long have you used this assessment program? What information do you glean from these NWEA assessments that you haven't seen before? From your posts on the Discussions, this is a program that looks to have merit so I am investigating. Obviously, there will be a cost so we are wondering if the information is worth the costs. I would appreciate all feedback, both positive and negative about the program. Thanks so much!