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Monday, August 13, 2001

The Kids Domain What's New page noted a new freeware screensaver from PBS, Only a Teacher. I followed up the Kids Domain link to PBS and found a wealth of screensavers at PBS Screensavers or Screensaver search results from PBS.

Arik Hesseldahl reviews the Netscape 6.1 release for Forbes.com in Ten O'Clock Tech: AOL Updates Netscape Browser.

David K. Every has written a frank and revealing review of Mac OS X Server in Apple: Is quality job #2? If you are a Mac systems person considering switching from AppleShare, this column is a must read.


Tuesday, August 14, 2001

The Washington Post carries what has become an annual type of column, Parents Can't Bear Girls' Skimpy Attire. Post writer Emily Wax discusses bare tummies and cleavage in schools -- and that's just the elementary kids!

The Detroit News yesterday carried the story, Teachers laud in-class benefits of computers. This story is a follow-up on the Michigan Teacher Technology Initiative in which all public school teachers and many charter school teachers in Michigan were eligible to receive a computer at state expense.

A column by Tracey Wong Briggs in USA Today puts a little different twist on the early start of school theme. While Briggs notes that early starts are often due to "pressures from mandated state testing and academic demands," he also concludes, "In Virginia, a state law passed in 1986 forces school districts to get a waiver to open before Labor Day. It's known as the 'Kings Dominion Law,' after a theme park near Richmond." Coming sooner: Start of school is a short, but interesting read.

Denver Post Education Writer Eric Hubler describes parents' woes in finding and financing school supplies in A pencil's not enough. Hubler quotes frustrated Colorado parent Rachelle Huston as saying, "We pay so much taxes and everyone's so gung-ho for schools, why don't they give the schools enough money to buy the supplies? And pay the teachers more?" Sounds good to me! After reading the required supply list for Huston's third grade daughter, I could understand her frustration. It included:

  • one red, one blue, one green, one yellow and two purple folders
  • six Mead composition books (black marble type)
  • one package of wide-lined notebook paper
  • one steno pad
  • 24 No. 2 pencils
  • one large pink eraser
  • one wooden ruler marked in inches and centimeters
  • one pair of pointed Fiskars scissors
  • one box of 24 Crayola crayons
  • one box of 12 Crayola colored pencils
  • one box of eight Crayola markers (classic color)
  • one pack of four dry-erase markers
  • one plastic 8-by-5-inch pencil box
  • two small glue sticks
  • one set of watercolor paints with brush
  • one large box of Kleenex or Puffs
  • one 24-exposure roll of 35mm film
  • one pillowcase
  • one wooden clipboard
  • one box of quart-size Ziploc freezer bags

Pat Kossan of The Arizona Republic takes a look at the Teach for America corps in Young teacher corps thrives amid criticism. Kossan effectively presents both the accomplishments of Teach for America and the frequent criticisms of other teachers and educational researchers.

I generally try to wait for the weekly SchwabLearning.org newsletter before making my Tuesday posting (usually written on Monday evening). I'm especially glad I did so this week as Schwab presents an excellent primer on special education in LD Basics. Brief answers, linked to fuller explanations, are given for the common questions:

This looks like a pretty good page to bookmark for parents who have internet access and lots of questions about special education.

Other new offerings this week from SchwabLearning.org include:

A last new offering from Schwab is just too good to bury in a bullet list of columns. Dana Olney-Bell, a sixth grader with AD/HD, wrote My Story: Gifted and AD/HD. Dana tells what it's like to be smart enough to know you're different.


Wednesday, August 15, 2001

Joe Taylor sent along a link to a CBSNews.com column that decries the high salaries of NEA reps (Uniserv reps in Indiana). The NEA "hired gun" who serves my school district is worth a bundle.

Another gadget for students is a quick discussion by Amelia Newcomb of the use of Palm Pilots and such in schools.

Special ed costs draining Hawaii describes some of the problems Hawaii faces in achieving compliance with a federal court consent decree. An example of the problems foreign to those of us on the mainland is:

Sandie Dela Cruz, who lives in Captain Cook on the west side of Hawaii Island, said sometimes she has to fly more than 200 miles to Honolulu to get evaluations for her 5-year-old son, who has autism.

Thursday, August 16, 2001

Glenn Hameroff, of Delray Beach, Florida, sent along his thoughts on wiring our schools that he set in rhyme.

 
The Highway Not Taken           

Two different plans were presented in a yellow conference room
Each claimed the power to foster an education boom.
I wish I had the foresight to know which one to choose
Both promised a future where students could not lose.

Wire each classroom to the Internet and students will love it
They can connect with the world and become a stronger part of it.
The other alternative involves only the teacher and chalk
The goal of the lesson is simply to engage in a talk.

The computer choice is glossy filled with options to the brink
But are these just toys or do they make kids think?
The Internet supporters have legendary status
"Wire each room and install the apparatus"
It's vital to have the "info-highway" available to each student
Any other choice would be educationally imprudent!

The opponents are varied and constitute small numbers
They worry that educators will spend while the public slumbers
Some fear porn and worry about supervision
They scorn the media as an object for derision.

I am not Teacher as Dinosaur, eager to prevent it
Before we invest billions, maybe we could rent it.
This cyber path and technology with dangers is fraught
Maybe we should pause and employ more thought.

 

Although I'm a big user of technology in the classroom, I respect and appreciate Glenn's sense of caution. My job is to teach kids to read, not necessarily to make them computer whizzes.

While there doesn't seem to be any new educational software today, Power On Software has updated their Action Go Mac (download form) taskbar to version 2.1. I find this add-on makes my hours on the computer more productive (on computers with a 17" screen or more).

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday in Vaccine shortage pinches schools that there is a nationwide shortage of tetanus-diphtheria vaccine. The booster form of the vaccine is one frequently required by schools for admission. From the Tribune:

When a major supplier of the vaccine for adults and adolescents--known as the Td vaccine--stopped making it, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention directed that the remaining doses should go to patients with wounds or those who face an increased health risk, such as travelers and pregnant women.

California has enacted a new special education funding law, ending years of lawsuits between school districts and the state. The new bill calls for the states school districts to share a $270 million settlement this year, along with $25 million per year for the next 10 years. Funding for current special education expenses was also significantly increased (I couldn't find two sources that reported the new monies similarly. Some said $100 million for special ed this year in California and some sources said a $100 million increase in special ed funding!) As Kerry Mazzoni, Governor Gray Davis's education secretary said, "This is huge. This is good for regular children in our schools, and it's very good for our special education students." For details, see:


Friday, August 17, 2001

Charles Haddad, writing in BusinessWeek Online, has The Cure for Teachers' Technophobia: Macs. Haddad writes, "But nearly 30 years after the advent of the Apple II, the first commercially successful PC, educators are still wondering whether the computer is friend or foe."

Los Angeles Times education writer Duke Helfand takes on "Edspeak--a language so bewildering that even teachers need glossaries to figure out what's being said," in "Edspeak" Is in a Class by Itself. Helfand quotes Jeffrey Mirel, an education historian at the University of Michigan, as saying, ""It's a way to underscore the message that, 'I'm a professional, give me your kid and leave me alone.' All professional language is turf language." While Helfand appears antagonistic to educators in presenting his case, it's often an apt criticism of our profession.


If you have some suggestions, news ideas, etc., please .


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©2001 Steven L. Wood