Random Musings

…but I’m forcing myself to write at least once a week. With class in the evening an three all-day trainings this week, it’s been exhausting. The surprising thing this week was how animated the discussions became about two topics. The first revolved around the technology standards for instructional personnel (TSIP)that the state of Virginia has and how we’ve chosen to implement them. The universal “it’s not good enough” was deafening….but then in the discussion about an extended TSIP there were the folks who felt that things like “server understanding’ were just as important as instructional support with technology (I think I’ve decided that I don’t like the term “technology integration”)

The other “hot topic” was what new teachers need to know and when do they need to know it. It’s just clear that the beginning teacher has a much harder time than when I began my education career 20+ years ago. We clearly need to rethink our current “out of college straight to the classroom” methodology. It seems to me that an extended, one-year fully paid apprenticeship with a master teacher is essential. Those two individuals could share 1 class and, as the apprentice teacher becomes comfortable over the course of the year, the master teacher could then begin to work with other teachers.
Another interesting point is that, while most new teachers are excellent users of technology for personal productivity–they have no more clue of effective use of technology in the classroom than many veteran teachers…..if that’s the case—then what’s happening in our ed schools….or is this just another fall-out from the emphasis on testing and data driven instruction?

It’s late—and I need to think more tomorrow.

As we deal with a new Internet filtering system, I can’t help think about lots of things…but mostly how, in the name of protecting our kids we are failing to help them learn to handle the modern world. It’s impossible to teach a child how to cross a street safely if you never let her see the street. By being overly protective with web 2.0 tools; blocking them somewhat randomly; we are keeping our kids from seeing the street.

Check out this image from one of my recent flickr contacts  —she has a lot to say in her images.

From today’s Washington Post:

• Jack D. Dale, superintendent of Fairfax County schools, called the current system “incoherent, contradictory and inconsistent.” Arlington’s School Board, using an argument advanced by Superintendent Robert G. Smith, said No Child Left Behind “provides neither high consistent standards nor consistent measures for accountability.”

  and

• Dale wants to turn the No Child Left Behind system upside down. Instead of states creating individual tests and the federal government devising the sanctions and supports for low-scoring schools, he would prefer that the federal government provide the tests. Every school could see where it stood on a national scale, and each state could decide what to do to encourage improvement in low-performing schools.
  

Absolutely no argument with the first statement—but while changes in NCLB are absolutely necessary, I know that trading on multiple choise test for another is not the answer. Isn’t this is simply exchanging one bad idea for another one? When is life a multiple choice test?