school

by

Do You Have an Abacus I Could Borrow?

I have been in education for eight years, and in this short amount of time, I have seen tremendous changes; some for the better, some not so much. As a continuation to my previous post about video games, I am going to address technology in general in school. This is really not about behavior at all. I started teaching about two years before BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology) was a common initiative. I was using T9 text on my flip phone, and I knew of only one person who had this weird gadget called an iPad. It was my friend Natalie Taylor, and I remember reading about it and looking at her picture of it on Facebook , a social media site of which I was still learning to navigate. Fast forward eight years where teachers are using social media to captivate their student’s attention and communicate more efficiently. The text parents videos and resources. They continue school from home when adverse weather hits, and they Facetime students who need a little extra help on their homework. I can’t even tap into the benefits technology has for the advancement of our students with disabilities. That is another whole post, heck it’s another whole blog.

At first, I was undecided on this subject, but with the passing of time, I am 100% behind BYOT and technology in schools. I have sat in countless meetings where the cons of technology in school have been dwelled on and beat to the ground.

Yes, our kids will send a few text messages throughout the day. The mom in me enjoys that because I can stay in touch with my child without bothering the teacher. If my daughter texts me during a bathroom break or while she is at her locker, and she still gets to class on time, what’s the problem to the educator?

Yes, our kids will check their Facebook when they are at school. We live in world where social media is a major player in our game. We just have to monitor, embrace it and use it to our advantage.

I had a nice conversation with my friend Erin the other day. We were talking about school and all of the changes since we were kids. At some point cursive was brought up, and I said that children don’t really learn that in school anymore. Erin was a bit disappointed and shocked by that. This isn’t the first time I have seen/heard that response. Here are the reality- things like cursive and textbooks are simply not relevant in this world we are living in. It would be like teaching a child to dial their parent’s number on a rotary phone, having them find a subtotal at the grocery store with an abacus or having them reference a hard back Encyclopedia for factual information. As technology advances and time goes by, so does educational content. I do believe our children need to know enough cursive to sign their name, but that’s about it. When was the last time that someone asked you to write anything in cursive? When was the last time that someone asked you to write (not type) anything in general? Exactly.

Sure, I get a little sad about the depletion of classic skills like cursive, but the other side of me is enthused that our children will be stronger critical thinkers and problem solvers. When I was in school, student’s educational status was based on the amount and acquisition of factual knowledge. We used to reference the smart kids as “walking Encyclopedias”. The good news for the average or below average kid is that factual knowledge really doesn’t matter anymore. You read that right. Factual knowledge does not matter anymore. Every student has the same access to general information. Google it, right? Average Anne, Below Average Bob and Gifted George could probably all find out when Abe Lincoln was born in exactly the same amount of time. Factual knowledge is no longer an indicator of academic achievement, but it does make for a heck of a Jeopardy contestant.

I was an average student. I worked VERY hard to maintain A’s and B’s. It didn’t come naturally to me. Because I went to school in the age of Oregon Trail, I did have to search for factual information in an encyclopedia. The way school and life are now, is about application of facts and knowledge. It’s about becoming a problem-solver and a critical-thinker. Students learn how to apply knowledge rather than just find and memorize. Our naturally smart kids, below average and average kids all start out on the same playing field. Teachers are teaching children how to use facts to revolutionize. Students are teaching teachers the same thing.

It is hard for me to think that my oldest daughter will likely never use a textbook in her education, and my youngest daughter may not even know what the term textbook means. She will Google it and find out.

I will teach my children to sign their names and write meaningful, handwritten letters rather than emails. I am thankful that those are the simple skills with which I can supplement their education at home. I am even more thankful that my child will go to school and learn to problem-solve, think outside the box and defend her reasoning to show true mastery of content.

ipad

by

‘Cause we’re livin’ in a virtual world

Video Games… A subject I have avoided for a long, long, long time. I am fairly torn on the subject because my husband, the love of my life, has a passion for video games. This passion turned into a very specific interest which turned into a very sought-after degree which ultimately led him to job security to the point that when he interviews, employers see that he has a degree in Video Game Design from Full Sail University, and they insist on immediate interviews. So one side of me loves video games, but the teacher in me wishes that video games were still limited to the likes of Tetris and Zelda.

As a parent, I see the value in video games. They keep the child’s interest and give me a few minutes to tidy the house, pay the bills, take the dog out and make some dinner. As a teacher, I see the repercussions.

Here is an example:

A child, let’s call him Video Game Vince, comes home from school after a long day. Stressed and overwhelmed, he logs on to the computer, Play Station, X-Box or whatever new-fangled gadget is trending at the time. Within 10 minutes, he eases into a new world- a world where he is in complete control. A world where children don’t make fun of him or he isn’t the last one picked for kick ball on the playground. A world where if he doesn’t understand the math problem, he isn’t going to have to ask in front of 20 peers. A world where when he is called on in class, and he begins to answer and his voice cracks, his heart won’t drop to his stomach with ridicule. Though he may not always win, he actually has the control of the character in his hands… literally at his fingertips. Real world literally stops and his brain enters into the virtual world. There are no hard fast consequences other than slight disappointment of not beating the “boss” or “dying” in which in both cases, he can just reset and try again. Hours go by but to Vince, it feel like minutes. Mom comes in and invites Vince to the dinner she was able to prepare thanks to the engagement of this fictious world that plays out behind the glass screen. Vince needs just one more minute or he may tragically die. Heavens forbid Vince’s character dies based on mom’s interruption of dinner. Dinner will then be ruined for the whole family by pouting and blame.

So you may be thinking…what is so wrong with this? Doesn’t a child need down time? He seems happy, why would I bother him? Here is my personal answer, and it is solely my opinion. You know what I say about my opinion; it’s worth exactly how much you paid for it.

Kids get too into these games and these worlds. Students come to school underwhelmed by reality because they have spent hours on end in this virtual reality where there are no expectations, no peer pressure or teasing, constant “resets”, violence without consequence, violence with reward and no stress. There has to be a balance. For teachers, it is unfair. The student comes to school and though their lesson is intriguing, well-planned and innovative, their mind is focused solely on the next time they get to grab that control. Teachers incorporate technology to increase engagement, but the technology is boring compared to their “world”. In school, the teacher has the control that the child has been able to literally hold in his hands the night before. The student begins to resent school, leadership, rules, expectation and consequences. These are real life things.

How do we attack this battle between video games and school? My initial answer that I know is easier said than done is balance. Balance is essential in all areas of life. I do not think that parents should take away all use of video games, but I do think there needs to be balance. Children need to earn their game time. This gives them a direct comparison that hard work and accountability in the real world will result in this “break” time where they will be allowed to play games. Parents HAVE to control the types of games children are playing. These games are violent, and they can become a reality for some of our formable children. Play the game yourself or have them play it and describe it to you for 30 minutes before you commit to allowing this to be an appropriate reward for innocent minds.

In defense of the child and the value they hold in these games, set real life visual timers for them. This allows them to not be blindsided when their time is up. I know from experience my husband can play a game for 2 hours and truly in his heart of hearts believes it was 30 minutes. This is no fault of his, but it is simply another indicator of the depth of concentration and loss of reality that goes into these games. The visual timer will allow the child to SEE how much time they have left so they don’t get lost in the time. Communicate upfront with the child on what happens when the timer goes off and you come to get him for dinner, but he is in the middle of a final fight against the “boss”. Decide upfront if there will be wiggle room or if the timer is the timer and when it’s done, you will turn off their game. For the sake of the other participants at the dinner table, I would recommend a little wiggle room. The timer would be more of a transition cue that it’s time to wrap it up.

To summarize, I am not against video games. For a long time, the industry alone has provided for my family. I am against young children playing non-age appropriate games or not limiting the amount of time behind the screen of a non realistic world. Educators experience the repercussion and the child will as well. As is everything in life, it’s all about moderation.