My Schoolhouse Blog

September 9, 2009

Welcome to the 2009-10 school year.  My Schoolhouse has provided new lessons in our Sample Lessons links as while as some new lessons in the Graphs section of our Subscription link.  We will be adding new lessons weekly.  Our Sample Lessons page will provide you with a new lesson in the six subject areas on a regular basis.

We hope you and your students have a successful school year.

March 25, 2009

Failure?  How do students, teachers, administrators, parents, and the community interpret and deal with the concept of failure?  If the student does not achieve to the expectations of the teacher, parents, or the state and federal requirements, does this mean the student is a failure?  And what is failure?  It is defined by Dictionary.com as:

1. an act or instance of failing or proving unsuccessful; lack of success: His effort ended in failure. The campaign was a failure.

2. nonperformance of something due, required, or expected: a failure to do what one has promised; a failure to appear.

3. a subnormal quantity or quality; an insufficiency: the failure of crops.

4. deterioration or decay, esp. of vigor, strength, etc.: The failure of her health made retirement necessary.

5. a condition of being bankrupt by reason of insolvency.

6. a becoming insolvent or bankrupt: the failure of a bank.

7. a person or thing that proves unsuccessful: He is a failure in his career. The cake is a failure.

As one reviews these definitions, some definitions apply to education while others do not.  When a student's "lack of effort" results in failure, then we must conclude that the student is 100% responsible for the failure.  We cannot do what others must do for themselves.  When the student fails for lack of preparation then the failure may be a result of the student's effort, the teacher's effort, the school's, the state's or a combination of them all.

But perhaps, we may also need to evaluate how we look at failure.  Is failure bad?  Should failure be looked at as an evaluation of the person?  Or should failure be viewed as a step in the process to success?  One inventor failed a thousand times before he reached success.  What would have happened if this person would have personalized failure?

March 19, 2009

Is the future electronic textbooks?  Will the teacher actually be held to the constraints of a textbook publisher even when data is provided by electronic transmission?  The future may be found on the Internet but should it be limited to an electronic textbook?  Electronic textbooks will have great advantages over the current paper based textbook for many reasons.  The images in the electronic textbook can be updated instantly.  Textbook errors will be corrected immediately rather than in the next publishing.  New data will be provided to the textbook whenever needed.  There will be many advantages to using an electronic textbook but should we be held to the limited point of view provided by a single textbook publisher?

March 12, 2009

As we continue to question the state of education in the United States of America, Jennifer Goldstein offers an interesting perspective of how we got where we are today and how we might get where we need to be tomorrow.  She states "The fact is that many American school districts and their local teachers' unions have formed a symbiotic partnership in mediocrity.  To single out one side of the equation (teachers' unions and their support for tenure) as the cause of the problem is to fail to recognize the role school administrators have played."  Her complete commentary can be read by clicking here.

February 12, 2009

"Should I Let Them Fail?" by Laura Reasoner Jones as published in "Teacher Magazine" raises questions regarding the issue of failure in our schools.  Rescuing children for lack of effort has been a common practice in many schools across our nation.  Somewhere in time, we as a society moved from placing the responsibility for learning on the child to placing the responsibility for learning on the teacher and/or parent.  Many teachers and parents today, feel if the child is not successful, they must be doing something wrong.  To reinforce this, the Federal government created the "No Child Left Behind" legislation to ensure children are successful.  This legislation only reinforced the concept that all children must be successful and thus rescued.

A well known inventor spent years working on projects that lead to the invention of many things we still use today.  During his long days of work, he failed many times.  But with each failure, he learned something.  Something he did not know before and something no one could have just told him.  How many times during a school day are we depriving our children of these valuable lessons?

February 11, 2009

Algebra in first grade?  Are you kidding me?  The introduction and teaching of algebra concepts in the elementary schools is long over due.  Some schools are now introducing algebra concepts in the elementary schools to help students to become successful in 9th grade algebra.  How can this be?  To read more about algebra in the elementary school, click here.

January 15, 2009

"Win a Wireless Lab" Sweepstakes is supported by CDW-Government, Inc. and is available to all K-12 schools in the United States.  The program is designed to encourage teachers to use more technology in their classrooms.  Each lab includes 20 laptop computers, a software grant from Discovery Education, interactive whiteboards, digital cameras, and professional development.  The lab is valued at $50,000.  For more information, click here.

January 9, 2009

Happy New Year!  Every new year brings new ideas and resolutions.  Here's a new thought.  Could student's cell phones be put to use in schools to provide more learning opportunities?  Are restrictions on cell phone use in schools limiting student's learning.  An article titled "Students Turn Their Cell Phone On for Classroom Lessons" by Andrew Trotter discusses the many advantages that cell phones may bring to a classroom.

POSTS

September 17, 2008

We recently received the following comment from a user.  "Thank you for this website.  Your explanations and examples are great.  The best part is the test with the answers, which I take first (to be sure I understand) then my child takes it.  This is a blessing.  Thanks!!!"

We would like to hear from you.  Please submit your comments about how you use My Schoolhouse in this blog.

August 14, 2008

 www.myschoolhouse.com is a brilliant to my collection of educational resources. I have spending quite a significant amount of time on this to collect stuff for my kid and this just seems to top all of it. With this new time as Stacey puts it new methods need to be adopted as kids are more into computers these days, providing them educations via this medium is better absorbed by them. another good resource that i grabbed from the internet was at www.schoolsgalore.com/distance-learning-online-schools-directory, schools galore. Many more are also there with the development of institutes and more people accepting the trend of online education many online scholls have sprung up.

referring to a post on sept 27th i would like to add that the beauty of communication is that it can be done via any medium and yes kids these days use short forms for literally everything.

Ushar M.

August 1, 2008

When I tried to enroll my daughter for summer school, I was told her grades were too high. My argument was that they (grades) stayed high because of all year learning. But thank goodness I was able to find Schoolhouse website.  It was a godsend. She is ready for Sept. 4th !!

Linda R.

July 14, 2008

I do believe that computer-based learning is in our near future!  The students are motivated by computers, current information is available through the internet, and students (and teachers) are learning creative ways to produce products that showcase their learning.  Used properly, technology is fun and educational.  There are a few potential roadblocks to massive implementation of technology in our schools, like funding issues, safety concerns, and traditions.  I think the real technology explosion in our schools will occur as the younger generation becomes involved in teaching careers.

Stacye M

Past Topics:

Old Schoolhouse Story Time Writing Contest
Text Books vs. Technology
K-12 Inc
Technology in Education
Homeschoolers Under Fire
Gifted Education
Survey on Homework
Using Computers in the Classroom
Parent/Teacher Relationships
Global Warming
Parent Expectations vs. Teacher Expectations
High Quality Teachers
The Length of the School Day
What is a "Wiki?"
Writing Well in the 21st Century
Is Pencil And Paper Boring?
Summer Vacations
 
 

July 9, 2007

Our trip to the NEA Convention provided us numerous opportunities to meet people and display My Schoolhouse to individuals across the country.  People were excited to see the wonderful opportunities for learning provided by My Schoolhouse.com.

We had numerous requests for My Schoolhouse Gift Notepads to give as welcome gifts to new teachers.  We would like to offer readers of the MSH  Blog the opportunity to acquire My Schoolhouse Gift Notepads to include in your new teacher welcome packets.  Email Support@myschoolhouse.com and let us know how many notepads you would like sent to you.  Please include your name, school district, and mailing address in your email.

June 27, 2007

We hope you are enjoying your summer.  Don't forget to take advantage of our Summer Subscription for only $4.95.  Our Summer Subscription is a great way to keep your skills hot!  :)

June 12, 2007

Look for our new Social Studies lessons for grades 1-3 this month.  These new lessons will provide exciting learning opportunities for students.  My Schoolhouse will be visiting the NEA Convention in Philadelphia the last weekend in  June.  Stop by our booth and say hello.  We'll have some great gifts for you.

June 3, 2007

Join the My Schoolhouse Learning Community today and begin receiving all the benefits of your membership.  Member benefits include; contest offers,  gifts, our monthly newsletter (full of helpful learning activities and tips), special subscription offers, and the latest updates to My Schoolhouse.  And the best part, it's FREE.

Keep your child learning all Summer long with lessons from My Schoolhouse.  Children practicing their basic skills throughout the Summer months come to school in the Fall better prepared to learn.  :)

 

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