|
My Schoolhouse Blog
May 6, 2008
A new book called Disrupting
Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns
by Clayton Christensen, Curtis Johnson, and Michael Horn discusses the
affects of online learning and public education. How will
technology-based forces cause disruptive innovation in our public schools?
And what are the dramatic consequences of children learning online?
There are many predictions that
computer based education will accelerate dramatically in the next decade.
What do you think? Let us know below.
March 12, 2008
Homeschoolers have come under fire
in a number of states during the past months. Lawmakers are looking
to place homeschoolers under the same umbrella when it comes to state and
federal testing progams. A number of court rulings have impacted the
status of homeschooling.
To read more click here.
February 28, 2008
Looking for help with Gifted
Education? An article written by Tamara Fisher titled "Unwrapping
the Gifted" will provide you with an abundance of information and links to
assist you with meeting the needs of gifted students.
Please follow this link for more information.
February 20, 2008
Survey on Homework Reveals Acceptance, Despite Some Gripes
By Debra Viadero
Washington
Despite debates in the media over whether American students are
academically overburdened, 85 percent of parents believe their children
are doing the “right amount” or “too little” homework, and three-quarters
of students say they have enough time to complete their assignments,
according to a survey released this week.
Read more about this topic at
Edweek.org
February 6, 2008
1 to 1 Learning
Building and sustaining a computing program does not happen overnight.
By Pamela Livingston
Shuttle commander Pam Melroy, a 1979 graduate of Bishop Kearney,
provided the connection, which allowed the students to enjoy press
privileges and work side by side with adult professional journalists
covering the event.
Empowered with laptop computers and coached by their teachers, the
students sent frequent audio, video, and blog reports to local and
national media. At the same time, they kept up with assignments in their
classes back home using their laptops, never falling behind on important
class assignments during the week they were in Houston.
This kind of self-directed learning, taking place at school or at a
distant location, supporting a project with a curricular connection, and
coached by master teachers with their own laptops, represents the best of
possibilities of one-to-one computing.
We’re at an exciting place right now in education. Literally thousands
of open-ended Web 2.0 tools are available for engaging learners and
invigorating classrooms everywhere; options for online collaboration are
increasing every day; and polls of U.S. adults say they support efforts to
use technology to better prepare our students to compete in a highly
technical global economy.
To read more click
here.
January 3, 2008
Welcome to 2008! A new year
has arrived and with it comes many new opportunities. Opportunities
to be a better person, a better parent, or a better teacher. What
ever the opportunity, make the best of it.
One opportunity that should not be
over looked is the chance to improve teacher/parent relationships.
An article in
Teacher Magazine written by
Bill Ferriter provides many ideas on how parents and teachers can improve
the relationship they have with each other. Check out how you might
score points with parents and teachers. The article is titled "Parents
Are From Mars, Teachers Are From Venus."
December 10, 2007
As our world changes and the people
of this small planet begin to become more aware of the environmental
issues that concern all of us, look to My Schoolhouse for new lessons
about the environment. Your friends at My Schoolhouse have plans to
begin developing lessons that will focus on the latest environmental
concerns. Our first few lessons will focus on global warming and its
impact on the environment today and in the future.
November 30, 2007
A new study co-authored by a Brigham
Young University economist indicates that parent desires are not always
related to high expectations of teachers or academic achievement. It
may appear that some parents only want their child to be satisfied with
their teacher. This brings in to debate the impact of the NCLB law
and how it mat be impacting our schools across the nation. To read
more about this study, go to
The Salt Lake Tribune.
November 7, 2007
Your car breaks down and it is in
need of major repair work. Where do you take it? Most of us
will search out the most highly qualified auto technician in our area.
We look for a service facility that employs highly qualified technicians
because we want our car fixed properly and the service facility wants to
provide quality work for the customer.
A new report out indicates that the
teacher is seen as the single most important factor in making a difference
in a quality school. Just like the highly qualified auto technician, the
report says, "Put high-quality teaching for every child at the heart of
school improvement." For more information on this report
click here.
October 23, 2007
How much time in school is enough
time for a student to be successful? A national group is currently
looking to extend the school day to increase academic achievement.
The new organization believes that the current school day is inadequate
for all children to obtain a rigorous and well-rounded education.
Does more school time improve student success? Or is the quality
of education the key to success? To read more on this topic, go to
EdWeek.org.
October 8, 2007
What is a "Wiki?" A wiki is
an abbreviated version of the full name, wiki-wiki, which translates as
“quick” in Hawaiian. Wikis have become a new tool for educators
across the country. Educators are using wikis to display student
work and encourage groups of students to use technology. A wiki is a
web site that allows those students with access to edit and publish work.
A wiki web site can track who has participated in the project and what
changes have been made by and individual. So let's wiki!
September 24, 2007
How important is it to write well
in the 21st century? With the use of email and text messaging, I
have found children abbreviating almost everything possible and
misspelling words on a regular basis. Have we gone to a new era
where how we communicate is not as important as the fact we are
communicating? It would seem one of the concerns employers face
today is how do others perceive us as our employees write with so much
inefficiency.
September 10, 2007
During a recent reading of
Education Week, I found the following quote regarding technology and
education. This strongly supports the reason so many students find
My schoolhouse to be so gratifying.
“Children today find paper and
pencil boring, boring,” says Elliot Soloway, a professor of computer
science and education at the University of Michigan, in Ann Arbor, who has
spent decades devising technological tools for math and science
classrooms. “The kids are about the technology, the interactivity, the
immediacy that technology gives.”
You can also see the benefits of
technology through a My Schoolhouse subscription.
August 27, 2007
Well, for most of us, summer is
over and school is about to begin or has already started. School
districts across the country start at many different times. Some
start in the middle of August and some wait until after Labor Day.
So with so much time off during the Summer (on average eight weeks), what
do our students do during this time? An interesting article from
Teacher Magazine brings light to this subject. David Polochanin
writes about his interest in the famous question, "What did you do on your
summer vacation?"
Thoughts on a Classroom Cliché from Teachermagazine.org
August 7, 2007
My Schoolhouse is currently
offering a special price on Sponsor Subscriptions through the month of
August. Use the
Contact Us link to get more details.
August 1, 2007
Our Sponsor Subscriptions are
beginning to take off. If you're looking for a way to fund a My
Schoolhouse subscription to your school or school district then a Sponsor
Subscription might be right for you. Sponsor Subscriptions allow
local businesses the opportunity to expose their business at a very low
cost and help the local community and school district at the same time.
Check out our Sponsor Subscription link on our home page or email us
through the Contact Us link. The start of school is just around the
corner and at a $4.95 Summer Subscription price there is still time to
take advantage of this subscription rate to help your children review for
the upcoming school year.
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.
:)
|
