Friday, September 12, 2014

Technology is not a magic bullet

I love the story of Barbara Arrowsmith Young. A woman faced with a bevy of Learning Disabilities takes them on and overcomes them through hard work and determination.

That's why I get frustrated whenever I read yet another psycho-educational report from another psychologist who throws technology at a student as if it will make their learning disability go away.

Imagine the 7 year old child who is handed a tablet in class and told to use it. If they were distracted in class already, this is supposed to be less distracting?

I hear time and time again this assumption that kids "just get technology". As if just handing them a device is all we have to do.

Students with learning disabilities will struggle to learn the technology well and may even be more distracted by the tool than mainstream students.

Do I mean to say that there is no place for these tools at all? Certainly not. But we need to be giving more thought to how and why they are deployed and we need to make sure there are the necessary supports in place for students to succeed.

We also need to manage parent expectations. These tools and devices will not make the learning disability go away.

Tuesday, September 9, 2014

A Culture of Fear

Whenever we have a few minutes to spare in class I like to do word puzzles with my students. Like these ones:



I was saddened today as I watched fear spread across my classroom. Students would not attempt to answer because they were afraid of being wrong. I could feel the change in climate. Only those students who don't have strong social skills would answer as they couldn't sense the change. It reached the point that I had no one willing to guess.

How do you fight against a culture that believes that only right answers matter?

How do we encourage kids to see that being wrong is how we learn?

Monday, September 1, 2014

I'm scared. It's the first day of school.

I wonder if the students know that I am as scared as they are?

I've been teaching for 14 years and yet I still am sick to my stomach about tomorrow.

Will I be able to connect with every student?

Will I understand what they are going through and be able to help them?

When the bullying comes, because it will, will my efforts to help work?

Will all the brilliant and clever lessons I have prepared actually work?

Will I not be boring?

Will I teach what these students need?

The worst part of all, is that I already know the answer to these questions.

It's "no".

Not every day, not every time, and not for every student.

But, through God's grace, sometimes, perhaps even most of the time, I will.

And so tonight I will pray, like I do every night, that tomorrow I will have what I need to be a good teacher and that God will fill in the gaps where I don't.