17 Signs Your Classroom is Behind the Times

http://blog.simplek12.com/education/17-signs-your-classroom-is-behind-the-times/


Thoughts?

 

I fit 9/17. My classroom has technology, a Smart Board, computers, etc. We are working on getting the students more technologically literate and I think that's where the problem comes from.

 

My classroom would be behind the times for most of these. I have one computer for the Smartboard and am lucky if I can get the students into the lab due to a technology class.

 

Ditto. The author must be from a wealthy school district, because no district around me can afford all the things that she mentioned. I find it insulting, actually.

 

Honestly, I think it's a silly list.

ETA: Why? I love technology, but I find fault in promoting that every part of your day must somehow be "connected". It's actually sad.

 

I think of it as an ad for their $279 per year subscription site. You'll surely need to join if you're a troglodyte or luddite (or think your younger, techie peers think you are).

 

I am one of the teachers who uses the most technology at my school, and I still didn't meet the majority of these. And I had to laugh at the one about having a question for the IT department every week--I think our 8th grade teacher (and de facto "tech person") would get slightly annoyed if I was bothering her that often.

(And what's wrong with a little construction paper and glue??)

 

Absolutely nothing! I mean where would the future teachers be if we didn't teach students how to cut and glue!

 

I don't think that technology necessarily makes for an effective teacher, an effective classroom, or an effective learning enviornment.

Sure, an effective teacher may choose to use technology. But I KNOW there are lots of ineffective teachers using it as well.

I don't see any cause and effect here.

 

A teacher I know uses a mobi and a smartboard, and usually shows a Disney movie every day. Effective? I don't think so.

 

I think the article is insulting as well...if you want to call it an "article". I think it is an ad as well to buy something. I wouldn't take this as informative or enlightening at all.

 

By the way, half my middle schoolers can't use scissors! Guess nobody taught them.

 

My school is behind the times on EVERYTHING.

The only up to date things we have in the school is the internet and every teacher has a cell phone on them at all times -_-

We have no technology what so ever in the classroom. We have one overhead projector per four teachers, so we each get it one week a month.

It sucks. Though they're supposedly going to buy more technology with this new bond money, we'll see... it is highly frustrating to have nothing new.

 

I'm very lucky, I think. I teach with amazing teachers, I have a great administration, and of all the things on that list, I was only able to answer "no" to number 4 about blocked websites. Our district is still super strict about access, and we aren't having much luck convincing them to open the restrictions.

I LOVE working in a tech savvy school with teachers who embrace new technology and use it effectively.

 

First of all, I think it should be entitled "How To Know Your School or District is Behind the Times". Many of these things we have no control over-schools either have the technology available or they don't. It's not like a teacher can go out and buy a class set of laptops.

Also, I work in a very low-income neighborhood-many of our kids don't have access to computers at home. How do they do their homework if it's only available online?

I do think it's important to be open to new programs and techniques, but not all of them are going to work for every classroom, even if you do have the equipment.

 

The issue I have with the article, bandnerd, is that it very much implies that you can't teach effectively without the technologies listed—that you're behind, not good enough. That's just not true. Of course it's important to incorporate technology into the classroom to prepare (and engage) students, but to throw out everything not technological such as a poster project and replace it with something "wired" is a bad move.

I'm looked at as one of the more techie teachers for sure, but I most certainly don't rely on it for every lesson.

 

My school may be behind in providing new technology, but my classroom, and therefore my teaching, is not.

 

I was going to post a more lengthy reply, but everyone else said pretty much what I was thinking. It's nice to be in the majority on this one! :lol:

 

I too am with the majority of you - all well said. Technology or not, there is nothing like a good old project where the kids get glue on their hands and have to clean shreds of paper off the floor. My 8th graders love our "cut and paste" days! It also levels the playing field for those (many) students who don't have technology available at home!

 

I think it's ridiculous to assume that if someone hasn't heard of the things the author knows about, then they are behind the times. I'm sure there's someone out there who is more tech-savvy than the author of this article. Does that make him behind the times, then?

We have to be careful to use technology where and when it's helpful, efficient, feasible, and available, while also teaching what to do in case we don't have access to the newest technology- as we know, technology's great as long as it works! What happens to a classroom that's completely wired when the internet goes down? Hope he has a dry erase board handy then!

 

Bleh. Some of these come off as educrat mumbo jumbo. I have a set of encyclopedias and love them, especially since I often cannot get to a computer lab for research. If I were interrupted by a cell phone, I would be annoyed because those are banned. I spend at least 3 days a week teaching my students directly because they can't learn from each other if they have no background knowledge to build off of.

I could go on, but many of you mentioned the ones I didn't comment on. The article is amusing... for the wrong reasons.

 

A friend of mine is taking a college algebra class and her professor utilizes all sorts of wonderful technology. None of it helped her learn logs. It took me 5 minutes with a pencil and a piece of paper to teach her what she needed to know where weeks of fancy technology had failed.

Technology is not the end all, be all of education.

 

mm, I've tutored way too many kids who can work wonders with a $100 graphing calculator, but have no idea WHY the graph has a turning point where it does, or why it opens the way it does.

Give me the basics, please.

 

Read #17 and then look at the sponsor of the blog....it's a commercial. My district is very tech savvy but great teaching doesnt require all tech, all the time. While my K-4 school does not meet much of the 'criteria' on the list, we are not behind the times at all.

 

I noticed that too! :haha: However, I checked out their website and some of the free webinars they are offering and registered for a few. I'm pretty excited actually. :thumb:

 

I like how everybody on here is taking it personally, and not as something that can be constructive. The article wasn't, as far as I could tell, an attack on teaching (part of a series bashing current teaching standards). I grant that it seems to be a commercial for something...

But the fact that everyone is taking it as a slight (and remembering that teachers are supposed to be lifelong learners themselves) is interesting. I certainly wouldn't take many of the things to heart (e.g. If you still have chalk or dry-erase--you are behind times), but honestly: Maybe I can take something from it, rather than dismissing it as some attack on teaching. Instead of taking it as a slight, ask yourself what year you are actually preparing your students for.

 

Oh, I'm not taking it personally. My teaching can't be insulted by someone who has never seen me teach.

My point is that the basic premise of the article is flawed.

 

Exactly--it's not that teachers shouldn't be trying to incorporate technology in order to prepare students for our changing world. It's the assumption that if you don't have the latest, greatest, and best, you are somehow behind and inadequate.

 

Um, yeah, I agree with Alice.

John, I'm not sure if you're just looking into our posts or just trying to go against the grain or something else. But mentioning that teachers are supposed to be lifelong learners seems entirely out of place in this discussion, as though anyone here has dismissed technology in general or the fact that it is important in education.

 

A lot of cool stuff on that list.

But like another poster said tons of ineffective teachers use technology to no end.

Simple, effective basics like direct instruction, lecture, notes etc. still have their place.

 

Oh please, John. I don't need checklists or surveys to know whether or not my school or I am doing a good job. I don't take the list seriously or personally. I know I'm preparing my students well.

 

Ditto!!! :lol:

 

I really do not even know what a smart board is. What does it do that my document camera, computer, and LCD projector can't do?

I was reprimanded and had technology removed from my room because I had connected my computer to the TV and was using it to teach phonics blending. I was not following the curriculum because I was typing the words on a computer rather than write them on the board - and the scripted lessons said "Write the following words on the board." The thing was that I could manipulate the text with the computer in was that were not possible when the words are written by hand.

Now when they observe me, they want to make sure that I'm writing the words on the board by hand.

 

I'm going to both agree and disagree here.

I don't think technology replaces good teaching. I also don't think that we should do everything digitally. There is a place for all of the "crude" materials the author seems to point out. (I was being sarcastic when I said the word "crude." ) I find that part a bit laughable actually.

BUT! I do believe that we should be teachers in the digital age and incorporate more technology in the classroom EFFECTIVELY. Not only using it to teach these students but rather using the students how to use it to do productive tasks. Knowing how to productively use the computer is far more than just email, Facebook and playing games. We have the opportunity to model and instruct them on how to use technology to achieve a myriad of goals. I do think this is a responsibility we should bear as part of the overall game plan. It does not, however, erase the need to use other methods nor does it produce effective teaching.

Our students shouldn't be graduating computer illiterate and many aren't as well rounded as they should be. Even if they know how, they don't know how it applies. This is something we have to make more cross the curriculum connections by giving them opportunities to know how these things can be utilized in real world connections.

Is the article laughable? Yeah, it is. The point has been better made through other mediums I've come across. This one was just silly.

 

17 Signs your blog is a waste of time.
1. You think tools replace good teaching.
2. You think something old is bad, merely because it is old.
3. You disparage an item because you don't sell it. (Think markers and chalk).
4. You patrons click on a link and find that they wished it had said, "This website has been blocked."
5. You readers think, "Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah", as you get up to number 5 on their 17 item list.
6. You count class interruptions via technology (which is a violation of my school's policies) as an actual plus. As though an interruption is an opportunity to have the class praise technology.
7. You presume you know that collaborative learning can only come via satellite.
8. You don't realize that encyclopedias are online as well as in book form and that they say the same things.
9. You disparage anyone using Power Point as below the technological poverty line.
10. You declare learning as something that can be measured by quantities of content.
11. You think students are really ahead of the curve technologically because they bought the new DS before their teacher could afford it.
12. Your idea of good communication must come via a screen or else it is rendered invalid.
13. You remain superior to anyone who doesn't have every tool you determine to be necessary.
14. You must be inept in order to be technologically savvy, and thus the daily call to the IT dept. (I mean, after all, teachers who use technology have time to burn to make the daily contact with IT personnel, right?)
15. You believe that age determines computer savvy. Young=proficient. (Really?????)
16. You act like Wordle is a new site, whereas everyone on this site has seen it for a long time.
17. You offer some crummy webinar that will be just as useless as your crummy list.


:lol: Just love this article! Thanks for the opportunity to view it via my mirror and wireless (radio) system. I'd Morse Code you back, but I'm trying to find a child to teach me how to press the buttons on my lap top.:lol:

Oh, by the way, I am open to technology. I just am an educator who realizes that tools are only as effective as the one wielding them.

 

seriously????

That is insane and very sad!

 

This list is dumb. I can't wait to incorporate technology in my classroom but not all of my students have access to internet at home and I don't have laptops to use any time I want.

I was also one of the first teachers in my old school to start my website. The tech guy at my current school can't seem to figure out how to set up a website with our server and I can't set up one on my own independently because I'm not supposed to communicate with students using other e-mails or blogs not approved by our district.

Once we guarantee that all schools and students have access to this technology, a list like this can be created.

 

SO true. And my old school showed 15 out of 17 signs!!

They also forgot one on their list.

"Your classrooms still have an overhead"

 

April, I used to trip over the overhead projector every day!

They'd bolted the darn thing to the table and couldn't figure out how to remove it, so it sat there on the floor like a paperweight, catching my toe every day. I think my students thought I was a total klutz.

 

My school has one computer room that students can use (which is used for computer science class).

Almost all of my students do not have access to a computer at home. They can get the internet on their phone, but most of those are handowns from older siblings or parents.

I think it would be great if I could use more technology in the classroom, but it just isn't possible. I don't feel too bad about it though- last semester my students wrote and performed their own English songs.