Link to the AEA statement? I couldn't find it. |
That was the last straw for me, AEA has zero cred. Teachers don't even like them, there's an alternate union that formed. That's telling. |
In the ArlNow article that was linked at the beginning, June Prakash stated on behalf of the AEA that she agrees with reducing tech in the classroom. I wonder if she was only speaking for herself though. From the teachers that I speak to and are actual friends with, they're tired of her and AEM guy. Thank you for your step/COLA advocacy, but we didn't agree to everything else you say on our behalf. |
I took that as just *her* opinion, not speaking for anyone else. |
I don't know why folks are so focused on which organized groups support or have made statements. This topic has come up in conversations with other parents and teachers and they all seem to be generally aligned. I don't care what AEM, AEA or APE thinks. It's a common sense proposal that probably needs some refinement and more input from IT and schools, but is absolutely worth considering. |
It's not though. This parent is not aligned at all with taking away tech, and doesn't care one iota about elementary iPad usage. Opt out if you're so inclined, but stop trying to policy my children away from things that work for them. And a lot of teachers use tech for really amazing things outside of what you read, even for K-2. Stop trying to speak for all of us. You're really only representing the people you know. |
+1 Lexia was very helpful for my dyslexic kid, even pre-diagnosis. iPads can be useful tools, even for K-2. The cost savings of cutting out a portion of iPads for K-2 are a joke. The more impactful budget solution would have been pushing back hard on Youngkin when he slashed APS funding. Fortunately, the GA was able to recoup some of his cuts, but not all. |
+1000. If APE really cared about funding for schools, they could have pushed their buddy Youngkin on this. |
Who said the proposal was to take away tech? I had understood it was to end 1:1 devices in K-2 and look into devices with keyboards for middle school. No one has suggested removing all devices. There would still be devices available for K-2 and teachers could decide if they wanted a partial classroom set for stations (e.g., 8-10 for their classroom) or to share a full classroom set between classes (e.g., morning vs afternoon). |
No one has proposed taking away Lexia, so you're safe. That's not even being discussed. |
And we’ve seen that for many kids, Lexia is replacing actual instruction. Tech use is up, performance is down. More and more research is coming out that these devices are not as effective as the old methods, are addicting, and trigger things in the brain we can’t even understand. The people who invent these devices don’t let their own kids use them. That’s telling. |
How would Lexia work without 1:1? |
Not yet, but that's how APE works. In increments. |
As posted above:
I suppose teachers could also trade by day and one teacher could do Lexia M/W and another teacher could do handwriting and then they could swap for Tu/Th. |
Lexia does provide systemic instruction on structured reading. It's a great supplement to in-class instruction. With increasing class size because the county and state are not properly funding APS, tools like Lexia will help make sure that kids are getting proper, thorough instruction and reinforcement. Kids should absolutely be using iPads a little as possible, but there is a place for them 1:1 in the K-2 classrooms. I'd take several extra reading specialists in every school, but that will cost a lot more than a fraction of iPads. We get what we pay for. |