A rant: Technology and Vendors in the Schools, anyone else hate it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As a lower elementary teacher, Lexia is the worst for me. We are expected to get on a certain number of minutes each week and deliver lessons in small groups based on Lexia data.

Also our admin is making us prep for the possible virtual snow day scenario. What snow storm is going to take us out of school for FIVE school days plus 1 or 2 weekends? Just more work and stress for us.

Another lower ES teacher here (third grade). How many minutes are you expected to use Lexia each week? Is somebody monitoring their usage? Do you mean the minute goals for each student? Mine range from 20-60 minutes a week and while I try to have them do Lexia twice a week, most don’t meet their individual goals. Some also get off task and go onto other sites they aren’t supposed to be on, but it’s difficult to monitor what they are doing while I’m working with a small group.

What are you doing to prep for a virtual snow day?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What the heck would my kid be doing for 1/3 of ELA and Math if they were not using Lexia and Dreambox? There is such a wide range of needs in his class that those programs have been a blessing because he can work at his own pace and do challenging, interesting work instead of listen to a lesson on something he has already learned.

Yes, I would rather deal with MySchoolBucks and Baroody than have enrichment be some half-baked plan by a well meaning PTA mom or try to get a refund from the technology illiterate school secretary.

My only complaint is that some of the technology is creating MORE work for teachers. I wish they would invest in technology that helped teachers minimize their administrative load.

Yes. We are being pressured to meet the Lexia minutes and deliver lessons in small group based on Lexia data.

We don’t use dreambox. ST math but not required.

Does anyone use Dreambox? I haven’t heard of that being used in a while. I don’t even remember using it. I do assign ST Math as a math station, so each student should be using it once a week for about 20 minutes. I say “should” because sometimes they don’t stay on ST Math and end up playing some game on a site that’s not approved. Some choose to do ST Math at other times, but not often.

ES Teacher

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate computer programs. I want textbooks and homework on paper.

Amen, I don’t know when textbooks were phased out but every year I am disappointed there are none.

I’d say it was mostly in the mid to late 90s. We had a social studies text when I taught 4th grade (I think they still do). I remember a math text through most of the 90s. Other than those I don’t remember textbooks during my teaching career that started 30 years ago.

[Anonymous]

1. Handwriting has been linked to comprehension. Better handwriting - better ability in English overall.

2. The math programs and Lexia are full of games. My kid has to dress her character before she can do any math in prodigy or ST math. That takes ages. Kids should learn that math and reading don't have to be entertainment. A math program that was just math I could get behind - but all the gaming makes education difficult and a huge waste of time. Lexia is the same - distracting.

3. Youtube - ask your child how often the teacher will show a video on YouTube. Every time they show a video, the kids have to sit through 2 minutes of ads - same as when you watch a video. When I was growing up, ads in schools were strictly prohibited. Now, my son's class watched so many ads in class, they chose the Geico Geckos as their team name for some project. Maybe it's not strictly harmful, but it's a huge waste of time.

[Anonymous]

Google and Apple and Microsoft have huge nonprofit budgets to push technology in schools. That's where it started.

[Anonymous]

To think we did SRA reading labs on our own in the 70s while we waited for our reading groups' turn. Yes, we all got teacher time, too.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a lower elementary teacher, Lexia is the worst for me. We are expected to get on a certain number of minutes each week and deliver lessons in small groups based on Lexia data.

Also our admin is making us prep for the possible virtual snow day scenario. What snow storm is going to take us out of school for FIVE school days plus 1 or 2 weekends? Just more work and stress for us.

Another lower ES teacher here (third grade). How many minutes are you expected to use Lexia each week? Is somebody monitoring their usage? Do you mean the minute goals for each student? Mine range from 20-60 minutes a week and while I try to have them do Lexia twice a week, most don’t meet their individual goals. Some also get off task and go onto other sites they aren’t supposed to be on, but it’s difficult to monitor what they are doing while I’m working with a small group.

What are you doing to prep for a virtual snow day?

60 min/ week. I think the reading specialists see our minutes and report to admin.

We are making sure kids can get on zoom and sending laptops home for 3-6 grade on Fridays.

[Anonymous]

Handwriting is dead.

So when I am working at the hospital and the computers go down, nurses, doctors and other health care professionals do what exactly? You might wanna think that one through a little more.

[Anonymous]

Well, then, you do the same, OP, ok?

Get off your tech...bill pay, portals for your mortgage, your dr., your blood lab work. Write those checks and wait until you get a statement in the mail to reconcile your acct every month. Get off your email, if your boss or colleague needs you, they'll call. If you need to collaborate, set up a meeting. Many many meeyings. Don't look anything up on your phone. If you need to know anything, buy the book or research in the stacks of journals at the college library. Only books! Only in person learning! Oh, and no word processing. your work on paper. All by hand. In cursive! Due by EOD. If there's an error- yep, start over!

Make sure you keep your papers, cards, documents (!), because those are all you will ever have of your work, your information, everything. That's it- no storage online.

No social media, too. You'll see your cousins when someone gets married or dies. If you sell stuff, do it in a store, because no IG or Etsy or EBay acct.

No digital photos, no streaming. Get a camera and an acct at Walmart to pick up picture. Get out your CDs to hear music, better yet, a tape! Bring back BLOCKBUSTER, and choose your weekend movie. Don't forget to return it, in your car by Monday or you'll own it. Do you have your car juiced up?

Call your dr, no online messaging, and that goes for prescriptions. You just keep calling everyone and hope they have
it when you go in. When you need emergency care, you'll just have to remember the results of your last scans, blood work or PT evaluation while you wait. If you need stuff, go to the store. No online shopping.

Keep your landline, too, dear. No smart phones. No messaging, please. Did something break? Get a plumber, no You Tube directions on that clog.

Or, drag yourself back into the 21st century and learn how to manage information. Your kids are already there.

[Anonymous]

Teacher here...
The term is gamification, and yes it is way more effective than drill sheets. But while we are at it, renember when you took home your textbook with whatever assignment and tried to do the work, but didn't get it? Online programs walk the learner through concept, stops them if the answer is wrong, reviews errors, provides more practice. The book does nothing. Books? Exoensuve and outdated. Online materials is current,dynamic, and effective.

OP needs to understand learning and basic pedagogical practice. And stop with the handwriting stuff. No one is required to hand letter anything at all. We literally do not even have to sign a document anymore.

[Anonymous]

I don't frankly care that a school board member said R*tard, and your comment abour "teaching politics" tells us everything we need to know about your cognitive attainment and POV.

It's not "politics" to discuss history, and yes, there are people who are gay or trans. Even in Colombia.

I hope your kids become better educated than you!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Google and Apple and Microsoft have huge nonprofit budgets to push technology in schools. That's where it started.

Ah, no. We buy what we want to do the job. Good grief.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate computer programs. I want textbooks and homework on paper.

Amen, I don’t know when textbooks were phased out but every year I am disappointed there are none.

I’d say it was mostly in the mid to late 90s. We had a social studies text when I taught 4th grade (I think they still do). I remember a math text through most of the 90s. Other than those I don’t remember textbooks during my teaching career that started 30 years ago.

Do we need to discuss why textbooks are not relevant? Really? Do you think schools could use a set of encyclopedias?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I hate computer programs. I want textbooks and homework on paper.

Amen, I don’t know when textbooks were phased out but every year I am disappointed there are none.

What planet are you on or what century have you time traveled from? Come on.

None of this is within your purview regarding educational practices. Nothing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Teacher here...
The term is gamification, and yes it is way more effective than drill sheets. But while we are at it, renember when you took home your textbook with whatever assignment and tried to do the work, but didn't get it? Online programs walk the learner through concept, stops them if the answer is wrong, reviews errors, provides more practice. The book does nothing. Books? Exoensuve and outdated. Online materials is current,dynamic, and effective.

OP needs to understand learning and basic pedagogical practice. And stop with the handwriting stuff. No one is required to hand letter anything at all. We literally do not even have to sign a document anymore.

Is gamification an effect or a cause of the lack of attention span in kids today? And is gamification more "effective" than drill sheets? Kids don't remember anything nowadays (it's well studied that people retain less information from a screen than from a book and that writing by hand is better for retention than listening or reading or clicking).

I understand that screens, including Lexia and ST Math, are needed for classroom management. Because kids cannot sit quietly when they're finished with their work. Because kids cannot behave anymore. But that doesn't mean that it's good.

There are new studies showing that screens delay and reduce emotional regulation and maturity. No kidding. Kids look regulated while they're zoned out staring at a screen. But then every moment when they're not staring at a screen they're dysregulated.