Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So it's not the schools job. It's the parents job. I'm fine with that but it begs the question, what IS the schools job?
Because if we're paying exorbitant property tax to teach our kids about mindfulness moments, jump around to YouTube videos and instill guilt about the Pilgrims stealing from the Native Americans is that the best investment of money?

+1000

Can schools go back to teaching reading and math? Because they definitely used to do that.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“ Compare this to how a student might engage with that word in a reading comprehension app. They will read the passage on the screen containing the word. Later they will be asked to select one of several meanings for the word from a multiple choice list, and the app will provide the sentence where the word was used in the question (since there is not a good way for the student to page back through the app to find it themselves). Many students will answer the question correctly using context cues. Others may get it wrong and the app will let them know what the correct answer is. But this experience is not deeply engaging and a relatively smart student could complete the exercise correctly without ever really understanding the word, and is unlikely to pull it up from memory later.”



This is from 00.47 post. I’d rather read books too but I remember running into words that I’d never seen before and just kept reading.

When my middle school daughter is reading something and a word pops up that she doesn’t know, she clicks the word and the definition comes up. I wish I had that in school. Also her ability to have 6 screens open and flip around to the one needed so quickly was impressive. Especially since they took away the touch screen thanks to the gamers.

A study showing pencil and paper were superior did not take into account the many students who can’t write fast enough to take notes or cannot work fast enough with pencil and paper. Using computers to do certain tasks are helping a lot of students.

One question, what are your students doing multiple choice on? I’ve never seen multiple choice being used. They ask questions and require 3-4 sentences for an answer.

Middle school is different. By middle school, kids can type and technology use can be more interactive. We're talking about elementary and learning foundational skills.

The studies on learning and retention mostly focused on math, where you aren't writing out sentences. For math, paper and pencil is MUCH better for material retention. It's not about note taking or speed, it's about actually working the problems out. You need pencil and paper for that.

Also in elementary school, apps will almost always be multiple choice. The EdTech isn't asking 3rd graders to write multiple sentence responses to anything into an app. This is one of the problems with reliance on apps.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mcps elementary kids are saying they are not using Chromebooks at school this year except for testing. In past years they were not using it as part of the curriculum but were allowed to use it sometimes. For example, the last 30 my minutes of the day.

No appropriate in a school

I agree, but I'm guessing the teachers need some time for grading or other things, which I can understand.

I haven't heard of screen use in our school as it is being described in this thread. Kids are not learning to read on Chromebooks.

I am all for improving working conditions for teachers, but this notion that it's understandable for teachers to stick kids on screens so they can get other things done is appalling. No, that's not okay.

I'm on your side here but teachers were using screens for this purpose when I was a kid in the 90s. Endless episodes of Bill Nye, Magic School Bus etc. for no reason other than to get a moment of peace. I remember watching a Disney movie every Friday!

Kids can watch porn in school on internet connected devices. I would much rather they wheel in a TV and show a movie.

Same. We didn’t even watch things weekly, maybe once in a great while. What we watched was typically on point with reinforcing lessons- it wasn’t meant to be the actual lesson. I recall watching Ben Hur in 6th grade at school (late 90s), after studying the Roman Empire. We watched the entire movie over several days. I remember how thrilling it was to this day. I cannot imagine current 6th graders even be able to understand the dialogue or having the attention span to watch it now. They would probably watch the MineCraft movie in class now instead.

Anonymous wrote:So it's not the schools job. It's the parents job. I'm fine with that but it begs the question, what IS the schools job?
Because if we're paying exorbitant property tax to teach our kids about mindfulness moments, jump around to YouTube videos and instill guilt about the Pilgrims stealing from the Native Americans is that the best investment of money?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mcps elementary kids are saying they are not using Chromebooks at school this year except for testing. In past years they were not using it as part of the curriculum but were allowed to use it sometimes. For example, the last 30 my minutes of the day.

No appropriate in a school

I agree, but I'm guessing the teachers need some time for grading or other things, which I can understand.

I haven't heard of screen use in our school as it is being described in this thread. Kids are not learning to read on Chromebooks.

I am all for improving working conditions for teachers, but this notion that it's understandable for teachers to stick kids on screens so they can get other things done is appalling. No, that's not okay.

I'm on your side here but teachers were using screens for this purpose when I was a kid in the 90s. Endless episodes of Bill Nye, Magic School Bus etc. for no reason other than to get a moment of peace. I remember watching a Disney movie every Friday!

Kids can watch porn in school on internet connected devices. I would much rather they wheel in a TV and show a movie.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the education responsibility falls more on teachers in middle school and high school, but learning how to read is the parents responsibility. It's the parents job to get the kids to a point where they can learn. Then the schools can teach topics like mathematics and the sciences. Elementary school education is really the parents responsibility.

That's ridiculous. I'm a child of educated immigrants who spoke limited English. They did not teach me to read. School did. Most kids do not learn just by being read to. They need explicit instruction in reading by someone trained to deliver it.

DP. Most educated immigrants read to their children in their native language. That shows kids how to follow words on a page, how to hold a book, and how to make connections between pictures and words just as a start. There are some kids who enter kindergarten with no books in the house and parents who don't know how to read in any language. They're at a completely different starting point and many won't catch up.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the education responsibility falls more on teachers in middle school and high school, but learning how to read is the parents responsibility. It's the parents job to get the kids to a point where they can learn. Then the schools can teach topics like mathematics and the sciences. Elementary school education is really the parents responsibility.

That's ridiculous. I'm a child of educated immigrants who spoke limited English. They did not teach me to read. School did. Most kids do not learn just by being read to. They need explicit instruction in reading by someone trained to deliver it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the education responsibility falls more on teachers in middle school and high school, but learning how to read is the parents responsibility. It's the parents job to get the kids to a point where they can learn. Then the schools can teach topics like mathematics and the sciences. Elementary school education is really the parents responsibility.

That's ridiculous. I'm a child of educated immigrants who spoke limited English. They did not teach me to read. School did. Most kids do not learn just by being read to. They need explicit instruction in reading by someone trained to deliver it.

That is what ESL is for. If you read with your kids, most kids can read Green Eggs and Ham before kindergarten.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My mcps elementary kids are saying they are not using Chromebooks at school this year except for testing. In past years they were not using it as part of the curriculum but were allowed to use it sometimes. For example, the last 30 my minutes of the day.

No appropriate in a school

I agree, but I'm guessing the teachers need some time for grading or other things, which I can understand.

I haven't heard of screen use in our school as it is being described in this thread. Kids are not learning to read on Chromebooks.

I am all for improving working conditions for teachers, but this notion that it's understandable for teachers to stick kids on screens so they can get other things done is appalling. No, that's not okay.

I'm on your side here but teachers were using screens for this purpose when I was a kid in the 90s. Endless episodes of Bill Nye, Magic School Bus etc. for no reason other than to get a moment of peace. I remember watching a Disney movie every Friday!

Kids can watch porn in school on internet connected devices. I would much rather they wheel in a TV and show a movie.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the education responsibility falls more on teachers in middle school and high school, but learning how to read is the parents responsibility. It's the parents job to get the kids to a point where they can learn. Then the schools can teach topics like mathematics and the sciences. Elementary school education is really the parents responsibility.

That's ridiculous. I'm a child of educated immigrants who spoke limited English. They did not teach me to read. School did. Most kids do not learn just by being read to. They need explicit instruction in reading by someone trained to deliver it.

That is what ESL is for. If you read with your kids, most kids can read Green Eggs and Ham before kindergarten.

Anonymous wrote:“ Compare this to how a student might engage with that word in a reading comprehension app. They will read the passage on the screen containing the word. Later they will be asked to select one of several meanings for the word from a multiple choice list, and the app will provide the sentence where the word was used in the question (since there is not a good way for the student to page back through the app to find it themselves). Many students will answer the question correctly using context cues. Others may get it wrong and the app will let them know what the correct answer is. But this experience is not deeply engaging and a relatively smart student could complete the exercise correctly without ever really understanding the word, and is unlikely to pull it up from memory later.”



This is from 00.47 post. I’d rather read books too but I remember running into words that I’d never seen before and just kept reading.

When my middle school daughter is reading something and a word pops up that she doesn’t know, she clicks the word and the definition comes up. I wish I had that in school. Also her ability to have 6 screens open and flip around to the one needed so quickly was impressive. Especially since they took away the touch screen thanks to the gamers.

A study showing pencil and paper were superior did not take into account the many students who can’t write fast enough to take notes or cannot work fast enough with pencil and paper. Using computers to do certain tasks are helping a lot of students.

One question, what are your students doing multiple choice on? I’ve never seen multiple choice being used. They ask questions and require 3-4 sentences for an answer.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the education responsibility falls more on teachers in middle school and high school, but learning how to read is the parents responsibility. It's the parents job to get the kids to a point where they can learn. Then the schools can teach topics like mathematics and the sciences. Elementary school education is really the parents responsibility.

That's ridiculous. I'm a child of educated immigrants who spoke limited English. They did not teach me to read. School did. Most kids do not learn just by being read to. They need explicit instruction in reading by someone trained to deliver it.

That is what ESL is for. If you read with your kids, most kids can read Green Eggs and Ham before kindergarten.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think the education responsibility falls more on teachers in middle school and high school, but learning how to read is the parents responsibility. It's the parents job to get the kids to a point where they can learn. Then the schools can teach topics like mathematics and the sciences. Elementary school education is really the parents responsibility.

That's ridiculous. I'm a child of educated immigrants who spoke limited English. They did not teach me to read. School did. Most kids do not learn just by being read to. They need explicit instruction in reading by someone trained to deliver it.