Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

I organized for more tech use in MS, because without apps, my kid would have learned nothing. The teachers have their hands full dealing with social/emotional issues and 7th graders who read at a 1st grade level.

Anonymous wrote:Hi, I'm a parent of an older kid who has been in DCPS since PK3. For those of you with younger kids, I want to give you some feedback on where the challenges might be to addressing tech use in DCPS schools.

1) I-Ready. Some of you likely have exposure to I-Ready, though if your kids are in PK maybe not. I-Ready is an ed tech program that is used throughout DCPS in order to do educational assessments, usually three each year (beginning of year, middle of year, end of year). Because DCPS uses I-Ready for assessments, there is a lot of pressure to use the app for learning -- using I-Ready math and reading lessons both in class and for homework. It's possible for kids to do well on I-ready assessments without using I-ready a ton as a learning tool (my kid did this) but lots of I-Ready exposure will generally boost scores. The program also sets score goals for the year (ordinary and "stretch" goals) and schools want to see lots of kids hit their stretch goals. I think this leads schools to push for more I-Ready use. We always fought it, but some teachers are much more intense about it and make it harder to avoid.

2) CAPE. This is a computer-based assessment. The scores are very important to schools even if not that important individually for kids, especially in elementary. Because it's computer based, schools need kids learning certain computer skills in order to do well on the exams. This leads to more computer time starting in 3rd, when CAPE testing starts, plus assignments to practice typing and typing assignments at home. Learning to type is important and the skills they learn for CAPE are mostly good skills. It's more that the pressure to get those skills in time for CAPE results in a lot of screen time in class, and dealing with the often terrible wifi and computer resources in schools (so many days where they are spending absurd amounts of time just getting a computer to work or logging into a program). But schools have to administer CAPE, and they have to prep for it. Their hands are somewhat tied here. This is most painful in 3rd and 4th, after which kids generally have the computer skills they need and they don't have to dedicate as much class time to it.

3) Parents who are fearful about their kids being left behind on tech. You need to understand that different parents view this issue differently, and there are lots of parents who want more tech in the classroom and highly value having a "high-tech" classroom. I would encourage you not to view these parents as automatically wrong. They are approaching these issues differently than you would and they have good reasons for that, often their own bad experiences with schools that had weak tech and having to overcome that later in life, or just general anxiety about their kids being ready to compete in a highly technical work environment. Their concerns are reasonable. The key to working with these parents is to find common ground. Talk about good uses of tech versus bad uses of tech. Think about where tech in classrooms CAN actually be good and maybe start by acknowledging that rather than starting right in on "we have to get screens out of classrooms." If you turn this into a battle of pro-tech parents v. no-tech parents, you will lose because that's just not where society is going. I'm on your side, I think we need to be thinking really critically about how over reliance specifically on Ed Tech and getting phones and social media out of the classroom because these are unnecessary distractions. But you don't want to throw the baby out with the bathwater -- some tech in classrooms is important, and helps kids learn, and makes teaching better. The key is figuring out what tech that is and supporting it while also clearly identifying the bad tech that we want out of schools.

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Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

You cannot get “tech out of schools” any more than you can get tech out of the workplace. for example I doubt you want your kid to have to hand write everything through MS and HS; and I doubt you want to block the use of the Internet for bona fide research and reading.

Instead of a nebulous and annoying campaign against “tech” you need to focus on specific subjects and how they are taught. For example, dig into how math is being delivered at SH.

Good job misquoting me, judging me for opinions I did not express, and then repeating what I said only with different words and claiming it was your idea. Am I at work? Are you my male colleague who is 10 years younger, less qualified, and yet bizarrely overconfident in his wrongheaded approach to work? It's uncanny.

Are you the PK3 mom who thinks she knows everything? Good luck to you.

No, since you can't read I'll repeat myself -- I have a kid in mid elementary and my post was the opposite of assuming I know everything. I literally asked for input from parents with MS kids to share their experience so I can learn more about what tech use is like in DCPS at the MS level. Do you have kids in MS in DCPS? I'm guessing no since you couldn't answer my question and had NOTHING helpful to add. Move along, dear.

Calm tf down. Yes I have a kid in DCPS MS and that is exactly why I know what I am talking about. You seem to only want to be surrounded by pearl-clutchers mad that their PK3 kid saw an episode of Dora at school.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

I organized for more tech use in MS, because without apps, my kid would have learned nothing. The teachers have their hands full dealing with social/emotional issues and 7th graders who read at a 1st grade level.

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Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

You cannot get “tech out of schools” any more than you can get tech out of the workplace. for example I doubt you want your kid to have to hand write everything through MS and HS; and I doubt you want to block the use of the Internet for bona fide research and reading.

Instead of a nebulous and annoying campaign against “tech” you need to focus on specific subjects and how they are taught. For example, dig into how math is being delivered at SH.

There are school that still incorporate a LOT of handwriting -- in DC that is private and parochial schools and BASIS and Latin.

DCPS students are being completely left behind and parents should fight this. I would join, but we already left for one of the above.

My kids who have been through Hardy have had 99% of their ELA assignments all hand written. Once in a blue moon they have to type out an essay but only once they have hand written it first.

Yeah this is not the positive thing you think it is. It means the kids are not getting substantial enough writing assignments that they need to type them.

So all prior generations were not getting “substantial enough” (whatever that means) assignments because we didn’t type them? Sure, Jan.
We know that the brain works better when you write with your hands as opposed to typing.

Look, feel free to have your kid hand write a research paper. I hope you know that is a very extreme position to take.

I mean, I don’t think I handwrote any significant assignment post 7th grade …

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Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

You cannot get “tech out of schools” any more than you can get tech out of the workplace. for example I doubt you want your kid to have to hand write everything through MS and HS; and I doubt you want to block the use of the Internet for bona fide research and reading.

Instead of a nebulous and annoying campaign against “tech” you need to focus on specific subjects and how they are taught. For example, dig into how math is being delivered at SH.

There are school that still incorporate a LOT of handwriting -- in DC that is private and parochial schools and BASIS and Latin.

DCPS students are being completely left behind and parents should fight this. I would join, but we already left for one of the above.

My kids who have been through Hardy have had 99% of their ELA assignments all hand written. Once in a blue moon they have to type out an essay but only once they have hand written it first.

Yeah this is not the positive thing you think it is. It means the kids are not getting substantial enough writing assignments that they need to type them.

So all prior generations were not getting “substantial enough” (whatever that means) assignments because we didn’t type them? Sure, Jan.
We know that the brain works better when you write with your hands as opposed to typing.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

You cannot get “tech out of schools” any more than you can get tech out of the workplace. for example I doubt you want your kid to have to hand write everything through MS and HS; and I doubt you want to block the use of the Internet for bona fide research and reading.

Instead of a nebulous and annoying campaign against “tech” you need to focus on specific subjects and how they are taught. For example, dig into how math is being delivered at SH.

Good job misquoting me, judging me for opinions I did not express, and then repeating what I said only with different words and claiming it was your idea. Am I at work? Are you my male colleague who is 10 years younger, less qualified, and yet bizarrely overconfident in his wrongheaded approach to work? It's uncanny.

Are you the PK3 mom who thinks she knows everything? Good luck to you.

No, since you can't read I'll repeat myself -- I have a kid in mid elementary and my post was the opposite of assuming I know everything. I literally asked for input from parents with MS kids to share their experience so I can learn more about what tech use is like in DCPS at the MS level. Do you have kids in MS in DCPS? I'm guessing no since you couldn't answer my question and had NOTHING helpful to add. Move along, dear.

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Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

You cannot get “tech out of schools” any more than you can get tech out of the workplace. for example I doubt you want your kid to have to hand write everything through MS and HS; and I doubt you want to block the use of the Internet for bona fide research and reading.

Instead of a nebulous and annoying campaign against “tech” you need to focus on specific subjects and how they are taught. For example, dig into how math is being delivered at SH.

There are school that still incorporate a LOT of handwriting -- in DC that is private and parochial schools and BASIS and Latin.

DCPS students are being completely left behind and parents should fight this. I would join, but we already left for one of the above.

My kids who have been through Hardy have had 99% of their ELA assignments all hand written. Once in a blue moon they have to type out an essay but only once they have hand written it first.

Yeah this is not the positive thing you think it is. It means the kids are not getting substantial enough writing assignments that they need to type them.

So weird that there is this one extremely pro-tech poster. Is it AI or something?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

I organized for more tech use in MS, because without apps, my kid would have learned nothing. The teachers have their hands full dealing with social/emotional issues and 7th graders who read at a 1st grade level.

Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

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Anonymous wrote:I think you need to focus on the curriculum and ineffectiveness of “Ed tech” as opposed to portraying the image of a precious Montessori mom who believes that even one episode of Teletubbies will pollute her child’s brain.

The issue is not a teacher putting a dance video on the smart screen - that is actually probably a fun and good use of screens. The actual issue is that the screen/algorithm based instructional methods replacing paper *do not work.* Even more of an alarm bell should sound when the school starts telling you that the instruction will be “self paced” with your child on a device.

So the upshot is - no, you cannot act like an entitled parent and cry that your baby is being “exposed to screens.” Because computers are obviously here to stay in the world. You need to focus on how Ed tech has replaced books and paper based education despite being catastrophically less effective - particularly in math.

This is a gross misrepresentation of what most people want. And sure if it’s the equivalent to 3-15 minutes a day sure.

But sometimes the books are read on the screen, all the morning meeting songs are on the screen, the movement breaks, whole group lessons,etc. -it can add up to 30-60 minutes easily.

To not take this seriously is to discredit the vast amount of research coming out. My generation (gen z) is the first one said to be less capable than the previous generations in terms of executive functioning skills and the like. It will only get worse.

I’m not advocating for Montessori or Waldorf -especially since both have ties to eugenics or forest school. Please don’t use reductive arguments.

I simply don’t think it’s appropriate for classrooms with children 3-5 years old to be made to have laptop carts with iPads in them. Especially when it’s not developmentally appropriate or necessary.

1) I doubt you are actually in the classroom every day to know how much time is on screens
2) Using your granola-mom standards as the basis for your advocacy is not going to work. Screens are not actually toxic to children. This is just like when granola moms try to organize against baloney sandwiches and yoplait (check the archives).
3) there IS a BIG problem with screens, and that is with their use to deliver computerized/algorithmic curriculums that have poor results. THIS is what you need to have your eye on - how is your school delivering phonics and math instruction? Not the YouTube dancing video.

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

You cannot get “tech out of schools” any more than you can get tech out of the workplace. for example I doubt you want your kid to have to hand write everything through MS and HS; and I doubt you want to block the use of the Internet for bona fide research and reading.

Instead of a nebulous and annoying campaign against “tech” you need to focus on specific subjects and how they are taught. For example, dig into how math is being delivered at SH.

There are school that still incorporate a LOT of handwriting -- in DC that is private and parochial schools and BASIS and Latin.

DCPS students are being completely left behind and parents should fight this. I would join, but we already left for one of the above.

My kids who have been through Hardy have had 99% of their ELA assignments all hand written. Once in a blue moon they have to type out an essay but only once they have hand written it first.

Yeah this is not the positive thing you think it is. It means the kids are not getting substantial enough writing assignments that they need to type them.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Are there any parents out there interested in organizing around tech use in MS? My kid is already mid-elementary so while I totally support any effort to get tech out of younger grades (solidarity), I'm also looking down the pike to MS and would love to see more focus on physical books. Also if there are parents on here with experiences in DCPS MS regarding tech, what can you share? Our IB is Stuart-Hobson, which I'm enthusiastic about, but I've also heard from neighbor kids that it's a lot of chrome book use.

You cannot get “tech out of schools” any more than you can get tech out of the workplace. for example I doubt you want your kid to have to hand write everything through MS and HS; and I doubt you want to block the use of the Internet for bona fide research and reading.

Instead of a nebulous and annoying campaign against “tech” you need to focus on specific subjects and how they are taught. For example, dig into how math is being delivered at SH.

There are school that still incorporate a LOT of handwriting -- in DC that is private and parochial schools and BASIS and Latin.

DCPS students are being completely left behind and parents should fight this. I would join, but we already left for one of the above.

My kids who have been through Hardy have had 99% of their ELA assignments all hand written. Once in a blue moon they have to type out an essay but only once they have hand written it first.

Yeah this is not the positive thing you think it is. It means the kids are not getting substantial enough writing assignments that they need to type them.