But, the point is, NOW many teachers use the computer as the teacher and not a tool. The calculator replaces the human interaction of teaching math.

There’s always feel good stories to get us through our career. Yes, I had children whose mothers were prostitutes – in fact, my first year in the classroom the room mothers WERE prostitutes. I had children whose mothers were beaten and killed by johns. I had a pimp proposition me in the hallway of the school I was in. I was robbed by the older brother of one of my students while I was on recess duty. My student had told him when I would be out of the room. Despite it all, the children still learned and enjoyed learning. Parents showed up when they were around, motivated and interested. Human interaction was often the key. Not technology.

Yes, computers are a tool, but not the only tool. And those that are motivated will learn despite the lack of technology. Humans and their brains are far larger and more versatile than any technology. Technology has it’s place in the classroom, but students remember the human moments of good teaching, not the canned computer interactions.

Love your comments…

But thought you should know that flash cards are the tools of “skill and drill.” “Drill and kill” are dirty, no-no leftover remnants from an earlier repressive era in education (snark) that colleges of education are attempting to eradicate from our education system. Apparently their efforts are meeting with much success.

Many computer education programs are simply glorified flash cards…replete with flashing lights, bright colors, and exciting sound effects. But, gee whiz…schools have to compete with Guitar Hero and those computer programs do allow each child to have one-on-one time…even if it is with a computer. Consider them teacher replicants. I welcomed them with open arms.

Naval Intelligence? It’s about time we found a better use for our belly buttons than their current role as collectors of lint and objects of contemplation. Think of the benefits. They would never be thoughtlessly left behind, couldn’t be easily lost or stolen, fumbling through wallet or purse at checkout would be a thing of the past. Ingenious.

Requirements of a college student to enter a teacher training program must be standardized and administered to all regardless.

I observed a lively third grade English Language Arts lesson taught by an enthusiastic, but unqualified teacher. The students were excited, eager to learn, and soaked up information like little sponges.

Unfortunately, the instructor had poor basic skills. He didn’t know the correct usage of “there,” “they’re,” and “their” for example.

I sat there in my little group of visiting graduate students and thought about the harm this teacher was doing. It’s very difficult to unlearn and then relearn–better to learn correctly the first time.

When these kids are corrected further up the line and learn their third grade teacher didn’t know beans from Shinola, they’ll lose a lot of respect for teachers, justifiably so. More respect for the profession down the drain.

Students must be held to classroom objectives and requirements (not of the NCLB kind)

And so must teachers. I saw far too many who taught the content they liked best and ignored the rest. Teachers really enjoyed their work; students suffered.

I used to be against homeschooling but after seeing the quality of teaching plummet, I support it fully for gifted students with district input and standardized testing. Usually the homeschoolers who are given the passion and tools for learning do well on the tests.

GT students do very well on computers since they can work at their own pace…usually much faster than in a mixed ability setting–they are no longer bored to tears. But, electronic instruction works well for others, too.

Case in point: A boy was assigned to my second grade classroom well after school had started. He should have been in third grade, but he had never been to school a day in his life. His mother was a prostitute and drug addict. “Jimmy” was taken from his mother and placed with his alcoholic grandfather.

What to do? I became his special friend with an unspoken agreement. I never called on him in class unless I was sure he could respond appropriately and he pretended to actively participate. But, when we went to the computer lab three times a week, he worked in the kindergarten coursework. No one noticed or cared.

He soon asked me how to reset the computer so he could redo each lesson until he scored 100%. He started moving through the curriculum. He then asked if he could stay after school and work in the lab each day during that final lab hour for grades 4-6. There was one empty seat; he never missed a day.

Long story short: Jimmy was on grade level when he went to third grade. That wouldn’t have happened without technology.

As a classroom teacher, the computers were used as a teaching tool AFTER the skills had been taught.

(See above.)

The computers, the calculators, the AV and TV teaching tools, and the centers were utilized to reinforce and enhance the lessons. Now they are the lesson and then we get cashiers that can’t make change. I’ve had my own experiences with teaching twenty-somethings how to count change at the till. It’s an embarrassment for them.

Making change and counting money are second grade skills. They’re tough to teach…so is telling time on an analog clock. I’ll admit that computer games made those tasks a whole lot easier for all concerned.

I know of an adjunct professor whose life was threatened by a student because the final exam was paper and pencil at a certain location on a certain date. The student felt it was beneath them to take it in that form rather than on the computer at their convenience.

Ah…some faculty and adjuncts are slow to take advantage of technology and thus reap the wrath of their students. Today, many students are non-traditional students, juggling jobs and families along with their studies. For them flexible testing is a necessity.

Case in point: One of my distance education students came to campus to complete her registration paperwork when I was the chair for that department. My secretary called me from across campus and told me to come to the office and pick up this student’s paperwork at the bursar’s office on my way over. I protested, but my secretary, mincing no words, insisted that I “…just do it.” Grumbling all the way through 100+ degree heat, I made the journey.

I was stunned when I reached the DE office. My student was there with her family. It was a huge day for them.

My student was a young Hispanic woman, very pregnant with three young children in tow. Her wheelchair bound mother-in-law was there, too. Hot and sweaty, but still in his uniform, her husband had taken time from his blue-collar job to drive the 50 miles from their home to campus. They were all so happy and so proud–a true day of celebration, a life changing event.

I was blown away. I no longer had any sympathy for faculty who threw up barriers for students. Computers allow access to education. They open the door for those who in the past were denied an education. The needs of the student trump the needs of faculty and administrators–hands down, every time, no exceptions.

An architect that can conceptualize how a house can be built would NEVER be able to actually build a house if he wasn’t familiar with the tools needed to build it. A practical knowledge of house building takes an understanding and familiarity with the basics of construction, right down to the seemingly simple acts of swinging a hammer or using a shovel.

Complex mathematical problems may be understood at one level, but if that uderstanding isn’t backed up with a reflexive understanding of the times tables, the wrong answer to the problem is almost guaranteed.

It is absolutely necessary to memorize, so it is even more important to learn HOW to memorize. That was the main focus in my home schooling, I’ve got stacks of home made 3 by 5 cards for everything from the times tables to the periodic tables, and like sponges, the kids suck it all up. When modern education tries to circumnavigate around such a basic concept, we’ll end up with generations of children that will fall far short of their potential.

And H.D., thank you for your thoughtful remarks.

Again, great comments, everyone!

As a classroom teacher, the computers were used as a teaching tool AFTER the skills had been taught. The computers, the calculators, the AV and TV teaching tools, and the centers were utilized to reinforce and enhance the lessons. Now they are the lesson and then we get cashiers that can’t make change. I’ve had my own experiences with teaching twenty-somethings how to count change at the till. It’s an embarrassment for them.

I know of an adjunct professor whose life was threatened by a student because the final exam was paper and pencil at a certain location on a certain date. The student felt it was beneath them to take it in that form rather than on the computer at their convenience.

Amy’s Cousin: “Phonics and grammar need to be taught; they need to be taught within a context so students know what they are doing, so there is conceptualization and understanding, not rote memorization. Even Ken Goodman, the father of whole language, advocated for phonics instruction, but within a context so kids learned, not memorized. ”

I disagree. Some fundamentals have to be memorized. We’re aghast that students are no longer required to memorize the multiplication tables…as we should be. But, since we, in general, aren’t as familiar with the basics of phonics instruction, we leave it to the experts when they tell us that our beginning readers shouldn’t be forced to memorize the 26 letters of the alphabet, the 34 sounds those letters can make, or the 80 ways to spell those individual sounds. Let’s add that up…26 +34 +80 = 140…memorizing 140 items is too much to ask of little kids? Please….if Asian children can memorize 7,000 or more individual characters to learn to read, why can’t American children memorize 140 items?

Once you learn your times tables you can and will use them for the rest of your life. Same with phonics. Reading shouldn’t be a chore; it should be a joy. With the basics in place, kids can read to learn with ease. I wasn’t taught phonics. Consequently, I can’t even count the number of words I was forced to “memorize,” yes, memorize, in order to read and write correctly—but, I’m sure there were thousands and thousands and thousands of them. And, yes, I’m pretty damn angry about it. Some basic “keys”…or tools…have to be memorized and then you build lasting knowledge and advanced skills on those foundations.

I read recently that schools are dropping cursive handwriting instruction and that spelling lessons are passe as well. Will everyone be keyboarding and using spell checkers? Schools are eliminating all the things that took effort to teach and time to learn. Learning the times tables was one tough nut, but once learned we took great pride in knowing and using them. Are we robbing our students of a greater overall lesson…the sense of pride in accomplishment–while we deprive them of basic life skills?

Is the age of the Electronic Belly Button upon us? Will each newborn be implanted with an electronic device at birth? Will this device replace our calculators, our credit cards, our need to sign checks and contracts, or even count our change? Belly up to a scanner and debits and credits will be applied? It may come to that if the masses are illiterate. We’re halfway there now.

To illustrate: there have been many teacher conferences where the teacher/s would tell me how my child was not fitting in, being disruptive (i.e. calling out the answer in class without raising his hand), not being intelligent enough to handle the material (so I would teach it to him at home, never with any problems), and not being able to pay attention (one teacher harassed me about putting him on Ritalin). These teacher/s made me feel hopeless. OK, so I worked with them as best I could and basically had a kid who hated that grade/class/teacher for the year, get teased by others kids, and learned the subject was a total drag. These teachers take your kid back a few steps.

Contrast this with the many teacher/s where I would go in for the conference and she/he would say something to the effect of ‘I think your child is amazing and has an incredible amount to offer. I am trying to find out the best way to give him what he needs.’ I tell you, I wanted to jump out of my seat, scream “I LOVE YOU!” and give those teachers a giant bear hug!!! (Don’t worry, I kept it together-lol!) My son would love the year/class/subject (even if he’d ‘hated’ it the year before), make huge academic advances, spontaneously love and respect the teacher, and have excellent social relations in the class. I owe so much to those excellent teachers!

There was absolutely no age pattern as these experiences were randomly mixed throughout pre, K, elementary and middle school, and our home life is very stable. So what was the difference? It was the SAME KID!!!

Obviously it was where the teacher was coming from. I am experienced enough now that I can peg teachers from a mile away. There are those that want to get the kids through their program–just do the steps and voila, you are ‘educated’. They get irritated when a kid happens to stumble–it gets in the way of their progam. It’s all about the destination.

Then there are those that understand they are teaching a human being. They know that the process of learning involves removing roadblocks and picking yourself up when you stumble. They treat these things as normal and incorporate them into their teaching style. It’s all about the journey.

My experiences are not isolated. I have many friends–parents usually of boys–who have gone through this hope/doubt ringer several times, too. They come out on the other end either institutionalized (they give him meds or give up on him) or with the firm belief that their kid is much more than the sum of what a few teachers label him as. Those lucky kids learn perseverance, patience, the real value of learning and real self esteem.

I have been teaching college for 23 years and now I am being judged not by my quality of education, but by how many students I pass, who starts and who finishes, and what the students say about my class. Dumbing down the classroom has now progressed to the community college system in California. The university system will be next.

If you didn’t know, President Obama wants to do away with tenure and replace it with a merit system. Merit system is a code word for judging a teacher against student outcomes, and will essentially eliminate teachers like me, who teach with a philosophy of passion and quality rather than quantity. For all of you out there who think tenure is a terrible system, think again. Tenure protects teachers like me, not the “bad” teachers. “Bad” teachers go along with whatever the administration tells them they should teach, thus, “bad” teachers need little protection.

College administrations could give a shit about the quality of the education your children receive, it is about pumping out a product. An American treasure is dying a slow insidious death.

With the problem now defined, it’s clear that we’re dealing with a lack of respect and concern for our children. Shifting a national paradigm is no small task. Suggestions, anyone?