Comments For Teachers #1

Why Are We Still Wasting Money On Whiteboards?
In this blog Bill Ferriter talks about all of the different technological resources we could buy with the money schools spend on interactive whiteboards. He makes some very interesting suggestions that I think are worth thinking about. He said that for the price of six interactive whiteboard we could buy 75 netbook computers, 87 iTouches, 360 Livescribe pens, or 36 years of VoiceThread subscriptions. These are all materials that would be more personalized to the student.

In my comment to him I agreed that these different resources could help students become more involved in their schoolwork. I also agreed that interactive whiteboards can be a waste of money. If teachers are not proficient in their use of the interactive whiteboards than they will not be as effective in teaching with them. In my comment, I left some examples of teachers I have had that did not use their interactive whiteboards to their full potential. It was frustrating to me, and the rest of the class. I do agree that interactive whiteboards can be useful in expanding the creativity of children, but teachers need to be taught how to use them first!

Need MORE Proof that Testing is Destroying Education?
Mr. Ferriter makes some crucial points in this blog. He talks about the challenges teachers have come to face because of testing in schools. We are faced with some pretty big decisions. Do we teach children "the test" or do we teach them the things that will matter to them most in their future? It seems like a simple question, until your job depends on it! Teachers are being let go for their students test scores. This puts a lot of pressure on both the teachers and students to learn only certain information.

When I commented on this blog a lot of things were running through my mind. Bill Ferriter touches on the fact that students are not learning crucial elements of education such as "crafting persuasive arguments, engaging in collaborative dialogue, and making critical judgments based on information". This really bothered me because I think these are all important skills for students to learn. These are things that people can, and will, use the rest of their lives. We use these skills in everyday situations and I feel that they are too important to leave out of the curriculum.