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This website gives an insight of what Colorado districts are presently doing: 4-day school weeks. Are we headed that way?

I think that districts here in the valley are far from moving to this 4-day school weeks. It would have to be most or all of the school districts from around here in order to work more effectively. There will be a lot of unhappy parents due to child care expenses. On the other hand, us teachers will probably enjoy it. As it is most of us already stay late hours at school everyday to finish up. The districts will have to show how much they are saving by doing this and at the same time maintain or improve scores.

I read the article and I believe the 4-day week has its benefits but as well it has its downside. I believe at the end the positive benefits will outweigh the downsides. If any district is going to implement the 4-day week, the district has to have the parents and community behind them if they want the system to work. I can see how having a 4-day week will have a positive effect on test scores, because the students and teachers will make every hour count for instructional time, knowing they only have 4 days to teach the concept within the week. I can also see improvement in attendance with students and staff, now parents and teachers can schedule their appointments on the off day during the week. Article: http://crosscut.com/2012/02/16/education/21873/The-fourday-school-week-why-less-really-is-more/ A superintendent in Oregon explains the reasons why a shift to a four-day school week works well for students, teachers, and families. Start with better academic performance.

I believe technology integration is absolutely worth the cost. Technology enables teachers to bring real-world, meaningful learning into the classroom. In addition, technology promotes multisensory, engaging learning that is suitable for a variety of learning styles. The underlying issue is that teachers are often inadequately trained and/or unable to properly integrate the technology into the classroom due to stringent testing preparation. As a result, the overall benefit of technology integration is often not seen.

You have to try to get their attention and sometimes that entails gadgets. But sometimes the lack of these gadgets become an excuse to not learn because the student claims that he or she is bored. When a student equates learning with entertainment with such fervor it's probably because the student wants an excuse to quit when things get tough.

Technology is the way of the future. We need to educate our children with the new technology that is available in order for them to be prepared for the world around them. I do agree that it is worth the cost. Districts have funds. They just need to know how to allocate them and how to spend them and get the most for their money. They also need to make sure and buy things that teachers and students are going to use because if technology just sits in the closet, it does no one any good.

Stillman Middle School students were issued ipads as part of the GEAR UP program.

I don't believe people are completely against it, i believe it's the fear of NOT KNOWING how to use it in the classroom. I'm totally up for using the ipad. I've currently started using REMIND 101. WOrks awesome. One way communication that's safe from teacher to student/parent that reminds them about certain activities or important reminders. Check it out!

We recently were asked to fill out a survey within our district explaining why or why not to implement the use of IPADS in the classroom. Of course, I am all for it but I was surprised to see the many educators who are reluctant and don't feel it is necessary. I am already planning what to do with mine if the district decides to suit us with a class set.

Very interesting! I agree with the writer of the article. There needs to be a balance between teaching the 21st century skills and the content. There also needs to be a balance with how much time is spent on learning content and how much time should be spent on learning how to find the information. Back in the day, there was less history to learn, less scientific facts, etc. Since the Internet era began, we have way more facts than we can possibly remember. I think that teachers can do this, so that it's not a fad. As a librarian, I'm trying to focus on communication. I have a wiki and a library web page that helps me communicate with students the different resources that are available to them. I am always sharing with them what is available so that they can use their creativity.

Thank you for sharing this article Elva. It really resonated for me. The author's final statement , "If they want to genuinely transform teaching and learning, proponents of 21st-century skills must be as deliberate about how their idea is approached and implemented as they want schools to be about teaching these skills", especially resonated with my feelings regarding our rush to implement 21st Century skills. I firmly believe in backwards planning, but often what I observe is a rush to buy new "toys" and then there's no plan for their use. School districts must take the time to make the end goal and then create the steps needed to arrive at that goal. This will require time, effort, and yes some money. However, if you take the time to plan ahead for implementation you will save money in the long run by avoiding costly missteps. Additionally, these 21st Century Skills are simply skills to apply to knowledge. We must take the time to teach them but it cannot be in determent to the content areas. If students learn a concept better using scissors and paper over a Prezi, then it should be the method of instruction in my opinion. Ultimately, teachers and school districts need to embrace the new technology but view it as a tool for instruction and not the solution to all of our educational struggles.

I try to incorporate 21st century skills by having my kids use more technology with their projects. many of them are so use to having the pen and paper assignment that they are surprised when they get to use technology to create a project. While there may be some issues that make it hard to use technology most of the time because of lack of computers of items, having some group work for using these technology can help. I know I can be doing more so when I plan I need to make sure to keep in mind that it is our jobs as teachers to teach these students into becoming 21st century learners.

What do you think is BYOD good or bad for the classroom?

Bring Your Own Data! Excellent, we all know that students from nowadays are in touch with all kinds of electronic devices, and why not taking advantage of it. The good think about technology is that there are lots of applications or ways to incorporate such electronic devices in the classroom. I have used a couple of times cellphones to use them as clickers, and students are amazed they can do that, if we introduced students to such things they will naturally seek for more ways to incorporate learning with their own cellphones, ipods, ipads etc.

I would certainly do the BYOD if i did not have enough technology in my classroom. Students are really proud when they contribute and share their "toys" or devices. The pros are that they know the devices well,and will be able to download the apps needed, and navigate. Devices are usually the latest model, so we would have compatible devices, and we can learn a thing or two from them and have the troubleshooting down as well. The cons might be that we need to make sure we have permission slips with waivers for lost items, but at the same time, be sure we have a place to lock them up and keep them safe. HCISD has form that needs to be signed by parents. I know a fifth grade teacher who has implemented BYOD, and technology has become an interwoven tool that is used seamlessly. Students are not at the novelty stage clamoring to get to the tools, but deciding for themselves when they need to use to to research, or for reviewing objectives taught in class. It was a successful implementation.

Teach2Learn Series offers engaging ideas!

The issue at hand is finding applications that you can correlate to the TEKS you are teaching and having the computers available for your use.

Wow! There is so much I'm not using! All year I've thought about integrating a movie projec, but haven't been able to. . This video is definitely a motivator. The students in the video were so knowledgable. Those skills will be so useful throughout their academic career. There are so many free tool and I agree with the teacher in the video - it's an answer to cut backs and actually much more motivating for students!

As the title says, The best 100 Web 2.0 classroom tools. I know many of us are still a little new to a lot of the tools out there. This link is my tech bible. I constantly look at it when I want to grab my students attention again and challenge/intrigue them with a new tool. I have noticed that there are a handful that do not appear on this list, so.... Your assignment: 1. Add a sticky to at least ONE of the tools you like to integrate most. If the is already sticky, comment on it. 2. Add a sticky on one you would like to familiarize your self with more. 3. (Optional) Add a sticky anywhere on the screen if there is a tool you use that is not on the list. I do know this list if from 2011 so I'm sure you have other favorites you like to use. http://youtu.be/0VSymMbMYHA Check out the video above. It gives me the chills for some reason.

I'm using a couple of web 2.0 tools in the classroom and its going great so far.

Every tool is useful for my students but the one that they are most familiar with is glosteredu. They have use this web 2.0 tool to create a poster for their presentations. i would like to be more familiarize with dropbox.

The cost of higher education has grown exponentially in just the six years since my undergraduate days. However, the options that are available are incredible! I was amazed to find out that you can take classes online through MIT for FREE. What an amazing way to use our time on the internet? Are we preparing our students to be self-guided learners who are ready to work their way through an online course? I know that it's been a difficult transition for me, will our students be able to make it? Are they better equipped than the older generation to make the transition because of their technology infused lives or will it be more difficult for them to focus?

Wow, this was very scary. I have three children and I have instilled in them the importance of furthering their education. Seeing this makes me wonder, if Im gona have to rob a bank to help them on thier educational journey. The price of college has risen significally now, but I will try my best to stay afloat and continue and hopefully succeed without a ton of debt.

Yes, post-secondary education is becoming more expensive to prepare our sons and daughters at the actual schools of learning for their future. More the reason(s) that we must prepare students K-12th to be 21st century learners that can collaborate, communicate, use critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills that will enable them to be independent and self-motivated for online learning. By taking on-line college courses, the students will be able to save money in tuition fees, textbooks, housing, transportation, and other types of expenses. In spite of the high expense it will cost me to educate my daughter as a biology major and to attend medical school, I want her to be prepared to become a medical doctor--thank goodness I only have one!!

In the edutopia blog article, Shaping Tech for the Classroom, linked above, Marc Prensky - the "creator" of the digital immigrant/digital native labels, describes the typical process of technology adoption. How accurately do those steps define what is happening on your campus with regard to technology adoption? On average, where in the process is your campus? Have you seen any "movement" through the process in the last 2-3 years? If yes, to what do you attribute these changes? If no, what can you do to move the campus forward? Click on "Comment" above to respond to the article and to your peers. Please post at least one link in this group that is relevant to your discussion. Be sure to tag your link and your discussion.

In my campus I have noticed that veteran teachers tend to stay away from technology. Veteran teachers didn't grow up with technology in their classrooms and have been teaching for years with out technology that they see no need to implement it now. I really see that as shameful! Now, as a MTT in training, I really want to change these teachers minds about technology and show them how easy it is to use. "With the infusion of technology into all aspects of daily life, students are becoming more and more adept at using technology as an educational resource. Many faculty, however, are not keeping pace with their students. Additionally, faculty feel increasingly unprepared to integrate technology into the classroom." Efau, J. (2005, May 4). No Teacher Left Behind: How to Teach with Technology. Retrieved from http://www.educause.edu/EDUCAUSE+Quarterly/EDUCAUSEQuarterlyMagazineVolum/NoTeacherLeftBehindHowtoTeachw/157372

I seem a bit doubtful that well working laptops can be found for almost 100 dollars for schools as this article suggest, but after looking at Project Inkwell's Web site, it seems like something that we might see in the future. Although I do not foresee my campus being able to complete the "one on one" process any time soon, I feel that it is improving with technology integration. New equipment that I have seen to promote technology integration has already been coming in to our library, which helps us get one step closer to meeting integration goals. We still face a few dilemmas with technology integration, such as lack of working computers in a classroom, or no student Ethernet hookups in the portables, but our administrators do what they can to help us with problems we face with this. There is of course however only so much that they can do, but little by little, I can see the process of technology integration in to the classrooms moving along as each year passes. An example of this movement that has been done can be seen when looking back at the year when our school's portables were first put up. It was at this time that there wasn't any internet provide to those in the portables at all. There as well were not enough SMART boards for every classroom, or any computer classes for 6 grade students. Completing a project using technology with 6 graders was really hard before they opened up computer classes for them. Now, internet, although a bit limited in the portables still, can at least be reached to them, Smart board are given to each teacher, knowledge of technology use is much better than the past 6th graders, and workshops for the use of technology are also provide from time to time. This makes it much more less time consuming for many teachers who wish to integrate technology into their classrooms, and keeps our campus moving in the right track for proper technology integration in our schools. A link, by Project Inkwell, to the prototype dev