A+Place+to+Start+2

Question #2

===**It’s five years from now… 2014… and we have worked to create the school that we are now only envisioning. (This is not an “every student comes to us knowing how to read” or a “no student ever gets into trouble” or an “every parent helps with homework” type of question. This is about what really can change.) **===

**How are we different? **
The biggest outward changes will occur in the area of technology. Student access to learning tools will increase, and their ability to integrate technology tools in every academic area will increase.(S. Rahm) I also believe that the biggest change will be the increase in technology. Technology will be an integral part of the teacher's instruction as well as student use. We are already heading in that direction and as quickly as technology changes, I can only imagine the technology options we might have in five years. Students are going to be required to use technology tools whereas now, it is not a requirement.(E.Harris) With regards to technology, I believe one of the biggest future changes will lie with teachers. Our students are already "digital natives" and often are the teachers of technology (I go to my children when I need to know how use current technology devices.). As we acquire more technology and knowledge in our classrooms, we will learn to incorporate it into our lessons. (S. Calvert) Another change will be an increased amount of differentiated instruction to teach to all student needs. (J. Layman)

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Students have gone through each grade level with less "gaps" than previous years due to the spiral curriculum (H.Witt) The belief that whole group instruction is only the launching point for small group instruction will be firmly established. The natural outgrowth of this change will be more explicit, more targeted educational prescriptions for all students, not just struggling students, and this will be aided by and implelmented with new and better technology that has the ability to track learning more consistently and more personally. This will drive instruction more efficiently. (E. Hodgen) We now have a very solid Reading program that I believe will solidly teach the students the skills that they need and once the students who start this program in kindergarten go all the way through elementary school using the same reading program, the same format that builds upon itself, we will see major improvements. (Jessica Wimberley)======

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I even wonder how diagnostic testing will play a role. Will we start on the same page 1 with everyone? If we do not, how will we manage that level of differentiation? Will there be a technology tool for that type of varied instruction? (Susan Hayes)====== We are different in that the teachers are trained to see students who are having difficulty learning. We get to know our students and endevor to teach to each individual strengths. Yes, technology is going to play a very important part in this. Students are use to going to the computer to play games and research different subjects at home, as well as school. I feel that using technology will strengthen those students learning through seeing and manipulating subjects with technology.(B.Spurlin) Although technology will play an important role in making a difference, teachers will be better at recongnizing individual needs and will be equipped with the resources to meet those needs more effectively. This will include not only researched based answers, but working together with our co-workers to identify and "overcome" interferences. We all think differently and putting our heads together can be a powerful resource. Not //my// students or//her// students, but //our// students. Teachers working together interdependently will impact the classroom and school with a better outcome.(R.Russell) Technology will become a bigger part of the cirriculum needs, whether we meet those needs will depend as always on funds. As deficiencies as recognized and addressed earlier they may become less of an issue in the upper grades. Teachers outside the classroom will be more involved in taking responsiblility for the students. School days will be longer and the we will attend more days.(E Lee) Technology will be the area that changes the most. My only worry is that we will become so technologically adapt that we will forget some of the most important aspects of life - like common courtesy and respect for each other. If we spend all our time working with a machine will we forget how to communicate with each other? Look what has happened with the cell phone - people talk during dinner, while driving, teenagers text each other rather than talk. Is this all good? (M. Matson) Excellent point! We must teach our students that technology is a tool for learning and not a toy. (S. Calvert) From a communication perspective this is definitely a concern. Technology is and will continue to affect how we communicate. I hope we don't lose the compassion and understanding for others because technology has put up a barrier. (B. Self) This is a great concern for me as well. I want my students, as well as my own children, to develop appropriate communication skills in this technology age. As teachers and parents we will have to hold true to our values and beliefs while still encouraging them to learn more through technological advances. (K.Hargett) Agree! Our preacher was just sharing his concern about people suggesting that with the use of technology there will not be a need to teach cursive handwriting. This is certainly debatable. Technology is going to be a big part of the future, no doubt. Computers don't require social interactions, real emotions, common courtesy, etc. I also worry about work ethic...why work hard at anything in school...just google what someone else has prepared, download, and print type attitude. (C.Hagemann) I agree with you. You can take anything too far. (K.Powell) Our preacher pointed out the new idea of leaving cursive behind as well this last Sunday. I think we can take our technology way too far when we forget some of the important concepts behind. If we stop teaching a particular concept, usually we don't think about all the concepts that go along with that one thought. If we forget about cursive, for example, what happens to the future generations who will not be able to read documents that our ancestors left for us. We gain so much from prior knowledge that we need to be careful and not stop focusing on what is behind us as well as what is in front of us. Technology is wonderful and is very helpful, we just need to have a balance in all things. The perfect school would have both. (L. Shelton)I think the real issue here is for technology skills to be a tool toward the "real academic goals." Cursive or no, there are still basic skills students will need to possess, they will just have another way to express what they know. Technological proficiency in and of itself is not the goal. (Susan Hayes) Hopefully in 5 years we will have updated technology in which students and teachers will have access. I also hope that there will be less gaps between each grade level as well has between each school. (C. Bennich) Students need to be provided with communication skills to be able to function in an everchanging society. (P. Smith) Education has changed so much in the last ten years that educators are constantly working to stay current. As technology changes, our society has also changed. I believe that technology will continue to impact education, but the teacher can never be replaced by a machine. I hope that teachers will never be cut to provide funds for technology. In the future, we may have to work to maintain a nurturing relationship with the students. (I. Fisher) I understand technology is a hot topic, but I hope it does not have a huge effect on education. I would like to see education get back to the basics. I would rather take a field trip or do a hands on activity than teach using a power point or an ELMO. Yes, technology can be a wonderful thing, but I do not want to see it drive my instruction to the point that if the power goes out I'm helpless. (M.Ward) I agree. Technology is vital to our students' success in an ever-changing world. However, my hope is that in Hartselle we do not get away from hands-on learning and as teachers we continue to have a passion for teaching and reaching every student.(K. Smith) I wouyld hope that technology will be another tool teachers and students turn to in during the school day. One thing I know is that to keep up with the students, teachers like me are going to have to keep up with technology.(Linda Wren) I agree with all that is previously mentioned about the use of technology in the school and classroom for both instruction as well as the evaluation of students needs. However, if we have all of this technology and information gained from it, we still need direct instuction that only a real live teacher and or experience give us. In taking what I think, Melissa Ward stated early I to like to experience things and events by doing them and not just watching them on tv. In touching on communication, this past weekend we, myself and my daughter, were in Mobile for a competition and us parents were discussing how children of today have issue with communcating their needs by using thoughtout complete sentences in oral conversations as well as written because all they want to do is text! They can be sitting at the same table, beside, across or down from each other and text instead using their voices.(A. Shirey) I am a hands-on kind of person. I can't walk through a fabric store (or most kinds of stores for that matter) without touching the fabric or clothing. I like to be doing things rather than watching, however, I have found that although my students like to be doing things hands on, they also like and need to use technology. It's a part of their everyday lives and they need to know how to use it. It hasn't been that long ago that I remember feeling like the world had passed me by because I had no idea about what was "out there" in cyberspace. I think it's like anything. There can be misuse of any one teaching technique if it is the only one used. I am enjoying using technology, but I don't let it drive my instruction. I use it to enhance what I am doing. (J. Thomas) I agree with the consensus that the use of technology will increase in the classroom. We have gone from filmstrips and records to laptops and CD's, and there's no telling what is next. But even though we are using more and more technology, I expect that we will see a return to more "hands-on" learning experiences because so many children learn this way.(M. Brown) Some Children, like myself, are strictly visual and the computer can help with this if there are pictures, but many need to include other senses to be able to truely learn about something...that's where the computer cannot help. How do you touch a rough board? or smell something sour that you are learning about? As with everything, there are positive and negitive pts. to consider. (M. Dunlap)