As I blogged before, teaching methods have changed over the decades, but standardized testing has not. Call these tests a necessary evil if you wish. In order to hold teachers accountable these tests are needed to generate data. As you know data is very valuable and has its own language. Data is used for research to improve education.

Continuing to embrace these days of testing anxiety that we all have experienced in the past, we can feel empathetic for all of our furry adolescent testing subjects.

Charging stations will be a vital requirement of power management for teachers in the classroom. While a student’s device is being charged, will the teacher have a backup device to supply in order to maintain the student engagement?

Will schools have to give a limit of devices that can be charged at on time in an outlet? Will there be an increase of fire hazards in schools? I will not even touch the issue of theft of property theft while the electronic devices being charged.  These issue cannot be avoided (unless we demand engineers of our electronic devices to create be solar powered versions) for the time has come for students to be empowered with these devices for instruction. As TD Jakes states, “Get ready, get ready, get ready!”

A few years ago after sitting in a staff meeting, all teachers were charged with the expectation for pushing all students to excel in their high stakes exam called the End-of-Grade assessment. I happened to overhear a veteran teacher proclaim what was instructed in the above title of this blog post. IMHO, that statement reflects a great sense of negativity, therefore I feel that this is an unfair statement to say about any student that is capable of demonstrating academic excellence.

May is upon us now, and all teachers are in test preparation mode. Teachers have to break out of the habit of teaching to the test which they have been accustomed to over the NCLB years. Race horses are built for endurance and trained all their lives to be number one. So do you think there is any truth to this veteran’s statement? Please share your thoughts.

After viewing this video, our millennial screenagers are already there. As an educator, are you ready for the future? Can you imagine teaching in that school, however still stuck with mentality of having the fear of the use of technology? (See my previous post on the “Luddite educator“) Times are changing, so shall we…

Love those videos by Vi Hart. We also love this guy Pythagoras. But do we really know him? There are two great reads that claims that this guy plagiarized the an African Theorem and flipped it as the Pythagoras Theorem.

1. “Stolen Legacy” by George GM James

Pythagoras of Samos

2. “Civilization or Barbarism” by Cheik Anta Diop.

If you really want to get weirded-out, do some research on his cult following.

As a digital citizen, you cannot take for granted your rights. Take the time to read what you agree to. It may seem tedious but you need to be aware of the terms you legally are accepting.

As an educator, I must be responsible and model this behavior. If your students don’t know the school’s AUP, make sure you introduce it to them immediately (especially when your school district officially kicks off “BYOD” madness.)

I know a few awesome teachers that use none or minimal technology in their classrooms and are still effective. However, my question is how long will the routine of the luddite educator routine last when teaching millenials? IMHO, I believe that BYOD (the straw that breaks the camel back) will be the catalyst to promote the transformation.

There are many resources out there to help resistant educators to observe and try out new things in small increments. It is a fact that you only fear what you have very little or no knowledge of, therefore there is where you and I come in to share information such as TPACK to give an organized strategy in merging the use of technology and teaching pedagogy. This leads to my next blog post, if in 2020 if you are still considered a luddite educator, would your action of refusing to deal with technology be considered resistance or rebellion?

Now whither the textbook…

Yes, there is a big push to move to digital text books. I understand there is a great need to eliminate paper and the convenience ebooks/tablets possess. Anyway, before your read this blog post any further please view:  North Carolina School Engages Tech Generation With Digital Learning Tools.

This video champions the big push to having technology resources in the classroom. Don’t get me wrong. I am one of the biggest edtech nerds that you will ever know. As a nation, are we really for our classrooms to be transformed to a multimedia rich, Internet-driven environment? What is required for this to happen in school districts nation-wide? I am overjoyed how the above video elaborates why they are successful.

However let me let me quickly point out the key phases of any successful local school or even district wide full technology adoption.

1. Implementation – This is know as the “roll out.” Within implementation, there is a very brief period of training. It is important to know your hardware and know it’s limitations. This phase it the easy part.

2. OJT (On-the-Job Training) – This is the phase that is the key to the success or failure of any technology initiative. Videos on a website are good for training, but training should not stop there. To learn anything, you must get your hands dirty. The IT department and every school department must merge and become one (in my best Yoda voice). Teachers must be as tech savvy as your computer guy. The expectation is there. Period. There is no getting around this fact. Not just having a help desk on standby, but hand-holding/shadowing may be needed as necessary for those who are hesitant or very-slow to adopt in the transformation of the expectations of the 21st century learner.

3. Maintaining universal hardware and software requirements and access for all – In my humble opinion, to maintain a successful technology-dependent school you must ask hard questions. Will what we are doing continue to be successful in 1 year? 5 years? Will all our new equipment become obsolete next year, if so, what do we do? Will learning still take place when power is down?  Can I find another teacher that can fit in the shoes of the hot-shot nerd-extraordinaire teacher that just left to the other school district with better training/equipment? Will my all students with their BYOT computer/tablet/smartphone/laptizzle work on the network?  How do we handle students that bring their own network? How often should school districts supply students with updated equipment? How long will we be in the piloting phase of BYOT when students possess their own smartphones and portable wifi hotspots?

I can continue on with my rant for or against technology in the classroom. Let me just conclude that it will always come down to money. Without money there is no budget for technology or training.  At this time, we just have the expertise of the teacher with their bag of best practices and textbooks to support instruction. How long will this be acceptable for the 21st century learner. We must allow the technology transformation to occur.