21st Century Education. How do we get there from here?

Many of our current teachers are not prepared to teach skills that meet the National Educational Technology Standards (NETS). Even if there was sufficient time for professional development, without site-based technical and educational support for integrated educational technology, many teachers I know cannot find the time. Everyone who knows me, knows I am a firm supporter of Education Specialists and Assistants holding positions as ed tech coordinators. With all the recent lay-offs of teachers and assistants, the integration of technology with the regular curriculum will diminish from a very haphazard and inconsistent implementation to no implementation. In addition, some major strides have been made recently by way of supportive technology plans to teach Information Technology literacy, Digital Citizenship, and Internet safety to students in grades K-12. However, two significant roadblocks exist that keep these important skills out of the classroom. The first is teacher and assistant layoffs, as many of these teachers are younger and better trained in 21st Century learning and media rich classrooms. The second roadblock is content filtering of the Internet. Many Internet sites that enable learning of key concepts such as copyright, Internet safety, communication and collaboration skills, etc. are being blocked and labeled as "Social Networking" or "File Sharing" or "Blog." Parents are either uninformed of the educational technology curriculum (or lack there-of)at their schools and districts or are unaware of the power of their voice. If you would like to weigh in on this topic please take a few moments to post your views on my wall at wallwisher.com. Here is the link: http://www.wallwisher.com/wall/vvtechleader

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November Character Education Theme: Citizenship

"Melting Pot" Illustration by Claire Shin, 6th Grade, Valley View Elementary
Link to a great Web site focusing on character education resources for elementary school.

Start of School Delayed by the Station Fire in the Foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains!

Photo by Laura Laing
Well it's not a "snow day," exactly. Students at Valley View Elementary School received three extra days of summer vacation this week because of the Station Fire in the mountains and foothills above our school. Despite the cheering from some of you that the start of school would be delayed, many Valley View students were evacuated from their homes as fire and smoke threatened to take over our little crescent-shaped valley. I'm sure that was scary. I know now that all of you are safe and the fires, at least in our area, are under control.

Did you know that fires in our foothills are a normal and necessary occurrence? Many of the plants and trees that grow in our chaparral environment need fire to release new seeds into the soil. The fire also provides nutrients to the soil that help these types of plants to grow. Back in the early 20th Century, fires in the foothills were so common that they rarely made the front page news; of course, there were few people living so high in the foothills back then.

We all need to think about the environment we live in and how we interact with nature. We live in a beautiful place, surrounded by mountains and blue sky; the topography forms a crescent shape that cradles and shelters us from many outside influences. Our geography helps make us feel more like a close family in our community. We, in turn, have an impact on our environment. Moving closer and closer into the wild, chaparral habitat can have consequences. We have disrupted wildlife, including mountain lions, deer and coyotes; and these animals continue to threaten our pets. The chaparral plants need to burn periodically to be healthy and regrow. The floods we fear used to carry rocks, pebbles and sand away from our foothills all the way to the ocean, keeping white, sandy beaches at the shoreline. Environmental scientists have studied the interface of human populations and our foothills for many years. They ask, "how can we best live here, without danger to humans or harm to the environment?" They have come up with many interesting answers, but none completely solve the problem of fires and erosion. Think about this for a while. What possible solutions could you come up with to make living in the San Gabriel foothills better for humans and the environment? This is our community, and we love it. The ruggedness of the mountains mirrors our own ruggedness and our ability to survive in a beautiful, but tough, environment.

Even though it's still very smokey, school will start tomorrow, and I look forward to seeing all my students in the computer lab and hearing your stories about the Station Fire and what you did with your extra days of summer vacation. My friend Bill and I stood on our balcony watching the fires all week, and Bill took some really interesting pictures. Here is a slide show of all the pictures he and I took from Tujunga to JPL in La Canada. Most of them are taken from our balcony on Honolulu Ave. If you look closely, you will see some pictures from the front of Valley View.

No Future Left Behind by Peggy Sheehy

"We know how to memorize, teach us to think."
Indeed.

Ask students about the future and how their classroom education relates to their life and you may get an earful too...To see more about this video and other ISTE Digital Stories click here. Tell your story and enter the ISTE Digital Stories Contest and you might win a trip to the NECC 2010 Conference in Denver Colorado. Check it out by clicking here.

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