I am lucky. In the midst of this recession, my state boasted the largest budget surplus anyone can remember. When our legislature met this year, most of the argument happened because there was just so much money available. Responsible legislators wanted to avoid funding things that they might not be able to fund in the future. My own school is putting on an addition so that we can spend down a surplus in our own budget. Times are good in North Dakota.

Times aren't so good elsewhere. California seems to be in the news a lot, probably because its problems are so extreme. Naturally, when a government is running a deficit, it is forced to cut spending. Some governments will deficit spend for a while, but eventually it is impossible to go on. California can't go on and our Federal government is getting close to that point. So where to cut? (We might also raise taxes, but that's a topic for another day.)

I happen to think police protection is important. I also think roads are important. Due to my profession, I think education is important. Others might argue that senior programs are important or public welfare or the arts. What is easy for me to dismiss is vitally important to someone else. When money must be cut, we all point where we want it cut, but we say, "Please not here. This one is too important to cut."

What we call a budget cut isn't always a budget cut. If funding is not increased, that is often reported as a cut. Sometimes if funding isn't increased as much as expected, that is a cut as well. Language should be more precise. The public is easily led to outrage over a budget cut to a popular program that may not actually be a cut. As I've mentioned before, "Never let the facts get in the way of a good opinion."

That said, California and many other states are looking at real budget cuts. Nothing should be sacrosanct, not even education. However, if the state is going to cut funding, it should also cut requirements. Often schools (and other programs) do not have the freedom to spend money to their needs. Some examples that spring immediately to mind are class size reduction, teacher salaries, required electives, and the like. A great example is the Title 1 funding (federal). My school will be returning a lot of that money because our Title 1 program just has nothing to buy with it. So the money is there, but we're not allowed to spend it where we need it: specifically special education and English Language Learners.

Cuts should also be focused on return. Some popular programs don't give much return in terms of benefit. For example (and I've mislaid the link), the Head Start program (federal) is extremely popular, but hasn't been shown to give much benefit. Sometimes, special interests must be satisfied. To step (slightly) outside education, we've seen the Obama administration slash funding to the organization that investigates unions. Meanwhile, a bill is winding through congress (card check) that will create a government agency to mediate labor disputes.

To tie all this together, no agency should be immune to funding cuts. However, some should be cut more than others. One useful question to ask is, "If someone wanted to create this new right now, would we do it?" We would probably continue with roads and schools, but we should cut expenses within those categories. On the other hand, we might entirely slash artistic endowments.

I want to close with a note of hope. Cuts are a huge challenge to schools, but they're also a great opportunity. These cuts provide an opportunity to rethink how money is being spent and to set the priority on what gives the greatest returns. Schools have the chance to cut out the deadwood and perhaps find new, more efficient ways to deliver services. Schools could emerge from the other side of this leaner, more efficient, and better able to use the money when it starts to arrive.

Today I visited the webpage for another school and was struck by a pattern. The principal of that school was once a Vo-Ag instructor at the Bisbee-Egeland school. (The Egeland half is in the illustration, but the district itself has been shut down for two years). Now what's interesting is that he is not the only principal I know with that background.

My current principal has that exact background. The principal at my previous school also had that exact background. In fact, for all three men, Bisbee-Egeland was their first job and none of them stayed there very long. So is it coincidence? I would like to find out what happened to other Vo-Ag teachers from that school.

Part of science is the study of patterns. My sample is too small to really look for a pattern. However, patterns have been observed in many choices people make. For example, the best hockey players are usually born in the first months of the year. Coincidence?  In Canada, the cut-off for youth hockey is January 1. That means the children born around the beginning of the year will be the oldest ones in their age group on the hockey team. They're most likely stronger and more coordinated and, as a result, more likely to be successful.

This is one of several topics that Malcolm Gladwell analyzes in his book Outliers. I'll just admit now that I haven't read it, though I will have read it before school starts. Gladwell looked at the "outliers" in various fields: the really successful people. He found a pattern for birth month in every single sport and this is something entirely outside the child's control.

This has some implications for education as well. Bill Gates might have been successful, but he had some advantages. Most especially, he had access to a mainframe computer in 1968. In other words, he was lucky enough to be able to build up his programming skills years before the personal computer came along. Few had that opportunity.

Hard work and intelligence play a big part in success, but so does luck. As a teacher, I see the difference family makes. A genius born into the wrong family may not ever accomplish much. A child who is born at the wrong time of the year may enter kindergarten nearly a year older than his classmates. He'll have that year of maturity the others don't have.

I don't really have a solution, just a suggestion of a book to read and some food for thought. While hard work is vital to success, it isn't wrong to say, "He was lucky." Some people really are.

The Westport School District of Connecticut has dumped its math textbooks in favor of its own curriculum. I see this as a good thing!

They started out with good reasons for starting their own curriculum:

1. Focus: The school district recognized that there are simply too many concepts in a typical math book. As a result, the text does not provide the focus and attention needed on each topic. They can do this with their own curriculum.
2. Interactivity: Any  teacher can include computer activities. Westport went a step further to pick out the best and those which fit its curriculum. Of particular note: they contracted with a specific company to provide many of the services.
3. Adaptability: Something like this can be adapted for special ed students and for those who just need more practice, time, or explanation on a particular topic.
4. Localization: Westport teachers know where their students are strong or weak. While one hopes that weaknesses from earlier grades are dealt with, this does make it easier to fix them.
5. Time: A focus saves time! If you take longer on a topic, your students are more likely to actually learn it and thus need a lot less review. If you spend less time reviewing, you can teach more content!

There are a few natural concerns with this approach. The students must learn certain skills. Such a curriculum should ensure that. According to test scores, they are.

One textbook company had concerns about the quality and consistency of the curriculum. While there is some merit to this, I think a more diverse approach such as Westport's will enable students to deal with math in more situations. Some curriculums, such as Saxon, train students to always look for specific wording in problems. That's great...if you're doing Saxon problems.
 
Of course, it's worth noting that the textbook company in question was the one rejected by Westport in favor of growing a homemade version.

I see this as a contribution to diversity in the education market. More diversity is a good thing because schools have more choices. Sometimes those choices will be bad, but the same is true in any free market. I'd say that our current lack of choices has led to low quality in educational materials.

The school year is coming to an end. My last day of school is May 22. At this point of year teachers come to one of several realizations:

• "Oh gosh, so much left to teach and not enough time left!"
• "Wow, I got a lot done this year."
• "Right on target."

For the latter two cases, I have little to say except "Job well done" and "Figure out why it worked so you can do it again."

The first case is more interesting. I think we've all experienced the teacher who tries to cram it all in. Maybe we've even been that teacher (I know I have). The trouble with this approach is that the student is less likely to learn than before. If things are taught too quickly, students just can't absorb them.

The correct solution is to look at what you have left to teach and pick out the essentials. Teach those things well and accept that you won't get to everything. Then, figure out what happened so that you don't get into this trap again. Some possible explanations include:

• The teacher was too ambitious. Maybe he planned to teach more than could be taught.
• Too much wasted time. I think this one is obvious!
• Too many activities: they're fun, they teach well, but they're not always efficient. A teacher needs to evaluate activities for the payback they give.
• Weak students (it happens)
• Weak teacher (I hope not, but it's good to be honest with oneself)
• Too many interruptions: some of my colleagues in other schools have had weeks of school canceled (and forgiven) due to flooding and snow
• Going too slow: sometimes you really just need to speed up
• No plan to start with: if you don't know where you're going, you really won't get there

I hope the teachers in my readership are taking the time to evaluate their practice...and that they are not trying to cram everything in.

I own copies of some of the science books used in Singapore. (They're written in English, which makes using them a bit easier for me.) The difference that immediately jumps out between these books and their American counterparts is size. Singapore books are a lot skinnier.

The Singapore philosophy seems to have been that a focus on essential topics is much better than broad coverage. This same concept is found in the work of Project 2061 and also by another national group (though the reference is at school so I can't look it up for proper citation). By teaching less, students learn more.

Science Daily cited a recent study of 8310 college students that compared the college performance of those who had taken broad science courses in high school with those who had studied fewer topics in high school. Those who had taken more focused courses did better in college.

This is an idea whose time has come. We need to trim our curricula and focus on essential ideas. This will encourage mastery. Mastery is what sticks with students. A superficial coverage does not promote mastery. This is the type of teaching that promotes cramming and memorization for the moment rather than long-term understanding.

The research is out there. When will education start to take it seriously?

To solve problems in education, too many seem to turn to a government solution. On the surface, it does seem to make sense. After all, most of our students attend government schools. However, what we seem to forget is that a government mandate does not change the success of the student. Allow me to illustrate.

Require Algebra I

California recently toyed with requiring all 8th grade students take Algebra I. At the moment, this requirement is in court, and it looks like the requirement will be dropped. Chicago implemented the Algebra I requirement for 9th grade. Chicago's experience (and my own) is quite a good illustration.

The Chicago schools discovered that the Algebra I requirement did not increase math scores. Worse, more students earned failing grades. The reason is quite simple. Not all students are ready for or able to take Algebra I. The requirement of Algebra I sounds good until you run into this roadblock.

A school where I used to teach had the Algebra I requirement for 9th graders. The school quickly discovered the same thing as Chicago. The requirement increased the number of failing grades, did not increase math scores, and actually caused the Algebra I teacher to "dumb down" the course. All of this was contrary to the noble goals behind the mandate.

A new principal came along and decided that the solution was to break Algebra I up into a 2 year course for the slower students. I taught this class. We called it Algebra 1/2 and Algebra 1/2 part 2. (I tried for Algebra 2/2, but he didn't see the humor.) What I did, with questionable success, was to use a different curriculum. I chose Saxon because of its emphasis on basic skills and repetition.

The students were more successful with my choice. (Passing is nice!) However, with some students I still ran into the same roadblocks. Some lacked the basic skills they needed to succeed in Algebra. Others simply could not comprehend Algebra. It was too abstract.

For the first group, I suggest that they should have been caught while younger and helped with those basic skills. For the second group, I suggest that they be allowed more time. I tend to find that a certain amount of maturity is required to comprehend Algebra I, and not all students have it as freshmen in high school. Some might be better off with PreAlgebra. They would be successful as juniors or seniors.

The requirement of Algebra I looks good on paper, but a requirement doesn't mean it will improve education.

No Dropouts

Another popular reform is to eliminate the ability of students to drop out of school. I think that most people would agree that a high school education is a bare minimum to success in life (with the occasional exception -- I do know about the founder of Wendy's). It seems to follow that we should require everyone to get that high school diploma.

The trouble is that students who want to drop out have already dropped out. They have poor attendance, have quit working, or they may become behavior problems. Keeping these students in school doesn't help them and it can actually harm the education of the other students.

What we should do is offer some alternatives. For some the GED works well. Others hit the real world and realize that they need that high school education. For others, perhaps a different kind of school would be appropriate. Vocational schools, apprenticeships, and other types of alternative school have been quite successful with this kind of student.

A student should not drop out of school, but making this a law does not solve the problem. It's a quick fix that grabs headlines.

A Dose of Reality

The scary truth is that all kids are different. While it's almost impossible to do a truly individualized curriculum, we do need to provide options for the different kinds of students in our schools. Vocational training isn't a "second best." It should be a different option. The same holds true for other options.

Kids are unique in motivation, talent, and interest. Of these, motivation is the toughest to work with. However, just offering options will pick up the motivation in more students.

It's rewarding when someone reads my blog and actually thinks enough of it to comment. It's even more rewarding when this person has clearly read the blog and taken the time to respond to what was written. I don't much care if they like what I wrote or hate it. The point is engagement.

A short time ago I wrote an entry called Teaching Slaves which built up a straw man argument about some of the attitudes that our current form of schooling is teaching to our students. (For those who wonder, a straw man is a logical fallacy in which we create an imaginary opponent and argue against what we claim his views or attitudes are--usually weakening or misrepresenting them. For example, "Liberals want to force all people to accept gay marriage," is a straw man argument. Straw man arguments can be useful to illustrate, but they do not substitute for logic or debate. I chose to illustrate an attitude.)

Anyway, I had a 3-part response, all from the same person! Because my blog has such a tiny readership I was naturally quite excited, even if this person called my entry ignorant and patronizing. Since the space for comments is limited, I chose to respond in a post. I doubt any minds were changed, but the ability to exchange is the fun part anyway.

Below are the comments and my responses. I put the comments in italics, left the places where I was quoted alone, and put my responses in bold.
*****************************
"You need to teach your students skills as well as content, the use of slavery throughout this whole post has been entirely patronizing and ignorant."

Actually, I thought it was quite successful. I got a passionate detailed response out of it rather than something innocuous posted by someone who didn't read beyond the first paragraph or else didn't trouble to understand what was written.

“'The system of slavery was on its way to collapse because of industrialization.'”
"Not in the agricultural sector"

Not as quickly as in more mechanized industries of the day I'll agree, but it was on its way out.

"'The rapid growth in factory jobs created "wage slaves." [...]They're desperately grateful for a job and do whatever it takes to keep it.'”
"This is the Southern apologist argument."
“'A slave will work as little as possible.'”
"A slave generally works for nothing – this is not by choice."

I think you missed my point here. I was contrasting working by choice with working under slavery.

“'I bring all this up in an education blog because compulsory schooling is a system of slavery...'”
"By their parents and the state governments’ choice. Parents can choose to home school."

You'll note I wasn't arguing against compulsory schooling. These are children after all. I was simply pointing out that they are in school against their will and the system has encouraged many of them to pick up a helpless attitude. Ideally, part of what we should be teaching them while they are in school is to think for themselves, question, set goals, and, in short, develop the life skills they will need to be free, self-reliant adults. A purely academic focus does not accomplish this and, frankly, the current structure of schools makes this very difficult.

“'A slave needs to learn to be free.'”
"Wow, this is patronizing! No one needs to learn how to be free. We might need to know how to live with freedom so we don’t take others’ freedom away."

Sure it's patronizing. That doesn't mean it's not true. Look at what happens with many high school graduates when they leave for college. Outside the protection of family and the structure of family, many stupid choices are made. Fortunately, many learn from them. I think you are well aware that I'm not a proponent of slavery because of this. Adults should be free to make their own choices, even bad ones. If they haven't had experience making their own choices, they will make a lot of bad ones, but should still be free to do so.

"The “attitude of a slave” is some thing you have made up in your mind to be true."

Call it what you want. Some people call it the poverty attitude. Some call it learned helplessness (normally my favorite). I was attempting to illustrate a concept. You've taken exception to my example.

“'He isn't grateful because he had no choice in his position. He will steal from his master, slough off, put in minimal effort, and will need to be housed and fed. The "wage slave" is actually cheaper and is the reason why slavery was on its way out.'”
"This is bad history. Slavery was on its way out as an international phenomenon, but would have spread to the west if allowed"

Yes it was an international phenomenon, but not because people suddenly became altruistic and good. It became less "necessary" and so people had the luxury to fight it.  I put "necessary" in quotes because I don't think it was ever truly necessary, but it was part of human culture and intertwined in most economic systems for thousands of year.

Yes, there were fears that slavery would have moved west. This comes back to states rights. To actually free the slaves wasn't the cause of the Civil War. It was an important result that made the war worth fighting. We could get into a hairsplitting argument over slavery and states rights, but from what you wrote I think we are actually largely in agreement on this, though we're not expressing it the same way or with the same emphasis.

"I have no idea what the difference is between a real student and the others in our classrooms. That said, these are skills most students need to learn over time."

Yes, and schools need to do their part to teach these skills. Unfortunately, in many classrooms we are not. We're fighting human nature (yes, I'd rather read a book and drink a cup of coffee than try to improve my unit on Newton's Law of Motion -- I'm no different from the kids in that respect). However, we're also fighting "learned helplessness" or "slave attitude" or whatever you want to call it. Students have no buy-in. In too many cases education is done to them rather than with them, and it's sometimes difficult to determine whether what we are doing is dictating or because they are children and still require adults in their lives to help them learn to be responsible.

I'd suggest reading some of the books by John Taylor Gatto. While he tends to go overboard, he does have a lot of good ideas and things to think about.

Thank you for actually taking the time to read and respond! I don't get that much.

In central Florida, advanced classes in middle schools apparently have a majority white composition. Some people have concluded that the only way to solve this problem is to axe the advanced classes. You'll have to read to the second page to get to the good parts.

Take this: "Still, scholars say offering different levels of math, science and other subjects goes against the very premise of a middle school, which was designed to be more nurturing than a high school. Children are grouped in "teams" that travel to the same classes..."

So, are all kids the same? Do they all have the same interests, the same talents, the same goals? Should I push a child with poor math skills into Algebra I so he can be nurtured by feeling stupid? Maybe I should hold the other kids back? It's not fair for Michael to take Algebra because Sammy is still learning his multiplication facts. Seriously, kids are different and they should not all be treated the same. They are human beings.

I liked this quote from a parent of a biracial student in the advanced classes: "I'd rather her be challenged at a higher level than her get bored with a class and not do the work."

Rather than take these people seriously who want to treat all kids the same, I offer a different solution. Let's look at why there is such a low minority enrollment in advanced classes. Looking from the outside, I'd suggest there is a combination of lack of motivation, lack of basic skills, and lack of push at home. These factors are related more to socioeconomic status and culture than they are to race.

Schools need to differentiate more. Rather than advance kids by grade, they need to advance them by skill level. Some kids simply need more time to master a skill or concept than others. It's not fair to hold the others back, and it's not fair to push kids ahead before they're ready. One must also accept that not all kids have the motivation to push themselves.

I felt that this editorial by Mike Thomas made the point rather well. Tamara Fisher spoke up well in defense of kids as individuals.

I'm going to be a little offensive today, and I'm not just saying that to grab interest. Don't worry, the language will still be clean.

Many have noted that the Civil War wasn't fought over slavery. That made a convenient excuse, but it was really a war over states' rights. The system of slavery was on its way to collapse because of industrialization. The rapid growth in factory jobs created "wage slaves." These are people who work themselves to death for a pittance. Remember, this was the era of 10 hour shifts (or more) and 6-day work weeks. They're desperately grateful for a job and do whatever it takes to keep it.

A slave will work as little as possible. He isn't grateful because he had no choice in his position. He will steal from his master, slough off, put in minimal effort, and will need to be housed and fed. The "wage slave" is actually cheaper and is the reason why slavery was on its way out.

I bring all this up in an education blog because compulsory schooling is a system of slavery. We may well argue that it is for the student's own good, but there were plenty of slave masters who used that same argument. Is it any wonder that our students slough off, fool around, and do only minimal work? They are slaves.

This is one of the great weaknesses of education reform. When a slave is first granted freedom he may continue in his role because he doesn't know what else to do. He may instead waste that freedom in frivolity. A slave needs to learn to be free.

The same is true in school. If I simply allow my students to learn at their own pace, some will be helpless and lost because no one is directing them. Others will fritter away their time and learn nothing. (Of course, a few will take off, but these are the few who have not allowed themselves to take on the attitude of a slave.) Of course, slaves don't like to see success, so they will do everything in their power to prevent it in others.

My ideas on eduction reform fall down because of the habit of slavery. Too many real students do not know how to take responsibility for themselves. The idea of completing a task, setting goals, and disciplining oneself to work toward it is foreign to a slave. We need to start teaching these skills to our students. The older they are, the tougher it is to teach them these skills.

In my experiments with more independent learning, I've discovered that students need to be taught to set goals, made to set goals, and a certain minimum level is necessary because the slaves will drop their performance to the minimum required to avoid punishment, but no higher.

The sad and scary conclusion is that I need to teach the majority of my students how to be free before they actually can be free. I wish that this could move through all grade levels.

Next week I'll spend 2 days in Bismarck working on state testing. I hate to be away from my "kids" that long, but it is work that is worth doing. While I'm gone, I'll have a substitute teacher.

I'm fortunate. This year, I have really good kids who are unlikely to cause her much trouble. She's also a decent sub: she's a sweet, elderly woman who lives on a ranch and knows how to get tough.

In the area where I live, it is difficult to find substitute teachers. We are quite remote, so the only substitutes we have are those who retired from the system or who, by chance, happen to live in the area. Some schools have a tougher time than we do finding substitutes, so the state is debating a bill to lower the qualifications for substitute teachers. Some worry that this will lower standards for substitute teachers. I would suggest that substituting is more babysitting than teaching. While a long-term sub should be a true teacher, I really don't see the problem with lowering the requirements for a 1-day sub. I have never had a sub who could teach my subjects. I always have to leave work that the kids can do without me there and the sub just keeps order. In high school, that's quite common.

Let me close by making a few suggestions for teachers who will have subs. Some of these come from my brief experience as a sub.

• Leave enough for the kids to do and then some. No one wants to sit with a bunch of bored kids.
• Make your instructions to the sub extremely clear. They don't know what you mean, only what you say. The kids are unlikely to be much help because they don't want to work.
• Get your class used to a routine so that the sub can easily step into it.
• Have seating charts and rosters. The power of the name is important for a sub.
• Leave specific cautions. Your sub does not to know to watch out for a particular behavior from a particular student.
• Thank your sub profusely. It's hard work to fill in an unfamiliar classroom. You want them willing to come back.
• If there are any problems while you're gone, deal with them. The substitute needs support just as much as you do.
  

Over Christmas, I quit using Blackboard as my online courseware. I switched to its open source cousin, Moodle. I am sincere when I say that both are good programs. I was quite happy with Blackboard, but Moodle proved more suited to my specific needs. Part of this was due to bugs in Blackboard. Blackboard has since been updated and the company claims that most of these have been eliminated. I cannot verify this as the version of Blackboard I have available is old.

Price

I actually don't have to concern myself with this one. The state of North Dakota has made Blackboard available to its schools. It is a prohibitively expensive piece of software and few schools in our state could afford it, the necessary servers, and the technical expertise to operate it. Moodle is open source, so the software is free. The other expenses are real, but I found an alternative at Ninehub.com. Schools could afford a better host or even set up the necessary host themselves.

Bugs

There were some unfortunate bugs in Blackboard. One of them had to do with uploading files. When students tried to upload files (to turn in an assignment online) it didn't work in the most common browsers and operating systems. I had no trouble with the Firefox browser in Linux (or even on my Apple--most of the time). On Windows machines, it simply didn't work with Explorer. Since this is the most common combination, I see that as a SERIOUS problem. This has been fixed in newer versions of Blackboard, but not the one available to schools in North Dakota.

The other bug that really got under my skin was with "calculated questions". These were questions where I entered a formula. The computer would come up with random numbers for that formula so that each student had a somewhat randomized version of the particular problem. I love this for my subject. The trouble was that Blackboard had only a limited repertoire of numbers: between 1-1000. It couldn't deal with negative numbers, larger numbers, or really small numbers. This was another serious limitation in my subject. Also, some commands in the formula did not work. The commands have since been fixed, but the limitation in numbers has not been fixed. Again, that's immaterial because North Dakota is still running an older version.

Math

I teach math and science. A nice formula editor is a must for me. Blackboard has a lovely formula editor that uses Java and a mouse-operated control panel. This is fine for occasional use, but very slow for regular use. Moodle makes it possible to use LaTeX commands to format mathematics. I simply type the formula inside a double set of dollar signs. It's very fast for me to use. $$H_2O$$ is a lot faster to type than to wade through Blackboard's menus to write the formula for water. This was the single greatest reason to switch for me.

Interface

Blackboard is very attractive. A nice column of buttons runs down the left side of the screen and takes the user to different sections of the program such as "Assignments", "Announcements", "Course Documents", "Course Information", and a host of others. The student's first view is the announcements. The trouble I saw was that students didn't know where to find things. Now, with enough practice, that would cease to be a problem. However, with limited computers (at that time), I couldn't use Blackboard enough to give them the practice they needed.

Moodle puts everything on the main screen. One can divide everything up by topics or weeks, but the main point is that it is all right there. (To avoid confusion, students can collapse everything so that they only see the current topic.) This eliminates all problems with students trying to find things and it makes it easier for the teacher to customize everything for his own particular needs.

Lessons

As I've experimented with online courseware, I wanted to find a way to teach lessons online, but require formative assessment on the way (to check that they have learned and offer alternatives depending on their learning). Moodle has this in a primitive form. I was able to better embed lessons in Blackboard, but without the formative assessment.

Social Media

Blackboard has forums but very little else to allow students to work together. Since all my students are right there in the room, forums aren't much help. Moodle allows each student to contribute to a class glossary (and comment on the entries). It also has a utility for a Wiki. These are available add-ons for Blackboard, but aren't part of the standard program, and they aren't part of North Dakota's particular version.

Verification

I'll throw a grab-bag of features in here. Blackboard has a huge overlap of features with Moodle. However, what really bothers me when I work in Blackboard is that every time I do ANYTHING, it pops up a new screen to tell me I just did it. For example, suppose I write a new question. I enter the question and click "OK". Blackboard then pops up a new screen that says, "You just created a new question." Then I have to click "OK" again. This is a perfectly fine precaution for something like "Do you really want to delete everything?" However, since it doesn't offer the chance to take back my action and it's for EVERYTHING, I fail to see the point.

My final reason for the switch was passwords. High schools kids are terrible at remembering passwords. In North Dakota's version of Blackboard, they need to get a password through another group (the same folks that provide Blackboard). Unfortunately, when they forget, they need to go to the school's tech director. He then must make a request for a new password. A "forgotten password" makes for a convenient way to avoid work. With Moodle, I have control of the passwords.

I like Blackboard and used it very happily for 5 years. So far, I happen to like Moodle better.

Technology has made a new activity possible!

I planned on my Physics students watching a JAVA animation of projectile motion, holding a short discussion, and then working through a thought experiment I've used for several years. However, tonight I was setting up the links on Moodle (online course software) when I fell asleep at my desk. I woke up probably a half hour later and totally forgot what I'd been working on.

It turned out to be a good thing because I came up with a new idea. The JAVA animation comes with numbers. The student can change launch angle, launch height, and launch velocity. They can then watch the projectile, its trajectory, its vectors, and the time in the air and horizontal distance traveled. It occurred to me that I could have my students perform an individual experiment and report on it.

The three experiments I'm most proud of inventing are:

• Which launch angle allows the projectile to travel furthest?
• What is the relationship between launch height and vertical distance traveled?
• Which launch angle puts the apex of the projectile's arc at the greatest horizontal distance?

For those who sneer, remember that these are high school students. They can run the experiment over and over very quickly and collect a lot of data. Then they will need to perform analysis through graphs, curve-fitting, and simply looking at trends in numbers. Finally, they will communicate what they did to the rest of the class through an online Wiki (like Wikipedia only limited to class members). They will need to do things like control variables, design the experiment, and figure out how best to analyze the results.

While it may seem simplistic to scientists, this kind of activity is a beginning. A complex experiment overwhelms beginners. Something a bit simpler  gives them the chance to think scientifically so that they can later do the complex experiments.

Prior to computers, I wouldn't have done this. Even with calculators, collection of the data would have required a lot of tedious computation or else time-consuming data collection in a real lab (with all the difficulties that presents). With a JAVA simulation, they can collect the data quickly and spend the time analyzing it. Since we have already done three labs with real projectiles, I don't see the harm in turning to a simulation.

Technology really is an opportunity for teachers who will embrace it and use it appropriately. Perhaps my activity from Physics will give you some food for thought in your own subject.

Over Christmas break, I made the switch from Blackboard to Moodle. I'll leave the reasons for the switch to another day. Suffice to say that it makes it easier to do some of what I'm about to describe.

Online Notes

The first thing I did was to continue what I've been doing with Blackboard: I put all handouts and notes online. I know I've heard the argument from teachers that it makes it less necessary for kids to take notes. I've actually observed this to be true.

What I've realized is that taking dictation or (worse) copying from a board is not education. Very little processing goes on. Every so often I'll babble off nonsense only to see it taken down faithfully. By putting the notes online, I actually spend less time giving notes. I spend more time having the kids do something...or even write their own notes. Putting notes online really has made me a better teacher because it has moved me beyond simply giving notes.

Online Homework

I don't think I'm the only person who has completed a homework assignment only to discover it was done all wrong. I also don't think I'm the only student who ever got stumped on a problem, peeked at the answers in the back of the book, said, "Of course!", wrote it down, and thought I'd learned something. As a teacher, I'm left with two choices: grade homework knowing it is supposed to be practice and that at least some of the papers I'm getting were copied. This also eats up a huge chunk of time that I'm not spending planning how to teach better (or relaxing). I've also tried to mark completion even though some kids may have written something convincing (or wrong).

I've started giving homework assignments through Moodle (and a different program for Calculus, but that's another story). I get several benefits. The first is that the program is set to tell the student immediately if the answer is right or wrong. I can even give hints. If I know a common mistake is to use sine rather than cosine, I might have a special message to that effect pop up when that mistake is made. The student gets as many tries as needed to get it right. I know it must be working because just today I got a complaint about it. The student told me he liked it better when he didn't have to get the problems right. He claimed homework should just be for completion points.

Moodle also has two other nice advantages over paper-based homework. The first is that I can randomize numbers within problems. That makes each homework assignment different. The second is that it can randomly select problems from a library. Of course, I'll first have to write that library. The result would be truly unique homework assignments and a lot less copying. Those without computers at home can print off the assignment at school, take it home to work on it, and return to school to enter answers. Since I've quit lecturing so much, there actually is more time to do this in class.

Quizzes

I'm about to take a gamble. I really want to start giving quizzes online so I have less to correct by hand. Down the road I'd like to do tests this way, but I see quizzes and homework as easing the transition (kids don't like change). To help sell the quizzes, I'm going to write the quiz so that it allows 1 fix per question. If I mess up on question 1, it tells me right away and I have one chance to fix it. If I have no clue how to do it, it won't help. If I made a mistake, I can fix it. This will make quizzes more a measure of subject knowledge.

With tests I'm unlikely to allow second chances, but they're down the road a piece anyway.

Review

For semester tests I tried something new. For my Biology class, I make 60 flashcards that were self-correcting. (As well as a regular but shortened review of the tougher concepts). For my other classes, I wrote up a series of self-correcting problems. These proved to be a really great review and, this year, I had the highest semester test grades I've ever had.

Creating

One feature I'm just starting to explore is the writing feature of Moodle. It contains a glossary feature where students can be assigned terms to define. This gets put together into a class glossary. Then, whenever they encounter a term from the glossary, like "photosynthesis" it is highlighted and they can click on it to read the definition. I was happy with my first experiment with this. I insisted that they put definitions in their own words and they did very well!

Another feature is the Wiki. It's like a Wikipedia, only just for the class. I'm less happy with how my first experiment with this turned out. I wasn't sure how to grade it so my assignment was too vague. Students were unclear what to do and were learning to use the program. The results were mediocre. I see potential with this tool, but it will require more experimenting. Like the glossary, when terms from the Wiki appear in other parts of Moodle, they are highlighted and can be clicked on.

Differentiated Instruction

At one time we grouped kids based on ability and interest. The trouble with this approach was that kids changed as they matured, but they were locked into a certain "track." We called this "tracking." This got a bad name in part for this very reason, so schools quit "tracking kids" and just put them into one mixed ability group. This handicapped the kids in a different way. The teacher had to pick a level to teach to (usually the middle). The fast kids were bored and the slower kids were lost.

Now we are told to vary our instruction within the classroom. Instead of calling it "tracking", we call it "differentiated instruction." The advantage to the modern approach is that the maturing student can more easily catch up if he choses to. Moodle makes it possible. Students can work through lessons at their own pace (though many do require some pushing just to keep them at their own pace). I'm still learning how to do this, but I have found that not all kids have to be on the exact same page each day.

Technology is making my job tougher, but it's also making it easier in other ways. My greatest benefit has been that technology is taking away the rote teacher work and allowing me time to actually teach and think about how to teach. Students are gaining too because technology can allow them to take more responsibility for their own learning.

I'm not done with this topic, but I am going to close now. I'm tired and ready for bed! The kids need me tomorrow.

I think I did pretty well about making about a post a week (or more). Then it all stopped. I explained why in an earlier entry. I hope, this week, to talk some more about what has been keeping me busy.

I should have posted today, but that leads me to a few things that touch on education. The truth is, other than writing lesson plans, I took today off! It's the Sabbath and it's supposed to be the day of rest. I have not been observing the Sabbath and I've been reminded why God placed it in the 10 Commandments. Continuous work causes us to focus on ourselves and forget about the larger world. When we get too centered on ourselves, we start to say, "What's the point?"

I thought seriously about it today because I was asked to cover for the pastor of my church as he took some time off for a trip. After church, I came home, napped a little, watched a movie, did a lot of reading, and generally relaxed. I'm headed to bed and I feel ready for tomorrow. I know I write about education, but this is important for us all. That day of rest makes it possible to work the other days of the week. As a Christian, that day of rest reminds me that I'm doing God's work, not my work. That kind of perspective reminds me of my place in His plan.

So to all of you: remember to observe the Sabbath. As a former pastor observed: "Hell is a place with no rest."

***************

On a tangential note: the movie I watched had nothing to do with education but I want to recommend it. It's called I'm Not Scared and it's loosely based on a true story. I don't know how it ended up on my Netflix, but I'm sure glad it did.

In the late 1970's, Italy experienced a number of kidnappings. Poor (and possibly mafia-related) people of the south were kidnapping children from the wealthy northern end of the country and holding them for ransom. Many were badly mistreated, and some were even killed. As I did the checking, I was shocked at the numbers.

Anyway, the 10-year-old boy in a southern family is exploring an abandoned farm and finds a boy his age chained up in an underground hole. At first he doesn't know what to make of it. He's especially confused because the captive boy thinks he's dead and is in Hell.

Slowly the southern boy realizes that his father, mother, and many of the villagers were involved in kidnaping this boy from the north. As a boy who lives in an isolated Italian village in the 1970's, he has nowhere to turn.  Even his own parents are the enemy.

Anyway, the movie held my attention to the end and I plan to rewatch it and find the book. I don't usually like this kind of movie (especially when they're in Italian with subtitles), but this one really held my attention.

One note: I almost turned it off in the first 5 minutes because I thought there was going to be some creepy child nudity. There wasn't, and the moment was more about establishing the character of important personalities. Don't turn it off and you really will be rewarded.

One of the great things about being a teacher is that you're surrounded by cute props for pursuing your political agenda. After all, it's easy to ignore a creepy man who wants to stop smoking in cars. It's hard to ignore some cute kid who says the same thing. If you do ignore the child, you're mean-spirited!

I know sarcasm doesn't translate well to writing, so I'll stop now. (Besides, my students are teenagers at the end of high school. They're not even a little bit cute.)

I was inspired to write this entry because someone in Williston is using 7th graders as props. At that age, they still have some of the cuteness thing going for them, especially seen from a distance. We're expected to believe that 20 kids of 12 and 13 years of age spontaneously decided that we need a law to make it illegal to smoke in a car when there are passengers.

Smoking is a bad habit, and I don't let people smoke in my car. I also have unpleasant memories of traveling with my grandfather while he smoked in the car. I'm not entirely unsympathetic to this bill (though I'm opposed to it). However, I'm going to focus on another side to this: the use of students for propaganda purposes.

I would guess that there is a teacher in Williston or some other adult who has some sort of puritanical views about tobacco. He (or she) then found some compliant kids to use as props. This reminds me of a few years ago when some of my students were used to get a petition signed in support of taxpayer funding of the SADD program. They really didn't have a clear idea why it might be good for me to sign it...just that I should. They were just props.

It seems immoral to me to use students this way. They can't always reason through why they might support (or oppose) a particular cause, and there is a certain element of compulsion to using them. Teachers particularly have no business using their students this way.

We are called to educate our students, not to use them for our own political agenda.