Why The Internet Will Not Eliminate Teachers or Schools As Some Have Predicted

Recently, I read a few articles about the future of education. In each case, the author was predicting that the massive collection of knowledge of the Internet would make traditional schools obsolete. Teachers and schools will become unnecessary. I don't claim to be any kind of visionary, but there are many reasons this prediction will not come true.

During my teaching career, I experienced the entire "technology in the classroom" movement from the first arguments over allowing use of small four-function calculators in the classroom, to the introduction of the first computers for classroom use, to graphing calculators, the developments of the internet and the World Wide Web, interactive white boards, iPhones, iPads, etc. I heard the predictions and I've watched what actually happened. Consistently, the reality falls far short of the prediction.

The Internet is by no means a new educational tool. The Internet has existed for many years and its benefits for teachers has been advanced for all of those years. In the early days, once school computer became prevalent enough to allow for 1 or 2 computer labs and schools could access the Internet, there actually was a short period of time when students and teachers frequently used this educational tool. There are many excellent educational sites that have provided wonderful lesson plan ideas and materials for classroom use.

It didn't, however, take very long for parents and schools to discover that there was a major problem developing with allowing open access to the Internet. Those of us who are naive and always see the good and the positive potential in people, and who expect the same from everyone, were caught off guard by the arrival and rapid increase in the amount of pornography on the Internet. Suddenly, we had students watching porn in our school libraries and computer labs!

You can argue First Amendment Rights all day long, but that won't change the fact that the majority, if not all, parents do not want their public--paid for with their tax dollars--schools allowing, even providing, porn to their children. The solution to the problem became and will continue to be the #1 reason that schools or any educational facility--even homes--will never be able to use the full educational potential of the Internet: FILTERS!

I wish I could make that word as big and flashy as it needs to be to convey the full impact this has made on the educational uses of the Internet. While parents demand tighter and tighter controls on what their children can access at school and are finding the need to do likewise at home (as witnessed by the rapid increase in the number of websites devoted to providing filters for home computers, iPods, iPads, etc.), the "Internet Bottom Feeders" keep developing ways to circumvent those same filters. (My growing cynicism is telling me that the people providing the filters are likely the same ones making the filters necessary.)

The list of valuable educational sites that have become unavailable continues to lengthen as porn sites appear with every possible mis-spelling or keystroke error a student might make. The length of the list of seemingly harmless words that now have to be filtered out would shock most of you.

Is the Internet set to eliminate teachers and schools? Certainly not anytime in the foreseeable future. With much of their internet access now heavily filtered, it has become very difficult for students to do any meaningful, valid research.

There are many other reasons that the Internet is ceasing to be a viable educational tool for children. The Internet becomes more dangerous to our children every day, and the information found there is often false or plagiarized. Sources can no longer be trusted. These issues will be discussed in other articles; but for now, schools and teachers are more important than they have ever been for the trusted, truthful exchange of information.

Shirley Slick, "The Slick Tips Lady," is a retired high school math teacher and tutor with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and additional training in brain-based learning/teaching. Her goals: (1) to help parents help their children with math, (2) to help eliminate the horrendous Algebra failure rate, and (3) to inform the general public about problematic issues related to the field of education. For your free copy of "10 Slick Tips for Improving Your Child's Study Habits," visit her website at http://myslicktips.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shirley_Slick

Safeguarding Children and Behaviour Management

Management of behaviour in learning centres like schools is such an important thing to achieve. Good behaviour really does increase students' attention spans and will allow classes to run more smoothly and get the best possible results. Classes that have good behaviour management plans will always do well. Good behaviour allows children to really get on and focus on learning. One of the main reason teachers will leave the profession in the first five years is due to bad behaviour from students. A teacher is never really prepared for what the job will be like and how it will affect them.

Classroom management is about planning and structuring lessons so that classes will be managed efficiently without room for bad and disruptive behaviour. Normally it is the teachers' responsibility to devise a lesson plan and organise classes. This is normally the case because teachers are thought to know their classes and students better than anyone else. Teachers will know what works well with them and what doesn't, this will allow them to come up with plans and structured lessons which will positively influence students. Sometimes however schools may decide to come up with a classroom management system that will be there for every teacher to implement. This can sometimes have negative effects as the plan doesn't take into account the needs of individual students.

Safeguarding is a relatively new term that is all about preventing any harm from occurring to a child, young or vulnerable person. This idea of prevention rather than cure is a great example to set and will allow many children to enjoy their lives when they are young without negative disturbances during this vital period of development.

There are many ways that safeguarding is carried out, it is about teaching people who will have access to children, preventing people from working with children if they are not fit to do so. All people who work with and have the opportunity to work with children will be taught the basics of safeguarding and will be able to prevent harmful situations from arising. Obviously not all situations can be prevented when it comes to child harm and cruelty however safeguarding when carried out effectively will really help prevent many of them.

Staff who work in schools will normally be trained about safeguarding in order to be able to spot potential threats and harm coming to children. It would not just be teachers who would be trained about safeguarding but all staff, including admin and receptionist staff. By equipping these people with the knowledge of how to prevent harm occurring to children and spotting vital warning signs then there is a much better chance of children being safe and having the ability to develop without negative influences or experiences.

The Top 5 TEFL Projects For ESL Teachers

When teaching TEFL it is beneficial to reinforce the English language you teach using ESL projects. This article outlines some ESL project ideas for TEFL teachers.

ESL students enjoy partaking in TEFL projects and it is a great way for them to start using the English language they have learnt outside the classroom.

Here are five project ideas for TEFL teachers that are easy and effective:

1) English Day: Once a term have the students create an 'English Day' show. Each class prepares a performance and the ESL students invite their parents and family to come and watch. They can do ESL drama, ESL songs or tell jokes and stories. You could also decorate your school for the day, with the help of your students.

2) Pen Pals: Get in touch with a school in an English speaking country. Have the ESL students write letters and exchange pictures with the students. They will enjoy making new friends especially from a foreign country and will have an opportunity to practice and improve their English writing skills.

3) Spelling Bee: This ESL project is a great way for students to improve their ESL vocabulary and spelling skills. Arrange a day when ESL classes can come together in one place and compete against each other to discover the who the best spellers are. Create a list of words from their vocab list and give points to the players who spell the words correctly first. Students watching can cheer their team and everyone will benefit from partaking by listening to how words are spelt.

4) 'Open Mic Day': This ESL project is a great way to get the students talking and using the language that they have learnt. They are invited to come up on stage and use the English language,in any shape or form, to express themselves. They can tell ESL jokes, talk about themselves, tell a story or give an opinion. These are just a few examples, you can leave it up to them to use their imaginations to come up with some creative ideas.

5) 'Pet Day': The ESL students are allowed to bring a pet from home into school on this special day. They stand up in class and tell their friends all about their pets. Their friends can also ask them questions too. This ESL project is a lot of fun for the students who love sharing their pets with their friends and so it is a great way to motivate them to use the English they have learnt.

Impacting Lives As a Volunteer Teacher on Your Gap Year

In many underprivileged communities around the world, children are in desperate need of assistance with their primary and secondary education and development. South Africa is no exception. In spite of the beautiful scenery surrounding the communities of South Africa, many rural South Africans live in very difficult circumstances, and the children do not get the opportunity to receive a good level of education. The gap year volunteer teacher program aims to provide gappers an opportunity to teach English to the children from disadvantaged families.

By contributing your time as a volunteer teacher during your gap year you will be helping to develop the lives of the underprivileged children in this community. To quote Nelson Mandela, "Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation. It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another."

Your Gap year Volunteer Role

Many schools in South Africa are understaffed, and by being a gap year volunteer teacher you will be helping to alleviate the shortage of teachers in the classrooms. It is easy to be a gap year volunteer teacher. You do not even have to possess TESOL or TEFL qualifications in order to teach English in the underprivileged communities of South Africa. Your role as a gap year volunteer English teacher will be helping the local teachers to teach English with the correct pronunciation and intonation.

Not only will you get to enrich the lives of those you teach, as a volunteer teacher you will also get to experience living with people from different cultures in the "Rainbow Nation". The time you spend helping out in the areas of extra curriculum activities will help enrich your own life experiences.

For the majority of the time as a volunteer teacher, you will be teaching conversational English to these communities. You will have the opportunity to talk about where you live and how you live in your own community back home. In some cases it can even help to bring clarity to your own life as a result of these reflections. Normally, as a volunteer teacher, you will be teaching about 18 to 20 hours per week. In addition, you will take time out to prepare your lessons prior to the next days activities.

Your Gap Year Experience

The volunteer teaching program can be a very rewarding and varied gap year experience in South Africa. The teaching is not formal and your voluntary work can be adapted to your own interests and skills. Regardless of what your input is, the focus is on creating a stimulating environment conducive to learning, and you as a gap year volunteer can help stress the importance of education to your students and their parents. This way, you will be helping the poor farming communities to escape the hardships that they face every day.

Crunch Time For High School Seniors

It's crunch time for seniors in high school to fill out the FAFSA and see if they qualify for need based or merit based financial aid. For this article, I interviewed Stan Ezekiel, an independent college planner to get his take on what high school seniors should be doing to maximize financial aid. Here are Stan's answers to six important questions seniors should be considering.

1. Is it too late to fill out the FAFSA? Is there a FAFSA deadline?

No. There's no official FAFSA deadline. Federal aid and merit-based aid are still being awarded. The worst thing to do is to nothing. Filling out the FAFSA before the end of February will help you qualify for thousands of dollars of assistance from the state you reside in and the college of your choice.

2. How much aid can I get?

This depends on many factors. There's no way of telling exactly how much financial aid you will receive before filling out the FAFSA. However, if you don't fill out the FAFSA, there's a great chance you will miss out on financial aid. Every day, there are families earning six figure income that receive thousands of dollars of assistance.

3. What is my estimated family contribution, or EFC?

The estimated family contribution is what a family is expected to pay based on the information submitted in the FAFSA. It will be the same at every college and university you are considering. There are strategies that each family can use to lower Estimated Family Contribution.

4. How can I find great scholarships?

The best place to start is on the websites of the colleges to which you've been accepted or will be accepted. You can also find many great scholarships on FAST WEB and FIN AID.

5. Should I consider loans?

Yes. Loans are also part of the financial aid process. Although loans have to be paid back, most are low interest. Some of the families we work with receive loans with interest rates around 6%, and those families typically earn a 12% return in stocks and bonds. Loans also help families defer payment, usually until 6 or 9 months after their student graduates from college.

6. Should I apply for financial aid if I'm planning on attending a state school?

Yes. The same rules apply. Filling out the FAFSA will enable you to qualify for need based and merit based financial aid, even if you're not attending a private college or university.

Hopefully these answer some of the questions you may be having about financial aid. If you're a senior in high school, it's crunch time for filing out the FAFSA to see if you qualify for need based or merit based financial aid. Don't miss out on the opportunity to get help paying for college. There is still assistance available.

Young Teacher - Considering A Family? Consider These Issues Before Stopping Teaching

You are a young teacher. You worked hard to get your degree and find a teaching position. You love what you do. You are good at it. But you love your husband/wife, you both want to have a family, and you aren't getting any younger. You are both well-educated and you know the importance of staying at home with your baby for at least 3 years. New research is saying 5 years. You've looked at your finances and talked and talked and talked. Finally, you both decide that for the benefit of the baby and children to come, you will stay home with the children. Before you finalize this decision and quit your teaching job, you need to consider some additional issues and get some agreements in writing.

Before you finalize this decision, you simply must face one important issue: 50% of all marriages end in divorce. No one plans a family if divorce is even remotely being considered. But over time, things sometimes happen and you find yourself facing a divorce. Suddenly you realize that the joint decision you made years before isn't going to have joint consequences unless you prepared yourself and got some things in writing.

You dealt initially with the negative consequence of loss of income, but that was shared equally; and your children will benefit from the positive affects of being with you. There are, however, many potential negative consequences only one of you will pay.

Other Issues You Must Consider:

1. Never leave teaching mid-year if at all possible. When I got pregnant, the baby was due in June. I would have only needed to miss the last few weeks of school; but "for the benefit of my students" I left at semester. My reasoning was that the students would be better off with a teacher for the full semester rather that having a sub for just a few weeks at the end of the school year. That was all true and very noble. However, that decision came back to bite me twice. When I returned to teaching in another state several years later and they were calculating how many years of experience they would give me, they flippantly said "we don't count any half years."

Years later, as my retirement was being calculated, again "we don't count any half years." At that point, I had four half years (one from baby, one from father with cancer, and two from taking over temporary positions when returning to teaching) which should have placed me two years higher on the retirement chart, but "we don't count half years." What was good for my students turned out to be very bad for me - permanently bad for me. Your students are important, but YOU are more important. Make decisions based on YOU - not them.

2. Understand that for every year that you stay out of teaching you are dropping one step on the pay scale. If you stay out of teaching for 10 years, you will enter the pay scale 10 steps below your peers. That is a big salary difference and one that is permanent. You can never make up that pay. While this is very frustrating, as long as you are married, it isn't too much of an issue. But if you get divorced and you didn't make some arrangement for this in writing, then ONLY YOU get that consequence. Your spouse went right on up the pay ladder while you didn't. You need some kind of on-going "equality pay" from your spouse so that you are not the only one paying for that joint decision.

3. #2 also affects your retirement if your state has its own retirement plan for public employees. Colorado calculates retirement on both your number of years of experience and your HAS (Highest Average Salary-for 3 years). If you stayed out of teaching 10 years, then your have 10 fewer years of experience and because you are lower on the pay scale your HAS is much lower. You get bitten twice for that joint decision.

4. This issue may or may not impact you--it depends on the state. In calculating retirement Colorado puts a 15% cap on how much your salary can increase from one pay year to the next. The purpose of this rule is to prevent people from being given principalships just to raise their salary before retirement. Seems logical, right? What isn't logical about it is that there in no allowance for the passage of time. So, when you stay out of teaching 10 years and return, your new salary will likely be more than 15% higher than when you left just due to time. But when it comes to calculating retirement, your new higher salary doesn't get totally counted toward your HAS. They allow you only 15% more than your last salary even though they were separated by 10 years. (And this caps every year after as well.) I got caught by this twice! With no allowance for time, this is a very unfair rule and the people it generally impacts are the parents who stayed home to raise children. This should be against the law!

I know it seems awful to have to think about these things when you feel so excited about starting a family. I also know that it is easy to convince yourself that should something happen, your spouse will be fair. After all, your loved each other once and you had children together. Right? Wrong! When it gets down to the almighty dollar, everything else goes out the window! I speak from experience on every single one of these issues. I have bite marks for every one!

To summarize: Get in writing:

(1) An automatic child support increase for each year. I didn't have this, he wouldn't volunteer it, and to get it I had to return to another state, get a lawyer, and fight. I couldn't afford to do that, so I paid every increase incurred by children as they grow and go through high school. You shouldn't have to do this. It isn't right.

(2) Some form of salary adjustment from your spouse to offset your lower pay scale position. Discuss this in the beginning and get it in writing.

(3) Some form of split of your spouses retirement or a separate retirement account for you that is paid by your spouse to offset the decease in your retirement. Protect your retirement. You may have to live on it a very long time. My retirement is almost half of what it should be due to half years and unfair 15% caps. And, now, there is absolutely nothing I can do about it. (The final indignity is that if you live in a state with its own pension fund, the federal government will not allow you to collect any social security you earned from other sources. Nice!)

The decision to raise a family is an important one and the benefits to your children by staying home with them are enormous; but the decision needs to be a joint decision and the consequences (of which there will be many) need to be joint as well.

Shirley Slick, "The Slick Tips Lady," is a retired high school math teacher and tutor with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and additional training in brain-based learning/teaching. Her goals: (1) to help parents help their children with math, (2) to help eliminate the horrendous Algebra failure rate, and (3) to inform the general public about problematic issues related to the field of education. For your free copy of "10 Slick Tips for Improving Your Child's Study Habits," visit her website at http://myslicktips.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shirley_Slick

Can Students And Teacher Be Facebook Friends?

The way that we communicate and connect with other people is rapidly changing, both as our society evolves and as technology develops more and more opportunities for people to keep in touch with one another. Naturally, this creates a situation where people must make new rules and guidelines for behavior as the new technology evolves, and they must adapt their behavior accordingly. One of the most touchy and important areas where this type of thing is in play is with the relationships that exist between students and teachers. This problem can basically be summed up in one question--should students and teachers be allowed to connect through Facebook?

When you try to figure out whether or not teachers should be 'friends' with their students on Facebook, you are opening a whole can of worms. It is very common for some teachers to begin to feel as though they are friends with their students. This can be a great thing in some situations, but before Facebook that sort of relationship stayed at school. With Facebook, however, it becomes possible to stay in touch at all times. A student can be at home and write on a teacher's wall, or comment on his or her status, and so on. The line between the student/teacher relationships and a normal friend relationship begins to blur.

So, many schools have started to develop a policy on this type of behavior. It is usually pretty clear: teachers are instructed not to have contact with their students through Facebook or other social networking sites (such as MySpace, LinkedIn, etc.). The reasons are pretty understandable. Once students get to know their teachers as 'friends' instead of 'teachers,' there can be a lot of distraction. For one thing, discipline in the classroom can become a lot trickier. After all, how do you discipline a friend?

There is also the risk of the personal or political views of the teacher having an impact in the classroom. Teachers are supposed to teach facts in an impartial manner, so that their own emotions do not get involved, and also so that students can trust their teachers as sources of fact, not opinion. This in particular is very important; once that delicate balance has been upset, it can be difficult to re-establish.

Regardless of what a school's policy on this subject is, it is probably in any teacher's best interest to keep his or her online social life completely separate from his or her students. Many teachers decide to delete their Facebook accounts entirely, but simply adjusting the privacy settings so that their profiles are only visible to friends should be fine, as long as those teachers are careful about responding to friend requests from students.

No matter what sort of technology develops for people to use to communicate with one another, the basic solution will always be the same: teachers need to take whatever steps are necessary to preserve the student/teacher relationship as it is. As long teachers follow that guiding principle, they shouldn't run into any major problems.

7 Fears About Returning To The Classroom - The First Time

My teaching career began almost 40 years ago, but I retired from teaching with about half that number of years in teaching experience. Why? At two different times of my life, I took long (10+ years each) breaks from teaching. While I loved teaching mathematics and I loved working with teenagers, after such a long break, the very thought of returning to the classroom scared me to death!

The first time I left the teaching field was to raise a family. Even though I had gone through college during the height of the Women's (or Womyn's) Liberation movement, I knew from my college courses that it was important for children to spend at least their first three years with their mothers. I made the decision that If I was going to have children, I would stay home with them. I stayed out of teaching until my children were in elementary school.

I know it was the right decision for my children, but it was a decision that had many negative long-term consequences and on-going consequences for me. Knowing what I know now, I might not make that same decision again. No one explained to me about all the negative consequences I was taking on. I feel that these consequences are so severe, that young women need to be educated about them before making such an important decision. In the next few days I will be writing an article about this issue, so if you are in an age range that this might be an issue for you, please be looking for that article. It really is important to your future as well as that of your children.

My decision to stay home with the children along with a divorce and a move to another state kept me out of full-time teaching for 13 years. You don't realize what a very long time that is until you consider returning to the classroom. The career I had chosen, had worked so hard for, and enjoyed so much 13 years earlier became an absolutely frightening prospect!

Why was I so frightened?

1. I had moved to a new state were I knew only one person.

2. I was no longer "up to date" with the current teaching techniques and "gurus" of the time. Most of my job interviews included the question "Are you familiar with Madeline Hunter?" Her influence on education had not yet reached the midwest where I had lived. So I had to say "No." That had a negative impact on some of my interviews.

3. Was I too old now? That may seem like a strange concern considering that I was by no means "old," but when I left teaching I was not much older than my high school students. Now I was in my late thirties. Would I be able to relate to or connect with my students as effectively as I had before. I no longer had the "cool factor" of youth.

4. Did I still have "it"? The"it" factor is what some teachers have that makes students just automatically know that you know what you are doing and talking about, so they don't do the usual silly little testing to see how far they can go with you. "It" gives you almost automatic respect. My children called it "the look." (I think my grandmother, who was also a teacher, had "it" too. I see it now when I look in a mirror.)

Part of the "it" factor is the ability to explain concepts in a way, or in several ways, that result in student success

Would I still be able to teach successfully without a host of disciple problems? Did I really want to find out?

5. Over the 13 years, had high school students changed much? Would I still be able to relate to them? Would I still have the patience I'd had in such abundance before? Would I still see humor in them?

Would I still care so very much about them and their success?

6. Would I have the time to do a good job? My initial teaching experience had been with no children; and I spent every available minute of every day planning lessons and grading papers. This time I would have two children in junior high, no husband, and no family near for support. How would I get everything accomplished successfully?

7. Would I be able to find a job? What would I do if I couldn't find one? How would we survive?

Was my fear justified? Was it worth the energy I had expended?

Yes! Only knowing one person made life very difficult. There was no one to turn to for help or reassurance. This was compounded by the fact that I did not arrive in Colorado early enough to get a teaching job, so making friends was very difficult. I spent the entire first year in Colorado substitute teaching. Some would consider this a fate worse than death, and it was difficult, but the skills I developed were priceless. Being unfamiliar with Madeline Hunter did create problems for a while.

The next year I was fortunate enough to get a teaching position at Air Academy High School on the grounds of the United States Air Force Academy. And I absolutely love Colorado Springs! I sometimes consider retiring to somewhere else, but it is nearly perfect here.

And NO! What did I find related to my worries about teaching? Subbing was certainly not easy until I started subbing at one specific school. Once I got a teaching position, it all came back immediately. I still loved the students, I still loved teaching mathematics, and the "it" factor was still with me.

Just like riding a bicycle!

Shirley Slick, "The Slick Tips Lady," is a retired high school math teacher and tutor with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and additional training in brain-based learning/teaching. Her goals: (1) to help parents help their children with math, (2) to help eliminate the horrendous Algebra failure rate, and (3) to inform the general public about problematic issues related to the field of education. For your free copy of "10 Slick Tips for Improving Your Child's Study Habits," visit her website at http://myslicktips.com/

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Shirley_Slick

Interactivity and Online Training

Over the years, learning theories have proved that a person requires undivided attention when learning. This attention is difficult to capture. In fact, the effectiveness of training or learning course lies in holding the attention of a learner. Whether you are teaching pre-school students or business executives, the important element in learning is interactivity. Unfortunately the attention span of a person is very limited and the mind wanders away from the lesson being taught if it is not interactive. These days many teachers and trainers are using online training in lieu of the traditional classroom training. With interactivity, we mean responding to the quiz questions, clicking on the responses, quiz games and animating an object and practicing the required skills.

The brain first listens to a fact, relates a concept to and tries to visualize the concept. If the training involves the audio-visual and imagery aids, then it is very effective and the learning outcomes can easily be achieved. Audio-visual images of mind form what we call memory or lifelong learning. An effective learning module can incorporate many elements that make acquiring new skills, knowledge, a new process or a new program more fun. It is this fun element that is all the more important in both training and learning. You can create your e-learning class or e-training class more interactive with the help of quiz questions, interactive quiz games & instant feedback.

The teachers are using the interactive online classes for the young learners as well with the help of quiz maker for kids. Following tips will help you to use FREE quiz maker for teachers effectively.

Choosing the type of content - When selecting the content, teachers should create quiz games with the help of quiz maker for kids that allow images, audio and colorful text to make retention of learning easy.

Interactivity - Quiz questions and multiple choices to answer the questions can do the trick and help the students improve their performance.

Instant feedback - FREE quiz maker for teachers can help you provide immediate feedback to the students in order to retain the correct form of learning. The absence of feedback will not be able to build the learning to last.

Interaction between students and trainers - To make the e-learning or online classes successful, it is important that trainers and learners stay connected via e-mails and instant messages.

Self-Pacing - Making the learning self-paced is important, because online classes are meant for those who do not have time to attend the regular classes and they want to learn at their own convenient time.

Importance of Social Studies

There are many reasons for the importance of social studies. For instance, it increased consciousness. Powerful teaching of social studies generates greater awareness in students of their civic duties. The learners are encouraged to uphold the democratic values so that they not only survive but also thrive. The students' eagerness, readiness and willingness to assume increased responsibilities as a citizen of a nation are ignited by social. They become well-informed residents who will sustain and further the cause of democracy when they grow up and take up the reins of the land. They can contribute positively towards the global cohesiveness. Its cumulative effect is reflected in how well civilians participate in understanding the government policies.

The importance of social studies is that it helps make students environmentally conscious. Through the studying of geography, environmental science, the learner realizes how devastating tampering with nature can be. He becomes responsive towards the importance of maintaining ecological balance, thus impeding the eventual destruction of nature. The importance of social studies is that it helps students to understand how nations and cultures are interconnected and affect one another.

For predicting the outcome of future events based upon past examples - Correlating the past to foresee the future can be deftly accomplished by students of social. Interpretation of statistical data can come in handy while laying out future plans at local, national and international levels. Projections are made and chances of lurking dangers are eliminated. Political leaders know how necessary it is to look ahead, while keeping an eye on the past experiences.

The importance of social studies can never be overemphasized. It forms a crucial part of K-12 curricula, instilling in the young minds awareness of the society around them and how best they can not only fit in but contribute towards its betterment. Parents and educationists around the globe have come to hail social studies as one of the greatest catalyst of humanitarian advancement. Although of-late, the subject has taken a backseat, owing to stiffer competition for the scarce jobs, it has not lost its intrinsic charm and utility. Some of the most critical disciplines of scholastic syllabus fall under its broad umbrella, such as history, geography, political science, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, economics, civics, theology and a number of others. Teaching of social studies has become an integral part of a student's growing up and all-round development to become an upright human being. Contributing towards the improvement of society at local, national and global levels is the core issue of social studies.

Pressures of State Tests in Education

Many Americans have felt that their children were not being educated to their full potential, which sparked debate in Congress over the education system. Initially there were upgrades made to the math and science programs while art and social studies were not focused on. Increased dropout rates, declining test scores, and low quality teachers have been a growing concern in the United States. Since many parents are failing to take responsibility and aid in teaching their children, schools are being forced to try and step up even more. Many parents and politicians are pushing schools to be responsible for their children's learning alone. Which has lead children to be evaluated by their teachers and then to take tests, which will allow them to pass or fail and move up to the next level of education.

Schools are feeling pressure to get their students to pass these tests in order to avoid becoming a bad statistic and to push legislators to provide them with additional funding. Unfortunately the pressure of state tests has caused many teachers to teach "only to the test" and they often neglect important programs like social studies, arts, and languages. Students are in need of a well-rounded education and teachers are not focusing on other teaching methods so their students will simply pass the test.

While many students may not show they are pressured by their teachers to pass the test, curriculum's certainly show that they are. Students are told by many of their teachers that they need to grow and make significant gains in programs like math and reading. At some schools, students are required to spend their first period or first hour of school where they work on reading and math. These students are often those that are struggling and they need to forgo an elective course and must attend the special session instead where they are given extra tutoring.

State involvement in education will help some schools to change their curriculum's and to create new curriculum's that are based on educating the children but also passing these tests with higher percentages. Pressure from state legislators to perform is causing a lot of schools to really focus on changing their strategies and to really focus on helping kids pass these tests.

There are some students that report educator cheating does happen. It is estimated that about 3 percent of educators will do things to try and boost the test scores. These cheating efforts will normally focus on using old tests and providing them to the students so they can see what type of questions they will face. The reason educator cheating occurs is due to the fact that teachers feel significant pressure to get their students to pass. They feel as though their jobs are in jeopardy if their students do not pass and this type of pressure to keep the reputation of the school in tact are really hurting the students in the long run.

Parental involvement in education will go a long way in helping students to succeed. Schools report that lack of parental involvement is by far the biggest problem they face. Parents that are involved with their children's education will see students that have higher grades, better performance in school, and reduced violent and personality issues.

Classroom Management Strategies: Using Choices Effectively in the Classroom

Veteran educators are well aware that teaching is a trial by fire, and the majority of these trials are related to the issue of power in the classroom. Teachers are told to "take control of the classroom, to show your students who is in charge." However, while that sounds great in theory, it often does not work well in practice because students resist, either passively or aggressively (or both) their teacher's attempts to "show them who is in charge." Education then degenerates, for all intents and purposes, into a power struggle, rather than what it is intended to be, an educational endeavor. Power struggles turn education into a trial by fire.

Simply put, power in the classroom can be summed up with three basic questions:

1. Who has power in the classroom?
2. Who wants power in the classroom?
3. What is being done to get power in the classroom?

Often times the answer to these questions jumps dynamically from the students to the teacher and back again, depending on the interactions in the classroom, and the perceptions of the students and teacher. For example, most student misbehavior is related in some way to the issue of attaining a sense of power in the class setting. The teacher's reaction to the student's misbehavior is always done to regain their sense of power over the classroom. If you were to objectively observe most classrooms around the country, you would likely see hundreds of these interactions going on, a kind of psychological tennis match, with volleys, serves, attacks and counterattacks, threats and tantrums, all leading to a dysfunctional situation which never ends well. While one side may "win" the match, the other side plans their revenge in order to regain power. What is lost is not just power, but the solid functioning of the classroom for the benefit of all.

What if you could take power struggles out of the equation all together? Would that make the classroom seem less like a trial by fire, and more like a nice place to spend an hour or so learning a few concepts and skills? There are strategies that can be employed that can almost completely remove power struggles from your classroom interactions, but it will take a mindset change on your part to make it work.

The first mindset change you need to have is to get rid of the idea that your students should immediately listen to you simply because you are the teacher. Some of your more cooperative students will listen to you for this reason, but they are the minority. You must accept that, human nature being what it is, you will have to convince your students that what you have to offer them is at least equal to, or better than, what they would prefer to do, which is pretty much anything else other than actual school work! It's no good whining about how "in my day, we listened and respected teachers, and blah blah" because if your honest, you know this is simply not true. You listened to the teachers you felt were worth listening to, and you ignored and undermined the ones you did not. So the first mindset change you need to have is to figure out how to make your class worth listening to.

Now that you have accepted the idea that you need to offer your students something worthwhile, you have to determine what that is. And as much as I hate to say this, the content of your course is not going to win you legions of eager students! (Unless you teach a video games class or a class dedicated to allowing students to socialize and walk around the building aimlessly) So does this mean you have to become an educational entertainer? Well, perhaps, but not in the way you think.

Perhaps we can learn a bit from the entertainment industry. Why are people so willing to pay good money, and listen intently, to what the entertainment industry has to offer?

Well for one thing, it's a preferred activity which means people like doing it. No one seems to like school, which is evident from the lack of joy that infects most schools. But the bigger clue here is that people choose their entertainment. They are able to exert power through choice, as a result they are engaged and invested in the entertainment activity. I would argue that choice is as big a motivating factor as the level of entertainment offered.

Therefore, the second mindset change is to work choices into your lesson planning. This will take planning, but it is well worth the effort. Offering students choices gives them the feeling that they are invested and engaged in the class. As a result, they will be more willing to listen to what you have to offer, even if it is boring and repetitive. For example, let's say you have planned a lovely lecture on photosynthesis (yikes!). The traditional teacher approach is to demand silence as you present your concepts to the class. Along the way, you know you will have to interrupt conversations, sign passes to the bathroom, watch students get up to grab tissues, wake up sleeping students, etc. However, what if you could avoid most of those hassles by offering students a choice as to how they will learn about photosynthesis today? Let's say you were to offer them 3 ways to learn the material, and they get to choose the one they like best? After all, is it really important how they learn it, if the methods are all equally effective? The choices would be one's you can live with of course, so you are only giving up some control of the classroom in order to gain control in other areas. Students would then be more willing to listen to what you have to say because they will feel invested. Power struggles will be diminished considerably.

The opportunities for using choices in the class are endless. Good luck as you implement choices into your classroom. I think you will find that this strategy will work well. Just make sure you offer choices you can live with, and watch your students engage in learning.

Teaching Economics and History - Greece's Economy Today and Ancient Greek Life

By Lance Winslow Lance Winslow
Level: Diamond

Greetings to Everyone, I am a retired Franchisor, Business Consultant, Philanthropist and I run a Think Tank, as well as do a lot of Traveling, ...

Recently, our think tank which happens to operate online was discussing the need to teach economics in our schools. The reason being is that we need an educated electorate, which is well schooled in economics if we ever hope or expect them to vote for a fiscally responsible government. It seems people don't understand economics, or economic history. But they should.

It is quite evident this is a serious problem judging by the amount of credit card debt people have, and the number of people who took out loans, that they either knew or should have known they could never pay back. It would seem that folks who voted for more social services and entitlements would have known that the money does not grow on trees, that it must come from somewhere, and the needless borrowing and printing of money is about the worst thing you can do for an economy.

One of the things that our think tank came up with is that maybe rather than teaching economic history of the United States, because those history books have been so watered down with political correctness, making FDR out to be a hero for instance, they would serve no purpose in the lesson of fiscally responsible government - is that the teachers perhaps could teach the economic history as far back as possible of another nation.

From there the kids might begin to consider how everything is interrelated when it comes to economics, society, and a strong civilization. Now then, I would like to recommend a very good presentation and DVD which talks about ancient Greece. And as you know Greece has been in the news over the last couple years because it nearly defaulted on its debt, and is now in the middle of a big austerity program which was met with huge protests. In any case the name of the DVD I'd like to recommend is;

"DVD - Ancient Greece 5000 Years of Magnificent Wonders" edited and produced by Questar Media, Chicago, IL, (2006), 1:40 hours, ASIN: B000FS2W94. (Extra Bonus Features include: Acropolis and Inside Ancient Greece).

By teaching ancient Greece all the way forward, through the trials and tribulations, the students can quickly see how excessive expenditures, or plundering of the nation's financial resources will eventually lead to its downfall. Indeed we've come to the conclusion that this is the best way to teach economics, so that our kids today who will be running our country tomorrow understand the full impact and serious nature of the financial decisions made by the government. Please consider all this.

Lance Winslow is the Founder of the Online Think Tank, a diverse group of achievers, experts, innovators, entrepreneurs, thinkers, futurists, academics, dreamers, leaders, and general all around brilliant minds. Lance Winslow hopes you've enjoyed today's discussion and topic. http://www.WorldThinkTank.net - Have an important subject to discuss, contact Lance Winslow.

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Article Submitted On: March 16, 2011

Tracking Education Groups - The Academic Achievement Gap

Investigators lack any clear clue as to why the gap has been widening among the racial groups. Organizational along with cultural aspects were responsible for the growing inconsistency. Comparatively, students hailing from backward classes perform poorly. Such students obtained low test scores and performed below average, especially in cases of negligent or absentee parenting. Annete Lareau, a famous sociologist, said that students who enjoyed superior privileges also performed better academically and in their lives later on. A few other researchers feel that a student's ability to accomplish better academically was dependant on his socioeconomic status and the race from he came. It is quite obvious that students from subjugated group have to face the negative impact of achievement gap owing to their lowly position as against their White counterparts.

The society, customs, faiths, social roles and the atmosphere around the students affect his functioning and are important elements have be taken into consideration while the root cause of achievement gap is being dealt with. A researcher will do well to investigate the lifestyle, surroundings, financial status and habits of the minor group of disadvantaged students so that he will be able to get a clearer picture of the cultural gap. This will assist him in getting an explanation as regards the existing relationship between the child and parents among the families of the ethnic groups. It is the environment that encourages a child to perform academically better. Authors like Jencks and Philips say that a Black student does poorly at school merely due to ignorance of the advantages of education and gaining the related skills. Without being aware, Black students enter school with limited vocabulary at their command compared to the Whites.

Results of studies conducted reveal that greater the parental participation in academics of their child better is his performance at school. Children from single parent Black minority group are too busy making ends meet to pay attention to the child's academics such as his home assignment. The minority group of Blacks also includes parents who are unable to speak, understand, write or read English. In this way, a child gets very little support from non-English speakers at home and is deprived of parental involvement in their educational undertakings.

Children from low-income family backgrounds are forced to attend badly funded schools because they lack financial resources to pay for better forms of education or to move to a district with better education. Schools categorized as poorly funded do not have sufficient resources and are therefore compelled to hire the services of teachers who are ill-qualified. The problem of achievement gap between backward classes was attempted to be abridged by the schools by initiating tracking education groups. Basically this was the placing of students the same school in groups with homogenous learning prowess and skills. Then the schools customized the lesson plans of the teachers to best meet individual group's requirements and ability to learn.

This program worked wonders for the progress of some learners. But some of the schools did not go about it in the right way. They segregated students into groups based on their socioeconomic background. This resulted in the oppressed class from being further degraded and the objective was not met since the groups of Hispanics and African-American were placed in the lowest strata. The school's underlying policy of racism was clearly seen when it placed all the Hispanic and Afro-Americans in one group. This reaffirmed the belief of a few researchers that the constituting of tracking education groups was a clear indicator of schools' strategies that encouraged racial discrimination.

Ample proof of negative results was obtained regarding tracking education groups. There was, in fact, further harm caused since the minority tracking education group had teachers who were not qualified enough. The curriculum designed for less privileged students was less beneficial and did not offer the opportunity for their progress in the field of academics. The friends and the teachers often branded them as slow on the uptake. This demoralized the students, undermining their self-esteem and confidence. Thus the number of dropouts from such groups grew. Psychologists involved said that tracking education groups was not beneficial for every group. Moreover, they were unable to see its long-lasting gains.

Teaching ESL Vocabulary: Tips for TEFL Teachers

It is very beneficial for ESL students to learn new vocabulary regularly. This article gives ESL teachers some ideas on how they can improve their ESL student's vocabulary.

ESL students enjoy learning new words and feel great satisfaction expanding their understanding of the English language.

The following seven tips for TEFL teachers are a great way to help improve your students ESL vocabulary.

1) Vocab book: Collect all the words that you plan to teach your ESL students and put them together in a mini book. Photocopy the book and give a copy to each student. Choose 5-10 words each week for a spelling test. Create a chart on the wall with the students names. Write the test scores on the chart each week. This will motivate the students to learn the vocab.

2) Recycle: It is important that the students recycle the words they learn so they do not forget them. Use the Vocab books to practice all the words they learn. At least once a week have the students read out all the ESL vocabulary words from the book that they have learnt.

3) Flash cards: Create ESL flash cards for each word you wish them to learn. Stick these words on the ESL classroom walls. Play an ESL game which involves them finding a given word.

4) Games: There are many ESL games for practicing vocabulary. Offer to play a game at the end of the ESL lesson if the students finish their work and behave well.

5) Words from home: Ask students to find new ESL vocab words at home and bring them into school. They can cut words from cereal boxes, newspapers and magazines. Offer a prize to the student that collects the most amount of words.

6) Brainstorm: Brainstorms are excellent ways for students to test their vocabulary knowledge regarding a given ESL topic. It is also a great way to review the vocab that students have been studying during a lesson or the previous week. The teacher writes a topic on the board and the students offer as many words that they can think of that relate to this topic. The students really enjoy this ESL activity and you can repeat it many times without them getting bored.

7) 'Make Some Words': This is an ESL game that gets the students thinking about vocabulary. The teacher writes a long word on the board and the students have to make as many words as possible from their ESL vocabulary using the letters from the word.

Job Skills - What It Takes To Be A Teacher

One of the most important jobs in our society, or in any society, is the job of teacher. After all, it is on teachers that we rely for our next generations of thinkers, doers, workers, politicians, and inventors to turn out to be as talented and educated as we need them to be so that we can continue to do our very best on the world stage. Without high quality teachers, it is more than likely that we could enter into a situation where we find ourselves falling behind in terms progress and innovation, which can lead to a whole host of problems with our economy, and not to mention with our whole society in general.

But what does it take to be a teacher? Being a good teacher requires a special kind of passion and diligence that few other professions demand. In order to be a good teacher, you must learn to pay careful attention to sometimes more than a hundred students. You have to be ready sometimes to address issues that are not at all academic in nature, since the people you will be working with are still developing human beings who may have questions and problems that extend beyond the scope of the subject you are teaching.

You must be willing to work long hours, even extra hours, without extra pay. Even though you will spend a lot of time physically in the school and working, you will also spend a lot of time after and even before your work day making sure that you have taken care of all the tasks that need to be taken care of. There are always lessons to plan, papers, projects, and homework to grade, and tests to write, prepare, and grade. You will need to worry about state and national guidelines and requirements so that you can stay certified and employed. And on top of all of this, the pay is not even very good, in most cases.

Ironically, on the other hand, if you do not care about being a good teachers, you can do comparatively little. You can choose to reuse the same assignments and tests over and over again. You can decide not to be creative or interesting or engaging, and you can decide that you do not care if your students actually learn anything, or develop in any kind of important way, within the realm of the subject that you teach and even outside of it. If none of these problems are a concern to you, then you can become a teacher and just do a terrible job. Unfortunately, there are tens of thousands of such teachers across the country. The only problem for you is that you will have to figure out a way to sleep at night--but that is up to you.

However, if you think you have what it takes to be a dedicated and conscientious professional, then you are in a position to make an enormous impact on the lives of hundreds, even thousands of children. It is just important that when you decide to go for it, you know what you are getting yourself into. It is not at all likely that you will get the monetary compensation that you deserve, but if you can appreciate and value the positive change that you could make in many children's lives, then this might be the career for you, and you should consider looking into it right away.

Classroom Management - Motivating the Reluctant Learner

Every child wants to succeed. I know this is true. If you want to be successful at motivating the reluctant learner, you will need to believe this as well. In my experience working with students from many different backgrounds, up-bringing, family situations and home lives, every student thrives when he or she feels a sense of accomplishment.

Sure, sometimes this accomplishment is getting the teacher to lose her temper or hitting a friend in the head with a well-aimed spitball. Our jobs, then, become refocusing that student's goal away from those negative accomplishments towards the positive accomplishments - those that equate to success in school and, ideally, in life.

Sounds easy, right? You and I both know, though, that bad habits are hard to break, and students with a habit of looking for success in ways that undermine what you're doing as a teacher can often have the hardest time changing their habits.

When I start a school year, I quickly recognize those students who are struggling to share the same measure of success I've set for my students. While many teachers try to ignore the disruptive behaviors in the hopes that they will just go away, often times it leads to more disruptive behaviors as that students looks for other ways to successfully get your teaching off-task.

Instead of ignoring that disruptive student, addressing that reluctant learner as early in the year (or day or even lesson for that matter) will help you successfully guide the student towards a new standard of success. What do I mean?

Here's an example I'm sure most of us can relate to:

You see little Johnny throw a broken pencil at another student. What do you do? Ignore it? Yell at Johnny? Tell him to go to the office? Assign detention?

How about this response?

"Johnny, please don't throw anything in my class ever. Do you understand?" stated in a very calm voice.

"But he threw it at me first!"

"Johnny, do you understand what I told you?"

Grumbling, "Yeah."

"Good."

The rest of class passes without Johnny throwing any more pencils. On his way out of the classroom, you mention to him, "Johnny, I appreciate you not throwing anything in my class. Nicely done." You say this with all sincerity, but not making too big a deal out of it. Johnny doesn't reply but just shuffles off to his next class.

The next day, Johnny comes into class as usual. For the first five minutes, Johnny doesn't throw anything at anyone. You casually move near him and say very quietly to him, "You're having a good day today, aren't you?" Johnny doesn't respond, but he refrains from throwing anything for the entire class. Again, at the end of class, you mention to Johnny, "Nice work today."

And today, Johnny smiles.

This sounds like a simple example, and you're right! It is incredibly simple to bring students over to "your side" in the battle, to stop fighting with your students and start helping them fight their own battles against their anti-social and disruptive impulses. By helping the student understand that your role isn't to always highlight their disruptive behavior but instead is to help them achieve a more productive model of success, the disruptive student often becomes a key ally in your classroom.

Your work isn't done with this tiny victory. Once you've broken the initial bad habit of disruptive behavior, you will then need to help your students understand how "success" is defined in your class. Questions like "Are you being successful?" and "When you do that are you being successful?" and "How does that help you be successful?" all work to help the student understand that part of your job is to help him or her be successful.

Each day, I write on the board my measure of success for that day. It's usually something like, "I will have at least 15 note cards completed for my research paper." or "I will understand why the main character decided to go to the lake." or something like that. When a student is off-task, it's a simple matter for me to approach him or her and say, "Are you being successful? How can I help you be successful?" Done with the right tone and approach, these two questions can truly transform the way you and your students interact.

Once your reluctant learners (and everyone else for that matter!) realize that you are really there to help them be successful, that you want them to do well in school and build the skills they need to be successful in life, their reluctance to learn gradually disappears in favor of a new motivation to succeed, a measure of success based more closely on positive productive goals rather than disruptive negative goals.

Creating a Physical Education Lesson Plan

Educators of today are having a hard time making lesson plans for their students, especially those who are specializing in the field of physical education. It has been a long battle between students and teachers, and the emergence of other leisure activities has been hindering the instructors from winning this battle.

A majority of teachers say that their students who are much more involved into computer games tend to forget the importance of proper physical health. This problem has been tackled by teachers as the online gaming and computer console industry grew.

To make sure that your students will gain interest in your subject, it is important that you ask them something that would favor them in return. These kids do not care much about their health, so make it sure that you will make their time in your subject fun and worthwhile. Instead of using the old-fashioned student to teacher method, make it more interactive and fun. There is nothing better than your students enjoying their time in your subject.

Try to have regular games inside your class instead of having your students listen to you for over an hour, which could cause a terrible boredom and a negative aura inside your class. You can never make your students learn and enjoy your subject if you don't want to play in their field. Make it interactive and fun, just like online games, and it is a sure thing that your students will look forward to your next meeting. There is nothing more effective than to have yourself stand inside your students' shoes.

Still others believe that teachers lesson plans are beneficial. The proper middle ground is to generate lesson plans for school teachers that guarantee completion of a schedule with designated chores while giving an educator flexibility to improvise.

The secret to creating a superior school lesson plan is to have lesson worksheets that cover every element right away. This is particularly true when schools demand these lesson education plans to be reviewed and approved. There is no other way that these lesson plans are getting into the brains of your students without your school superiors reviewing them well and checking them out. You yourself should also conduct a research on what makes students listen and insterested in a class.

There are several Physical Education Lesson Plans that you can find on the internet, all you have to do is search.

5 Indicators of NCLB's Goal of Planned Failure For The Public School System

Many officials in the previous administration were very vocal about their opposition to the public school concept and their desire to provide public tax dollars to fund private (correctly translated as "Christian") schools; and No Child Left Behind has come dangerously close to causing public schools to fail. Fortunately, it is beginning to appear that NCLB is likely to be replaced relatively soon--possibly with Common Core State Standards--but before doing anything we need to be certain that we do not duplicate any of the bad intentions of NCLB. My very first article for EzineArticles dealt with 10 reasons the goals of NCLB were statistically impossible. In this article we will look at requirements placed on schools that are simply impossible to meet. There can be only one explanation for having both impossible goals and impossible requirements--planned failure.

5 Indicators of NCLB's Goal of Planned Failure for the Public School System:

1. Increasing AYP (Average Yearly Progress) every year

In the world of reality, every school, every teacher, every person would be ecstatic over an AYP of one. This would mean that every student made one year's progress for one year in school. This would be wonderful! Unfortunately, because of issues of poverty, language barriers, special needs students, etc., an AYP of 1 is very nearly impossible. It is a good goal, but not a realistic one. In the insane world of NCLB, if schools actually manage to meet AYP one year, the number goes higher the next year. This increase in AYP continues every year until...you guessed it, until the school fails.

2. Negative scores

In the world of reality, when a student misses a test, the recorded score is a zero; but not in the insane world of NCLB, where every missed test counts as a negative number against the school. This is true for students who move, who are suspended, who are in the hospital, in jail, and--I bet you didn't know this--parent refusals! There are many parents who for whatever reason decide they don't want their children tested in NCLB. And we were all told "Sure, parents can refuse." What none of us were told at the time was that the students "score" would still count against the school as a negative number. Every year since I retired I have helped with CSAP, the Colorado NCLB test, make-up exams. This year the stack of parent refusals was enormous and every single one will count against the school as a NEGATIVE NUMBER! Why would anyone do this? Planned failure!

3. 5 out of 6 = 0

The CSAP (Colorado Student Assessment Program) test consists of three subjects: Math with 3 individual tests, Science with three individual tests, and Reading/Writing with 6 individual tests. Needless to say, this is spread out over several days usually in two different weeks. It is not unlikely that a few students get sick, especially if something is going around as happened last year. Students sometimes get sick during the test. Every year we find ourselves struggling to find a handful of students who missed one subtest that if we can't get it made-up will count as a zero for the entire subject. The five English tests count for nothing if the 6th one doesn't get made up.

In the same vein, if a question has multiple parts--no partial credit. It is either all right or all wrong. Why would anyone create these rules? Planned failure!

4. Funding

The test making process is incredibly expensive. From designing the test, printing the test, distributing, re-collecting, grading, writing reports, distributing these reports, and then acting on the results which may include firing teachers and finding replacements, turning schools into charter schools, etc. And since it is a requirement that at least 95% of the student body--including 95% of every possible subgroup, like American Indian, or special ed.--schools go to great expense to hire people like me who can do the make-ups. These people must be licensed teachers and the schools have no teachers who can be free for the necessary length of time. You might be wondering who is paying for this. Well, it ISN'T the federal government. NCLB is a federal mandate, but it was never funded. So your state pays for it all. Just imagine how much could be accomplished if we turned that money directly to teacher preparation or educational programs for schools! It seems that it is more important to make public schools look like failures.

5. Spring Break

What idiot said let's require schools to test 95% of their student body during the two week period before Spring Break? You have no idea how many parents pull their kids out of school 1 or even 2 weeks before Spring Break "to avoid the busy time." Remember, each of those scores will count against the school as a negative number.

With goals that are statistically impossible and regulations that force schools to fail, one would have to be brain-washed to believe the NCLB rhetoric.

Two other points to solidify the point even further:

1. There is absolutely NO, ZERO, NADA student accountability for this test. They have NO, ZERO, NADA incentive to even put forth any effort on this test and by high school, they don't. Some of our make-up students--who seldom even come to class--will finish the six-part reading/writing test in 20 minutes. How would you like to have your job based on that student's results?

2. The ultimate punishment for schools, after firing all the teachers and administrators, is to turn the school into a charter school. Pay attention here! Charter schools do not have to meet ANY NCLB requirements. They do not have to be tested in any way. If they decide to test themselves, nothing need be published. How will this "punishment" have any positive effect on education?

So, what do you think? Designed for student improvement or public school failure? Why did we let this go on so long, and why isn't it being stopped instantly instead of "soon?" We should all be ashamed of ourselves and our government!

Shirley Slick, "The Slick Tips Lady," is a retired high school math teacher and tutor with degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and additional training in brain-based learning/teaching. Her goals: (1) to help parents help their children with math, (2) to help eliminate the horrendous Algebra failure rate, and (3) to inform the general public about problematic issues related to the field of education. For your free copy of "10 Slick Tips for Improving Your Child's Study Habits," visit her website at http://myslicktips.com/

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