Article Reflections

U.S.-born don't learn the language easily
By: Marcela Sanchez
seattlepi.com

This article talks about how students of today are not becoming proficient in the English language, regardless if they were born in the United States or not. Many students claim English as their second language since there are quite a number of recent immigrants in the schools. Some of these ethnic groups have difficulty in gaining proficiency in this language. The surprising fact is that there is also a high number of United States citizens from birth that are struggling in this subject. Even after several years in our educational systems, they are having trouble becoming proficient. Something needs to change in the system and adapt to the children's needs if the current ways are not helping them to progress.


Creating rap lyrics helps inspires young history students
The Boston Globe
By: Angie Green

A middle school history teacher decided to shake things up in his classes by letting students create rap lyrics so that they could remember their material easier. They rapped about famous people who stood up for what was right and justice such as Malcolm X, Rosa Parks, Jesse Jackson, and Gandhi. The students said that they had a lot of fun doing this assignment and it was much more interesting than sitting and reading about it in their textbook. I think it is a great way to get the students involved in their learning process and music is an awesome venue for helping people to remember words, facts, and ideas better.

Parents, teachers, kids speak up on ed tech
Communication, access are important to students; most parents believe technology is underused in schools
By: Justin Appel
eSchool News

A survey was done showing that students and parents are more for technology in the classroom and teachers are more hesitant, especially with the use of cell phones in school. Students feel the need to constantly be connected to an assortment of resources. They have grown up with technology and do not know any different, they expect technology to work and work fast with accuracy. This may be a disadvantage when it comes to other types of creativity or thinking for themselves when they know a computer can do it ten times faster and better. I can understand why teachers would not want cell phones in their classrooms as they would be a major distraction, especially with text messaging. However, it would be good for the student to be able to contact a parent or guardian in the event of an emergency so there has to be some middle ground found on that issue.

More students getting laptops instead of textbooks
Louisiana high school becomes latest to switch to an all-digital curriculum
eSchool News staff

This high school is dumping all textbooks and most use of paper and reverting to the total use of laptop computers. They will get to take these computers home and do any and almost all assignments on these high-tech devices. The school received grants and were able to get computers from Apple for the students to utilize. I have always liked working on computers and think that it does take some time off of something that might have taken a lot longer, yet I would not want them to replace the form of actual books and papers. If our students sit at a computer all day and at night to finish homework also, I wonder if this would effect their eyesight at all? I know that I can only stare at a computer screen for so long before my eyes get tired and stressed and I need to take a break. If the computers are all the students use, will the next generation all need to also depend on eye technology to fix their skewed vision? I have always loved to read and would miss reading an actual book over reading from the Internet. There are some advantages to this new technology as it will prepare the students for future jobs and important basic knowledge about it they will need to know, yet there are also many disadvantages that we cannot disregard and must take into account.