Friday, February 17, 2006

No Child Left Behind

The "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act was designed to help all students do better in public schools. It was passed by Congress in 2001, and has had its share of controversy ever since.

If you aren't familiar with the details of the NCLB Act, you can read the Act at: http://www.ed.gov/policy/elsec/leg/esea02/index.html.) Many support the Act but oppose what they see as insufficient funding. And people are beginning to share their opinions online via blogs.

The NSBA (National School Boards Association) is one of those who has put up a blog to talk about the NCLB Act, and share its opinion with others. You can read their blog at: http://boardbuzz.nsba.org/.

The American Federation of Teachers has its own NCLB-related blog as well. You can read it at: http://www.letsgetitright.org/

So, what's your opinion of what is going on with the NCLB Act? Want to share it and see what others think as well? Then...

Please take this "No Child Left Behind" related poll and share your opinion! Just click the link below.


Do you think that the "No Child Left Behind" Act has improved education in our state (Oklahoma?)
Yes
No
Undecided
Free polls from Pollhost.com



Wednesday, February 15, 2006

The Teacher's Role as an Educator

Dr. Kurt Hochenauer posts a blog called OkieFunk. In his posting titled, "Kern’s Deceitful Bill Makes It Through Committee," I was inspired to consider what I believed to be the teacher's role as an educator. The bottom line for me turned out to be that teachers should be "guides to the gathering and dissemination of knowledge--not the dictators of it." Does this picture of a teacher fit what you think and believe? Or how does your idea of a teacher differ?

So, you've heard one of the important roles that I think teachers fulfill. Do you have others? Please share them.

Saturday, February 11, 2006

Blogs for Education

Blogs are making their way into classrooms as a means of educating and communicating with today's schoolage generation. One blog site offers free blogs to educators. I took a look at some of the blog links they have and found some useful information. Have you ever used a blog in a class you've taken that isn't an online class? If so, how did the teacher work it into the class? Was it useful? Did you like using it? What did you think of it in general?

Here's the blog link for the free one for educators: http://www.21publish.com/.