http://www.schoolsk-12.com/parents/ School News provided by Schools K-12 en-us Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:30:11 PDT Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:30:11 PDT Patrica Hawke





Virtual schools are benefiting a lot of students across the United States. Virtual schools are giving students so many opportunities’ they otherwise wouldn’t have in a traditional school. They give students the chance to be able to have a job while going to school, focus more on their school work rather than popularity or school bullies and it gives students a chance to learn while not being distracted from friends and other school mates like a traditional school would have. Virtual schools give students the opportunity to put their main focus on their school work, projects and tests rather than focusing their time and energy figuring out what to wear to school or who they will hang out with on their lunch the next day. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 15:27:48 PDT Patrica Hawke





Educational technology has come a long way since the computers were invented. Since then technology has been growing and rapidly changing and improving over the years. Educational technology, in general has made a huge impact on the way students learn and the way teachers are teaching. It has made teachers jobs easier by creating systems that help mass grade tests, take roll call, develop PowerPoint presentations, develop their curriculum an plan their teaching year. It has benefited students by providing them with endless possibilities of educational information with the World Wide Web, Internet, online textbooks, educational applications on specific educational devices and so much more. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 15:24:05 PDT Patrica Hawke





As educational technology flourishes, it begins to make traditional methods of school seem dull and old fashioned. Back in the day, testing for all subjects was done with a pencil and piece of paper, which the teacher had to grade, by hand, after the students finished the test. Things have been rapidly improving and changing because of the new educational technology that is arising. Orlando, Florida schools are beginning to make some drastic changes in how their schools take their standardized tests. Of course all the schools in the United States want to add more and more educational technology into their classrooms because of the benefits the see and the testimonials from other schools having such great success with their educational technology programs. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 07:22:20 PDT Patrica Hawke



The National School Board Association is focusing this year on educational technology and how it is being used in school. They know that educational technology has come a long way and they want to make sure every school utilizes it in the classrooms to give the students a good head start on what they can expect out of life in college and in the workforce. Because technology is so utilized in everyday life, the National School Board realized that schools should put a big focus on offering educational technology to their students. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 07:18:48 PDT Patricia Hawke

At the Florida Education and technology conference in Orlando, Florida, they were putting a huge emphasis on Visual Learning and the benefits that accompany their theory. Miami Schools have already adopted this approach and are beginning to utilize this concept in their schools to help their students to succeed in school. Because of this new generation of students, more motivation is needed or students to have the drive to be successful in school. More motivation than just their parent’s approval is needed for the students of this generation. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 07:10:49 PDT Patricia hawke

San Diego schools have begun to implement iPads into a few schools in the county to assist students in their classes. The results from integrating the iPads into the curriculum have been great and by using these devices during school to help the students to understand the concepts of the programs they are studying and utilizing educational applications on the iPads, students are getting better grades on tests and in their classes. Not only do these technological devices help the students to become more inclined to want to learn and study but also it will help them to learn the educational concepts more in depth and make the students more comfortable in the classroom. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 07:04:22 PDT Patrica Hawke





Sacramento Schools in California are realizing the standard that the Unite states has for the public school system is extremely low. While other schools around the world have a standard of 220 days of school per year, the United States only has 180 days of school per year. No only are our school years much shorter than those of other countries, but we don’t have a very difficult public school curriculum. The public school just requires students to get a 60% or higher in their classrooms to be considered passing and go on to the next class or school year level. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 06:48:42 PDT Patricia Hawke



California’s economy is in such bad shape that drastic plans are in effect to help with California’s deficit. Currently California has a $15.4 billion deficit and they are looking at many ways to help get themselves out of the negatives. Schools always are the first thing looked at when determining where states can save money because of the huge expenses they are to the states. Currently they have begun increasing class size and eliminating bus transportation. The problem with increasing class sizes is not only will less teachers be needed, which means potentially having to lay off good quality teachers due to the last hired, first fired policy, but because students will lack the individualized attention they need from the teachers. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 05:53:54 PDT Patrica Hawke





Public school have always been free, parents never have to pay out of pocket to send their children to school. Usually the choice between sending their children to a public of private school, the decision coms down to the price and what the family can afford. Public schools are known to have a more relaxed approach to education, less demanding dress code and generally less classes offered compared to private schools. Public school essentials such as textbooks and classes are supposed to be free and students borrow their textbooks for the year from the library and return them at the end of the year. ]]> Mon, 16 May 2011 05:36:47 PDT Patrica Hawke





Texas schools have always prided themselves in having excellent school ratings and parents could always rely on Texas schools to provide their students with the best education possible. When looking for a school for your child to attend, it is a big decision. Families choose homes in areas that good schools are near and within the district; so having the best school for your child to attend is always a top priority. How do you know if a certain school is going to be a good school for your child? You do research on all, the schools in your area and find out which schools have the best ratings. ]]> Sun, 08 May 2011 02:00:48 PDT Patricia Hawke

New York City schools have been using Schoolnet to effectively help their students to do better in school and get better grades for years and just recently Pearson PLC bought out the company. They are planning on continuing with the educational technology because they know how much schools in big cities use it such as; the School District of Philadelphia, New York City Public School Districts and Chicago Public School Districts. Many other school districts across the United States are using the Schoolnet system and tools that include educational technology to help the students to do better in school. ]]> Sun, 08 May 2011 01:57:25 PDT Patrica Hawke



New York City Schools have always used seniority as a basis for firing teachers when faced with budget cuts. Regardless of how effective the teacher is or how well they teach the children and motivate them, because they have a shorter time with the school than other teachers, they are the ones that unfortunately get fired. Seniority has its pros and cons; in general this concept makes sense, if an employee has worked somewhere for the longer amount of time, they are usually the ones that get looked at for promotions first and they have seniority on requesting days off for vacations and holidays over newer employees. ]]> Sun, 08 May 2011 01:52:31 PDT Patrica Hawke





In Los Angeles, a judge ruled that with budget cuts, teacher layoffs must limit cuts based in seniority of teachers. In the past the rule has always been that the last teacher hired gets laid off first, this policy is called the last hired, first fired policy. This policy seems like a fair policy on paper, but in reality, this policy is not fair. By going with the last hired, first fired policy based on teacher seniority, this does a disservice to students, California schools are beginning to make a reform on the last hired, first fired policy based on the ruling by the Los Angeles judge. ]]> Sat, 30 Apr 2011 02:32:17 PDT Patrica Hawke





Students in 5th grade through middle school have the opportunity to win laptop computers and educational software. In addition to these gifts, the students who win get a two thousand dollar cash prices awarded to their school. This is a video gaming challenge, it challenged students to use their knowledge of Science, Technology, Engineering and math skills to come up with video game design concerts in a written form or they can create an actual game using video game creation software. This video game challenge got the attention of many California school students who were interested in video gaming. ]]> Sat, 30 Apr 2011 02:28:02 PDT Patrica Hawke





California Public schools always get the short end of the stick when it comes to school funding. Because public schools are free for students to attend, the budget cuts always come first and more intensely on the public schools. They are forced to lay off teachers, increase class size, cut student programs and lay off other school administrators. Private schools are always last to get budget cuts because they are for profit and parents pay the school for their children to be able to attend. Private schools are known for having more rigorous classes, which challenge students more so than public school classes. ]]> Sat, 30 Apr 2011 02:24:32 PDT Patrica Hawke





California schools have always been behind when it comes to having challenging math programs. Math is a subject that either thoroughly challenges students, or it comes easy to them. Teachers always tell students that math is the most important class in school and that math will be used in everyday life after the students join the workforce. Weather their job be a fast food chain or a lawyer, numbers will always be in play. Not only in the workforce, but numbers are used in everyday life with balancing checkbooks, buying household items, paying bills and more. ]]> Sat, 30 Apr 2011 02:20:29 PDT Patrica Hawke



Before digital media was around the only kind of education was formal education, that which was directly from a teacher to a student in a traditional classroom setting. California schools realize that now with the digital media, students have access to informal learning at any time of day. This informal learning comes from educational devices such as iPod’s, iPads, phone applications, Internet applications and Internet information. Students can access educational information in many ways other than a teacher these days. ]]> Sat, 30 Apr 2011 02:16:13 PDT Patricia Hawke



It’s always the top things on the minds of superintendents and other school administrators that they want their students of their schools to do well. They want the students to get as much as they can out of their education and prepare them the best way they can for a higher education. They want students to be successful while attending their schools and they want the students to prosper. By having students who do well in their school, they are showing that the teachers there are effective and are doing a good job keeping the students interested in attending school and interested in pursuing a higher education. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:36:42 PDT Patricia Hawke



It’s important to keep up with the times when it comes to educational technology. Texas schools are beginning to implement more and more technology into their classrooms and they are seeing a lot of academic differences in their students. The students seem to be more interested in learning, they are getting better test score and coming to school more often. Students in the 21st century require a certain amount of technology in their daily life to keep their attention. By adding educational technology into their daily activities and classwork in school, the students will become more interested and have a greater desire to attend school and learn. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:33:28 PDT Patricia Hawke

We all realize that teachers directly affect our children and how they learn in school. The teachers are with the students five days a week, and they become key role models in the student’s lives. Having good teacher give students the desire to want to go to school and do well in school so their teachers can praise them for their performance increases. Good and effective teachers can shape a students life and give them the motivation to succeed in school and have good goals for their higher education future. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:29:48 PDT Patricia Hawke



With the current economic crisis, schools now, more than ever need to find solutions to fix their budget crisis. They are forced to lay off teachers, school staffs, increase classroom size and cut back on many school activities that they would have been able to do in the past. Students aren’t getting what they deserve from their education. The class sizes are becoming much too big for them to get enough attention from the teachers and their schools are starting to lack in fun activities to get students involved in the school. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:23:12 PDT



In Phoenix, Arizona online classes are becoming more and more popular. Online classes give students the freedom of completing a course or certain school subject while at home or in a library. It helps the students to become more independent and learn to create goals for themselves and complete them in a timely manner. It teaches the students time management and helps them to become efficient with schoolwork. Phoenix schools recognize the positive benefits of students being able to take online classes and the life skills then can potentially acquire from it if they are successful with the online class. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:14:36 PDT Patricia Hawke



Now a day, school is more than just a teacher and student or a pencil and paper. Students now need more technology integrated into their daily educational careers. Students have so many technological resources available to them because of the Internet that schools need to begin to utilize these technological educational devices into their lesson plans. The more technology that is integrated into the classrooms, the better the students will do in school and the more focused they will be on their assignments. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:07:51 PDT Patricia Hawke



Portland schools are beginning to bring blended learning into their schools. Blended learning consists of traditional school, mixed with new technology such as technological education devices, online classes, Internet based applications to assist students with their studies and more. Portland schools want to integrate technology into their classes so their students can get the most out of their education while attending their schools. The better the students do in school and the more successful they are in their studies, the better Portland school ratings will be. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 12:00:27 PDT Patricia Hawke



The main focus for schools is to get students the education they need to graduate high school and get their high school diploma. From kindergarten to senior year, the ultimate goal for the students is to graduate high school and continue on their education to college. For some this educational journey can be easy and quick but for others this could be an uphill battle. Weather a student comes from a poor, rich, stable or unstable home, Spokane schools are utilizing a new credit recovery program to assist students in receiving enough credits to be able to graduate and continue onto a higher level education. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:57:26 PDT patricia Hawke

Ohio Schools are beginning to realize the effects the Union has on their school ratings and budget. Not only does the unions protect the teachers, but it costs the schools more money and limits the school from being able to successfully give the students what they need to prosper in their education. Ohio schools and other schools across the nation have always fought with unions to change laws that protect teachers. Ohio schools want to have good teachers that are educating their students in the correct way and motivating them to want to excel in school. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:54:43 PDT Patricia Hawke

The United States has been lacking in coming up with better standards for our schools. Their standards for education have always been less than the standards of other higher performing nations worldwide. If schools are seeing a pattern that students nationwide aren’t getting the grades that they should be or they aren’t scoring at an overall acceptable level than their must be a major changed in how are children are being taught. A lot of people like to blame the teachers for not teaching their children the right way, or blame the schools but overall the blame falls on the lacking of higher standards for the United States Education. ]]> Tue, 26 Apr 2011 11:49:05 PDT PATRICIA HAWKE



The San Jose School District and many other California school districts and focusing on going green. Not only does going green help the environment but it helps to cut a lot of costs associated with energy. The Campbell Union School District is among the many schools that are known for being high tech and they are just fifteen minutes south of Apple’s Headquarters. A lot of technology goes into making the schools become “green.” Schools are beginning to realize that cutting costs on energy is going to be the biggest way for them to save money on budget cuts and become environmentally savvy. ]]> Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke



Colorado schools are reaching out to nearby homes in their school district. They are bringing broadband services to the families located near the schools. Not everyone has Internet access for multiple reasons. It could be that a family is not very technically inclined or because a family can’t afford to have Internet connection at their home. Whatever the reason is, having access to broadband Internet while at home is very valuable to a student and their education. Since a lot of education and school projects, homework, classwork or extra credit work all revolve around some sort of technology, whether this technology is a movie, PowerPoint presentation or the internet itself, they all are very helpful to students. ]]> Thu, 31 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke



In Maryland Public Schools administrators are contemplating integrating student bodies based on income integration. Currently schools in an area have either mostly poor or mostly rich kids, depending on the area and if the schools is located in the district that is “ghetto” or one of a nice community. By having this segregation of districts, which keep kids that don’t live in a particular district from attending a particular school, it creates a income based segregation, which now Maryland is trying to change. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Written by Patricia Hawke for www.schoolsk-12.com





Indianapolis based company, Synovia Corporation, is coming up with a few different types of technology-based programs to help save schools money. The came out with one technology that was a card that bus drivers used to clock in to their driving day and it automatically racked their time and sorted out weather it was field trip, regular school hours or after schools activities. By creating this technology and having all bus drivers switch to this type of time management, it has saved the district more than $260,000. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

The New York City Public Schools ordered more than two thousand iPads for a total cost of 1.3 million for school districts such as Long Island and the Bronx. Teachers all over the country are finding so many uses for the applications that apple offers on their application store. Especially for math, teachers are finding hat the kids are learning so much more with these devise because not only is it capturing their attention and making them want to earn math, but it is turning a really “boring’ subject into a fun and exciting adventure. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke



A new study is being practiced in districts across the United States. Teacher evaluation is a very important part of their jobs and its important for teachers to be challenged to keep things fresh. There are many types of evaluations. There can be someone hired to “grade” how effective they are as a teacher and also by studying the test scores that the teacher’s students are producing critique evaluations in the classroom. The New York City Department of Education is among the districts that are participating in this study that will determine if evaluating a teachers students performance on tests is really a way to test a teacher and how well they are effectively teaching their students. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Written by Patricia Hawke for www.schoolsk-12.com



The 2009 National Assessment of Educational Progress has said that fewer than half of the nation is proficient in science and technology and even fewer are planning a future career of it. A director of the New York Hall of Science, who is also a board member that oversees the test, knows that if something doesn’t change, our technological future is in jeopardy. In a time where technology is constantly advancing and every month new products are coming out on the market and new educational technology tools are being invented everyday, it’s important to keep this pace. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Written by Patricia Hawke for www.schoolsk-12.com



In Norfolk, Virginia schools, students are learning with software called Kidspiration 3. This program has been very beneficial to students because it helps develop thinking skills, literacy and numeracy skills by a proven learning method of visual learning. By using visual representations to learn math concept, this greatly helps students to memorize formulas and fully understand the math problems. This software has helped increase test scores in students and not math scores are in the eighty’s, which is a great improvement. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke



There are many ways to avoid laying off teachers and other educational figures when a school is faced with budget cuts. Sometimes schools feel that cutting teachers are the easiest way to comply with budget cuts since each teacher’s salary is worth more than other things. By looking deeper into what the schools actually are spending and what they are spending it on, they can break down a lot of costs and lower and eliminate a lot of expenses.



Sometimes schools don’t realize that what they are spending their money on; there is free options to get the same job done. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Written by Patricia Hawke for www.schoolsk-12.com

Standardized testing in the past was a large packet of paper with the test questions on it and a scantron to bubble in the answers. Now in this technological era, schools are starting to do online testing for standardized testing. The problem is that schools didn’t have the resources to accommodate all the students to be able to do these very important tests securely and with the right equipment. In Orlando, Florida schools are lacking enough computers and a large enough network access to be able to get all of its students tested in a sufficient amount of time. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT



The fight against using cell phones in schools has been an issue since cell phones became popular. Schools had put restrictions on students bringing cell phones to school because of the distractions hey caused but too many parents complained about not being able to get a hold of their children. Parents look at their child’s phone as a safety tool, a tool that hey can use to get in touch with them at any time of day and be able to feel secure about their whereabouts and that they are ok. Text messaging has become extremely popular over the past few years and now parents are text messaging and realizing the convenience of it. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Written by Patricia Hawke for www.schoolsk-12.com



We all know that Teacher Unions sometimes protect the teachers that don’t deserve to be protected. A lot of things the teacher union protects are not helping the students to succeed. Teacher Unions keep teachers that have been around for the longest safe from being laid off where the new teachers that have a fresh mind and are so excited to teach the youth are laid off. Sadly tenure is something that the union’s prize and its no wonder that our students aren’t getting the education they need. Not all teachers that have been around for a long time are bad, but the majorities lose their excitement and drive to really do their job well. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT PATRICIA HAWKE



An annual School Networking Conference goes on every year in Arlington, Virginia where people can be recognized for their educational technology inventions and how the technology has benefitted schools. Every year newer technology arises and schools are trying as hard as they can to keep up with the pace. Technology is expensive and because of its ever-changing structure, it makes it hard for schools to find the worth in spending millions of dollars equipping schools with it since in just a year, that money went to waste. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT



A group of investors based in New Jersey launched the site, scholargamers.com, after with this site it gives middle school and high school students the opportunities to earn a scholarship to college if they didn’t already have a sport talent or academic talent. Most students play video games on a daily basis and parents often have to limit their son or daughters time when playing these video games. Video gaming can be addictive and its important for parents to manage their kid’s time and make sure they are not constantly doing something that is not productive. ]]> Thu, 17 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patrica Hawke



Kineo, an Educational Technology



At the Florida Educational Technology Conference a new educational device was showcased, the Kineo. This device’s main objective is for school use. It is run off the operating system, Android, which was created by Google. A lot of their technology mirrors that of Apple, but with a more lax system. Apple is completely confined to having things the way they want it. With Android operating systems, Google wants users to be able to change the devices and personalize them so they fit the customer’s lifestyle. ]]> Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia hawke



Teacher Bonuses and Test Scores in K-12 Schools



It’s always been a struggle on how to improve students test score and grades and how to effectively create incentives for teachers to really work and try their best to help the students. You would think, this is their job, shouldn’t they already want to help the students get better score on tests and in class? The sad thing is, most teachers that go into the teaching profession aren’t effective teachers and they aren’t taught how to be effective teachers. They are merely taught about the subject they are learning in college and aren’t taught “how” to effectively teach. ]]> Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia hawke





North Carolina is the first of the U.S. states to offer Microsoft certification and training courses in every high school. The certifications that the students have the opportunity of achieving are a Microsoft Office Specialist or a Microsoft Certified Professional. These certifications can only be earned as long as the student has completed all course work and passed all tests. In the courses the students have access to official Microsoft course materials, instructor resources, online learning content, software licenses, lesson plans and professional certifications. ]]> Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In Maryland they are contemplating turning schools into income based student integration. Currently schools in an area have either mostly poor or mostly rich kids, depending on the area and if the schools is located in the district that is “ghetto” or one of a nice community. By having this segregation of districts, which keep kids that don’t live in a particular district from attending a particular school, it creates a income based segregation, which now Maryland is trying to change. By having the district schools lines around areas that are bad or good, they are creating school that have a certain degree of segregation without knowing it. ]]> Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke



In Fairfax County, Virginia, after the new Whiteboard technology was implemented into their schools, they saw a big increase in test scores and student performance in all grade levels. All technology companies are promising schools that by buying their educational technology devices it will ensure their students will do better in school and they will have improved test scores. People are starting to say that spending millions on new educational technologies is not only a waste of money, but it isn’t proven to help raise test scores and make the school any better, it just makes it different. ]]> Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke





The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have granted $290 Million to four districts to improve the quality of the teachers. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation has always been keen to helping the education system and trying to improve it. This is the biggest they have ever donated at one time to the cause. Its important to know that teachers make all the difference in a students education and they are the people that can either make or break a students success in school. We know that teacher unions protect the education system in the United States, which is not at the advantage for the students. ]]> Mon, 07 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patrica Hawke

At the Raleigh convention center in North Carolina, an education conference was held to talk about the way schools and teachers are teaching. Schools are so focused on standardized test scores that they are not really looking out for the student’s best interest. By teaching the students in a way that will help them to score better n the standardized tests, this is not going to help the students in the long run to retain their knowledge they get while in grade school. Schools need to look past the rating system and think about the students, because that’s what school is here for right? It’s important to teach our young generations to prepare them for being a part of running this country in the future. ]]> Sun, 06 Mar 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

 

In St. Louis, their public schools are starting a program that connects home-schooled students with the district and their teachers. By creating this program called Schoolwires, students will have access to an online community to be able to interact with other educators and be involved in the community. Home schooling is beginning to be much different from the past. Instead of getting packets from the school district that need to be completed and having textbooks to read over, it is turning into an online wonderland of endless content. ]]> Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

After the devastation of Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans school districts were in shambles. Eighty-five school districts were hurt by the natural disaster. A district called Jefferson Parish was granted twenty million dollars from Cisco to turn sixteen of its schools into models of the new education 3.0. Education 3.0 is a new model for schools that have full wireless connectivity, all new network upgrades, advanced classroom technology and upgraded date centers, plus a lot more. The education 3.0 is a total overhaul from the traditional school ways. ]]> Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In Minneapolis and all over the United States online classes are becoming extremely popular. The fact that it makes it much easier for teen moms to finish high school, delinquents get back on their educational path and bullied kids go from homeschool to being able to switch to online classes. There are many benefits to online learning. Students can learn to be independent and are in control of their learning. Fast or slow, they make the decision on what makes learning easier for them. There are now statistics coming up that are saying that online learning is not always better learning. ]]> Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

Chicago Public schools are offering a new credit recovery summer school program that gives the high school students a chance to retake their course that they failed without having to retake the whole year again. The education system is realizing that students shouldn’t have to waste their time and retake a course that they may have already known seventy percent of the material. What this new credit recovery online program does is test your knowledge the material and then focus on teaching the students what they didn’t learn or understand correctly from the previous year. ]]> Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

Idaho public schools created a plan to introduce more educational technology into their school system. The growing need for more and more technology in the classroom is apparent and it costs money. Technology in the classroom is greatly beneficial and helps prepare students for the future and helps them gain knowledge that will be utilized everyday in their adult life, if it isn’t already. The chief of the Idaho public schools devised a plan stating in order to pay for this educational technology to be integrated into their schools they will require teachers to have larger class sizes. ]]> Fri, 21 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In Spokane, Washington, a school decided to install a cell phone jammer into the schools area to prevent students from texting or calling during class. The school has the cell phone jammer running for about a week until the FCC declared the jammer illegal because of the jammers possible interference if a student needed to use their personal cellular device for an emergency. What were schools thinking when they decided that blocking cell phone use out of school was okay without looking into FCC regulations?

 

Cell phones are becoming more and more commonly found in small children\'s book bags now a day. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In the public schools in Vancouver, Washington they are integrating a lot of technology into the K-12 classrooms. They began to realize students pay attention and get more education from technology based lessons and projects that the teachers are creating for them.  With this new approach to teaching, students have the want to learn and get excited to go to school wondering what technology device is next that they will be using. Not only are the students getting much more out of the technology being integrated into their classrooms, but with the new hands on learning the students can learn at their own pace and prepare themselves for a world of technology later in life. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In the Austin Independent School District, the summer school programs are a little different than most other summer schools. We all know that students that have to go to summer school are a little less than pleased. Summer is designed for kids to take a break from their monotonous school life and be able to develop socially with friends and take a much-needed break. Kids that have to go to summer school either have to because they didn’t get good enough grades in a particular course and do not want to make it up during the next school year or its for kids looking to get ahead and take extra classes. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

Skyline School in Portland, Oregon, has placed cameras in the schools to monitor and protect its students. Last June, a seven year old, disappeared from their school and thanks to a great donation, the school was able to install these cameras to protect other students. Many high schools are starting to install video surveillance camera on their campuses because they want a method to deter crime and deter students from doing things that they shouldn’t be doing. This method works wonders, if a student is thinking of ditching class or thinking of bullying another student and they see the cameras, most likely they will not do it because they don’t want to get in trouble. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

At Paradise Valley Unified School District in Phoenix, Arizona they are beginning to branch into mobile learning. Called twenty-first century learning, using mobile technology in the classroom has created concerns for the teachers, as they fear the students will be distracted with other mobile applications on their device. Regardless of these teachers’ fears, times are changing; students need to be challenged technologically to keep their attention. The old ways or preaching in front of the classroom while the students take notes is old fashioned. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In Dallas, Texas public schools are trying new ways to get the students to pay attention. In a world now full of many distractions, teachers aren’t just concerned of students talking to their peers during a lecture. There are many ore distractions that come along with being a child of the 21st century. Not only do the students get distracted from their friends in class, but also passing note in class has turned into texting during class. With texting during class it is a bit more discreet than the folder paper note the kids used to ass back and forth during boring school lectures. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In a world of technology our school classrooms need to keep up. As much as technology is used on an everyday basis with students outside of school, its very important to keep the kids attention by implementing a lot of technology into the classrooms. As much as classroom technology has been improving over the years, it is not improving fast enough. Schools need to focus on presenting lesson plans, labs and class work with as much updated technology as possible to keep the kids challenged. Ninety-six percent of students say they use technology at home so during class lectures they tend to zone out until they are home to utilize the Internet and computers to type assignments and research projects. ]]> Fri, 14 Jan 2011 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

The Fresno Unified School District in California recently purchased ten thousand mini notebook computers to supply each child with their own notebook computer to work with while in school. Regular laptops are heavier and take up a lot of room on a desk, so schools are opting for the smaller option so the students will still have room for books. These mini notebooks are allowing children to all have an equal access to technology to get them better prepared for their future.

 

Not all children have access to computers or technological devices at home, that’s why this is such a great opportunity for them. ]]> Tue, 21 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

At Mann Middle School in Colorado Springs, Colorado, they have banned students from wearing the rosary. This has become very controversial in that people believe that religious freedom is our right due to the first amendment of the constitution. If they are allowing students to wear the Cross and Star of David, why ban the wearing of the rosary?

 

Some Catholics view wearing the rosary to be disrespectful because of people associating it with a fashion accessory. This still isn\'t reason to ban the religious symbol. ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In 2007 there were twenty-two schools in Washington State that are considered “dropout factories.” A school is considered a dropout factory when more than 40 percent of entering freshmen dropout before their senior year.

 

What makes kids drop out? Most “Dropout Factories” in the U.S. are in high poverty areas and have a high number of minorities. In schools such as Arlington who have a 30 percent dropout rate don’t have either of these common factors for kids dropping out. ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PDT Patrica Hawke

The corporation, Idaho Power, partnered with Bonneville Environmental Foundation, to create Idaho Power\'s Solar 4R Schools, to help schools cut back on energy bills and teach students about going green. They are starting by installing solar panels to K-12 schools in Idaho Power\'s service area. What’s great about this is not only the fact that they are able to cut costs and save the environment, but also with each installation there is a system implemented to monitor data from these panels and a curriculum package created to teach students about going green and renewable energy. ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

At McNary High School in Keizer, Oregon, a gym teacher found a hand gun with ammunition in a backpack in the lost and found. They didn’t find who owned the backpack and never knew its intent of being there. At Banks High School in North Plains, Oregon, a student threatened his ex-girlfriend with a gun over the phone and brought a gun to school the next day. Thankfully she had told school officials about the threat when she came to school and they found the gun in his backpack along with five rounds of ammunition. ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PDT Patricia Hawke

In Los Angeles, they are reforming the school systems to better serve their students. At Woodland Hills Academy in Northern Los Angeles they are giving equal rights to teachers. All school officials have the same amount of say. Teachers and Principals and other school administrators all are equal. Teacher can change their curriculum to meet the needs of their students, they can decide how to spend school money and hire who they see fit. They do still have to meet state and federal mandates for education.

 

Most schools in our current system use the same curriculum and standards state wide. ]]> Fri, 10 Dec 2010 00:00:00 PDT