School Reform: Thoughts?

It’s one of those weird situations where you technically have an internet connection, yet somehow, it feels like there’s absolutely no connection at all... 👍

Michelle Nelson4 said:It’s one of those weird situations where you technically have an internet connection, yet somehow, it feels like there’s absolutely no connection at all... 👍

there you go. now you see what I mean👍
it’s there in theory, maybe, but in practice? not really.

nimbletiger7 said:I don't think tablets are happening. As far as I know, countries that tried relying on them gave up because the results were pretty terrible. Take Portugal, for instance. I guess maybe Ethiopia is the only one still trying that route.

Workbooks aren't mandatory this year, but I imagine publishers will push hard to make sure teachers still ask for them. So, the total number of books will probably end up being the same anyway.

That is such a revolting thing to say.
Every single publisher tries to butter up the teachers by handing out all sorts of little extras—calculators, planners, posters, even tote bags—but absolutely nobody is going to choose a textbook company based on how much they sucked up to them just before the selection process.
For crying out loud.

A teacher who actually knows their stuff doesn't need anything more than a chalkboard and some chalk. Some people just refuse to accept that school isn't a playground—it's serious business.

William Cooper11 said:A teacher who actually knows their stuff doesn't need anything more than a chalkboard and some chalk. Some people just refuse to accept that school isn't a playground—it's serious business.

And honestly? We could use a little more than twenty minutes to prep a lesson plan—especially since that's basically all we're getting paid for in our weekly hours. ☕

William Cooper11 said:A teacher who actually knows their stuff doesn't need anything more than a chalkboard and some chalk. Some people just refuse to accept that school isn't a playground—it's serious business.

Honestly, someone making a statement like that should probably be slapped with a permanent ban from teaching immediately.

Nicholas King said:Honestly, someone making a statement like that should probably be slapped with a permanent ban from teaching immediately.

And honestly, people like you—just part of the establishment—should be barred from spreading your nonsense to the public, even behind an anonymous screen. 🙂

urbantinker8 said:You're heading down the wrong path again, I suppose.😵
You are the one who isn't informed.
I know exactly what kind of tablets we're talking about; I've gone through three different models in a single school year.
Schools don't have Wi-Fi, and the mobile data gets burned through so incredibly fast that nobody is going to pay to top it up.
And you were planning on doing some hourly work for those kids that requires internet on the 25th of the month and... well, good luck with that.
Five people might be able to participate, but the rest won't be.

Furthermore,
do you have any idea what kind of tablets are actually being bought through these public procurement contracts?
😂
The kind where, after the first semester, you can count on one hand how many are even functioning in a single classroom.

But fine, go ahead and keep doing things your way if that makes you happy.🙂

I’ve heard similar stories from plenty of teachers, so there's clearly some truth to it. Regardless, I really hope that in the near future, these technical headaches get minimized so everyone can just focus on teaching students without all this unnecessary stress...

Nicholas King said:Honestly, someone making a statement like that should probably be slapped with a permanent ban from teaching immediately.

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄 🙄🙄🙄🙄

Michelle Nelson4 said:Well, if the curriculum is identical and the teaching methods remain the same, then at the end of the day, it’s effectively the same thing—it certainly isn't making things worse. I'm not quite sure what problems tablets are supposed to be "masking"; a tablet is just a piece of technology, much like any other gadget... except you can access the internet with them. That way, you can't make those silly excuses anymore about how kids can't look things up online because they don't have enough money for a $10 voucher (there have been plenty of those "arguments" floating around), or that they can't work on documents via email because not everyone has a computer at home or their school equipment is "ancient." So, if nothing else, that part of the excuse disappears. Though, of course, we Americans are now starting to come up with ridiculous rebuttals like "they don't have cameras" or "that's junk that's only used in Ethiopia while everyone else has moved on"—so why don't we just go back to using chalkboards until we find some mythical creature in a white-walled utopia that offers a perfectly ideal solution we can all adopt? For us, nothing ever seems good enough to even try...

PS Even if the government "just wasted money on tablets" (and besides, most of that was actually EU funding, not our own domestic budget)—I see it as a positive. I think it's wonderful that every child gets a tablet. We are living in the 21st century; this provides at least some tangible benefit to every kid.

PPS My daughter has a street backpack, and she's quite happy with it. Everything fits. Her art supplies (since they carry those), her gym gear, and her German books (since she has German class). And judging by how well it holds an umbrella, I'd say it's reasonably waterproof 😁 I have no idea what the bottom is like; nobody really cares how the backpack sits on the floor. Her books were mostly used anyway...

What do you think they should actually be doing on those tablets?

The money coming from the European Union isn't some magical gift out of thin air—it’s essentially just tax dollars being shuffled around. It wasn't picked off a tree somewhere, and let's be honest, we're the ones who'll end up footing the bill for it, likely with interest added on top.
Honestly, spending that kind of money on disposable tech feels like such a waste. Instead of pouring funds into actual improvements—like teacher training, how they connect with students, or fixing the way learning actually happens—it just feels like we're throwing cash away. To me, it looks more like a way to mask the deep-seated issues our education system is facing rather than actually solving them.

I honestly feel like this whole push to buy tablets is just a way for the Secretary of Education to score political points. They’re banking on the idea that parents will be thrilled because their kids can suddenly Google things on an English class smartwatch, but if you ask me, it’s complete nonsense. Not every parent is asking for tablets, and frankly, not everyone wants their kids surfing the web during school hours. For instance, I personally want my daughter to spend those two hours a week actually focusing on her lessons rather than being glued to a screen. I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. It’s funny how certain topics just stay on your mind, isn't it? I was sitting in a coffee shop in Seattle the other day—just watching the rain hit the window—and it occurred to me how much we all tend to dwell on these things. It's almost like a quiet background noise in our daily lives. Anyway, I wanted to share a few thoughts on this and see what you all think.She keeps her eyes fixed on the child she’s sitting with while they practice their lines together. It’s really sweet to watch them role-play different life scenarios like that. Plus, having a teacher right there to step in and gently correct her pronunciation as she speaks makes such a huge difference.
You can always just Google it from home.
You can always just stay in and catch up on YouTube from the comfort of your own home.
You could even work on writing essays or filling in those grammar exercises at home, whether you prefer using a tablet or just good old-fashioned pen and paper.
Honestly, she probably shouldn't try fixing that tablet app on her own at home. I mean, sure, I could take a crack at it, but I really think it’s better to let a professional handle it. Better safe than sorry!
I'd love to get some clarification on this—what exactly is that tablet supposed to be doing on their watch?

Honestly, if we could swap out those heavy English or language arts textbooks—especially that one specific workbook that’s just poorly written and printed on such flimsy paper—for a single tablet, I’d be all in. Think about it: we save a fortune on paper, and if we throw in digital versions of math, music, history, and geography, we're saving entire forests. Plus, my kid’s back would definitely thank me! I’d sign off on that idea in a heartbeat, even if they ended up doing a quick Google search on their smartwatch every now and then.
I'm sorry, I didn't quite catch that! It looks like you might have sent an incomplete message. Feel free to drop whatever you were thinking about—I'm all ears and ready to chat! I really don't think that's going to happen with this current round of reforms.
If I’m reading this right—and please, feel free to set me straight if I've missed anything—they're actually handing out physical, paper textbooks? They’re still there, they just have one more tool in their kit—digital textbooks and Google. Teachers can get as creative as they want, provided they don't burn through all their data too fast (though some schools actually have Wi-Fi nowadays)
But honestly, once the internet cuts out, the kid’s battery dies, or someone inevitably cracks a screen, we’ll be stuck dealing with technical glitches and whining about how the education system is failing.
The actual process, the teaching methods, and the core knowledge? Those will likely be pushed to the sidelines or dumped onto the parents' shoulders again.
You want to know how things could get even worse than this?
It happens when everything hits a snag, and suddenly, it isn't just the teacher's fault anymore—it's "the technology." The great teachers will find ways to power through (not that parents won't still give them a hard time about why something isn't working perfectly), while the struggling ones will have a built-in excuse for their lack of prep. They'll just shrug and say, "Well, you guys asked for tablets, and now they aren't working."

Personally, I’ve pretty much given up on relying on the current school system to handle my child's education.
My little one started learning the basics back in preschool, and seeing how school progresses, I’m constantly amazed at the incredible work those teachers did. They managed it all without a single textbook or tablet, just through hands-on, experiential learning. Public school is miles behind, and frankly, it’s never going to catch up.
For me, school is mainly important for socialization; otherwise, I would have switched to homeschooling a long time ago. One thing I really don't get, though, is how staring at a tablet is supposed to help kids socialize...

I have absolutely no desire to invest in a tablet, primarily because I’d likely only find it useful for maybe three hours a month during some sort of interactive review session. As for grammar drills, there are plenty of other ways to tackle those without dealing with the sheer headache of constant recharging, software glitches, and all that nonsense. Not to mention the ever-present question of whether my internet connection will actually hold up when I need it...

@nosorog - You’ve covered so much ground here that I can't possibly give you a point-by-point response right now, but personally, homeschooling isn't even on my radar. My expectation is simply that the government provides a coherent education for our kids that actually reflects the era we live in. Honestly, the days of chalkboards and slate tablets belong in the history books—just like the era when kids had to lug around seven-pound stacks of paper every single day. We should be living in the 21st century by now. Furthermore, in this century, computer science shouldn't just be a subject you touch for two hours a week; it needs to be an integrated, daily part of every single discipline. If some people think having three measly hours a month counts as "innovation" or "opportunity"—usually accompanied by a side of complaining about charging cables and Wi-Fi signals—it really just shows how far behind they are when it comes to digital literacy.

It’s funny, though. Just as teachers who were used to chalk and slate eventually figured out that a student's responsibility was to show up with pencils, sharpeners, and a notebook with blank pages back in the mid-20th century, I suppose our current educators will one day realize that a student's responsibility is to have a fully charged tablet with enough data or pre-loaded content ready to go. Until we reach that stage, I guess I'll just find myself quoting comments like these. They don't surprise me, but they certainly manage to drag my already low expectations even lower. It's all just noise...

Anyway, that's my two cents... (typed on a tablet with a keyboard, ten-finger blind typing 👍)

Michelle Nelson4 said:@nosorog - You’ve covered so much ground here that I can't possibly give you a point-by-point response right now, but personally, homeschooling isn't even on my radar. My expectation is simply that the government provides a coherent education for our kids that actually reflects the era we live in. Honestly, the days of chalkboards and slate tablets belong in the history books—just like the era when kids had to lug around seven-pound stacks of paper every single day. We should be living in the 21st century by now. Furthermore, in this century, computer science shouldn't just be a subject you touch for two hours a week; it needs to be an integrated, daily part of every single discipline. If some people think having three measly hours a month counts as "innovation" or "opportunity"—usually accompanied by a side of complaining about charging cables and Wi-Fi signals—it really just shows how far behind they are when it comes to digital literacy.

It’s funny, though. Just as teachers who were used to chalk and slate eventually figured out that a student's responsibility was to show up with pencils, sharpeners, and a notebook with blank pages back in the mid-20th century, I suppose our current educators will one day realize that a student's responsibility is to have a fully charged tablet with enough data or pre-loaded content ready to go. Until we reach that stage, I guess I'll just find myself quoting comments like these. They don't surprise me, but they certainly manage to drag my already low expectations even lower. It's all just noise...

Anyway, that's my two cents... (typed on a tablet with a keyboard, ten-finger blind typing 👍)

Are you someone who actually holds a university degree and has studied pedagogy or instructional design? Are you pursuing systematic training within the American educational system, whether as a teacher or a specialist? Do you even read actual research papers or academic articles?
If the answer to any of those questions is "no," then please, do us all a favor and kindly buzz off with all this passive-aggressive posturing.

Jason Morgan said:Are you someone who actually holds a university degree and has studied pedagogy or instructional design? Are you pursuing systematic training within the American educational system, whether as a teacher or a specialist? Do you even read actual research papers or academic articles?
If the answer to any of those questions is "no," then please, do us all a favor and kindly buzz off with all this passive-aggressive posturing.

She absolutely dismantled her with those arguments, didn't she?👍

Ronald Chavez2 said:She absolutely dismantled her with those arguments, didn't she?👍

My actual goal was just to tell her she’s clueless and that her feet stink, honestly.
I really don't see the point in wasting my breath trying to argue against statements like that.

Look, this isn't really your lane, so I’m not sure why you think you have the authority to dictate who gets to write what around here. If you didn't care for my take on low expectations—specifically regarding those lackluster excuses about battery life and data usage—that’s fine. At least I actually provided reasoning using your own example to illustrate my point. You don't seem to have any actual counterarguments, so you're just resorting to ad hominem attacks? If that's how you want to play it, feel free to head out. Honestly, it makes no difference to me...

I am still genuinely baffled by the inconsistency of it all. How is it that in first grade, we can hand out non-violent pencils and stacks of notebooks without a second thought, yet once students reach high school, suddenly having a fully charged tablet in class becomes some insurmountable obstacle to learning? I certainly don't recall a single teacher ever stepping in to stop a student from buying an extra notebook or some specialized supplies for class, yet apparently, asking for an extra gigabyte of data is treated like some catastrophic disaster...

I’m still scratching my head over what kids are actually supposed to be doing on these tablets.
It all started when someone asked if fifth graders would still be lugging books around in their backpacks. I chimed in to say that according to the latest news, students from fifth through eighth grade are all getting tablets. But honestly, I haven't seen a single thing suggesting these devices are meant to replace physical textbooks. So, from what I can gather, we're looking at kids carrying both heavy books *and* a tablet, all funded by taxpayers. I just don't see the logic here—what's the actual benefit, and how is this supposed to improve the way they learn in the classroom?

I’m still scratching my head over what kids are actually supposed to be doing on those tablets.
It all started when someone asked if fifth graders would even need to carry books in their backpacks anymore. I chimed in to say that while the plan is for everyone in grades 5 through 8 to get a tablet, I haven't seen anything suggesting they’re meant to replace physical textbooks. So, from what I can tell, we're looking at students lugging around a backpack full of books *plus* a tablet, all funded by taxpayers. I honestly don't see the upside here—what kind of actual improvements in the classroom are we supposed to get from this?

There’s potentially an enormous amount of upside here.
We’ll just have to wait and see what the actual reality looks like once it settles... keeping that "nothing is impossible" mindset in mind 😁
Based on the quality of the discussions we've seen on this forum lately, I suspect we might be waiting a while before something truly substantial breaks through. Still, taking that first step in the right direction is a win in itself. That is, unless all these collective protests and those petitions from teachers—who clearly still need more training, more education, and... honestly, I don't even know what else—manage to stall the whole process. They claim to want change, but if they succeed in blocking it, we'll likely just cycle back through years of forming task forces, endless philosophical debates, leaks to the press, finger-pointing, peer reviews, public hearings, reviewing the reviews, setting up extra commissions, more committees, everyone eventually giving up, and then starting the entire mess over from scratch—basically doing everything necessary just to ensure nothing actually changes during their entire careers. After all, they aren't the ones carrying the weight of the world on their shoulders every single day...

Susan James said:I’m still scratching my head over what kids are actually supposed to be doing on these tablets.
It all started when someone asked if fifth graders would still be lugging books around in their backpacks. I chimed in to say that according to the latest news, students from fifth through eighth grade are all getting tablets. But honestly, I haven't seen a single thing suggesting these devices are meant to replace physical textbooks. So, from what I can gather, we're looking at kids carrying both heavy books *and* a tablet, all funded by taxpayers. I just don't see the logic here—what's the actual benefit, and how is this supposed to improve the way they learn in the classroom?

The potential upside of using tablets lies in visualization, interactivity, and—more importantly—teaching students how to actually utilize Google, rather than just trying to become a walking version of Google itself.

When I say that last part, I don't mean teaching them the technical mechanics of how to perform a search—that's trivial—but rather shifting the focus away from merely hunting for raw data toward the analytical application of the information they've gathered.

I should probably emphasize that I am talking about *potential* benefits. I wouldn't call myself an optimist when it comes to actually making this happen in reality. Generally speaking, I have no idea what kind of reform could possibly succeed given the current social climate in this country, which seems fundamentally resistant to any kind of change—but that’s a massive topic, and frankly, I'm feeling too lazy to type out 🙂.