Louisiana’s taxpayer-funded educational voucher program takes students from Louisiana’s poorest performing schools and gives them vouchers to attend high-performing private and parochial schools. It is designed to impact low-income families who could otherwise not afford to send their children to a private school. Of those chosen for the program, 91 percent are minority students and all have a family income that is less than 250 percent of the federal poverty line.

The voucher program is set to grow from the 5,000 students who participated during the 2012-13 academic year to 8,000 students in 2013-14. Despite the controversy surrounding the program, more than 12,000 applications were submitted by students hoping to receive vouchers for the new year. While that number included 4,000 students already receiving vouchers who want to continue in the program, the increase in the number of applications is still significant.

According to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal, who supports the voucher program, and the Education Superintendent John White, the number of applications is a testament to the program’s success. To receive a voucher, students submit an application to the program and are then selected to attend a school of their choice through a lottery system. More than 117 private schools in Louisiana currently participate in the program.

Parent satisfaction with the voucher program is also high, with 93 percent of parents approving of their children’s school under the voucher program. Organizations such as the Louisiana Black Alliance for Educational Options praise the program for providing parents with more control over their children’s education. Student achievement has also gone up statewide since the program was first introduced in 2008.

With the growth of the program’s popularity, it also faces increased controversy. Those opposed to the state-backed voucher program disagree with the way the program is funded. Judge Timothy Keller agrees, ruling in the State District Court that the way the program is funded violates the constitution. Currently, the funding formula takes funds from the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), a formula that determines how much per-pupil funding public schools receive.

The MFP is funded by property and sales taxes from local school boards. Families living in high-income areas typically contribute more in property and sales tax than the lower-income areas the voucher program is designed to support. Opponents argue that the funding structure is unconstitutional because the taxes are earmarked for public schools and the voucher program takes funds away from those schools, including those in the high-income areas.

Judge Keller’s decision is currently being appealed through the State Supreme Court and, judging from the number of applications the program continues to receive, it appears to be operating normally. However, if the State Supreme Court upholds Judge Keller’s decision, its operations could come to a screeching halt. It costs approximately $5,300 to send a child to a private or parochial school under the voucher program, and many private and parochial schools in Louisiana, such as Evangel Christian Academy, depend on the voucher program to keep their schools open.

While it is unlikely that the voucher program will cease to exist if Judge Keller’s decision is upheld, it still worries parents and other supporters of the program. As the number of students enrolled in Louisiana’s voucher program increases, the number of students and schools who will be affected by funding problems also increases. According to Michael Griffith, a representative for the Education Commission of the States, the ruling is just a “small fence” in the state’s fight to keep its voucher program going strong. However, Louisiana state officials may have to find new sources of funding to keep the program running.

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Lisa Wells has taught for 20 years in independent schools in MA, NY and MD. She currently writes a blog on child development, teaches yoga and tries to spend as much time with her two high schoolers as they will allow. Lisa’s committed to knowing each learner as an individual, creating a classroom community where the social curriculum is interwoven with the academic fabric and sharing her work with yoga and meditation with teachers and students. As a consulting teacher for the Northeast Foundation for Children’s Responsive Classroom, Lisa facilitates training on this teaching approach, as well as presents on constructivist learning, research workshop, yoga/meditation in the classroom the and reflective teaching practices. Her blog, Wonder of Children, is a Teach 100 blog.

In case you’re living under a rock, I’m here to let you know -- It’s the end of the school year!

Change is good. Change is hard, especially when we think it is not hard.

Soon our schedules, faces, and routines will change. Our sense of identity and community will be challenged. All the work we invested in getting to know each other, building trust, taking risks, learning and sharing, will fold into the fabric of our being to nest deep inside until we need to draw upon those experiences or until something triggers our memory. Look inside any classroom and you can see it. Perhaps it’s masquerading as excess energy, giggles, negative-attention seeking behavior, a lower frustration threshold, apathy, irritability, or challenging well-established rules and guidelines. End-of-the-year angst can strike kids at any age – adults, too.

What’s we’ve come to expect is going to shift. We may be feeling sadness or disappointment that the friends we’ve come to respect and crave will not be daily fixtures in our lives. We may wonder who will fill that void over the summer and beyond. Is there any wonder behavior begins to change as the year comes to a close?

Romantic and nostalgic images of summer include lazy days of berry picking, swimming, lounging in pjs, road trips to gramma’s or the beach. The reality of the transition from the end of school to whatever summer actually is, can be difficult for children even if they are excited for summer fun. They’ve worked hard and it’s been a productive year – and hopefully they have grown in numerous ways. So it may feel like all that progress is slipping away.

Successful navigation of change builds confidence and resiliency and is a life-skill all of our children need. Like any other skill, it needs to be modeled, practiced, reinforced and celebrated. The security and “known-ness” doesn’t have to slip away if all the pieces have been put into place throughout the year and remain in place until the final hours. The building blocks of knowing each child, fostering a community where responsibility and care are valued, and empowering children to solve problems and share ideas, will make children stronger, more resilient, and ready to take on the challenges of summer and next school year.

How to help children bring closure to the end of the school year? Here are 8 things you can do in the classroom or in the family room.

Look back – Literally, look back at photos, documentation, class books and journals. Notice what things looked like and sounded like earlier in the year. Children often notice the physical growth they see in pictures or how the arrangement of the room has changed. Dig deeper as you inquire about what they remember, how they felt, how they might tackle the same project or question now.

Make notes – What greetings, activities, songs have you done as a group? Keep the list running for a few days to see how many you can come up with. Vote or graph your favorites. Revisit those during the last few weeks. At home, make a list of your family’s top 10 events or accomplishments of the year. Make a poster, a list or a video to share and plan a small celebration!

Name and listen to the experts – As the class gets to know each other, the strengths of each individual become evident. Call out those strengths and have each person share based on their expertise. Chances are, the kids can recognize what each classmate is an expert about. How cool is it to hear the children affirming friends they know so well?

Leave a guide or letter to the next class – Have children make notes or drawings about their year to leave for the next class. Tell them about your experiences and what to expect. At home, write a letter to teachers that tells them what you liked, what you learned or what you will miss.

Go for a visit – Even if not all the children will be moving to the next grade in your school, go for a visit to see the next classroom. Reinforce the idea that as the year wraps up, children grow and move to a new room, new teachers, new friends who will get to know them and learn alongside them.

Keep it consistent – Change will come soon enough. Keep the same classroom routine and expectations. Ditto for after school schedules, dinner and bedtime routines. There will be plenty of days to be “slushy” about routines and sticking to what provided the structure and boundaries all year. Consistency will stabilize things if they are starting to unravel.

Pledge to keep in touch – It doesn’t take long to drop children a postcard or short note. For those who seem particularly anxious or who have really connected to a teacher, a brief, personal note affirms the growth and connections made over the school year and gives them a reminder that you’ll still be a part of them even if you don’t spend each day together.

Celebrate – Most importantly, take time often to celebrate both the community of learners and the progress each person has made over the year. No matter how grand or how small, recognition of hard work and growth will help children recognize their progress and demonstrate compassion for others. At home, set aside small blocks of time to celebrate accomplishments by sharing work, making a special meal, or having a family party that recognizes the hard work over the year and looks ahead to a summer of reading, adventure and fun!

Make the most of the last few days of school – no doubt it’s been a busy, productive and positive year. The work you’ve done every day will provide the foundation for a smooth change that will do children (and adults) good as they move to the next chapter of life!

NOTE: Chip Wood wrote an eloquent and beautiful piece, The Hummingbird Comes With Poised Attention and a more pragmatic and actionable post, Helping Students Make the Transition to the Next Grade on his blog. Check them both out!

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In his 2014 budget, President Obama is proposing a tobacco tax to increase funding for universal pre-kindergarten (UPK), amongst other programs, reports The New York Times.

The president has openly pledged his support for providing free pre-K to families, especially low-income families, who face more challenges accessing quality education for their children. The Huffington Post explains that a detailed proposal, however, has not yet been officially released. Last January, when President Obama pledged his commitment to providing pre-K to all four-year-olds, it was speculated that his plan could cost up to $100 billion.

If the tobacco tax is increased by 50 cents — to a total of $1.51 — $42 billion in additional revenue could be raised in 10 years, part of which can help fund the president’s pre-k program. California passed a similar plan in 1998, raising $8 billion in eight years to keep the state preschool program afloat during a recession.

While many education advocates and families would support such a measure to provide quality education to all four-year-olds, tobacco lobbyists have been rallying against the increase, as they already faced a major one just four years ago.

“While the specific amount of the proposed increase has not been released,” says David Sutton, spokesman for the Altria Group, one of the larger lobbying organizations, in a statement to the Huffington Post, “it is important to remember that the largest federal tobacco tax increase in U.S. history was enacted less than four years ago. We think it is unfair to single out adult tobacco consumers with another federal tobacco tax increase to pay for a broad, new government spending program."

In addition, some argue that the money generated from a new tobacco tax would be unreliable, as increased taxes generally lead to a decrease in tobacco purchases. This was certainly the case in California. Lisa Guernsey, a New America Foundation early childhood expert, feels that a more reliable source of funding would come from a solid-state education plan.

“You increase the likelihood that there's a line in the budget that can be more easily excised or cut out,” explains Guernsey while describing Obama’s proposal in the Huffington Post, “or that the money can be raised for other things in the future. You want to get to a place where pre-K and Kindergarten are funded through a full education funding plan at the state level.”

Even the tobacco tax increase would not fund preschool for all children from low-income families. Education Week explains that states and educators are still questioning just how these programs are going to be fully funded.

The federal administration has claimed that it will offer grants to states in order to expand UPK programs, but the grants would require a state match and the amount of that match has not been specified. Other federal incentives will also be offered to expand UPK for middle-class families, to support all-day Kindergarten programs and to grow Head Start programs. Again, exactly where these funds will come from is still unclear, but hopefully more specific details will be given following the unveiling of the president’s newest budget proposals.

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Movies have been used as a motivational teaching tool for decades, helping to engage reluctant readers by connecting them to text through moving images and diverse content. Some of the most acclaimed movies in history are adaptations of books, and each year, a dozen or so new movies are release that are based on classic or modern best-selling books. These movies can be used to supplement lesson plans that involve the books that inspired them, especially in English classes, where students receive the majority of their instruction in classic literature.

In “Using Video and Film in the Classroom,” the International Reading Association (IRA) suggests that teachers observe a few guidelines for incorporating films into the curriculum of an English class. The IRA does not recommend screening films in the classroom during regular instructional time, but a film can be assigned to students to view for homework and followed up with classroom discussions. Teachers need to be judicious in their choice of films, especially in considering the subject matter policies in place. Obtaining permission from school administrators and sending a letter home to parents about assigned films is the best way to avoid any backlash.

Of course, the movie version of a book should never be a replacement for reading the actual text. A movie represents an interpretation of a book, and students should experience the book firsthand in order to form their own interpretation. Films can, however, be useful in encouraging students to compare and contrast their own interpretations with those of the filmmakers. And after students complete the book and view the film, students can exercise their critical skills by writing reviews that discuss their opinions on the film adaption.

2013 Blockbusters and Learning Opportunities

For 2013, several new movies are scheduled for release based on books that can appeal to students in grades K through 12. Even though the school year is winding down, teachers may still have time to plan activities around the books that inspired these new releases.

The Great Gatsby

This classic American novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald is on the required reading list for many schools. It is argued that earlier adaptations have failed to capture the essence of this Jazz Age tale of love and ambition, but expectations are high that filmmaker Baz Luhrmann (Australia, Moulin Rouge, Romeo + Juliet, Strictly Ballroom) will bring excitement and opulence to his version. Shot in 3D and featuring a musical score that is a fusion of jazz and modern hip-hop, the film stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jay Gatsby, Carey Mulligan as Daisy Buchanan and Toby Maguire as narrator Nick Carraway. (May 10, 2013)

The Reluctant Fundamentalist

Based on the best-selling novel by Mohsin Hamid, this film is a thriller that centers on the conflict experienced by Changez, a young Pakistani immigrant working on Wall Street. Like many New Yorkers, his life is forever changed by the events of 9/11. His quest for the American dream is interrupted by the pull of his homeland and his growing fundamentalism. Riz Ahmed stars in the film with a cast that includes Kate Hudson, Liev Shreiber and Keifer Sutherland. (May 10, 2013)

Epic

Billed as fantasy-adventure comedy-drama, this 3D computer-animated film is based on The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs, a popular children's picture book by author and illustrator William Joyce. The story centers on teenager Mary Katherine and her adventures in a secret world deep in the forest, where she finds herself in the midst of a battle between the forces of good and evil. Along with a cast of whimsical characters, she must help save a fantasy world and the real world as well. The film’s voices are provided by Amanda Seyfreid, Colin Farrell, Christoph Waltz, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler and Beyonce Knowles. (May 24, 2013)

World War Z

Max Brooks' best-selling science fiction novel uses a series of oral histories to describe a global zombie apocalypse. The film version, which stars Brad Pitt, is schedule to be released this summer and, with production costs topping $400 million, is reported to be the most expensive film of all time.(June 21, 2013)

Romeo and Juliet

This British film version of William Shakespeare's tragic romance has been adapted for the screen by Downton Abbey creator and producer Julian Fellowes. The film stars 20-year-old Douglas Booth as Romeo and then 14-year-old Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) as Juliet. The youthfulness of the lead actors should appeal to high school students, and Fellowes remains faithful to Shakespeare's original language with this traditional production, which includes Italian settings, period costumes and plenty of swordplay. (July 26, 2013)

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

This highly anticipated adaptation of the second installment of the internationally bestselling Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, is directed by Francis Lawrence (Water for Elephants, I Am Legend), and stars Oscar-winner Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth. Set in the futuristic ruins of America, Catching Fire continues the story of Katniss Everdeen and Peta Mellark, the victors of the 74th annual Hunger Games: a televised battle for survival inflicted on the impoverished districts of Panem by the totalitarian Capitol. This series is very popular among young readers, but teachers should be mindful of the story’s violent content, which might not be suitable for all age groups. (November 22, 2013)

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Tami Bowlden has worked in education for 17 years. Based in Idaho, she has been a classroom teacher (5th-8th grades), and an Educational Technology specialist, has worked in professional development and curriculum design, and currently works for Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). She holds an endorsement in Gifted and Talented education and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She is passionate about helping teachers to meet students where they are and to plan creative, engaging, differentiated lessons and activities for students that challenge them and give them choices about their own learning. She blogs and shares ideas and materials at For the Teachers, a Teach 100 blog.

Check out Part 1 of Tami's awesome post on making STEM Education fun, Putting Physics to Work in the Classroom!

Recently, the Next Generation Science Standards were released. These standards were developed by 26 states and several national scientific organizations to increase student knowledge and interest in the STEM areas, in light of increasing need in these areas in the future workforce. The new standards, like the Common Core State Standards for math and language, focus on getting students to a deeper level of understanding, not just memorization and recall.

Here are some ideas to take advantage of the opportunities STEM subjects give us to excite and engage our students. Our students will be far more likely to learn and remember the skills and concepts if we actively involve them in their learning, make connections across subjects and to their real lives, and give them opportunities to explore, create, discover and wonder.

Science: Exploring the World around Us

Have you ever tried to take a 2-year-old on a walk? How far did you get before the child wanted to stop and look at something?

Young children are naturally curious. Every rock, every stick, every ladybug and worm on the ground is something to stop, look at, touch and discover.

As teachers, we should be seeking out opportunities for children from kindergarten to high school to further develop that sense of wonder and curiosity. Science is all about exploration and experimentation. As often as possible, students should have the chance to learn from doing rather than from textbooks.

• What does a plant need in order to grow?

• What happens when light shines through water?

• How many paper clips can be picked up by an electromagnet made from wire, a battery and a nail?

• What reaction do these chemicals have when combined?

Technology: Connecting to the World

Technology is an ever-increasing part of our daily lives. Many of our students walk into school these days with more technology in their pockets than NASA had when they put a man on the moon, or so I’ve heard.

We can use current technology to expand students learning by connecting them with information, resources and people they might not otherwise have access to. Technology makes it much easier to differentiate, to provide students with reading materials and activities at their level. Instead of seeing students sitting quietly in rows, a classroom full of learning these days is more likely to have a group of students clustered around some computers or with tablets in their hands, sharing information and learning from each other.

Student blogging is increasingly popular for good reason. Blogging provides frequent opportunities for students to write and reflect on their learning. Instead of writing for an audience of one – the teacher – the students’ words can be read by other students, in their class and school, by their parents, by others all over the world. Student engagement and accountability naturally go up when they know their work will be seen.

We can only begin to imagine what kinds of technology will be available to our students by the time they’re adults, so in addition to teaching students how to use technology, we need to specifically teach them how to use technology safely.

• What students post online becomes part of their digital footprint forever – Students need to learn to comment and post with courtesy and thoughtfulness.

• Not everything they read and see online is true – Student need to learn how to determine if a source is valid and reliable.

• Personal information posted online can make a student vulnerable – Students need to learn what is and isn’t safe to make public.

Engineering: The Way We Build, Design and Develop

The United States needs a strong workforce of engineers in order to be globally competitive, but of the four STEM areas, engineering is the most often neglected in our schools.

Engineering includes a wide range of areas such as structural (designing and building things like towers and bridges), software (coding and development of apps and programs), and robotics as well as civic (designing the layout of streets and towns), aerospace, genetic, agricultural and fire prevention.

In addition to teaching skills related to engineering in our classes, these topics provide some great opportunities for supplemental activities, things that students can work on at a spare table after completing other classwork.

Many activities related to engineering are, quite simply, a lot of fun.

• Use marshmallows and dry spaghetti to build three-dimensional figures: cubes, triangular prisms, dodecahedrons, icosahedrons, etc.

• Have a group of students create a structure out of blocks; then have another group try to recreate an identical structure

• Build an igloo (a half sphere) or a full sphere out of sugar cubes

• Using basic robotics kits (found in the toy section at many stores), challenge students to use the pieces to accomplish a particular task, such as turning the pages in a book

• Design and create paper airplanes that are able to fly across the room or past a certain point down the hallway, or that can do tricks, such as circling back or doing a loopty-loop

Math: Seeing the Patterns that Shape Daily Life

Math is considered core content for a reason: it surrounds us every day. Every time we use a computer, get change at the grocery store, measure ingredients to make cookies or play a song on the piano, math is involved.

In our classrooms, we tend to teach math skills in isolation; students practice addition facts on one worksheet and subtraction facts on another. We should be looking for opportunities for students to practice math skills in a realistic context so that students can see how the skills connect to each other and how they are used in the real world.

For example, a local fifth grade planned and had built an outdoor stage area on their school campus: they determined how much wood was needed, they researched the costs, and they helped their teacher complete a grant that paid for the project. They used a wide variety of math skills as part of this process, and ended up with a structure they are proud to show off.

Other possibilities:

• Have students calculate the costs:

For a field trip or picnic
To select a snack food vendor for the school store
To plan and fundraise for a graduation party

• Quadruple the ingredients to make a batch of no-bake cookies in class

• Measure the distance a student can jump, the length of a wall, the distance across the playground.

• Measure and compare the radius of various round objects to the circumference.

• Calculate player statistics for a favorite sport. In baseball, explore the speed of the ball, the arc of the swing and what makes a difference between a bunt and a home run.

• Play chess, checkers or any of the multitude of other games that require strategic thinking and other math-related skills

Take advantage of the opportunities STEM subjects give us to excite and engage our students. Our students will be far more likely to learn and remember the skills and concepts if we actively involve them in their learning, make connections across subjects and to their real lives and if we give them opportunities to explore, create, discover and wonder.

Check out Part 1 of Tami's awesome post on making STEM Education fun, Putting Physics to Work in the Classroom!

Sign up for Teach.com’s monthly newsletter to receive the latest in education news and information about becoming a teacher, including certification, teaching programs and more!

Tami Bowlden has worked in education for 17 years. Based in Idaho, she has been a classroom teacher (5th-8th grades), and an Educational Technology specialist, has worked in professional development and curriculum design, and currently works for Northwest Evaluation Association (NWEA). She holds an endorsement in Gifted and Talented education and a Master of Education in Curriculum and Instruction. She is passionate about helping teachers to meet students where they are and to plan creative, engaging, differentiated lessons and activities for students that challenge them and give them choices about their own learning. She blogs and shares ideas and materials at For the Teachers, a Teach 100 blog.

Check out Part 2 of Tami's awesome post on making STEM Education fun, STEM Ideas and Activities for the Classroom!

My 7th grade students started with a pile of foam tubing cut along the cross-section, wooden dowels, a bag of marbles and many rolls of tape. Their task: Create a roller coaster track on which a marble could travel from one end to the other.

Working in teams over the course of four weeks, we learned about the laws and properties of physics: forces, friction, speed, momentum. For each, the students modified or added to their roller coaster to demonstrate that particular law or property.

To demonstrate friction, some students lined the foam tube with plastic wrap to reduce friction and make the marble go faster. Others used tissue to increase friction and slow the marble down.

To demonstrate Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion (acceleration of an object depends on the force exerted on the object) one group placed a golf ball along their track and attempted to get the marble moving with enough speed to push the golf ball down the next incline. More often, the marble bounced off the golf ball and went flying through the air – Newton’s laws at work!

To demonstrate centripetal force – the motion along a curve that pushes an object inward – most of the students created a loop. This was the most challenging part for most of the groups. They needed enough of a drop before the loop to build up the speed necessary to have enough force for the marble to complete the loop, which had to be just the right size and pitch.

To generate ideas and understand how roller coasters work, we researched the largest and most popular in the world. We watched a series of “point of view” roller coaster videos, filmed with a camera at the front of the coaster car as it travels along the track. Watching these felt surprisingly like riding the real thing, enough to cause some queasy stomachs and to inspire some bigger drops and dips for the marbles to enjoy.

Students loved this project because it was fun. They got to work together and be creative. I loved it because they were actively engaged in their learning. They developed an understanding of some complicated concepts and learned some difficult vocabulary by using the words and ideas in context, daily. They learned how it all worked because they had to figure out how to make it happen.

Continue reading to learn how to put physics to work with these great STEM Ideas and Activities for the Classroom!

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As those remaining school days dwindle and the May flowers bloom with the end of April showers, the time has come to recognize all those top notch educators, who are constantly taking things to the next level. StudyBlue is here to help you do just that. Teacher Appreciation week runs from May 6-10 and in celebration, StudyBlue is launching its second annual teacher appreciation program, “Thank a Teacher a Latte”.

Whether you’re a student, former student, parent or teacher yourself, recognizing an educator who has made a difference in your life is as easy as the click of a mouse. Visit the Thank a Teacher a Latte site to contribute a “thank you”. Fill out a card with words of appreciation, post it and your teacher will receive a digital “badge of honor” to display through a variety of social media outlets. In addition, your teacher will be entered to win 1 of 300 $5 coffee cards set to be given away during and after Teacher Appreciation Week. Kind words and java? Now that’s a win-win.

Thank A Teacher A Latte was designed by StudyBlue as a way for students, former students, parents, fellow educators, etc. to digitally thank teachers during teacher appreciation week. Teachers will be emailed their thanks with a badge of honor that can be shared via social media. At the conclusion of teacher appreciation week, many of the thanked teachers will also receive a $5 coffee card courtesy of StudyBlue.

StudyBlue is made for students. It empowers a generation of ambitious digital natives who expect and deserve high quality digital study tools. Nobody forces anybody to use it and nobody tells anybody they can’t. StudyBlue helps students learn better. Learn together. And get smarter.

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Schools should not change the child; instead they need to change the environment that helps educate that child.

Recently, I attended/presented at the Tech Forum 2013 in Boston. It was by far one of the best conferences I have been to in a very long time. All of the presenters had a gift for using technology. Many had great videos, Flickr images, introduced us to new apps and found numerous other ways to engage us.

A few presenters, including my co-presenters Patrick Larkin (Burlington, MA Assistant Superintendent) and Andrew Wallace (South Portland, ME Director of Technology), provided us with a better understanding of our technological world. Thankfully I had my iPad to search for the definitions when they used acronyms and vocabulary that was unfamiliar.

The truth is that I am still negotiating my way through technology. I love it but I proceed with caution. I guess I'm still searching for privacy during a time when there seems not to be any. Like many adults, my worlds have always been compartmentalized, and I get nervous when those boundaries get blurred. I think twice before accepting someone as a friend on Facebook and I typically un-tag myself when someone tags me in a photo.

As educators, privacy weighs heavily on our minds. We attend fundraisers or receptions and someone takes a photo of us as we sip on a glass of wine. We go to a party where we have a glass of wine and friends embrace their inner paparazzi and take our photos. Those photos end up on Facebook, because let's face it, most photos end up there. In every one of them we are holding a glass of wine. As much as we are over 21, we also understand how that "looks" to some people who are critical.

Technology, and the issues it can cause, are in the back of our minds when we pose for pics. Believe it or not, many of our students feel the same way. However, adults do not expect privacy online and teenagers do. Doesn't that seem crazy? Teenagers expect privacy in our social networking world?

Technology and social networking are a natural part of their lives. Sometimes we feel fortunate to have them look up from their screen so we can see their faces. As much as it may be easy for us to criticize them for multi-tasking, we did the same thing when we were their age. It's just that we were using the rotary telephone on the wall and were given time limits because we had siblings and one phone to share.

Peter DeWitt is an elementary principal in upstate, New York. He blogs at Finding Common Ground for Education Week and is the author of Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press). Connect with Peter at www.petermdewitt.com, or on Twitter, @PeterMDeWitt.

The increase in the usage of technology stirs a lot of emotion from people. Some educators believe it does not have a place in schools. Educators on the other end of the spectrum believe technology should invade every space at every moment. I'm somewhere in the middle. I need a break from it but I'm fascinated by it as well.

How young people understand privacy


The keynote speaker at Tech Forum 2013 was Danah Boyd. Danah has done a great deal of research in the area of technology, privacy and what it all means to teenagers. Not only was she an engaging presenter; she provided common sense insight into the teenage world. It was the first time, in a long time, that a presenter captured my attention for more than an hour.

As you can imagine, teenagers growing up in this very technological age have a different view of technology. What's interesting is that it is not unlike our views from when we were younger. Teenagers are constantly searching for privacy so they can explore their worlds without the watchful eye of a parent or teacher.

Unfortunately for them, their world is much more connected and the images they use and the words they write to express themselves are seen, and sometimes misunderstood, by the adults around them. Boyd spoke at length about the fact that we are all living in a time of "network publics." Network Publics are the spaces where people come together. The most popular, at least to a 42-year-old, are Twitter and Facebook. However, teenagers are moving away from Facebook because we "old folks" have infiltrated it.

It doesn't matter what social network they use, privacy is still an issue. Boyd delved into four different categories when it comes to privacy in the social media age. 
They are:


• Persistence:Online expressions are recorded and archived. Those of us who grew up in a time when Pong was considered technologically advanced didn't have to worry about our every move being recorded or our every word being misunderstood when in its written form. Teenagers do. Everything is recorded and archived and can come back to haunt them at any time.

• Replicability:You can copy and paste things from one format to another. Has it been modified? Has it been duplicated? It brings up interesting arguments about what is fair use. It also can blur the lines of plagiarism.

• Search-ability:The potential visibility of content. Clearly, the power to search for anything is right at our fingertips. We don't have to wait until our memory kicks in! However, refer back to the idea of persistence, because everything we do online is searchable.

• Scalability:The sheer magnitude of content that can be found, and the audience it can reach, is infinite. Unfortunately, it does seem as though gossip travels a lot faster than anything more worthwhile. However, is that really all that different than when we were younger? Gossip always travelled faster. Using social media, we can all reach a much wider audience.

Given that social media blurs the lines between what is public and what is private creates a conundrum for teenagers and adults. However, that line has always been a bit blurred. In Boyd's research, she found that many teenagers believe that their home is not private because their parents always want to know what they are doing and that the mall is private because they do not stick out as much. They can have private conversations without being questioned.

Boyd says, "Privacy is not just about controlling content but also controlling social situations. The internet is Public by default and private by effort. Teenagers choose what they need to privatize rather than what they want to publicize." They do that by choosing their words carefully. Perhaps they can say something a friend would understand and a parent wouldn't. We all have ways to get our messages across.

In the End

Danah Boyd researches the social-emotional and social justice issues around technology, which is important because if teachers and administrators want to understand the students they see every day, they need to respect the world of the teenagers. Schools should not change the child; instead they need to change the environment that helps educate that child, which begins with an understanding of the way they think and feel.

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The English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement, and Academic Achievement Act was enacted to ensure that non-native English speakers in the United States are given quality English instruction in schools so that they can be as academically and professionally successful as their native English-speaking peers.

Historically, immigrant children were often miscategorized as needing special education services, and as a result, the dropout rate among them became much higher than that of the general population. In order to better serve the needs of non-native English speakers, bilingual education programs were created.

The following offers a glimpse into what bilingual education entails, and why it is sometimes considered a controversial form of instruction.

What is Bilingual Education?

Bilingual education is a broad term that can encompass a variety of educational approaches.

According to the National Association for Bilingual Education (NABE), bilingual education “refers to approaches in the classroom that use the native languages of English language learners (ELLs) for instruction.” The goals of this form of instruction include assisting students in increasing their English proficiency, keeping their native culture and languages intact, helping them to adjust to a foreign environment and promoting academic success.

This is certainly not a new trend in education. As PBS explains, bilingual education became particularly popular in the 1960s and ‘70s. It was based on the premise that if students were initially taught in their native languages, they were less likely to regress academically. The goal became to gradually immerse students in English speaking classrooms as they became more proficient with the language.

Since the ‘60s, educators have continued to debate whether a gradual immersion or “sink or swim” approach seems to work best for students. It is not an easily defined issue, but one that has many schools of thought and approaches.

Different Approaches

According to the University of Michigan, there are six main approaches to bilingual or multilingual education. They are:

1. Bilingual education:

   Students are given instruction in two or more languages. The amount of instruction given in each language varies from school to school.

2. Submersion:

   Non-native English speakers are given instruction completely in English, regardless of how long the student has been learning English.

3. Two-way bilingual education:

   Native and non-native English speakers are placed in the same classes. Instruction is given in English as well as the other native language, with the goal of all students becoming proficient in both.

4. English as a Second Language (ESL):

   Students spend part of the day in regular classes and part of the day in ESL classes. In the ESL classes, they receive focused instruction in mastering English.

5. Immersion:

   This is often targeted towards native English speakers who want to master a foreign language. Teachers deliver instruction in a foreign language for the entire day.

6. Three language systems:

   Also called trilingual education, students are initially taught in one language and a second language is integrated early on. After students begin to master the first two languages, a third is introduced with the hopes of students becoming fluent in all three by graduation.

Benefits of Bilingual Education

NABE describes the positive benefits of bilingual education in an ERIC Digest article by Stephen Krashen. Younger children need to be able to read to understand language so allowing them to read in their own language promotes the advancement of their literacy skills and the ability to translate written and spoken English.

The National Latino Children’s Institute (NLCI) considers quality bilingual programs essential to the academic success of non-native English speakers. The programs allow English Language Learners to stay on the same academic level as their peers, whereas a “sink or swim” approach can cause students to fall far behind. These programs also promote the celebration of diversity and are more inclusive of non-native English speakers’ families and parents who may have limited English proficiency. Preserving students’ native languages while they become proficient in English can also give them an advantage later in life. Being bilingual or multilingual is an asset when it comes to gainful employment.

Drawbacks of Bilingual Education

Not everyone agrees with the efficacy of bilingual approaches. In an article from The Atlantic, Rosalie Pedalino Porter argues that children immersed in regular English speaking classrooms do not have lower self-esteem or higher stress than students in bilingual programs.

The rise in bilingual education programs since the ‘60s has also not corresponded to a significantly lower dropout rate among children of immigrants. In fact, when a large number of Latino and Asian parents were polled, the majority preferred instruction in English. Most were in favor of English Language Learners receiving extra help, but in the form of an ESL teacher. Ultimately, critics argue that the best practice is inclusion.

The Future of Bilingual Education

Schools continue to be squeezed by a suffering economy, which has been detrimental to many foreign language programs. Few schools can provide foreign language instruction at the elementary school level, when students are most receptive to acquiring languages. This makes two-way bilingual classes difficult to establish, but some schools have been able to implement instruction in several languages.

In Virginia, Fairfax County Public Schools offers partial immersion programs in French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. Similar programs have been offered in Connecticut schools. As more schools recognize the value of being fluent in several languages, Americans in the future might just all be multilingual.

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Please note: The views and opinions expressed in guest blogs are those of the contributing writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by Teach.com, or USC Rossier Online

The Saratoga Springs City School District in upstate, NY is a high performing school district that has an outstanding reputation in academics and athletics. Their high school girl's cross-country running team has won nationals more than a dozen times over the past few decades. The City of Saratoga is known for being the "August Place to Be" due to their world-famous thoroughbred race track.

In education circles, the school district will now be known for telling the federal and state education departments to back-off where state assessments are concerned. Dan Levy, a reporter for WNYT (News Channel 13. NBC) wrote, "The Saratoga Springs School Board did something extraordinary Tuesday night: they told the State Education Department to butt out and let them educate their kids the way they see fit."

Educators and parents in New York State have an issue with the length of the exams as well as the fact that they are being tied to teacher and administrator evaluation the first year they are aligned to the Common Core State Standards. "Students are being tested on a curriculum they have not had the opportunity to learn," asserted Karen Swift, president of the Saratoga Springs Teachers Association, "Teachers have not had the opportunity to teach. It's like building a house on the wrong foundation."

More and more school districts like Saratoga Springs City School District are standing up against testing because the weight of accountability and mandates have become heavier and heavier every year. Last month, the New Paltz Central School District voted on a resolution telling the NY State Education Department to decrease the amount of testing done to children. The focus on testing takes an educator's focus away from good teaching practices and puts it on test prep.

The reality is that, even in the best districts, testing affects the social-emotional growth of students; especially high stakes testing which is so politically explosive. Testing is forcing a narrowing of the curriculum that is covered in classrooms, which hampers creativity and academic freedom.

In a recent N.Y. Times article, Bronson and Merryman wrote:

"Never before has the pressure to perform on high-stakes tests been so intense or meant so much for a child's academic future. As more school districts strive for accountability, standardized tests have proliferated. The pressure to do well on achievement tests for college is filtering its way down to lower grades, so that even third graders feel as if they are on trial."

This year high stakes testing is connected to teacher and administrator evaluation across the country, which makes the test less about the student and more about the teacher. It's a fear many of us have had for many years since our school scores began showing up in newspapers. Many educators used to think their school's scores being published was the worst it would get.

Opting Out

Peter DeWitt is an elementary principal in upstate, New York. He blogs at Finding Common Ground for Education Week and is the author of Dignity for All: Safeguarding LGBT Students (Corwin Press). Connect with Peter at www.petermdewitt.com, or on Twitter, @PeterMDeWitt.

Many states do not offer an option for parents to have their children opt out of state assessments but there is also no law that forces parents to make sure their child takes an exam. However, there are Commissioner Regulations which do require schools to make sure every child takes an exam. Actually, schools need to prove that at least 95% of their student population takes the exam. If they meet that requirement, states cannot cut their funding...this year.

Opting out is a serious consideration these days. Parents just need to make sure that they understand that the school has rules as well. If parents send their children into school but tell them to refuse the exam, they need to make sure that their child can sit quietly for the length of the exam. Other students are taking it and need to be provided with the best testing environment possible.

Opting out is a viable and attractive option for parents but states are making it harder and harder for schools. They are requiring schools to enforce rules for testing, such as making the child sit in the testing room even if they are not testing. States are also making sure that schools hit that 95% mark, because if they don't, they will have serious consequences.

In the End

Parents with means have other alternatives for their children. There are options for parents who have money and do not want their children to be exposed to testing and one-size-fits-all mandates. Some of these parents are rightfully choosing private schools while others are choosing Montessori Schools.

Why wouldn't they?

There are many private options that are not held to the same standardized accountability that the public school system is held too. Even the Commissioner of Education in New York State chooses Montessori over the public school system he leads.

Montessori Schools are often known for their academic freedom and lack of standardized testing, something the public school is no longer known for in the U.S. Isn't choosing a Montessori School merely a wealthy way of opting out?

School districts across the country should learn some lessons from schools like Saratoga Springs and New Paltz and the countless other school districts around the United States that are choosing to write board resolutions. Until state education departments hear the collective voices of students, educators and parents, they may never change.

If parents choose to have their child opt out but send them to school, please consider the following:

• Civil Disobedience -- Make sure your child understands that if they are attending school on the day of the exam, they are required by the state to sit with a test in front of them. Most schools allow students to read a book quietly after the exam is finished. What is their plan when your child refuses to take the exam?

• Compliance vs. Non-Compliance -- Is not taking the test better than taking it? Meaning, will a child feel as much stress and anxiety not taking the exam as they do actually taking the exam? This is only a question the parents and teachers can answer.

• School Response -- Parents who choose to opt their children out of an exam will most likely receive a formal letter from their child's school stating that there is not an option to opt out of the state assessments. In some cases, schools have gone so far as to threaten that they will call Child Protective Services (CPS). This is clearly ludicrous and CPS has more important issues to deal with than opting out of state testing, like dealing with physical and emotional abuse.

• Future Plans- If parents are choosing to opt out for the first time, what will their plan be next year? Will this be the only year they opt out? Or is this the beginning of a long history of opting out? What exams will their children be able to take? Parents should make sure they have a plan for the future and make sure it is clearly articulated to their children.

Please note: The views and opinions expressed in guest blogs are those of the contributing writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions held by Teach.com, or USC Rossier Online




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