Jan 12 (Reuters) – New York City teachers who are rated “highly effective” for two years in a row would get a $20,000-a-year salary increase, as part of the mayor’s renewed push to improve schools.
Click here to read the full story
Vicki Davis , Cool Cat teacher from Georgia, makes a really good point.
Looks like Mayor Bloomberg needs to watch the Dan Pink Ted Talk. The higher the stakes and the more complex the problem, the worse effect a large monetary incentive has. Be ready for New York cheating scandals. That is a lot of pressure and will also incent teachers to find students that will do better. It also will put the method that they will use to rate people “highly effective” in the spotlight. This is sure to cause some resentment in the ranks. The easy solution is to throw money at it, but they don’t realize that it is also the wrong solution if you look at the research on motivation.
Elementary computer teacher Mary Beth Hertz offers suggestions for educators who may be struggling in their efforts to incorporate technology in the classroom. There are many challenges to be faced on the way to success, and teachers should be candid with students when trying new ideas, learn from failures along the way, and remember to revise and reteach as necessary, Hertz writes. Edutopia.org/Mary Beth Hertz’s blog
by Brad Flickinger
A few months ago I took a survey of my elementary kids to see what kind of mobile technology they had at home and it turned out that 53% of my students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades had iPads and 82% had iPods! With over half of my students having iPads, there is no doubt that soon they will be bringing these devices to school — so it go me thinking…
How do I teach students with iPads?
Check out Brad’s 5 part series that began on Jan 4th, CLICK HERE
Teachers can customize textbooks using available digital and open educational resources, writes journalist Audrey Watters. Having teachers help build digital textbooks allows them to deliver relevant instruction and align textbooks with lesson plans, Watters writes. She suggests resources to help teachers create their own texts.
Read the full story at Edutopia.org/Audrey Watters’ blog
This article is cross posted at EdTechInnovations.com
Recently, Christine Wiser T&L’s Managing Editor, asked the Tech Advisors the following question:
I thought that this was a great question that would generate a lot of discussion. So, I wanted to share with you my top three and see what you have to say. After all, sometimes, the more voices heard the more progress can be made.
http://www.techlearning.com/Default.aspx?tabid=67&EntryId=3280
