Remote control??

[Morgan Vierheller <mrgnsms@EARTHLINK.NET>]

Mickey VanDerwerker wrote:

>> NOw, almost all of my students have net access at home - out of 91
>> this year, only 5 current students do not.  I could almost forgo the
>> textbook and just put up what I want them to read/see/hear on my
>> website, and/or provide them links to relevant matrials (I do a lot
>> of this anyhow).
>
> Why bother coming to class?  Why not just send them their daily dose
> by email?

I teach without textbooks; English, History.  I do my research, create a
lesson and bring it to the students.  This is not an avant garde,
mystery method and I can bring my own enthusiasm and love of the
material to the classroom.  Much goes on in the classroom besides just
giving them something to read/see/hear like participate in, discover,
analyze, discuss, do, create.
My students also have web access.
A teacher that avoids or minimizes contact with students needs to take a
long, heartfelt look at why he/she stays in the classroom.

Sincerely,

Morgan Vierheller
High school teacher

>
>
> In our school it's more like four out of ten.  My child would be one
> of the four but with four siblings, getting your turn on the internet
> would be tricky.
> I do believe teachers can teach without textbooks, although it can be
> more difficult to gather resources.  This'll become increasingly
> difficult as we hire teachers who aren't teachers, have no background,
> no training.
> The point of my post was that the SOLs are now postponing the picking
> of the textbooks. We are going to change the standards and so now just
> any reading book won't work. SOme information is just not important.
> Only SOL information is.
> Now I realize that we have been buying our textbooks based on how they
> align with the standards. Our math adoption committees reported to the
> school board what percentage of Standards were covered in each book
> under consideration (not how well they are covered, only that they are
> covered).
> This is the first incident where we have postponed buying books
> directly and specifically, admitted by the state, due to SOLs.
> Mickey