e-Readers: A Replacement for Textbooks?

The possibility of e-readers replacing textbooks in the future is quite an intriguing thought and an idea that, in a perfect world, would be completely ideal and loved by students, but I seriously doubt this will happen within the next 10 years.  If every student would take proper care of their e-reader, then replacing textbooks with these devices could be a money-saving and student-friendly idea.  Unfortunately, I am aware of how many textbooks are lost or destroyed at our school every year and I don't believe this case would change if students were put in charge of an electronic device rather than textbooks.  This is very unfortunate because I can see many advantages to having e-readers.  First of all, replacing several textbooks with one small e-reader would greatly reduce the weight students are required to carry.  The need for lockers would virtually be eliminated.  As long as students had their e-reader, they would have the book they needed and would not need to waste time going back to their lockers.  Supplemental reading materials and assignments could be downloaded to the e-readers, reducing the number of copies that would have to be made.  The amount of space required for book storage would also be greatly reduced. 
Personally, if I could have my 3 teacher editions loaded on an e-reader, I would be very excited.  Maybe I need to check into that!

Essential Skills

When I began teaching last year, one of the first things I noticed about my students was the lack of some skills that I consider to be essential to success in their academic and personal lives.  The first skill I noticed was critical thinking skills.  Students only want to answer questions that have an answer they can memorize.  I have students that will leave questions blank that require them to apply the information they have learned to real-life situations.  I feel this is an ability students must possess in order for their education to be meaningful and useful to them. 

I also believe that students should have good written communication skills.  I believe they should be able to read material and understand what it says and be able to express their ideas and learning in writing.  There are so many situations that students will face in which they will have to express themselves through writing.  Other people’s impressions of my students at some point in their lives may be based solely on their ability to write well.  Some of these situations could include college admissions essays, scholarship essays, written assignments in large college classes, and letters to potential employers.  My students’ written communication skills could make the difference in them getting accepted to college, receiving a scholarship, or getting a high-paying job.

Lastly, I want my students to know where and how to find the information they need.  I understand that much of the details of the information that I teach my students throughout the school year may be forgotten before the next school year and I can be okay with that as long as my students know that they have resources available to them to help them find the information they need.  This is where the ability to use technology to conduct research is important.  I also want my students to be able to distinguish reliable information from unreliable information.  Learning to conduct research and receiving guidance as to which sources to trust will be something students will take with them as they advance through life.

Multi-tasker or One thing at a time?

I have no choice but to be a multi-tasker.  I am a mother, a teacher, and a student, so I have to juggle all the responsibilities of those different roles.  I try to set aside a portion of my time for each of these activities, especially my responsibilities as a mother.  I make sure I set aside some time each day when I am solely focused on my daughter.  I also try to spend my time at school focusing on my responsibilities as a teacher, but many times, I have no choice to overlap all these activities.  For instance, I am typing this blog post at school now.

I often use checklists or to-do lists to keep me focused and on task.  I have found that I enjoy the feeling of checking off each task as I complete them and that keeps me motivated.  This isn’t a high-tech system, but it seems to work.  I also try to remove as many distractions as possible. 

I am just becoming a user of Web 2.0 tools, so my biggest challenge right now is just remembering what tools I have available and what each tool is capable of doing.  I have been using my Delicious account to store all the websites which contain these tools and I hope to continue adding more tools to my repertoire.  Thankfully, I do not feel that I am sacrificing other parts of my life for Web 2.0 sites and do not foresee me becoming this obsessed with these applications.  I am very much convinced that my students and I need to balance the use of technology with traditional forms of learning and communication, and I hope to express the importance of knowing how to use technology along with more traditional forms of interaction, collaboration, and creativity.

My Favorite Book from My Childhood

I used to love when the Scholastic book fair was held at our school!  Mom would send me with money and I would do my best to spend every dime on books.  The book I most remember purchasing from the book fair and my favorite book as a child was Island of the Blue Dolphins.  I think I was in the 3rd or 4th grade when I bought this book and I read it at least 10 times before I reached the 8th grade.  And I think I read it one more time during high school just for fun. 
I no longer remmeber the characters' names but the storyline and the vivid images created in my mind as I read the book are forever embedded in my memory.  The book tells the story of a young native girl that finds herself living alone on a deserted Pacific Island she once shared with a large tribe.  It describes how she survives and eventually becomes reunited with her tribe.  It also gives very vivid descriptions of the island's terrain, its animal inhabitants, and the waters surrounding it.  I loved this book because when I felt stuck in seemingly drab central Alabama with parents tennling me what to do and two younger siblings always needing something, I could pick up this book and take a vacation to a beautiful place inhabited by only one person.  Then I would imagine how lonely that would be and come back to reality with an appreciation for the love and beauty in my surroundings.

My Small Moment

This week my 3-year-old daughter asked me a question.  What the question was, I cannot remember, but I did not repond quickly and my husband answered for me.  Immediately, my daughter looked at him and asked, "Is your name Mommy?"  I knew I should scold her for talking back to an adult like that, but I could not retain my laughter.  In that moment, I saw a miniature version of myself asking one of the sarcastic questions that I have been known to use with my students and, most likely, a question used by a daycare teacher when an overly excited 3-year-old knows the color on the flashcard and doesn't want to wait her turn.  Thankfully, this time, she repeated something cure, but I was reminded that, as an adult and especially as a mother and teacher, I am always setting an example for children to follow and I need to do my best to make sure that example is a good one that will lead the children that are imitating me down a path that will bring them success.

A little about me...

My name is Christi Knowles.  I currently teach 9th grade Advanced Biology, AP Biology, Physics, and an ACT prep course at Monroe County High School in Monroeville, Alabama.  (That's two hours away, so if I seem a little distant or disinterested in class, I am probably just dreading the drive home or imagining what I could have said to that really slow driver that I could not pass on the way to class.)  This is my second year teaching and I absolutely love it!  The teaching part that is!  The paperwork is AWFUL and seemingly endless.  Faculty meetings and most professional development days are quite dreadful too, but the kids and the teaching are great!  I graduated from the University of Montevallo in May 2004 with my bachelor's degree in Biology, and I am now an alternative route M.Ed student at UWA who is hoping to graduate this summer. 
I also have a daughter who will turn 3 in a month.  I can not imagine my life without her!  And I don't think I would be as successful a teacher without her.  Because of her, I look at my students differently.  When I have to make a decision about a student, I try to put myself in the position of that student's parent and think about what I would want to see the teacher do.  I believe she makes me a more compassionate teacher.