Comments on: How Does it Feel to be the Worst? http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/2008/06/13/how-does-it-feel-to-be-the-worst/ Moving Education Forward, One Step at a Time Tue, 14 Jul 2009 23:15:19 -0400 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.2 hourly 1 By: mrplough07 http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/2008/06/13/how-does-it-feel-to-be-the-worst/comment-page-1/#comment-40 mrplough07 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:36:02 +0000 http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/?p=65#comment-40 Yes, our students do have access to many sites and of course, accessibility plays a huge role in education. We definitely don't have a problem with that. Sorry, I know that is a major issue in districts around the country. We have an annual starting enrollment of 725 students in our HS. By the end of the year that number drops about 25%, out of the remaining 600 or so another 20% are failing almost all of their classes. So basically by the end of the year, about half the kids that enrolled are still working. We have about 25 HS instructors. Most of which came out of traditional districts with limited technology skills or training in online teaching. If you don't take the job too serious, its a great place to work. :) Yes, our students do have access to many sites and of course, accessibility plays a huge role in education. We definitely don’t have a problem with that. Sorry, I know that is a major issue in districts around the country.

We have an annual starting enrollment of 725 students in our HS. By the end of the year that number drops about 25%, out of the remaining 600 or so another 20% are failing almost all of their classes. So basically by the end of the year, about half the kids that enrolled are still working.

We have about 25 HS instructors. Most of which came out of traditional districts with limited technology skills or training in online teaching. If you don’t take the job too serious, its a great place to work. :)

]]> By: Beth Still http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/2008/06/13/how-does-it-feel-to-be-the-worst/comment-page-1/#comment-39 Beth Still Mon, 16 Jun 2008 04:31:41 +0000 http://thenextstep.edublogs.org/?p=65#comment-39 Hi Cory. First, let me say I enjoyed the video with the students discussing Web 2.0. It seems like your students have fairly unrestricted access to all kinds of sites. My service unit is working hard to put together an AUP that accommodates the needs of students, but still does not give them completely unrestricted access to the web. I am with the camp that wants to only keep the filters that are required by state statute. I want my students to be able to collaborate using some of the tool that your students discussed. My main focus at NECC is to be to learn about all of the cool tools that are out there. OK....maybe not all of them....but as many as possible. How large is your school? My alternative school is very small----just two teachers until now. We covered the four core areas by teaching outside of our endorsements. We increased staff to four so we can begin teaching online this fall. I hear you on how teachers quit these kids. It takes an incredibly special educator to work with at-risk kids. It is like you said---we are not better than anyone else, but we do have special set of skills that most teachers just do not have. At-risk kids should not be taught by teachers who have lost hope because it will surely cause them to fail. It is very hard to work with people when you know they are part of the problem. More on that in Texas..... Hi Cory. First, let me say I enjoyed the video with the students discussing Web 2.0. It seems like your students have fairly unrestricted access to all kinds of sites. My service unit is working hard to put together an AUP that accommodates the needs of students, but still does not give them completely unrestricted access to the web. I am with the camp that wants to only keep the filters that are required by state statute. I want my students to be able to collaborate using some of the tool that your students discussed.

My main focus at NECC is to be to learn about all of the cool tools that are out there. OK….maybe not all of them….but as many as possible.

How large is your school? My alternative school is very small—-just two teachers until now. We covered the four core areas by teaching outside of our endorsements. We increased staff to four so we can begin teaching online this fall. I hear you on how teachers quit these kids. It takes an incredibly special educator to work with at-risk kids. It is like you said—we are not better than anyone else, but we do have special set of skills that most teachers just do not have. At-risk kids should not be taught by teachers who have lost hope because it will surely cause them to fail. It is very hard to work with people when you know they are part of the problem. More on that in Texas…..

]]>