I don't know about all of you, but I have noticed of late, that the "security" for the internet at school/work is a bit over the top. Quite often I go to research a subject, look for materials, lessons, etc. only to find the best tools and resources flagged and security blocked. Of course, there is an phantom option to request to have a site reviewed, which I have frequently done, to never hear any response and of course, the sites are never unblocked. Sometimes, this hyper-vigilance of blocking sites has really impacted my direct instruction.
For example, during a lesson this past week, I discovered that nearly all of my 5th graders had no clue about the meaning of the word "shack". I was caught off guard by this and not prepared for this in my instruction with pictures and tools to teach the meaning. I needed to resolve this before moving forward with the lesson. Of course the first thing I did was run to Google Images. I searched "shack" only to find about 7 out of every 10 images blocked. Really? This surprised me. What could be so offensive about the images that they needed blocking. Of course, I went home that same evening to investigate.
When I did the same search at home that evening, I could find nothing offensive about any of the images that appeared or their corresponding sites. There didn't appear to be adult content or anything "wrong" with them. Another one of my recent finds of blocked sites was a local library! Seriously? How threatening can a library be? After I got over my alternating fits of outrage and hysterical laughter, I started thinking, how in the world are we going to move forward with the tech component of Common Core with the internet police on our tails. There must be a work around or compromise in all this insanity. With the push in Common Core to have improved teaching of technology, I am thinking about how vital it is going to be that teachers start moving in this direction and that districts start
allowing teachers greater freedom exercise their professional judgment
about which sites are suitable for students (in other words, relax the
restrictions on the internet security). Of course, I am not suggesting
willy-nilly reckless abandon, just give us a system where we can
effectively justify how sites are to be used.
As one thing leads to another, I started wondering how other teachers are coping with this challenge. What are some of the best websites that you have found to use in your classroom as teaching tools and how do you use them? As you all know, I am a HUGE fan of TeacherPayTeachers for finding amazing lessons, both for free and for sale. But kinda thinking more along the lines of instructional technology. I was wondering if there were other sites that you use specifically with students in your classroom. For example, I have a colleague that uses GoogleEarth with her students and another who uses Glogster-Edu. Are there others? What are your favorites and how do you integrate them into your instruction. I really look forward to finding out about your Teacher Tech Tools.
As always, have fun with your monsters! And enjoy what you do
