As a teacher on the traditional schedule, I like it

A) vacations - Obviously. My wife gets a certain amount of PTO a year. Having things like winter, spring, and summer break made it easier to plan our wedding/honeymoon.

B) jobs -- I can still get paid like a 12-month employee by using summer savings, but I can also pick up some summer work for a quick buck

C) summer programs/training/projects -- A few times now, I've been lucky enough to participate in a summer program writing curriculum, doing enrichment, or receiving training. Because I had the free time, it was easier do so.

With all that said, you still get breaks under a year-round schedule, so it's kind of a moot point. I imagine a lot of folks love of traditional schedule is tied to money and nostalgia, picking up summer jobs and reminiscing about their own summers past.

1/23/2014 2:10:27 PM

yeah, for us, I think (a) would be better if she taught year round. I'm tied up January to April for tax season so that usually eliminates her spring break as a vacationing window so it's either the middle of the summer or Christmas right now.

And (b) is irrelevant for her because I know she'd never want to do something like wait tables again. I never considered (c) but she's never done anything like that before. Maybe she should look into that kind of thing to fill her time in the summer.

I do agree that it seems like the only reason to prefer one or the other is the scheduling and wanting a longer break in the summer. That's why I was wondering if there's just something I'm missing about the actual teaching/student/school environment that only someone with firsthand knowledge would be able to talk about.

1/23/2014 2:19:01 PM

There are definitely jobs other than tables and such. A lot of my coworkers work summer camps or manage pools.

Ya, I think it's mostly personal preference.

Good luck with it. Does she have the option of transferring or is she looking at new jobs that are year-round?

1/23/2014 2:32:20 PM

oh this is just in the me and her talking about it phase

1/23/2014 2:51:40 PM

Hey, folks, I thought some of you might be interested in the Maker Fair that'll be happening at the NC Art Museum on 5/1/14. Its focus is the STEAM school.

http://ncartmuseum.org/calendar/event/2014/05/01/steam_makers_fair_for_teachers/1630

4/9/2014 2:17:27 PM

^That looks good... can we earn CEU's from it?

4/9/2014 2:44:44 PM

^^sucks that Pre-K is not included in that

4/9/2014 4:19:06 PM

oh hey, just heard about this pre-k workshop @ the ncma on 5/3

http://artnc.org/node/1054

are you a pre-k teacher?

4/9/2014 5:15:53 PM

I'm becoming aggravated by the big push to make my school 1:1 tablets for all students, and over half of the faculty have no desire whatsoever to integrate technology into their curriculum. Even worse is that they all want iPads even though we don't have the budget to acquire them, and the only reason they want them is because they know the name. I am losing my drive to reach a diplomatic solution.

4/9/2014 5:43:43 PM

Is there any research that shows a direct correlation between the use of tablets on academic performance? Don't get me wrong, I love the use of technology in schools, but so much of the already crappy budget has been wasted on useless and/or unused technology.

4/9/2014 5:53:39 PM

I taught high school English for eight years. About three years ago, I won a grant for a classroom set of iPads. At first, my students loved using them. It didn't take long for the novelty to wear off, and they became just another distraction. I spent as much policing their browsing as I did actually using the iPads for instruction. I don't know what the research says, but I didn't see any discernible increase in their performance in the two years I used the iPads. I still liked them because it gave me a lot of flexibility, and I could do some cool projects in class, but I'm not sure the cost was justified by the results I saw (or didn't see). These were predominantly low performing sophomores taking English II -- many for at least the second time.

4/9/2014 7:13:55 PM

^4 my wife is a Pre-K AU teacher

thanks for the heads up on the workshop

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 11:35 AM. Reason : ]

4/10/2014 11:35:14 AM

^^^^If only there were an inexpensive, streamlined Android-based solution (like the Kindle but geared toward educational uses...actually the Kindle itself doesn't sound like such a bad idea).

Also by "they" I presume you mean the out-of-touch administrators, not the teachers.

4/10/2014 12:17:48 PM

^A few schools are piloting chromebooks.

4/10/2014 12:41:33 PM

Do any of the tablet programs have plans for how to use them, or are they all solutions in search of a problem?

4/10/2014 1:05:06 PM

I think you know the answer to that.

4/10/2014 1:20:22 PM

^^^Can they be locked down like Chrome on Windows can?

4/10/2014 1:27:57 PM

there are lots of technical reasons to use iPads vs Android (ADA issues being among them).

But i remember reading a while back just having the tablets doesn't really help student outcomes. If teachers were taught how to use them, and how to teach the kids how to use them, then they can help, but teaching the teachers how to use them, is as difficult a task as teaching the kids.

4/10/2014 1:39:34 PM

^^I'm not sure I understand what you mean by locked down. Care to elaborate?

I agree. Any new tech is a tool, a resource; without being taught how to use it, it's essentially useless. The one thing I will say is that students in many ways are already primed for tablet use, so it's not too difficult to use them in class.

4/10/2014 2:09:40 PM

Quote :

"Is there any research that shows a direct correlation between the use of tablets on academic performance? Don't get me wrong, I love the use of technology in schools, but so much of the already crappy budget has been wasted on useless and/or unused technology."

In my personal experience, no. I actually spoke with a former student of mine whose current school has deployed 1:1 tablets for the first time this year, and the phrase he used to describe the experience was "a distraction." I found that incredibly revealing since this student is very tech-savvy, and also very dedicated academically. He acknowledged that the teachers aren't completely onboard, the relevant lessons are few and far between, and there's actually no requirement to have the tablets in each class - so most students don't bother any longer. It all started out as fairly exciting, but it waned shortly thereafter. It's great for me to hear things like this, because that helps me to have a better idea of how to try to combat these situations as my school starts moving in the 1:1 direction. It's an inevitability.

4/10/2014 3:05:28 PM

Quote :

"If only there were an inexpensive, streamlined Android-based solution (like the Kindle but geared toward educational uses...actually the Kindle itself doesn't sound like such a bad idea)."

There sortof is, but it's really geared for lower school. We have a fair number of Android-based Nabi tablets which are rather user-friendly. (You may have lately seen commercials for these.) Using these beyond maybe 4th grade is going to be a bust, though, as the presentation comes across as rather juvenile. I'm a little reluctant to want to put iPads in the hands of lower schoolers, though, due primarily to cost and reluctance of classroom teachers to embrace them and know how to use them to the fullest.

4/10/2014 3:09:19 PM

^^ the problem is that you have to start somewhere.

There's tons of videos online of toddlers swiping at magazines (my bosses own toddle has done this), wondering why they're not moving. In a few years, this will be an expectation, and if teachers don't fumble through it now, they won't be ready when the students are really needing/demanding content and instruction in that form.

4/10/2014 3:20:23 PM

needing to start somewhere is a valid point, when we first put computers in classrooms they were just used for number crunchers. one difference though is that its much easier for tablets to be a distraction than it was for an Apple IIe. students can do whatever they want on a tablet, but when you only have oregon trail and number munchers, its hard to goof off on an Apple IIe.

(i have no idea if tablets today are more accessible in the home than computers were at that time .i suspect they are, but perhaps not enough)

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 3:44 PM. Reason : .]

4/10/2014 3:43:17 PM

Quote :

"Do any of the tablet programs have plans for how to use them, or are they all solutions in search of a problem?"

Mostly the latter. It's predominately technology for the sake of technology. iPads are "sexy".

iOS devices in an enterprise deployment suck. The Apple API is pretty limited, the ability to manage them is pretty limited. Since Apple stuff is designed around the idea of a personal eco-system, they become especially cumbersome when a school has 300 iOS devices and one person managing them, you need them to be configured consistently. You need a way to track them. iCloud/find my ipad currently has a limitation of 100 devices per Apple ID. MDMs typically have tracking capabilities, but they're a lot to roll out and have ton of other considerations. And because of what Apple will allow these third parties to do or not do, end-users can typically just un-enroll the device from the MDM.

You have to disable stuff like photostream. Or you risk situations where some teacher goes home and takes crotch shots to send her BF and they show up on the iPads of a bunch of 8 year old students (this HAS happened).

Apple changes stuff constantly. Some of it great for use in education, some of two steps back. There are a lot of updates. iOS 7 had 80+ known bugs the day it was released, and there was no way to stop students from updating. A lot of people use a tool called Apple Configurator to manage large quantities of iOS devices. iOS 7 being updated outside of Configurator (say a kid updated it directly on the device) would break the supervision profile so that Configurator would no longer recognize the device. Apple fixed that bug about three weeks after iOS 7 was released.

The new anti-theft feature called activation lock... yeah, that's nice if it's a personal device. The way it works is this: let's say you have an iOS device, I steal it. Normally, I'd take it home and force it into recovery mode, it would be set back to factory defaults and that would be it. You can't track it and it's mine. Activation Lock doesn't prevent anyone from restoring it, but it will require them to know the password of the last Apple ID used on it to do anything with it.

Well, that's great for your own device. But how about if a kid signs into their Apple ID on a school device? And then they set a passcode on the iPad (which you can't prevent)? In the past, you could reset the iPad and be good to go. But now, you don't know that Apple ID password. You have to submit a claim to Apple (they can unlock it). It takes 24-72 hours to hear back. Then you have to prove ownership of the device. This is a major pain in the ass in most cases for schools. You need copies of purchase orders, invoices, etc. And sometimes devices are purchased by schools, others are purchased by some other entity. For ex, the state of NC purchased iPads for elementary teachers to be used with mClass (an online literacy assessment tool). Who has those purchase orders? A department at school system's central office may have purchased devices and gave them to the school or specific employees at the school (ESL teachers for example). It's a pain in the ass.

They volume app license system is call Volume Purchase Program. It has some nice aspects (50% off if you buy more than 20 copies of most apps), but it's cumbersome to manage the licenses.

These devices do have some value. But they're really not quite "there" yet in regard to a practical deployment that takes away the stress of simply managing them so that teachers can focus on using them creatively in the classroom.

All of that said, Apple is probably further ahead in that "arena" than others.

Chromebooks are interesting. But the quality between models varies greatly. They're not really replacements for laptops. They're very tied into Google. If your school system isn't running Google Apps for the students, they'll be a pain in the ass. But more and more school systems and implementing Google Apps. And they work fairly well if the school system does have a google apps implementation.

I believe Johnston county is currently using Google Apps and chromebooks with students. Wake county will be rolling Google Apps out to students soon and will be using chromebooks more and more.

tl;dr: These devices do have some value. But they're really not quite "there" yet in regard to a practical deployment/management model that takes away the stress of simply managing them so that teachers can focus on using them creatively in the classroom. There are some teachers out there who are using them in really impressive ways. But more often than not, they're there for the sake of being there rather than adding to instruction.

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 8:41 PM. Reason : .]

4/10/2014 8:13:49 PM

sorry for the rant and the typos above. I have a lot of experience with this on a large scale, and it generally is not a great addition in my opinion because A) the management of the devices sucks (which impacts use), B) a lot of teachers have not been trained to effectively integrate them into instruction, and C) even then, they have limited uses.

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 8:58 PM. Reason : .]

4/10/2014 8:56:36 PM

^^ do you use any MDM software despite the issues mentioned or just apple configurator?

4/10/2014 9:37:11 PM

Yeah. The big benefit is being able to push profiles (settings) over the air. A few other things as well. App management/deployment is a mixed bag Silent installs can be cumbersome. There are a lot of things that require end-user interaction (fine when you're deploying 1-to-1 to adult staff members, not good when you have hundreds of devices broken into mobile sets that are checked out to classes). Plus you typically run into some issues with license management depending on how the mdm is implemented. A system wide implementation is usually not ideal for app management because apps are typically purchased by and belong to specific schools (although, it may be ideal for a lot of other things). But the license pool in the mdm is often one large pool. So school A buys 40 copies of SightWords, school B buys 30 copies... there are just 70 copies. You can't sandbox them. Most MDMs will let you sandbox devices by school/department. But I haven't seen many that allow it for VPP licenses. So the installation would have to be specific to the school for that piece to work in the most ideally manner in most cases. Otherwise, you still need to use Configurator to manage the licenses at the school in way that let's you pull the license from one device and put it on another. If youre don't use configurate, you can redeem the code manually, but you can't re-assign the code to another Apple ID later. Configurator doesn't care what Apple ID is on the device. It authenticates through Configurator and the Apple servers. If you redeem the code manually, it will belong to whatever Apple ID is used to redeem the code.

Configurator requires devices to be connected directly (typically you'd use a large, power managed hub that allows you to connect about 30 -60 devices simultaneously). So the stuff that you can do over the air with a an mdm is GREAT! But there's still some cumbersome setup stuff involved, especially in the initial enrollment process.

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 9:54 PM. Reason : .]

4/10/2014 9:47:15 PM

^ apple configurator has come a long way, and Apple seems to be rapidly developing it. Everything you said was accurate, it is a headache, but it does bear mentioning that Apple's probably has the best MDM now that Blackberry is out of the picture (blackberry makes iOS compatible MDM software too, but i've never used it).

A Windows tablet with a good AD integration would also be pretty solid, but the tablet app ecosystem is much smaller with Windows, and Windows is more hackable.

There's probably some 3rd party android stuff that's solid, but a typical school system wouldn't take stake with some smaller company typically.

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 10:48 PM. Reason : ]

4/10/2014 10:47:02 PM

Yeah, Configurator has improved A LOT over the past year. And it does seem like Apple is beginning to see the differences in this type of use vs. personal.

It's kind of funny you say that in reply to my rant. I actually have to convince people that it's so much better than it was just about every day. I'm actually a huge proponent of Configurator. Despite what I said being true, it's still way better than setting up 100 devices by hand.

[Edited on April 10, 2014 at 11:09 PM. Reason : .]

4/10/2014 11:07:02 PM

In my experience, tablets are pretty useless in the classroom. I have yet to find something that can be done on a tablet that couldn't be done with a cell phone. They are great for quick research but so are cell phones. Almost every kid already has a smart phone. the technology is already in the classroom and they already know how to use it.

All of my students are required to have laptops and this is great but some of the students have ipads or tablets as their laptops and it is a consistent pain in the ass when they can't do an activity that requires flash, java, google drive, and none of the software is ever compatible with anything else.

The most valuable things that can be done with technology in the science classroom are usually incompatible with tablets. Personally, besides watching movies or reading on the go, I fail to see the point of a tablet anyway. Its just a big phone to me.

[Edited on April 11, 2014 at 11:56 PM. Reason : socrative]

4/11/2014 11:55:02 PM

Quote :

"All of my students are required to have laptops "

hey, sorry if you revealed this earlier (I'm too lazy to look for it) but do you teach public grade school?

'cuz, like, if so, that really illustrates how radically different the grade-school experience must be these days, if every kid has a laptop. I graduated HS in 2000, and my in-class education was pretty much computer-free.

also, how the fuck do you keep the kids' attention and keep them from surfing the internet during 98% of every class?

4/12/2014 12:07:55 AM

I teach independent high school but was once a pioneer of BYOT in a public district that now embraces the idea across the board. I was part of a pilot it in high school and they now use it in middle and elementary school as well. Sure technology has its negatives but school should be caught up with the modern way of doing things. There is no point in learning without technology to go out into a world that is full of technology. Students also are generally more motivated to do work with technology.

There are procedures in place to control when students use the technology. Students may only open computers or take out cell phones when instructed by the teacher. Its easy to monitor use when you give students an assignment that requires a product from them in an allotted time period.


The problem with this is, some students have iep's or accommodation plans that allow them to use the technology to type their notes because they are unable to read their own handwriting. This makes it nearly impossible to monitor their use.

Its kind of like the pro-gun argument. If students are not engaged, they will surf the internet but taking away the internet won't magically get them engaged.

4/12/2014 1:07:53 AM

how have you liked BYOD in general?

Do you ever have issues with something working on one device and not another? If so, what do you do on the spot to make sure it doesn't interrupt instruction or leave any students out (loaner devices, tell them partner up, etc.)?

4/12/2014 2:50:37 PM

Yeah some kids have all sorts of funky settings going on. Usually they can partner up and it works out but I always bring about 5 or so extra laptops when I am using something heavy like java or flash.

For everything else, each kid usually has 2 devices (phone and computer) so its rare that a kid can't surf the internet html style.

4/13/2014 4:29:48 PM

Teacher Appreciation Week Stuff:

Chipotle: BOGO entress from 4 pm to close w/ valid teacher ID from

PDQ: Monday, free lunch with valid ID (this seems to be both Raleigh locations, but you may want to call to confirm)

5/2/2014 12:50:53 PM

Issues: Pat McRory
Tea Party

5/2/2014 1:33:19 PM

Quote :

"some students have iep's or accommodation plans that allow them to use the technology to type their notes because they are unable to read their own handwriting."

Wow.

Quote :

"There's tons of videos online of toddlers swiping at magazines (my bosses own toddle has done this), wondering why they're not moving. In a few years, this will be an expectation, and if teachers don't fumble through it now, they won't be ready when the students are really needing/demanding content and instruction in that form."

Students will never "need" instruction in that form. The thing with toddlers swiping at magazines is that they are toddlers. They will learn what paper is, even if they are first exposed to screens. Pen and paper isn't going anywhere.

In any case, I've accepted a tenure-track position at a major Research 1 institution starting next fall, and this thread scares me.

5/2/2014 3:14:28 PM

5/3/2014 4:52:57 PM

http://www.wral.com/teacher-pay-common-core-take-center-stage-during-education-panel/13616297/

5/3/2014 5:06:19 PM

^

Quote :

""I read in the News & Observer about this $30,800 figure. That only applies to beginning teachers in school systems with no supplement, which is almost none," Stam said. "What is the compensation for a beginning teacher in Wake County? Well, it's $48,335. I think it is a wise decision that the state has made for decades to put a lot of money into benefits.""

That number is disingenuous. He's comparing the starting salary to "compensation," a number that apparently includes base pay + local supplement + benefits. No teacher is making that as a starting salary, even with an M-level license; it's ridiculous to suggest so. IIRC, the local supplement in the county is a few thousand annually.

http://www.wral.com/performance-based-pay-plan-for-nc-teachers-unveiled/13625213/

Performance-based pay plan for NC teachers unveiled

Quote :

"North Carolina public school teachers would be able to earn thousands of dollars more a year if they succeed in the classroom, mentor their colleagues and work in high-demand subjects or hard-to-staff schools under a plan rolled out Wednesday by Gov. Pat McCrory. McCrory also said that he will recommend in his 2014-15 budget proposal that all teachers receive an average 2 percent pay raise this year. That is on top of a plan he and legislative leaders announced in February to raise the base pay for starting teachers."

5/7/2014 3:14:29 PM

for teachers making under 50k that 2% (if we even get it) is less than the $1,000 every other state worker is getting.

5/7/2014 5:46:51 PM

Roy Cooper for Governor.

5/7/2014 6:32:01 PM

This is an image showing what the proposed teacher salary schedule would look like... i actually like this a lot... it resembles what some other states have and it leaves room in for performance based bumps, etc, while keeping a good base pay.

too bad it wouldn't go into effect until 2017. (and too bad the incompetent legislature will probably never agree to it)

5/7/2014 7:12:13 PM

The last time I made anywhere near 30k in a calendar year was before I had graduated and it's probably been about a decade since I made 50k. It's amazing to me that people still want to teach public school in NC.

5/7/2014 9:58:40 PM

nc is literally one of the worst places in the world to teach. why i will never go back but at least its a low cost of living and you can make it just fine with those low salaries.

5/8/2014 3:18:29 AM

Any of you former teachers have luck finding employment after quitting teaching? My wife is trying to leave the field after this year and is having a hard time figuring out what she's qualified to do or who would actually hire her. She's pretty much open to anything. She has taught hearing impaired kids at all ages for the past 10 years...but the program is falling apart in her county (and the previous county before that), and she has lost all hope.

Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

5/8/2014 8:28:57 AM

I've been applying for pretty much anything and everything that is at least close to what I was making before and includes benefits. Admittedly I've gotten lazy about it the last couple weeks, but I've had no luck so far. I'm not really sure I could be considered qualified for anything outside of teaching, but I'm trying my best to steer away from that.

5/8/2014 8:35:31 AM

I've thought about this some; since I so specialized at this point (grad degree, training, experience), I've tried to think what I would or could do after education. I've thought about temping because those jobs really just need a warm body a lot of the times. A buddy of mine works for the Department of Disability Services handling claims, and that job requirement is "have a bachelors degree." I think you could maybe parlay something in management (retail/small business not corporate).

Has she considered looking for jobs as a one-on-one, independent specialist. To paraphrase a friend, "folks don't care whether you [are affiliated with a school] as long as you get their baby to talk right."

5/8/2014 8:39:57 AM

^^^ when I quit! it was an immediate 50% pay increase, and less hours required.
Management, HR, supervisor type roles are an easy transtion after teaching IMO.

5/8/2014 8:50:29 AM

Quote :

"Any of you former teachers have luck finding employment after quitting teaching?"

Have her look at recruiting firms. My fiance's third grade track mate left for an IT recruiting firm in the fall and now my fiance is starting at the same firm the beginning of June.

She said that they like teachers because they are comfortable getting up in front of people to train them and communicate with different people.

5/8/2014 9:24:41 AM