oops, I did it again

Dina Strasser writes:

If I scan a page of a vocabulary workbook into the computer, convert it to PDF, and add digital fill in the blanks, my kids may be “motivated” to work on it– but it’s still the same damn workbook that has no basis in effective teaching practice, flexible problem solving, or language acquisition research.

She's right. She re-made the workbook, but this isn't a useful example of technology integration.

There's no point using any tool, tech or otherwise, if the only dividend one hopes for is student motivation. The real goals are student comprehension and ownership over content.

How about Blabberize? Simple, surely not "elegant", but I'd bet $1000 to a nickel that the kids will take greater ownership over their vocabulary, and no surprise here, know the words.

There's proof of it right here, right now. I've taught Sadlier-Oxford, Level G for a decade. A decade!!! Seriously, try inspiring a love of 'concomitant' every semester. Damn near impossible.

But just the other day, a student used 'concomitant' in a sentence. She spoke the word and it gushed forth like any other word in her vernacular. No test. No scantron. No assessment in progress. Just a second-semester senior using and owning content.

And seriously, when did trying to do something different become so distressing and unsettling?

Even low-tech teachers revamp and revise. And if they're not, then let's show them that sweater table over there at The Gap.

They're more than qualified to refold. And refold. And refold.