What blackboard?

It's required in Utah to conduct vision screenings for all second graders but it's also required to obtain parental permission first. Well, the State approved permission form came home last night loaded with information on how important good vision is to a child's success in school. The message was punctuated by a bolded message right in the middle of the page that read:

"If a student cannot see the blackboard then they cannot learn."

Apart from any qualms I have with teachers who rely on lecturing at the board as their primary mode of instruction, I was struck by the fact that the form fails to recognize that no schools in our district even use blackboards. White boards replaced chalk boards at our local schools twenty-five years ago.

Granted, my logo on this blog pays homage to the old chalk boards that many of us grew up with and most of us will understand the intent of the message but perhaps it's time to acknowledge that in at least in this small respect, education has been modernized.

Good Fortune: Finders Keepers

My 11 year old son came home from school and announced that he was a lunch worker today. They had orange chicken with fortune cookies. Apparently he believes that he is going to be extremely lucky this week because while cleaning the lunchroom, he had the opportunity to "scoop up lots of fortunes." In his mind it's Finders Keepers when it comes to fortune cookie fortunes.

iGoogle

This is my first attempt at using iGoogle to link the apps I use most. I am intrigued by how this could be used for educational purposes. As I type, my iGoogle page is also displaying online Scrabble and Chess. I am looking at images from the National Science Foundation. I am learning the Spanish word of the day. I can see the phases of the moon and pinpoint locations with Google Earth... WOW!

The possibilities are endless.

I suppose the potential for trouble is also endless.

Kindergarten

My son is starting Kindergarten this week. The excitement of this momentous event is only slightly dampened by the bill from the doctor's office for his school entrance physical.

$663