Beyond+Textbooks

Beyond Textbooks!

Lately I've been thinking a lot about textbooks and the classroom. I believe at some point standard textbooks will be a thing of the past. I don't think they are bad - I just think they are expensive and we are finding new ways to do the same thing in a more efficient manner.

Teachers should teach to the TARGET or OBJECTIVE and not to the textbook. Many teachers like to take a textbook and go page by page. Certainly this is easier. But I think most teachers agree that it's not the best way to reach students.

My vision is to get beyond textbooks and look more to "What do students need to know?" and go from there. Our school has a very narrow budget and our textbooks are out of date. They are also not aligned with what students necessarily need to be learning. How about if we decided to teach the objective with other resources via the web?

What this video: CLICK HERE

This BEYOND TEXTBOOKS wiki is available.

My other thought is implementation. How exactly could we implement teaching objectives without textbooks? Is it really possible? I'm still mulling over this thought. A few things come to mind:

iPads in the classroom - I know many texts are now available in ebook form. Teachers could teach via web resources and have students follow along on the iPad. The iPad can serve as all textbooks in one. The apps for education are now in the thousands - many free or 99 cents. What it we didn't purchase any more curriculum but used web based programs? The draw back is the lack of flash - which doesn't work on the iPad. I still haven't figured that one out. This has some interesting ideas: [|CLICK HERE]

When a student needs to write, I like the idea of "make the most of what you have - It may seem like common sense, but treat your supplies like they’re not replaceable. Mesquite teachers put plastic sheet protectors on their worksheets so that students can write on the plastic, then wipe it off, which keeps the sheets ready for reuse year after year. Student handouts are printed on colored paper to indicate that students should not write on them, so they can be reused as well."

Whiteboards have extensive use in classrooms. Teacher can use them to immediately check for understanding. We are more than willing to go purchase shower board, have them pre-cut at Lowes, and you will have an instant, cheap whiteboard.

Does writing still need to be done in the classroom via pen and paper? Most certainly, yes! Perhaps students will actually be writing more critically as they work with assignments that are not textbook driven but project driven.

I would like to see us cut down on paper use. I would love for each class to have a monitor and document camera. Document cameras in the classrooms eliminate the cost of handouts. Rather than sending home flyers, all the teachers should have online blogs where they can post newsletters, homework assignments, and other information for students and parents. Let's train the students and parents to go to the class blog or web site for assignments and information!