Kaulbach's Modern World

Love this article on Decoding ! Ready or not, my rural high school is preparing to deliver 1:1 iPads to our entire middle and high school populations next fall. Furtive conversations abound in halls and at lunch gatherings as we debate the possibilities and traditional needs of classroom learning. There has always been a fine line between reliance on products that facilitate 21st century learning or teaching as salespersons for product placement. Are we building a service based society at the expense of academic learning?  What about our rural students? Does reliance on iPads alienate them or become enhancers their  talent? I’m wracking my brain over these questions; I dare not get the answers wrong.  My excitement and anxiety is compounded by my husband’s responsibilities for said project. He is the tech integrationist, a stand up teacher who sacrificed his classroom role to lead this initiative. We have much at stake in this, including a dinner date a year from...

Representing the tiny state of Vermont, it's my humble opinion as a public educator that the commitment to improvements in education is strong. Our state legislators are finishing this session with intentions to find ways to decrease spending yet increase access to early education. According to the Department of Education, more than 80% of towns in our 14 counties already publicly fund per-k programs in and outside the public school systems.  According to news coverage posted by Josh O'Gorman (Rutland Herald, May, 2013) Vermont was one of the only states funding pre-K education to increase spending this fiscal year.  Times are definitely tough for Vermonters but even in attendance at our rural town meeting in March, voters were adamant that children come first. While 27 of the 40 states reported declines in pre-K spending, Vermont increased its spending by $368 per pupil, from $3,376 per pupil to $3,744 per pupil. During the 2011-12 fiscal year, Vermont had 5,442 p...

I have two classes left as I get ready to finish my Masters in Literacy. For my 14 fans out there, thank you for paying attention to my intellectual journey. Yesterday afternoon, I sat in an independent study not even noticing the sudden blooms of spring outside the porch window. Instead I was reviewing once and for all the importance of fluency. Reading with speed, accuracy and expression is essential to success in middle and high school and yet many of us do not take the time to encourage it. As I sat and reviewed assessment strategies and screening of fluency I was seized with the sort of thoughts that many first year teachers experience. Thoughts of, "I'm not ready!" ran through my mind. For the first time in 16 years of teaching I have been mentored and coached by experts in the field of literacy who have refined my practice as I teach. It is synonymous to working with Ina Garten in the kitchen or Bob Villa on House design. Can I continue this Mastery without their c...