There Are No Shortcuts

I highly recommend you listen to this podcast, There Are No Shortcuts. This is a very inspiring look at education by a 5th grade teacher in Los Angelos, Rafe Esquith. The podcast is a recording of a presentation he and some of his students did at the Texas Computer Education Assocation’s annual conference on February 10, 2006. The podcast was recorded and posted by Wesley Fryer on his site, Moving at the Speed of Creativity (I highly recommend his site as well.) In this presentation Mr. Esquith talks about technology in the classroom, but in very different ways. He uses technology very much integrated into real life experience and skills to reach students in an LA elementary school with over 2,000 students, K-5, where more than 90% of them are below the poverty level and speak English as a second language. However, he doesn't focus soley on technology use either. What he has done with his students is incredible. And he doesn't use technology in the ways we are used to hearing about. It's listening to teachers like this that makes me long for a class of my own again.