Education and Technology

Food for thought….

Watching the youth on a day to day basis I see how they interact with each other, the teachers and the technology. Moving from an elementary school to a middle school I’ve seen something that I really didn’t see in such a great percentage. What is that you ask? Well, I see a big lack of parent involvement as the students move into middle school.

Volunteers at an elementary school are quite plentiful, while at the middle school level they are a scarce breed. I understand that our children grow out of needing us as parents as they grow older to a degree, and they don’t stay in the same class all day. But, this is a cop out for many reasons. First, you can go to any class you wish to help, it doesn’t matter what class or which students. If your child is in that class only one period, that gives them time to see you, but it also gives you some time to spend another period with other students. Second, you can go to a different class your child has another day. Switch it up, go to science one day, history the next and reading another. Third, get involved with the Pareent Teacher organization in your childs school. If nothing else you get to have a say in what is presented during the year as extracurricular activities. You can also help plan the use of funds for your child’s education from the PTO.

Get involved, help your child, help some one else’s child. Just get out and do it. The technology might be great and give them an outlet to learn, but they see you every day, every night. They take their learning keys from you, not the teachers or the technology. If you don’t care about what they are doing, then why should they?

Education, PTO, PTA, Parents

Being educated, doesn’t always mean learning from a book. Sometimes it means listening to others who are experts in a field, or searching for information on the web. Sometimes it takes a tragedy like the one of the 3 missing boaters in the Gulf off Clearwater, FL. Since Clearwater is within 50 miles of where we live, I have been watching intently in hopes that all of these men would be found alive. As of today it looks more and more like they won’t.

The education that we can get from this is that there are many things you can carry on a boat that will save your life and you should have more than just life jackets. One high tech item which costs from $200 to $1500 is an EPIRB, or Emergency Position Indicating Radio Beacon. Considering the price of the boat, $200 to save your life is a small price to pay. I believe that this item should be included in the items required for any boater.

So, what is an EPIRB you ask?

Well it’s a GPS that sends your location to a satellite and that information goes to the Coast Guard. If you want to read more about an EPIRB click here.

Boating, Safety, Technology