nd-color:#fff; font-family:times new roman, new york, times, serif;font-size=
:12pt">It has never been about education of technology or the technology of e=
ducation. I wrote the 250 page doctrine that put computers in the classroom i=
n 1984. As I stated then, it was about leveling the playing field for childr=
en to learn faster than just at their pace. Studies back then showed that th=
e computer being modeled after a TV, and using students how to use the compu=
ter, they get it in their mind that they are controlling the magic screen th=
at they think is the TV, and in doing so, they learned at a quicker pace. My=
First Alphabet had children as young as 4 reading and achieving a high voca=
bulary!

But when you miss those basic skills of reading, writings and=
mathematics; then you have done more harm than good to the child when placi=
ng them in front of the computer. Let me give the case of the "Child Prodigy=
Program"
(the CPP) of mid 1970s. Created and funded by Edward Teller (That Eward Tel=
ler) certain children who were highly gifted in specific skills were only ta=
ught those skills. If a child excelled in math, then they only taught math t=
o that child. It became harder and harder to teach children other subjects a=
fter two years of this progam. When funding ended, and the City was in a mon=
ey crisis, Mayor Beame killed the program, pushing for the IGC (Intelligentl=
y Gifted Child) program instead. Nearly all of the CPP children went into th=
e ICG program, and they were forced to stay away from their gifted skills an=
d to learn everything that they should have been taught in regular classes f=
rom the beginning. Children in the CPP who were multifacetted in their skill=
s, those who had more than one ability did better than those with a single a=
bility. A boy named John, was a mechanical genius, and for the 3 years he wa=
s in the program, they gave him small machines to figure
out and if broken - fix it. With him it got to a point where he repaired a 1=
600 century clock and a car's transmission. He was labeled Special Ed becaus=
e he was minimal in his regular academic skills. Another child who was Math,=
Music and Science skilled, did well enough to graduate from Brooklyn Tech i=
n 1981. He was me.

To present date: I was handed what I was told as a=
severely retarded girl. She has a long history of immigration issues even t=
hough she and her brother were born here in the states making them citizens b=
ut their parents were illegal. She and her family was deported to Mexico whe=
n she was 6 months old. Add a shlock lawyer trying to make a name for himsel=
f and 10 years in the world court, it was decided that the children have to r=
eturn to the USA, and her parents brought with them as well. Money money dam=
ages were awarded as well. During these 10 years, the girl never went to sch=
ool and worked on a family farm. If she went to any
school it was one of those old one room schools with children of many grade=
s in one class. She did speak and write Spanish well, but here in NYC she wa=
s tested in English and from her low score, labeled retarded.

I was g=
iven her to teach her one on one to get her to minimal skills. I discovered t=
here was nothing wrong with the child other than being a Native Spanish spea=
king person. So I managed to get her back into a normal classroom setting, t=
ranslating the work into Spanish for her. At the same time I tutored her in E=
nglish. Apparently she did so well under me that the school board thought th=
at some form of cheating was done - here is a girl labeled as retarded going=
exceptional on her state wide exams! She was tested and retested, in front o=
f investigators, translators, special education experts, psychologists - you=
name it they were there. She passed every test threw at her and one so call=
ed expert dared to bring finger print and DNA testing
on the girl. When it was explained that I was her teacher, I explained it t=
o them that they fucked up in called her retarded and has mislabeled her acc=
ordingly when she should have been labeled as English Deficient - Native Spa=
nish Language person.

Because of this, it makes me wonder how many ch=
ildren are in this position, how many are left to suffer or things they alre=
ady in another language. In working with Arabic kids, I noticed that they do=
math differently but always arrive at the same answer as in the textbook wa=
y but they are made to suffer relearning it the school's way. Putting these c=
hildren in front of a computer would do nothing for them. Nothing at all. Th=
ey require a proper assessment and not pigeon holing them into learning defi=
cient categories when they dont belong there.

Sometimes its the schoo=
l's fault in not providing proper services. Other times its the school board=
. In the cases above, its both. It is the school's
direction under Bloomberg that kids are made to suffer. He dont care how th=
e grades are achieved, as long as they are achieved but while not giving the=
schools the proper materials to do their jobs. Putting the best kids in the=
so-called best schools, and the worst kids in the worst schools and expect t=
hem to be equal on all terms is a farce. Teachers can only do what they can w=
ith what little they got.

man,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">

s new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">

face=3D"Arial" size=3D"2">

---

old;">From: Ruben Safir <>mrbrklyn-at-panix.com>
To:pan> NYLXS <hangout-at-nylxs.com>>
Sent: Monday, Fe=
bruary 13, 2012 9:47 AM
bold;">Subject: [NYLXS - HANGOUT] It shouldn't happen to a dogr>

Oh GOD

iBelieve, iCan, iWill,

I'm fucked!!!

r>
ool-district-a-laptop-success-story.html?hp=3D&pagewanted=3Dall" target=3D=
"_blank">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/education/mooresville-school-dist=
rict-a-laptop-success-story.html?hp=3D&pagewanted=3Dall

Febru=
ary 12, 2012
Mooresville=E2=80=99s Shining Example (It=E2=80=99s Not Just=
About the Laptops)
By ALAN SCHWARZ

MOORESVILLE, N.C. =E2=80=94 Si=
xty educators from across the nation roamed
the halls and ringed the room=
s of East Mooresville Intermediate School,
searching for the secret formu=
la. They found it in Erin Holsinger=E2=80=99s
fifth-grade math class.
=

There, a boy peering into his school-issued MacBook blitzed through
f=
ractions by himself, determined to reach sixth-grade work by winter.
Thre=
e desks away, a girl was struggling with basic multiplication =E2=80=94
o=
nly 29 percent
right, her screen said =E2=80=94 and Ms. Holsinger knelt
beside her to a=
ssist. Curiosity was fed and embarrassment avoided, as
teacher connected w=
ith student through emotion far more than Wi-Fi.

=E2=80=9CThis is not=
about the technology,=E2=80=9D Mark Edwards, superintendent
of Mooresvil=
le Graded School District, would tell the visitors later
over lunch. =E2=80=
=9CIt=E2=80=99s not about the box. It=E2=80=99s about changing the
cultur=
e of instruction =E2=80=94 preparing students for their future, not
our p=
ast.=E2=80=9D