v style=3D"color: rgb(0, 0, 0); background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-=
family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;">It has neve=
r been about education of technology or the technology of education. I wrot=
e the 250 page doctrine that put computers in the classroom in 1984. As I s=
tated then, it was about leveling the playing field for children to learn f=
aster than just at their pace. Studies back then showed that the computer b=
eing modeled after a TV, and using students
how to use the computer, they get it in their mind that they are controlli=
ng the magic screen that they think is the TV, and in doing so, they learne=
d at a quicker pace. My First Alphabet had children as young as 4 reading a=
nd achieving a high vocabulary!

But when you miss those basic skills=
of reading, writings and mathematics; then you have done more harm than go=
od to the child when placing them in front of the computer. Let me give the=
case of the "Child Prodigy Program"=0A (the CPP) of mid 1970s. Created and=
funded by Edward Teller (That Eward Teller) certain children who were high=
ly gifted in specific skills were only taught those skills. If a child exce=
lled in math, then they only taught math to that child. It became harder an=
d harder to teach children other subjects after two years of this progam. W=
hen funding ended, and the City was in a money crisis, Mayor Beame killed t=
he program, pushing for the IGC (Intelligently Gifted Child) program instea=
d. Nearly all of the CPP children went into the ICG program, and they were =
forced to stay away from their gifted skills and to learn everything that t=
hey should have been taught in regular classes from the beginning. Children=
in the CPP who were multifacetted in their skills, those who had more than=
one ability did better than those with a single ability. A boy named John,=
was a mechanical genius, and for the 3 years he was in the program, they g=
ave him small machines to figure=0A out and if broken - fix it. With him it=
got to a point where he repaired a 1600 century clock and a car's transmis=
sion. He was labeled Special Ed because he was minimal in his regular acade=
mic skills. Another child who was Math, Music and Science skilled, did well=
enough to graduate from Brooklyn Tech in 1981. He was me.

To presen=
t date: I was handed what I was told as a severely retarded girl. She has a=
long history of immigration issues even though she and her brother were bo=
rn here in the states making them citizens but their parents were illegal. =
She and her family was deported to Mexico when she was 6 months old. Add a =
shlock lawyer trying to make a name for himself and 10 years in the world c=
ourt, it was decided that the children have to return to the USA, and her p=
arents brought with them as well. Money money damages were awarded as well.=
During these 10 years, the girl never went to school and worked on a famil=
y farm. If she went to any=0A school it was one of those old one room schoo=
ls with children of many grades in one class. She did speak and write Spani=
sh well, but here in NYC she was tested in English and from her low score, =
labeled retarded.

I was given her to teach her one on one to get her=
to minimal skills. I discovered there was nothing wrong with the child oth=
er than being a Native Spanish speaking person. So I managed to get her bac=
k into a normal classroom setting, translating the work into Spanish for he=
r. At the same time I tutored her in English. Apparently she did so well un=
der me that the school board thought that some form of cheating was done - =
here is a girl labeled as retarded going exceptional on her state wide exam=
s! She was tested and retested, in front of investigators, translators, spe=
cial education experts, psychologists - you name it they were there. She pa=
ssed every test threw at her and one so called expert dared to bring finger=
print and DNA testing=0A on the girl. When it was explained that I was her=
teacher, I explained it to them that they fucked up in called her retarded=
and has mislabeled her accordingly when she should have been labeled as En=
glish Deficient - Native Spanish Language person.

Because of this, i=
t makes me wonder how many children are in this position, how many are left=
to suffer or things they already in another language. In working with Arab=
ic kids, I noticed that they do math differently but always arrive at the s=
ame answer as in the textbook way but they are made to suffer relearning it=
the school's way. Putting these children in front of a computer would do n=
othing for them. Nothing at all. They require a proper assessment and not p=
igeon holing them into learning deficient categories when they dont belong =
there.

Sometimes its the school's fault in not providing proper serv=
ices. Other times its the school board. In the cases above, its both. It is=
the school's=0A direction under Bloomberg that kids are made to suffer. He=
dont care how the grades are achieved, as long as they are achieved but wh=
ile not giving the schools the proper materials to do their jobs. Putting t=
he best kids in the so-called best schools, and the worst kids in the worst=
schools and expect them to be equal on all terms is a farce. Teachers can =
only do what they can with what little they got.

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

tyle=3D"font-family: times new roman,new york,times,serif; font-size: 12pt;=
">

---

<=
span style=3D"font-weight: bold;">From: Ruben Safir <=3D"nofollow" ymailto=3D"mailto:mrbrklyn-at-panix.com" target=3D"_blank" href=
=3D"mailto:mrbrklyn-at-panix.com">mrbrklyn-at-panix.com>
e=3D"font-weight: bold;">To: NYLXS <to=3D"mailto:hangout-at-nylxs.com"
target=3D"_blank" href=3D"mailto:hangout-at-nylxs.com">hangout-at-nylxs.com&=
gt;
Sent: Monday, Feb=
ruary 13, 2012 9:47 AM
Subject:span> [NYLXS - HANGOUT] It shouldn't happen to a dog

=

=0A

Oh GOD

iBelieve, iCan, iWill,

I'm fucked!!!<=
br>


imes.com/2012/02/13/education/mooresville-school-district-a-laptop-success-=
story.html?hp=3D&pagewanted=3Dall">http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/13/ed=
ucation/mooresville-school-district-a-laptop-success-story.html?hp=3D&p=
agewanted=3Dall

February 12, 2012
Mooresville=E2=80=99s Shini=
ng Example (It=E2=80=99s Not Just About the Laptops)
By ALAN SCHWARZ
=

MOORESVILLE, N.C. =E2=80=94 Sixty educators from across the nation roam=
ed
the halls and ringed the rooms of East Mooresville Intermediate Schoo=
l,
searching for the secret formula. They found it in Erin Holsinger=E2=
=80=99s
fifth-grade math class.

There, a boy peering into his sch=
ool-issued MacBook blitzed through
fractions by himself, determined to r=
each sixth-grade work by winter.
Three desks away, a girl was struggling=
with basic multiplication =E2=80=94
only
29 percent=0A right, her screen said =E2=80=94 and Ms. Holsinger knelt
=
beside her to assist. Curiosity was fed and embarrassment avoided, as
te=
acher connected with student through emotion far more than Wi-Fi.

=
=E2=80=9CThis is not about the technology,=E2=80=9D Mark Edwards, superinte=
ndent
of Mooresville Graded School District, would tell the visitors lat=
er
over lunch. =E2=80=9CIt=E2=80=99s not about the box. It=E2=80=99s abo=
ut changing the
culture of instruction =E2=80=94 preparing students for =
their future, not
our past.=E2=80=9D

v>