Technology can help ensure our students hear, learn, and achieve

CAT Tracks Editor's Note:

Kenny Chesney sang: You had me from 'Hello'.

Well, the article above lost me from the final sentence of its opening paragraph:

It’s no wonder research shows that kids not seated in the front row miss 30 to 50 percent of what their teachers say.

First of all...

In the classrooms that I've been reading about, there are no freaking front rows! "Front rows" went the way of the dinosaurs!!!

Secondly...

Wire the teacher with sound, have the teacher flit from small group to small group, and see what happens when s/he answers one group's question...

...the disruption of and quizzical looks from the other groups who were engaged in their own learning process!

And, finally...

"With the student handheld microphone..." What? Student "sage on the stage"? Puuleeeze, let's not foster a new age of dinosaurs!

Bottom line:

Another gimmick by another company damned and determined to help itself to a slice of the education money pie.

If the Obama Administration hasn't copyrighted the acronym, let's call this competition among individuals and companies:

"RttT"...Race to the Trough!

BTW:

This is not a new idea...

Emerson (yes, even before it became Cairo Elementary) had a voice amplification system.

I still remember one of the teachers telling me about the reaction of the students when the system was first initiated...

...being startled and turning around in their seats, searching for the source of the voice coming from behind them when the teacher at the front of the room spoke softly into her microphone.

Ha!

One of those stories that woulda, coulda, shoulda been in my book (that I will never write) about Cairo School District Number One.

Anyway...