Letter from a Sixth Grade Teacher to Kidz Bop

I started my day today with an inspiring letter (see below). I wonder if there are other teachers out there who use Kidz Bop in school? We could create a section of our website where teachers and kids use our video upload tools to work on communication and literacy skills. Would love to hear from any teachers who are interested in this.

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Hi Liz!
A very close friend of mine is a 6th grade teacher in California and a while ago, I told her that I knew the head of Kidz Bop (you!) and she got so excited... She asked me to pass on this letter to you which I have copied and pasted below. You and your company are clearly making a really positive impact on her and her students! :) I hope this letter starts off your day with a smile.
Best wishes,
Jane

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Hi Jane,
Could you please pass on this note to your friend who is affiliated with Kidz Bop? I'd love to let her know how her work is making a difference in my classroom. I teach 6th grade at a low-performing school (Ramona Elementary) in a low-income neighborhood (Montclair, CA). My students are predominantly Latino and most of them are below grade level. My colleagues and I work hard to provide quality instruction, valuable experiences, and new opportunities for the students here. We try to use music to encourage and motivate them to stay on task and work to their potential. The students are familiar with and enjoy radio music, but we cannot play it for them in a school environment. Even the "clean" edited version has inappropriate lyrical content. We download Kidz Bop versions from iTunes and play it for them during transitions, group work time, and even whole-school assemblies. The students love listening to the music while they work. Since they know any noise from them will cause me to turn it off, they are absolutely quiet when I turn it on. They have their favorites ("Let's Get it Started" by Black-Eyed Peas) and request them often. It makes my classroom a friendlier, hipper, and more enjoyable place to be. Thank you to the creators and employees of Kidz Bop for taking the time to make all of this music "clean" for my students!

Sincerely,
(name withheld since I don't have her permission)

And Why No YouTube in Schools?

Si (my partner, Seymour Simon) and I spoke at the Wisconsin State Reading Association last week, on the topic of Digital Literacy. We were describing his blog, SeymourScience.com, on which he provides a variety of teacher support materials for the use of his books in the classroom, including Discussion Guides, Science Projects, and video. A former science teacher, Si acts as a video curator, selecting clips that are exciting and compelling for kids, as well as scientifically accurate. He often sources these videos from YouTube, such as this recording of a mountain gorilla family, presented as supplemental material for his Smithsonian/Collins book GORILLAS.

Multiple teachers at the conference told us that they cannot use these links, as YouTube is blocked in their schools. That is ridiculous. Surely school administrators could supply teachers with passwords, that would allow them to "unlock" YouTube for educational purposes. It is free, and full of captivating video.

Dr. James Gee, a leading proponent of videogames as educational tools, created this scene as an intro to one of his books: Rip Van Winkle wakes up in the early 21st Century, and is totally confused. He is frightened by automobiles and disturbed to see people seemingly talking to themselves (on bluetooth cell phone headsets). Then, he sees a familiar and comforting sight - a schoolhouse. He rushes in, and sure enough, it is just as he remembered it. Teachers lecturing from the front of the room, students yawning as they laboriously take notes by hand, textbooks with familiar, 20th century images.....

Is this really where we want our schools to be? There is significant funding earmarked for "Education" in the stimulus bill that President Obama signed today. We can only hope that some of it will be for teacher (and administrator) training in and access to the media that children find most compelling.

Cell Phones as Educational Tools?

Today's New York Times has an article about wireless industry groups who are pitching cell phones as educational tools. The way the article reads, it was a set up for the companies to be slammed for pitching products rather than truly focusing on education. And, that's exactly what happened in the reader comments on the article.

Amazingly, the authors don't seem to have done even rudimentary research, or they would have stumbled upon "Pockets of Potential," the new white paper from the Joan Ganz Cooney Center, which advocates the use of cell phones and other wireless technologies to promote learning.


I added my comment into the mix - a lone voice in the wilderness of disapproval!