Stop Patching Education!

This is the first in a series of rants from a frustrated educational writer. At the intersection of politics and education the refrain is always the same.



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Why? My thoughts on health insurance

Uncertainty clipart

from Clker.com

Why?  Why is there this huge law known as the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act”?  For those that don’t know, this is also referred to as “Obamacare”.  What was the purpose of this law?  If it was to provide insurance for people who do not have it, well, it’s not working.  Actually it is doing the opposite.  Also, where is the “affordable” part?  Many people are talking about premiums that have drastically increased.  We are not talking about a couple of dollars, we are talking about 78% increases. Others are seeing a 90% increase.  

But nothing I have heard has told me “why” we need such a law.  We keep hearing about rising healthcare costs and how people can’t afford it…… what?  Rising healthcare costs?  This leads me to exactly what I have been saying for the last 5 years:  Why does health care cost so much?  Rather than trying to find a way to have everyone pay the high cost of healthcare, why not look at WHY it is so expensive to begin with?!?!?  

Let me provide an example.  I have an explanation of benefits from my insurance company in which they list some claims for routine blood work.  The total amount billed by the provider (the lab) was $371.21.  Guess how much of that bill I owe? All of it?  Half of it?  No, I am responsible for $17.67.  That is $17.67!!!  How is this possible?  Well, this is because the provider “has agreed to the plan discount” of $353.54!!!!!  So, because I have insurance, I only need to pay $17.67.  If I did not have insurance then I would be responsible for $371.21!!!!  This is outrageous!!!  Why is the billed amount so high?  Apparently the tests only cost $17.67, so why not just bill me for that amount!!!!?!?!?

Another quick example.  My wife had an MRI at a medical imaging office.  The total cost was roughly $2500.  The doctor who ordered it said that it was “blurry” and she needed to have another MRI done at his office.  Well, after several phone calls and hoops to jump through the insurance company agreed to pay for the other MRI.  We get the explanations of benefits for that MRI, guess how much it cost?  Nope.  It cost $3800!!!   Why the difference?!?!?

I have many, many, many other examples like theres.  I just really want to know “why”.  Why do certain procedures, tests and office visits cost what they do.  If an MRI really costs $3800 then, OK, I will pay $3800.  If a test costs $300 then, OK, bill me for $300.  But if the test only costs $15 dollars do not charge me 2000% of the actual cost!

So I am pleading for anyone to listen to me…. STOP the madness of trying to find a way to pay for the outrageous health insurance premiums and lets find a way to get some truth in medical billing!!  I thoroughly believe if we force the medical industry to support why they are billing what they are, we might see some drastic billing changes….. And we might get to a point where we have affordable health care.  Besides, isn't it supposed to be  the “affordable care act” and not the “affordable insurance premium act”?

Some references:

http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-111hr3590enr/pdf/BILLS-111hr3590enr.pdf

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/11/05/obamacare-price-hikes-hit-red-states-hardest/

http://blogs.kqed.org/stateofhealth/2013/10/18/why-some-are-seeing-premiums-go-up-as-affordable-care-act-goes-into-effect-obamacare/

5 Ways to Blow the Top Off of Rubrics

This is a guest post from Shawn McCusker of EdTechTeacher.org which is an advertiser on this blog.



via Pocket http://www.freetech4teachers.com/2013/04/5-ways-to-blow-top-off-of-rubrics.html

Beginnings, and their educational importance

“You know that the beginning is the most important part of any work, especially in the case of a young and tender thing.” – PLATO, The Republic, Book II. Where to begin? – an essential question in all story-telling and thus, also, in curriculum writing.



via Pocket http://grantwiggins.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/beginnings-and-their-educational-importance/

Developing Students' Higher-Order Thinking

This article shows how different types of teacher feedback affect students’ capacity for self-directed learning. Instead of telling students what they need to know, help them uncover information and make sense of things for themselves.



via Pocket http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol8/818-toc.aspx

Flipped Learning Network / Homepage

The mission of the Flipped Learning Network™ is to provide educators with the knowledge, skills, and resources to successfully implement Flipped Learning. Provide professional learning opportunities on Flipped Learning.



via Pocket http://flippedlearning.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=1

Practicing with Picasa

While looking at my blog stuff, I used Live Writer to insert a picture… I then discovered upon posting that the pic was uploaded to Picasa!

I am going to see if it happens again.

From Windows Live Writer

Who will win the Stanley Cup?

Web2.0Calc

http://web2.0calc.com/

I have seen several of online calculators before, but this one is amazing!!! They even have code you can use to embed it in your site!! I did however find a problem with this, the "widget" does not re-size when you use such functions as graphing or matrices. No big deal, though, just click on the link and go to the Web2.0Calc site and you are good to go!!

You can see it in use on my wiki site at MrO-Physics.

You have to try this one out!!!

Project-Based Learning: A Case for Not Giving Up | Edutopia

Project-Based Learning: A Case for Not Giving Up | Edutopia

This is a real good article about the "stumbling" blocks you may have when introducing and using PBL in the classroom.

Fixing the Chrome Error: “Could not create directory for unzipping” - Eddie On Everything

Fixing the Chrome Error: “Could not create directory for unzipping” - Eddie On Everything

This is the one that worked!! I was pulling my hair out to get extensions to work and this was the ticket.

What I am working on is using Portable Apps from a USB drive with Chrome Portable. I kept getting the "create... " error. I found this page and followed the directions. I tried using Win7's built in zip ability but it did not work. So I installed 7zip portable on my USB drive and extracted files with it.

I can now install and use extensions!!! Thank you very much Eddie on Everything!

Five Myths About School Attendance

Five Myths About School Attendance

This article from Education Week is very interesting. I have been on "Attendance Committees" and it has been very eye opening to see the trends in attendance. I do agree with the 5 myths and also agree with the premise of "students cannot learn if they do not attend school". I do however want to throw in a little monkey wrench: online schooling. Do we count attendance when the student logs on to the computer to do school work? And is it really necessary for a child to attend school to learn? In other words, can learning occur outside of school?

I will ponder these questions and respond at a later date. I would like to hear what others think, this could be a very good discussion.

Dealing with WIKIs

Wikis are a wonderful tool.  They allow for collaboration and the sharing of knowledge.  They can be used like websites to pass on information and share documents or they can be used like electronic portfolios or they can be used just like Wikipedia (which of course is a Wiki). The problem is when do you use them?  And how to use them?

From an article found in the August 2010 edition of “Tech Learning”, Ellen Ullman writes:

“Middle and high school teachers use them for group projects. A math teacher who solves problems with the screen capturing tool Jing (jingproject.com) embeds his work into his wiki for continuous review. Third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade teachers use wikis to create centers that include directions for assignments and student work.” (Link to article)

I personally can only answer the questions above by simply saying, try it.  If it works great!  If not, adjust!

The two Wikis out there that are used in the classroom the most are Wikispaces and PBWorks. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.  I personally find Wikispaces very easy to use and it is the one I prefer.

Give Wikis a try… you will find your students will get involved and possibly even find creating a wiki fun!

A problem with my last post….

As I have said before, I am trying to use Windows Live Writer….  Apparently when I use the “embed” code for my Scratch project it shows up with no problems in Writer, but when it gets posted, it either disappears or does not work.

It may be due to my “AD Blocker”, but I tried viewing the blog on another computer and it still had issues.  So, if anyone else has any ideas on how to solve this problem, I would love to hear form you!

First Scratch Upload

I was first introduced to Scratch about a year ago.  I have not really had the time to play with it and see what it can do.  I recently was reminded of it while attending Alan November’s Building Learning Communities 10 conference in Boston.  I decided to download it and give it a try. 

I am very happy to say that it is very easy to use.  It basically is an “integrated development environment” like you would find using Visual Studio.  HOWEVER it is EXTREMELY rudimentary and designed for young people.  AND it is FREE! You are not going to develop the next big Windows app with it BUT you will learn about programming and object based coding.

I worked through a couple of tutorials and in about 30 minutes of “playing” I was able to code and upload the following:

(To view it click on the “green flag” in the upper right hand corner)

Learn more about this project

As you can see it is just a very basic little "movie" like presentation. However I do suggest that you check the website, it is amazing what some students are doing with this program! I used the embed code generated to place it here.

Below I used the “html” generated code to embed it in the blog.  You need to click on it and it will take you to the website where you can view it:

 

I hope you take the time to look into this valuable free application!!

My First Blog entry using Windows Live Writer

This entry was made using a component of Windows Live Essentials. This is a set of programs that include a Photo Gallery, Messenger, Live Mail and a few others.  I found the set up to be very straight forward. 

Live Writer connected to my Blog on Blogger, downloaded all the posts and even the theme! 

I will be interested in seeing just how good this is compared to just using the online editor.  At first glance it does seem to be a little easier to add certain things to the blog.  For instance there is a “task” bar on the left (like you would see in Word) that has options to insert “Pictures”, “Map”, “Video” and other items.

I will continue to explore and report back when I can.

BLC 10

I am attending the NovemberLearning BLC10 conference and I am learning soooo much! I have a lot of ideas that I need to put into action this school year.

First Day of School

Tomorrow is the first day of school! I can't wait! I am one of those crazy teachers that loves teaching! I miss my students!

I have not worked for 11 years now... I have way too much fun teaching so I can't call it work!

Inservice

I have in service training tomorrow. It is on how to use Progress Book and Classroom Management. I really am looking forward to it.

Also, open house tomorrow night! Should be fun to see all the students again!

Here we go!!!!!

I had a good lunch today. The admin and union got together to discuss what is new and what has happened over the summer. Good stuff!

I had some issues getting my laptop, interactive board, mobi and external monitor to work.... but I prevailed!! I am already getting ready mentally for all the teachers who will need help doing the same thing!!