paying students for good grades

After reading the article,  http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-money-for-grades-11-sep11,0,4916582,print.story. , Earn an A: Here's 50 Bucks, I immediately thought, "What a slippery slope this is."  I don't think it's really appropriate for students to be getting paid for their grades.  I think students should be getting good grades because they are motivated and want to have a future.  Scholarships are already a financial motivation to do well.  I also think that cheating will reach new heights with a monetary incentive.  I wonder where the money itself would come from.  An article from the tribune about funding for education states that Blagojevich balks at the idea of raising taxes to get school funding. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-il-blagojevich,0,59861.story

Some schools don't even have the money for proper textbooks so it seems a little backward to pay students for their grades.  Another article showed that Illinois has the worst school funding of all 50 states. http://www.betterfundingforbetterschools.com/ 

There is another incentive announced for education in New Mexico http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqDfHquabJw  I personally think this is a much better idea than paying students for good grades.  The one drawback to this idea is the strain it will put on families.  When a young man asks John McCain what he will do about the rising price of education he speaks about scholarships and especially the military.  These are valuable incentives we have always had as a nation. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncJ952S1C6w 

response to the videos and a fellow blogger

After watching the videos I definitely had some impressions, but I was not feeling very hopeful.    I felt really guilty because in the past I had always thought that teaching and technology were not linked.  I now realize that unless children feel that information is relevant to their lives, it may not seem worthwhile to them.  

I looked at Colleen's blog:  http://cmostyn.blogspot.com/2008/09/blog-post.html  I agree with Colleen's perspective (though I am by no means technologically savvy).  I think students need to have all types of creative outlets.  I also think it is a teacher's responsibility to help introduce new technology to students.  It's a safe environment to learn about technology in.  

response to post

After I watched the video of Sir Ken, I came to several conclusions.  I think he made some very valid points about the value of creativity and that traditional schooling kills creativity.  I think that the point of learning new teaching methods these days is so that we can accommodate different learning styles and different types of intelligence.  I know this is very valid partly because of my own personal experiences.  My sister is a kinesthetic learner and she has trouble sitting still and looking at a chalkboard while she learns.  I will definitely be making more of an effort to incorporate many different types of teaching styles into my classroom.  It hurt me to hear that so many children feel like their talents and strengths are not valued in schools.  Artistic ability and physical capabilities are very valid and, contrary to past views, are valuable to reaching career goals.