Blog Post # 5 " Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please? "

Scott McLeod is an associate professor of educational leadership at the University of Kentucky. He is also the founding director of the UCEA center for the advanced study of technology leadership in education (CASTLE). Castle is the nation’s only academic center that is dedicated to the technology needs of school administrators. Scott is also the co-creator of the video's Did You Know? that we have already viewed in EDM 310. He is a very successful educator of technology for other teachers and has won many awards for his work.
Scott McLeod wrote a blog entitled "Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please?." This blog is written to satirically point out the absurdity of the negative view points of people concerning the internet and it's "dangers." Being raised in a family with deep religious views, I have heard many of the same things he was saying in the blog. My cousins, for instance, are not allowed to wear short sleeves, shorts, or have a television in their house. They feel that the sin of the people that are on the t.v. will come through into their house. It is so sad to think people are that naive to how the world works.
Scott Mcleod knows that there are bad things such as cyberbullying and porn on the internet, but he is making the point that we as teachers need to teach children how to use the internet right. We need to be the example of what to do on the internet and teach them the dangers of it. If we block them out completely from the internet then children will not know the great and educational aspects of it. I plan to take what I learned from this and make sure I will teach my students will learn everything about the internet.

The iSchool Initiative

"The Ischool Initiative" is a presentation by a high school senior Travis Allen. Travis is proposing a solution to some of the problems we are having with the traditional school setting such as, classroom sizes getting larger, teachers getting let go, and massive budget cuts. The solution he is proposing is using Apples popular itouch as a platform for educating students instead of the traditional classroom. Using the itouch would be easy to use for students and help save money on books, ink, and paper. Travis points out applications that are already available to itouch users and he shows how each application can be used for an education. He insists this ischool will be the solution to the problems we are facing in the classroom and wants to spread the word that this can be done with the help of others. It is awesome to think that this 17 year old high school student has this much concern for the future of our education system. Although I feel like the plan is very realistic for the near future, I do think that this young man will have a great impact on where the school systems are headed.

In "Travis Allen's ZeitgeistYoungMinds Entry," we find Travis Allen three years later at Kennesaw State University where he still companying for the ischool initiative. We find that he has become very successful with the ischool initiative and is recognized world wide. He and his team of 25 other students travel the country and visit schools getting them to embrace global learning. He has become such a success story of a young teen really wanting something to change and getting out there and doing it. I hope to teach young minds one day to be brave enough to go out and change the world for the good. Travis is a real inspiration to anyone who wants to get something done but does not think they can. I look forward to hearing more about the ischool initiative in the future.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'

After watching "Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir - 'Lux Aurumque'" I was speechless. This is a virtual choir where 185 people from around the world who never met sang Lux Aurumgue. This video really demonstrates how we can do anything with technology. I have been singing all of my life for various different groups and bands and I have never been a part of something so unique as that choir is. I hope to see more virtual choirs in the future because it is so moving to see so many different people coming together in harmony.

Teaching In the 21st Century

Watching the video "Teaching In the 21st Century" I really start to feel the responsibility of what I will be doing every day as a teacher to children in the 21st century. It is such a wonderful responsibility that I will not take lightly and it is important to remember that you can be that one teacher that may change a child's life forever. Knowing that children can search the web for any and all information in this day in age on websites such as google, bing, and wikipedia may make a teacher feel like they are useless. What can we teach them that they cannot just go home and google? In the video it says that teachers in the 21st century should be the filter for these students. I believe that this is very true. It is now our responsibility as teachers to show the students what is beneficial and safe for them to look at, and what can be harmful to their minds and computers such as viruses. We have such a great responsibility to teach these young minds and it is our job to teach them what will be useful for them in the future. Technology and the internet is not going anywhere so we need to teach students how to use it correctly now while they are young so they can change it for the better in the future.

Project # 9 Time Line

Project #8 "Put Me in, Coach"

Blog Post # 4

I love the idea of doing podcasts in the classroom. After listening to "Eagles' Nest Radio" I really understood just how effective it can be for young students. Doing a podcast in the classroom helps the student get more involved in the lessons, and it helps them retain more knowledge of the subject. Years later, children will still be able to listen to their podcast and be proud of what they did. Reading the "Langwiches Blog," I see that even children as young as 6 and 7 years can be a part of a podcast. These students are getting to learn so much about technology at a young age.
I feel like it is so important for teachers to learn all they can about what ipods have to offer for education. This new generation of kids have so much technology at their fingertips, and it is important to teach them how to use it to it's full potential. I have had my ipod for several years now and had no idea it did anything more than play music. Reading "100 Ways to Use Your iPod to Learn and Study Better" has opened my eyes to a new way of studying for college. If children learn how to use the ipod now, then they will be years ahead of my generation in studying.
I enjoyed listening to these young students podcasts. I hope to use podcasts in my classroom on day!

Project # 6 "This Is My Sentence"

Project # 5

C4T #1

On August 31, 2011 Paul Salomon issued a blog "The perfect marriage/school." He basically compared his marriage to his personal classroom. Paul gave the example of how he and his wife have many unspoken rules and agreements and because of those agreements they have a healthier, happier marriage. He says that the rules they have are simple things like, who ever wakes up last has to make the bed but they are important to them because it helps make their relationship work so well. When comparing his marriage to his classroom he stated that he and his kids also have similar rules to help insure the kids are getting what they need from their teacher. He said that these rules work for him and his students but may not work for every classroom.
Paul knows that having these rules and agreements will motivate his students to do or not to do something because they know the consequences. He is tired of educators trying to find the "one size fits all" methods for the "perfect" classroom. He knows that each child and each school year is different and it is up to the teacher to find what teaching style best suits the needs for the children that year. Paul motivated me to remember that when I become a teacher I will have to find out what the needs are for my students before I try to find the "perfect" teaching style. Like marriage, teaching is a lot of work and you have to work together to make it successful.

On September 11, 2011 Steve Miranda posted "The Gilded Classroom." Steve talked about how school districts around the country are spending millions of dollars on new technology such as smartboards and laptops for classrooms in order to boost academic achievement. He talked about a special he watched on television about a teacher in her classroom with the new smartboard asking the kids a question and each child had a remote answering questions like a game show. Steve argues that that students do not want teachers to disguise the classroom as a game show with new technology however, they want teachers to care what they are doing enough not to rely on technology to teach a classroom. He feels like spending all of this money on new technology may be a waist because children may not like it and want that money spent on other things such as new telescopes or new books.
The blog was an interesting read and I do feel like I can take some things from it as food for thought. However, I do not think that trying to use technology in the classroom as a way to motivate students is a bad thing. Yes spending that much money on something like a smartboard may seem like a little much but, it is helping children be motivated to learn. I do agree with Steve when he said that if you spend time getting to know you students then you know whether or not they enjoy using technology then you can decide to use the technology for that classroom or not.

Blog Post # 3

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines would be a great blog for all existing and upcoming teachers to read. She states in her blog that technology should not be the only focus on teachers and they should round out having great teaching skills with blending in the new technology for students to become familiar with it. It seems as though educators have drawn a line in the sand concerning technology and making teachers chose to teach "by the books" or exclusively with technology. This should not be true. Every child learns in their own special way integrating "good old fashioned" teaching methods with using the latest technology will help each and every student get the information they need in the way they learn best. Mrs. Hines is right in the fact that teaching is not only about technology and I feel all teachers need to get sight of that. Computers and smartboards are both great tools for teachers to use inside the classroom and they should be available to students in each and every room to help them grow and be better prepared for the future. When I am a teacher I hope to remember the message Mrs. Hines is trying to send out so my students can better understand the world around them.

Karl Fisch's "Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?" was a sobering blog for me to read as a future teacher. He really stressed in his blog the importance of teachers in this day and age to be completely literate with new technology. It reminded me that everything in this world is happening at such a fast pace and we as future teachers need to be able to teach our students how to use these important tools in our lives. Technology is all around us and children are going to learn how to use it with or without us teaching them. It is crucial that we teach them the correct way and so they can learn all they can from it. I am so glad South is offering this Edm 310 class to prepare future teachers to be technologically literate and we can share our knowledge with our future students.

Gary Hayes "Social Media Count" is a tally system per second of how many times things such as twitter and facebook is
used. The numbers go up at such a fast pace it is a little overwhelming to think how much technology is being used at that exact second. To see numbers like this it is crazy think that many of our generations grandparents have never even owned a computer. Many of our children by the age of 2 know how to at least turn the computer on and off and play simple games to pass time. This world is truly changing at such a rate if we do not learn how to use technology we will be left behind. We as future educators should prepare ourselves to teach the upcoming generation to be equipped to know how to use this technology properly. We are more responsible than ever now to shape their minds and get involved in these new technologies. Seeing this social media count has opened my eyes to the fact that I do not know as much as I should about social media and I need to get out there and learn more.

Michael Wesch's video "A Vision of Students Today" made me realize that what many of those students were saying was exactly how I feel every single day about the traditional classroom. The video was set inside a lecture classroom and basically asked the students to write down what many students were thinking about in a typical lecture. Things were said such as "I buy hundred dollar textbooks that I never open up" and "I will read 8 books a year and read 2300 webpages and 1281 facebook profiles." Watching this video you can tell these are students just like me feeling the same way I do. The traditional classroom serves a great purpose but with technology playing such a huge role in so many of our lives I feel major universities should try and better integrate social media with college courses. When I become a teacher I hope to take this video and try to help my students not feel like some of these students do.

Peer Editing
Peer editing is such an important thing for kids to do all the way up to their careers. I feel like it helps them in many ways to better their personal work and get a better insight into what others feel about a particular subject. Peer editing also trains your eyes to see things in your own paper that you may not have seen yourself. The rule about complimenting on your peers work is so important because you want them to take the advice in a way they feel like you are not trying to personally hurt their feelings. Depending on what needs to be said about the review I feel like it is the reviewers choice whether to make the corrections public or a little more private. I enjoy reading others work and I hope they take the job of peer editing serious because sometimes that is the only other set of eyes that see the paper before the teacher grades it.