Blog Assignment #10

Do you Teach or Do you Educate?

How do I intend to educate rather than just teach? Well, I believe that I can effectively educate beginning with honest teaching. This done by giving students fair and honest praise or criticism. This includes honest praise and criticism of the education system. I don't think any educator should view themselves as practicing honest teaching if he or she passively acknowledges success or passively ignores failures in the schools. The next key to educating is being compassionate. Every educator should care about their purpose and those within their realm of influence. A teacher should share their emotions and conversations, not only with a student that he or she likes but as well with those that may be reserved or the school bully. Everyone, no matter what age, gender, or race wants to be in the company of someone who cares for them. Essentially we are forcing kids into the school system, so the least that should be done for them is that there are adults who care for them in schools. It is very simple or natural, children hang on to their parents words when there is the strong belief that the parent cares for them and is interested in the child. That mindset is not reserved only for the parent-child relationship. I see it in marital relationships as well, even politicians attempt to play on it by preaching that they have the masses' best interest in mind.

Those are the tools I think one can use to educate. When we feel someone is dishonest we may question their teachings and whether or not they actually care about us as a person. I have never thought anyone who cared for me should lie to me, in any form for any reason. Interestingly enough, my assigned blog post for this week's comment for teachers sort of touched on this idea. This poem was included:

“I have come to a frightening conclusion.

I am the decisive element in the classroom.

It is my personal approach that creates the climate.

It is my daily mood that makes the weather.

As a teacher I possess tremendous power to make a child’s life miserable or joyous.

I can be a tool of torture or an instrument of inspiration.

I can humiliate or humor, hurt or heal.

In all situations, it is my response that decides whether a crisis

                        will be escalated or deescalated, and a child humanized or dehumanized.”                
This simply reads that educators should care about the students they come in contact with. If they do, educating those students will be that much easier.


Tom Johnson

"Don't Let Them Take Pencils Home" is a blog that refers to technological devices as pencils. There are two contrasting characters, Gertrude and a teacher that I will call Mr. Johnson. Gertrude warns Mr. Johnson that allowing the students to take the devices home will lower their standardized test scores. Mr. Johnson refutes her argument through his explanation of the advantages when using technology.
So if technology will be used as a tool in the learning process, it should be realized that students will become more skilled and productive with that tool the greater the opportunity is to access the tool becomes. Allowing the students to take the devices home, where they spend the most of their time, would allow them to become more comfortable with using tech devices.

Smart Board Instruction Part 1

Blog Assignment #9

Joe McClung

Joe McClung has blog posts summing up what he felt are the more important things he has learned in his first three years of teaching. In his first blog, "What I've Learned This Year (2008-09)", Mr. McClung points out qualities and skills that are not only valuable to teachers, but to any person of any profession. Learning how to read a crowd, to be flexible, to communicate, to be reasonable, to not be afraid of technology, to listen to students, and to continue to learn are the key points of this blog. These are skills that we would want anyone to have, rather it be our president or our garbageman. Know how to read and react to those that you serve, be willing to accept that things will not always go as planned, be capable and willing to engage others, be fair and forgiving, don't be unwilling to incorporate technology into the work process, listen to those you serve, and continue to get at better at your profession is what Mr. McClung is ultimately saying. I would like to think that teachers re-evaluate themselves after each year, and check their success in each of these areas. In my mind, if all teachers posed each point as a question to themselves after every school year, and answered yes, the problems we are facing would fade very fast.
Mr. McClung's third blog post, What I Learned This Year (2010-2011), his topic points were know your boss, don't expect others to be as excited about change as you are, don't be afraid to be an outsider, don't touch the keyboard, and don't get comfortable. Some of those are self-explanatory. When he writes about knowing your boss, he is referring to the students. I can't argue with his description, but I have a different perspective of students. They are essentially customers. They teacher, and the institution of education, is being asked and paid to serve them with knowledge, theory, skills, and many other services. With this perspective you can maintain the individual aspect of the students. They are never your governing body, unless you choose for them to be. Don't be afraid to be an outsider. Here Mr. McClung is speaking to situations where one or a few teachers may have a different teaching style, or approach, or level of affection for the students. He states that it is important for educators to remain true to themselves no matter what opinions your peers and co-workers may have of you. To not touch the keyboard, in his blog, is to not do the work for the students. I am glad he pointed this out. I have met students like this and I had classmates that were just the same. These students are not incapable, but they would rather have someone else to or let someone else do the work for them to avoid struggling or putting forth the effort. So hopefully I can store this advice for my future students.

 

Blog Assignment 8

Richard Miller

Richard Miller's video "This Is How We Dream" presents the idea that writing has changed and the ways we can capitalize from the change. I see the substance of his video as being the notion that we can and should prepare for the phaseout of the physical makeup of books and other tools that we use to share written messages. We now have the luxury and capabilities to share our ideas globally, without any delay. Mr. Miller points out the value of these things in this video.

I applaud Mr. Miller for creating the conversation, and sharing his views and ideas. His dream is that our institution of education will one have these capabilities and students will more efficient because of it. I agree with him in the sense that the value of the student increases if they can share their writings instantly with the rest of the world. Without any doubt, I believe future students will be able to write with multimedia if they are taught to. Digital composition seems to be interesting, but I am one who would rather get the finished product than be the one who creates it. This really seems to fit people who are truly authors or professionals writers, such as Mr. Miller. The work that he did in response to the Virginia Tech shooting was incredible. He used information that has been recorded to the world wide web to validate and strengthen  his article, and that is cool.

The most noticeable change that I have seen in writing, has to be the fact that we are more tolerant of bad writing. It is a result from tolerating bad grammar. What I see are text messages worded 'on kno', which should be written as 'I don't know'. This is part of a comment to Mr. Miller's video; "I say will be because I believe with the way are world is changing that many unbelievable things will soon become believable." This is not meant to make anyone feel bad, but misspelling 'our' as 'are' is unbelievable. I make writing mistakes too, but the problem is that it is too prevalent when using modern technology tools to write. The kids' blogs that I read for assignment are full of writing mistakes. My frustration is building with each kids' blog that I read with these simple mistakes. It makes me wonder.... where have our standards gone?

Carly Pugh's Blog Post #12

Carly Pugh did a great job with this blog post. She writes about her idea for an assignment she thought Dr. Strange should have given. The assignment would be to create a YouTube playlist, explain how the videos relate to your teaching philosophy and what you have learned in EDM 310, and how could you use them when teaching. She provides an example, includes links of many of the videos, and she does a great job of explaining why she chose this assignment. I would definitely describe this post as a multi-media composition because she includes a video, many links to other videos, and a picture.

EDM 310 is Different

The Chipper Series is a collection of short clips featuring Chipper and Dr. Strange. Within these clips we witness Chipper as the prototype of an unsuccessful student. She makes excuses for not completing assignments, blames the instructor for her troubles in the class,  and eventually drops out of school. Chipper finally returns to school as a more promising and dedicated person only after experiencing the harsh reality of a slacker without credentials. She could not hold onto a job mainly due to her slacker attitude. No one should want to be like Chipper. So it is important that everyone is dedicated to their current situation.

EDM for Dummies is a video featuring two students of the class displaying their frustration with the class and Dr. Strange. After getting a copy of the tutorial, EDM 310 for Dummies, the students are more satisfied with the class and have really grown to enjoy the different assignments and people they come across through those assignments there is also a first hand account given by Poppy Bednorz.

I don't have any great ideas for a video that should be done. There are many entertaining and enlightening videos that cover so much for EDM 310. It is difficult to think of something that would not be an issue or topic that has videos already.

Learn to Change, Change to Learn

This is a video that features many people sharing their thoughts on the education system in its current state and what can be done to enhance it. There are some ideas that I agree with and there are some that I disagree with. The great thing about this video is that none of the ideas are beside the point nor are they weak. This a positive equation of the conversation, investigating solutions to the problem.

Hopefully, we can find the cause of the problem. What caused our education system to break, and how long has it been broken? Did we even have a great model to begin with, or were we fooling ourselves from the start? To a degree the answer to those questions may not be needed. We have technology. Once we fully integrate it into our schools, and maximize its potential, the day will be saved.

Comments4Kids Summary #1

  During this semester I have posted comments to blogs of four young students. These students are all in elementary or middle school.
  My first post was to Ngametua. She is a 7th grade student at PT England School in Auckland, New Zealand. Her favorite subject is math. In her blog she wrote about the global community and the importance of learning about other nations.
   My second post was to CJ, an elementary student in Mr. Stephen Wolfe's class. CJ enjoys cheerleading and gymnastics. Her post that I responded to listed all of the plants that she knew. In my response I complimented her for what she knew and encouraged her to learn of more plants.
   My third post was to Niaviana. She is a student at St. Elmo Elementary in St. Elmo, Alabama. Her class did a video to point out qualities of each student. In the video each student stated what they felt made them similar to others and what about them was different than others. Niaviana said she is similar because she is helpful and felt that she is different because she is shy. I offered comfort to her shyness, and I praised her for being helpful.
  My last post was to Caz. Her blog was about the avatar she created for her blog. She designed it to look exactly like herself. I complimented her on the avatar and the blog post that she wrote. It was wordy and had a good flow.

Blog Assignment #6

The Networked Student

  "The Networked Student" is a video about a high school student enrolled in a hybrid class. He is referred to as the networked student because he does not use a textbook and his teacher rarely gives lectures. His learning is mostly done through connections with others who share their knowledge and ideas about the topic he is studying. He uses articles, blogs, and podcasts found on the internet to build his own base of knowledge on the topic. He uses the information he gathers to create a virtual textbook that he or any other person with internet access can use as a reference. His teacher teaches him how to build his network for learning, along with offering guidance on how to communicate properly, how to properly vet his sources, and how to differentiate between good and bad information. The teacher also helps the student to organize the gathered information.
  If I were a teacher today, I think I would be able to say I'm prepared to be the teacher of a networked student. Preparation starts in the mind, and those that don't believe they are ready truly are not. I would want to be more relevant than teacher described in the video. It reminded me of Kevin Robert's comment that teachers are becoming "filters" in the learning process. I wouldn't want to see myself as a "filter", and I wouldn't want anyone else to see me as such. As a teacher I would like to be the main source of information for my students. I wouldn't mind using any tools that I could find available to assist my teaching, but as is the level of respect and appreciation for teachers is dwindling down, and I think lessening the role adds to the depreciation.
  When thinking thinking of the concept of the networked student, it is easy to see the benefits a teacher can reap from it. It would definitely free up some time, which leaves more time for the teacher to prepare. It also creates more opportunities for a teacher to collaborate with another teacher, and this should relieve some of the pressures of teaching. From the students perspective, it is obviously a benefit, as long there are solid teachers in these types of classes. However, I think there has to be extremely great management of these students. If I'm correct, students struggle to complete work and research outside of the classroom at a far greater rate than when in the classroom. I just wonder what the numbers would look like if students have three or more classes a semester in which they are asked to be a networked student. One thing that young people don't manage well is time. So as these new ideas involving technology are being proposed, there are many other valuable skills that should be injected into the curriculum as well.

Tech Fancy Teachers