Sunday, January 27, 2013

Blog Assignment #2

Did You Know
After watching the videos "Did You Know? 3.0 by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod" and "Did You Know? 3.0 A John Strange 2012 Version" I was blown away by some of the statistics.It is amazing to see just how far technology has come, but it is even more amazing for me to see how fast technology is growing. Just the thought of there being a computer with the same ability as a human brain is jaw-dropping! These videos really opened my eyes to how important it is to learn as much as you can about new and upcoming technology, and as a future teacher, how important it is for me to incorporate as much technology as I can in my teaching style. The world is changing, and people have to keep up--whether they like it or not!

Another major thing that caught my eye in these videos is the fact that the United States is not the powerhouse that I thought it was. According to the videos, India has more honor students that the United States has students all together! Also, China will have more English speaking people than the rest of the world by 2025! These statistics are very scary to me, because like most Americans, I thought that the U.S. was at the top of the chart when it came to intelligence. This shows how far behind we really are, and how much work that teachers have to do in order to help catch the U.S. up with the other countries in the world.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

The My. Winkle Wakes video is about a man who has been asleep for 100 years and he wakes up to find that his whole world has changed. He goes to a tall building, and he sees all of the new technology being used in the world. He does not like all of the technology because it is different from what he has always been use to, and he begins to feel sick. He then goes to a hospital only to find that it is not how he remembered it either because it has also been taken over by the new technology. Finally, he goes to a nearby school. He likes the school because it is exactly how he remembered it.

This modern day re-make of Rip Van Winkle is trying to point out the flaws in the school system. It shows how out of date the learning process is for our schools. Everything in the world is using new technology to better our lives except for the schools. This video shows how far behind the school system is in comparison with the rest of the technological world. The schools are the main places where they should be using technology because that is where children go to learn, and they need to be learning about how to use this new technology to help them with their future. I believe that the school system has realized this problem, and now they have begun to use smart boards, blogs, eBooks and etc.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Ken Robinson's video, The Importance of Creativity, is about how student’s creativity gets taken away from them by going to school. At school, students learn that there is only one way to succeed and everything else is considered a failure, and this leaves no room for their creativity. Kids are so afraid of failure that they are scared to stray away from the standard form of learning that their teachers force them to use-even though not all students are capable of learning the same way as others. This is why teachers need to try to let the students express themselves freely more often in the classroom, and teachers need to encourage students creative thinking.

It really opened my eyes when Mr. Robinson talks about the girl with ADHD or ADD, and that she became famous because her teacher actually noticed her creative ability and gave her good advice instead of just saying that she was incapable of learning like the other students. This made me realize how big of an impact that teachers have on their students, and that it is very important for teachers to make sure we are doing our best to point kids in the right direction.

Pinterest

I think that Pinterest can be a very useful tool for teachers. However,I believe that it would be more helpful for elementary or middle school teachers than high school teachers. Pinterest is an easy way to get new ideas for the classroom, and it is a great tool for organization. I think it would be fun to let my students get a Pinterest, and let them keep a web-journal with some pins they post. Also, I would like for my students to create a Pinterest, and for them to pin some ideas they like, and use their pins as goals they would like to achieve one day, and also make them complete some of their goals. This would be a great way to get to know your students better.

3 comments:

  1. I couldn't agree more with you. Although I did misunderstand the statistics video and "Mr. Winkle Wakes" at first, I was also shocked about the facts comparing the differences in learning between the U.S., India, and China, and the U.S. shouldn't have a superior attitude to these two countries when based upon these facts. After watching "Mr. Winkle Wakes", my first response was to somewhat agree with Mr. Winkle. However, I now agree with you in the fact that our school systems are very much behind the rest of the world in technology, and we as educators drastically need to change this. I also am in favor of promoting creativity in children. Just because a child does not live up to a certain school's standards does not mean that he or she is dumb. As for Pinterest, I agree that it does seem to benefit elementary and middle school teachers more so than high school teachers. I do, however, feel that it is great for organization, and I loved your idea of getting students to pin goals that they would like to achieve. You seem to be a great writer!

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  2. You misunderstood the comparative data on China, India and the United States. India has four times the population of the United States and China has five times the population of America, This means that the size of the population leads to the large numbers of "honor students" or English speakers when India or China are compared to the United States. You could also say that the 20 % of the population in China with the largest ears (or 25% of the population with the largest ears in India) outnumbers all of the people with ears of any size in the United States.

    Thoughtful. Interesting.

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  3. Farrah,
    I know that I have already written one comment. However, I neglected to notice that part of the instructions in Blog Post #3 tie together with this C4C #2 assignment. How classic of me to not pay attention to all details! I loved your writing and thought that you brought forth some very valid points. I also loved the adjectives and nouns you used to describe certain words, such as referring to the U.S. as a "powerhouse". As one teacher trying to help another, I would just like to suggest to you to watch closely for needed punctuation, such as commas. Also, I would be careful to not mix up using words such as "than" and "that". As an English major, and after writing so many papers by now, I know how easy it is to make simple errors like that. Grammar can be a sneaky little thing sometimes! Overall, the summary of this post sounds great, though. Good luck with everything!

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