Blog #2

Did You Know?

This video has given me something to think about. Mainly, the fact that we are teaching children information that might not exist right now. It also shows how fast the internet/communication is expanding. There are so many new technologies being used that children need to learn how to use them.

There was a part in the video that also got me thinking. It was that "India has more honor kids than America has kids". I do not know about you, but I feel like America needs to do some changing to make those numbers change. The sad part is...will we do it?

If you would like to see Karl Fisch's video yourself please click on the link provided.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

This video is about a man that wakes up after 100 years and notices all the changes that have been made. He is unhappy with all the new technology. He does not understand what is going on. Until he goes to a school and finds everything the same as it was 100 years ago.

Is this the type of education we really want for our children? Do we want them to be doing and learning the same thing people did 100 years ago? I personally do not! One of my main reasons for wanting to be a teacher is because I feel like there needs to be a change in our classrooms. We need to teach children, but not necessarily like we were taught. Technology is out there! We need to not only use it, we need to teach it to our students. Why not expand our students minds and give them information that will help them in their future? Are you willing to make a change?

Here is a link to Mathew Needleman's video.

Ken Robinson says schools kill creativity

I agree with Sir Ken Robinson about schools killing creativity. I believe his best example of this was when he was talking about the dancer. Now a days if a student is not sitting still in their chair or not able to pay attention then they have AD/HD. Teachers and parents need to be careful to not miss diagnose this. Who knows we could be holding someone back from being a great performer.

He brought up another good point "...everywhere on the earth has academics as being more important than arts...". Why do we allow this? Arts is a great way to show someones creativity and express themselves in a different way. I believe most if not all students will learn and remember more if we teach them a different way than just reading and answering questions. This can be done in a song, a drama, a podcast, a video, through art projects. Your creativity can be endless. If you allow it to be. Will you? I know as a future teacher, I plan on using these methods more than what Dr. Strange calls "burp back education". I feel like these methods not only get the student involved, but also interested in what they are learning.

Here is a link to Sir Ken Robinson's video.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

I really like Ms. Vicki Davis's way of teaching. She has her students involved in blogging and looking up information by themselves. Showing them that she might not always have the answer, but together they can find out. She also admits that they teach her new things as well. There is absolutely nothing wrong with learning something from a student. Most teachers feel like they should always have the right answer, but I feel like it is better if you show your students that you to are always learning something new. This will help them to not feel bad later when they need help.

Another thing that she addressed and I have always believed is if your using "...only paper, only pencil, then only certain types of children will succeed". Is that really what we want for just certain types of children to succeed? I do not! I want ALL of my students to succeed so why set them up for failure? Why not change what we were taught and open the eyes of every student?

I highly recommend all teacher and future teachers to watch Vicki Davis's video for yourself and see what you can do to enhance your classroom and your students knowledge.