First of all, I just have to say, that too many people talk at one time in this class and it's very hard to understand what's going on and follow a conversation. Especially when people aren't all talking about the same thing. Maybe it's just me and my traditional ways, but I've always thought it was rude to have conversations with people while someone was presenting something, whether that be student or teacher. we're lucky enough to be able to multi-task in this class so we cna ge tings done and experiment at the same time, but it just goes to a whole other level when people are talking during the class period. Ok that's my rant, I'm done now.
I thought Shauna's articles were extremely interesting. The article about not graduating high school and still going to college sparked a great conversation (from what I heard). Part of me thinks that's a great idea. However, I agree with what some people said about that possibility completely going against the whole purpose of schooling. I think the only thing that really stops people who haven't completed high school from still attending college is the cost. Honestly, if you can't afford it, than college is ust out of reach for you. And with all the restrictions that are imporsed on financial aid (which is a rant I will save for another day), it's nearly impossible for this dream of higher education to come true for most people - even many of us who have completed high school. Some people say that it's too convenient, and it isn't as novel anymore that people attend college because it's so necessary. but to be honest, it's still so hard for students to mkae it through because life gets in the way. Many that start don't finish. And nw that I've lost my train of thought, I'll move on....
In relation to that, distance education is becoming more and more popular. I recently signed up for a program at Kaplan University, and within the two weeks it took me to completely go through the registration process, my major went from enrolling 3 to enrolling 12. Distance education honestly, is easier for those that want to get the college experience but still need to deal with life. it's exceptionally good for those who are non-traditional students (working parents for example). I think this is a realistics way to look at the idea of attending college without having completed high school.
Again, I've lost my train of thought.... so I'll move on.
I waited until the last minute to get my cell phone. Not because I didn't want one, but I honestly had no use for it. Then when I got one, and got one that worked, I simply got a tracfone because I could pay as I went. I was beginning college, and I thought it would be helpful to stay in touch with family. When I started my job my senior year of college, I had to get a more efficient phone, and contracted with verizon. And I'm definately not one of those people who rushes to the mall when my two year contract is up. I made my phone last until some of the buttons and features just stopped working. I finally upgraded, and while choosing only one phone was simple enough, cheap enough, and still served my purposes. I definately don't need all the bells and whistles, and I certainly don't care if it's pretty. I refuse to buy and iPhone, I still haven't bought an iPod (though I finally do really want one), and I have delayed upgrading my computer for two years. I'm in desparate need of the upgrade, but cost kills me at this point. while looking at varieties, again, I approach it like I do my cell phone... does it do what I need it to do (the basics), and will it be reliable for the next 4-5 years? That's all I need to know when it comes to things.
I'm not really only for getting the latest technology. I enjoy playing with things, I may have an interest in things, but I don't run out and buy things immediately. I have no interest in most technology out there. Maybe I'm just stuck in my ways, I like what I like and I hate having to learn something new when I don't even know everything about the programs I am using. I'm not exactly wres where this all puts me on that scale we talked about, but that's how I feel.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Response to New Orleans Article
Well, first of all I think this would have been easier to understand, had I been able to listen to it. But after I read it a few times, I think I got the flow.
Anyway, I find it interesting that they were talking about Vallas as a godsend. He had all these high hopes, and things that he wanted were getting done, whihc is all fine and dandy. It's good to finally see some follow-through on promises made by an administrator. But it bothers me that he himself didn't recognize that there would be problems. And the problems that were mentioned but others, were nothing related to the problems that they had.
As an administrator, shouldn't you kow how many students are registering for your schools? At that point, shouldn't you know whether or not the resources you've acquired will accomodate them. And even before that, was it right for him to change things to quickly and so dramatically, especially considering the state of the city at that point in time.
I think it would have been more responsible of him to take baby steps. Make sure students would be properly registered and would attend school on the first day. Make sure that each registered student had a schedule that they could go to on that first day. I'm glad they had books and computers, but if they didn't know where to go, how would those things be useful?
I mean it's great to want to mkae big changes and be successful, but if you can't handle the small stuff, the big stuff becomes insignificant. That broken window should have been fixed. Students and teachers should have known where to go. How do they expet to fix these things? Can they do it in a timely manner. How much classroom time is going to be wasted trying to fix them?
I'd really like to know the state of the district now, to know if all those dresms and goals came true. I'd like to know how things worked out, and I do hope that the district is successful.
Anyway, I find it interesting that they were talking about Vallas as a godsend. He had all these high hopes, and things that he wanted were getting done, whihc is all fine and dandy. It's good to finally see some follow-through on promises made by an administrator. But it bothers me that he himself didn't recognize that there would be problems. And the problems that were mentioned but others, were nothing related to the problems that they had.
As an administrator, shouldn't you kow how many students are registering for your schools? At that point, shouldn't you know whether or not the resources you've acquired will accomodate them. And even before that, was it right for him to change things to quickly and so dramatically, especially considering the state of the city at that point in time.
I think it would have been more responsible of him to take baby steps. Make sure students would be properly registered and would attend school on the first day. Make sure that each registered student had a schedule that they could go to on that first day. I'm glad they had books and computers, but if they didn't know where to go, how would those things be useful?
I mean it's great to want to mkae big changes and be successful, but if you can't handle the small stuff, the big stuff becomes insignificant. That broken window should have been fixed. Students and teachers should have known where to go. How do they expet to fix these things? Can they do it in a timely manner. How much classroom time is going to be wasted trying to fix them?
I'd really like to know the state of the district now, to know if all those dresms and goals came true. I'd like to know how things worked out, and I do hope that the district is successful.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Presentations 2.0
1. I thought Amy, katie, and I did a great job on our presentation. We knew that it would spark a decent conversation, but I don't think any of us expected it to be that interesting. There are so many factors that affect drop out rates, and we chose to only focus on a few very broad ones, but everyone in class came up with some really good points. I'm glad people found it interesting.
2. First of all, I really liked the effects that the second group chose to use. They made the presentation very fun to watch. Information wise, I think that statistics were very similar with the presentations we've already seen. So obviously there is a trend here. Maybe we should make some of these presentations on a larger level... do you think school administrations and lawmakers would get it? LOL!
3. More on PSSAs... YAY! Honestly, I'm SOOOO tired of listening to debates on PSSAs. I've herad it in every class since I started school in 2002. I mean, really, I get the point. But you'd think the people that really need to hear this stuff would be listening to it. (Again I say, if we made these presentations on a national level, would anyone get it?)
It is obvious that things need to change when it comes to education. It's just a matter of people - the right people (namely educators), to do the reserch and put the time into planning the encessary changes that need to occur. I don't think that it will ever be perfect, because we'll always be behind. We'll always be insufficient. The world is changing faster than our education system, and that's going to always cause problems, and always cause debates like we are having today.
This makes me think about my undergraduate thesis. I did research on grammar curriculums, completely determined to prove that traditional study of grammar was necessary in schools. And by the end of my research and my paper, not only did I NOT prove my thesis, but I didn't even disprove it. it came down to the fact that the debate has existed for what seems like forever. It is what it is and it will always be as the world the changes. I found it extremely interesting, because ym research even gave me doubts in what I believe, but in the end, I was ok with accepting the debate. There are times for its use, and times to let it go. That's just something you discover as a teacher.
When it comes to education, I think there will always be debates. Certain people will want thing, and others will want other things. And it might be one thing for one generation adn a completely other thing for another generation. But that's the way it is.
It makes me wonder if there's a point in debating the subject. Can we really change anything? (Individually, sure, but as a whole?) With all this debating and "thinking about things," nothing is getting done. So what is the point?
And they wonder why it's so hard to find teachers... or keep the ones that are already qualified...
2. First of all, I really liked the effects that the second group chose to use. They made the presentation very fun to watch. Information wise, I think that statistics were very similar with the presentations we've already seen. So obviously there is a trend here. Maybe we should make some of these presentations on a larger level... do you think school administrations and lawmakers would get it? LOL!
3. More on PSSAs... YAY! Honestly, I'm SOOOO tired of listening to debates on PSSAs. I've herad it in every class since I started school in 2002. I mean, really, I get the point. But you'd think the people that really need to hear this stuff would be listening to it. (Again I say, if we made these presentations on a national level, would anyone get it?)
It is obvious that things need to change when it comes to education. It's just a matter of people - the right people (namely educators), to do the reserch and put the time into planning the encessary changes that need to occur. I don't think that it will ever be perfect, because we'll always be behind. We'll always be insufficient. The world is changing faster than our education system, and that's going to always cause problems, and always cause debates like we are having today.
This makes me think about my undergraduate thesis. I did research on grammar curriculums, completely determined to prove that traditional study of grammar was necessary in schools. And by the end of my research and my paper, not only did I NOT prove my thesis, but I didn't even disprove it. it came down to the fact that the debate has existed for what seems like forever. It is what it is and it will always be as the world the changes. I found it extremely interesting, because ym research even gave me doubts in what I believe, but in the end, I was ok with accepting the debate. There are times for its use, and times to let it go. That's just something you discover as a teacher.
When it comes to education, I think there will always be debates. Certain people will want thing, and others will want other things. And it might be one thing for one generation adn a completely other thing for another generation. But that's the way it is.
It makes me wonder if there's a point in debating the subject. Can we really change anything? (Individually, sure, but as a whole?) With all this debating and "thinking about things," nothing is getting done. So what is the point?
And they wonder why it's so hard to find teachers... or keep the ones that are already qualified...
Presentations
Well, I guess my first reaction is how contradictory informations seems to be when it comes to answering the question "Is education in crisis?". I mean, we can gather all kinds of information that proves that it is, then find information that shows we are getting better so it's not, then we can actually work in the system and change our minds again. It seems to me that this is one of those never-ending debates.
Making technology readily available is helpful - to some. Segregating the special education students from mainstream students is good - to a degree. All of these laws and standardized tests are meant to measure academic progress, but there are debates about their standardization methods. Some schools can claim that they've improved their curriculum because of the pressure caused from these tests, while others say the pressure has hurt their students, administration and teachers.
It never ends. I feel like everyone has and will continue to have very good points during their presentations. However, there is always going to be something to debate on the issue. Part of me feels like it's pointless because there will be no end. But, listening to the information is very useful.
As for the presentations themselves, I found both to be well done. Group two was very creative with their sounds and graphics. Both groups showed that at least one perosn in the group was experienced in the use of PowerPoint. I'm excited to see what other people have done.
Making technology readily available is helpful - to some. Segregating the special education students from mainstream students is good - to a degree. All of these laws and standardized tests are meant to measure academic progress, but there are debates about their standardization methods. Some schools can claim that they've improved their curriculum because of the pressure caused from these tests, while others say the pressure has hurt their students, administration and teachers.
It never ends. I feel like everyone has and will continue to have very good points during their presentations. However, there is always going to be something to debate on the issue. Part of me feels like it's pointless because there will be no end. But, listening to the information is very useful.
As for the presentations themselves, I found both to be well done. Group two was very creative with their sounds and graphics. Both groups showed that at least one perosn in the group was experienced in the use of PowerPoint. I'm excited to see what other people have done.
Monday, September 24, 2007
Review of Webquests and PPT
Nothing was really outstanding for me as an English, so I took the easy route and decided to look at the PPT for Shapes. I thought it was SO MUCH FUN!!! I loved how colorful and interactive it was. And the activities at the end were great. I think it gives a variety of fun with color, sound, and obviously shape, so kids would really enjoy it. And it forces higher level thinking by allowing them to complete the sequence by themselves, and create their own. I thought it was superb!
After that I was in an elementary kind of mood so I checked out the reading PPT on colors. I thought it was kind of slow, but I guess if your audience in pre-school or kindergarten, it wouldn't be so bad. It was really colrful, and a great idea, but...... what do you do if you have a student who is colorblind?? Trust me, it happens. How ould you teach a colorblind student this same lesson, if they can't distinguish the colors on the slides?
Also, a few webquests just turned me off because of the background that they chose. This disappointed me because I really liked some of them. But any photos or anything that were hyperlinked didn't work. If something was hard to read, or figure out how to use, or if links didn't work, I just wasn't interested. So after awhile, I just gave up.
After that I was in an elementary kind of mood so I checked out the reading PPT on colors. I thought it was kind of slow, but I guess if your audience in pre-school or kindergarten, it wouldn't be so bad. It was really colrful, and a great idea, but...... what do you do if you have a student who is colorblind?? Trust me, it happens. How ould you teach a colorblind student this same lesson, if they can't distinguish the colors on the slides?
Also, a few webquests just turned me off because of the background that they chose. This disappointed me because I really liked some of them. But any photos or anything that were hyperlinked didn't work. If something was hard to read, or figure out how to use, or if links didn't work, I just wasn't interested. So after awhile, I just gave up.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Um.. yeah.. so... Blog
I guess you can say I'm a pretty avid blogger. I have been posting in a LiveJournal for the last five years, and I occasioanlly post on my MySpace. But I've never been asked to create a blog for a class, so this is pretty interesting for me.
It amazes the direction that education is taking when it comes to technology. We as future educators are encouraged to use technology more and more in the calssroom. I recently read this article about a teacher who created a MySpace for her class. I think that is humorous because of the controversy over internet personalities during my student teaching experience. Teachers were losing their jobs because employers found old photos of the teachers displaying inappropriate and unprofessional behaviors (ie drinking, partying, sex). I think it's a little hypocritical to ask us as new teachers to completely abandon our internet personalities at this point in our lives.
Our generation was the first use things like MySpace, Facebook, and many other internet personality sites. The kids that use them today are just better at using them. While hundreds of children and young adults access sites like these for the first time every day, they are constantly getting the updated versions of things we've used for years in the same exact way they were we started. Everything for new users is a fresh start, so they become experts before many of us even understand what the changes are. We must learn about and adapt to these changes as we continue to find our places in the world, personally and professionally.
Why is it so difficult for the powers that be to understand these things about technology. If more technology was used in the classroom, teachers and students can learn from each other, and help each other understand the daily changes occuring in the technology world. The old fogies running the show in education are so afraid of technology because of all the "dangers" out there, that they forget that precautions can be taken to embrace the technology world and learn from everything out there. They refuse to ignore the oodles of research that is out there proving that technology in the calssroom works. Those that have taken the risk have proven that technology in the classroom has improved student learning.
It won't be until our generation is finally running things that antyhing really changes. We know what kind of effect technology has on students. People wonder why our kids know more than we do, and this is the exact reason why. We hinder our own learning by squashing the idea that things can work if we just give them the chance. The pattern that has been created willcontinue to remain unless someone is willing to stand up and say, this could work, we should try it. With more and more changes occuring every day, what choice do we have but to step up and take the risk. If we don't, we're only going to screw ourselves. One day, our students will be teaching us more than we could ever teach them.
Maybe this is just an average blog... the rantings of an average internet user that exists out in cyberspace, that only a few will see. Or maybe, I have a point.
It amazes the direction that education is taking when it comes to technology. We as future educators are encouraged to use technology more and more in the calssroom. I recently read this article about a teacher who created a MySpace for her class. I think that is humorous because of the controversy over internet personalities during my student teaching experience. Teachers were losing their jobs because employers found old photos of the teachers displaying inappropriate and unprofessional behaviors (ie drinking, partying, sex). I think it's a little hypocritical to ask us as new teachers to completely abandon our internet personalities at this point in our lives.
Our generation was the first use things like MySpace, Facebook, and many other internet personality sites. The kids that use them today are just better at using them. While hundreds of children and young adults access sites like these for the first time every day, they are constantly getting the updated versions of things we've used for years in the same exact way they were we started. Everything for new users is a fresh start, so they become experts before many of us even understand what the changes are. We must learn about and adapt to these changes as we continue to find our places in the world, personally and professionally.
Why is it so difficult for the powers that be to understand these things about technology. If more technology was used in the classroom, teachers and students can learn from each other, and help each other understand the daily changes occuring in the technology world. The old fogies running the show in education are so afraid of technology because of all the "dangers" out there, that they forget that precautions can be taken to embrace the technology world and learn from everything out there. They refuse to ignore the oodles of research that is out there proving that technology in the calssroom works. Those that have taken the risk have proven that technology in the classroom has improved student learning.
It won't be until our generation is finally running things that antyhing really changes. We know what kind of effect technology has on students. People wonder why our kids know more than we do, and this is the exact reason why. We hinder our own learning by squashing the idea that things can work if we just give them the chance. The pattern that has been created willcontinue to remain unless someone is willing to stand up and say, this could work, we should try it. With more and more changes occuring every day, what choice do we have but to step up and take the risk. If we don't, we're only going to screw ourselves. One day, our students will be teaching us more than we could ever teach them.
Maybe this is just an average blog... the rantings of an average internet user that exists out in cyberspace, that only a few will see. Or maybe, I have a point.
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