Blog Post #3

In my field experience I have noticed how teachers work with technology; I have seen positive integration as well as negative integration. Some teachers have tried to use technology too much and end up taking too much time away from the actual learning. In an attempt to use technology the teachers inadvertently stifle learning in order to make themselves look better to the administration. On the other hand, some teachers are afraid of technology and refuse to use it. Even when teachers have been trained to use their Smartboard or even playing videos they still shy away from it because it is not natural to them. For example, teachers have been teaching for over twenty years and have been teaching the same lessons since they began do not want to change or incorporate that technology. The teacher I am working with this year has a Smartboard in her room and she uses it to its full potential. For example, in math she will pull up a game and let the students come up and do multiplication fact games. Also, we watch United Streaming videos and the screen allows for all students to be able to see. Unlike a small television screen that students have trouble seeing across the room or to the side of it. As future teachers we need to use technology appropriately and smartly, incorporating it to help and not hinder the learning of our students. This also includes using technology as a supplement and not a substitute.

Blog Post #3: The Collaborative Classroom By: Anna Davison

Video from Edutopia, The Collaborative Classroom: An Interview with Linda Darling-Hammond

I am actually in a collaborative classroom two days a week for my student teaching. In the classroom are myself, my supervising teacher and one other teacher who is special ed. certified who is the collaborative teacher as well as 32 students. I have found that thus far in my experience with the collaborative classroom that it is quite difficult to manage. In the video, I noticed that Linda Darling-Hammond discussed the different approaches to collaborative teaching as well as some of the strategies implimented within the classroom. I have found that when using any kind of technology in the classroom that these students who have learning dissabilities or discipline problems are much more inclined to pay attention to a movie or a power point presentation because it is something visual. The students really enjoy and typically respond better on tests or worksheets covering the material shown on the power point or movie. However, one area that I disagree with is that although it is a goal for the collaborative classroom to help students develop group interaction skills it is a very difficult thing to impliment in the classroom. Students who have discipline problems are mixed with students who have learning disabilities and unless you have a teacher supervising each individual group it tends to be incredably hard to manage. Therefore, I believe that there are drawbacks to the collaborative classroom, but that there are also many positive aspects as well. Hopefully over the next few years there will be some incredably innovative ideas as to ways to improve the collaborative classroom.

I found a video on edutopia about integrating studies and it was very informative to say the least. I hope that some day I can take some of the ideas gained from the video and incorporate them into my school. I also saw some very interesting aspects about education that one might think that would see, such as the new things that a diverse Boston suburb school is developing. The teacher admitted that we are no longer living in an industrial society and students have to learn more than just facts and skills to succeed in the world, and for a Bostonian to say this is just baffling to me. That is the North and the industrial capital of the United States, but I think that teachers and many others in the U.S. are starting to realize that people have to be educated to succeed in today’s society. I also saw an amazing integration tool they were using in Landry Middle School in Louisiana with making cars. Science made them, English advertised, and math calculated the cost, I would have loved to have know what Social Studies did to integrate but it never told.

Blog Post 3: By Initia van Tonder
My Topic: Don't Be Scared to Experiment!

I have decided to create my own topic for discussion concerning an intersection between technology and education. Over the course of the semester, I have found myself completely intriqued, amazed, and often confused about many of the technology related assignments that we have conducted. However, I must admitt, that I feel 100 times more confident in my technological abilities now that I did 13 weeks ago. For me the key has been experimenting. I know that I have to get the assignment completed and so, even if it scares me, I have to find a way to do that. I believe that so many teachers, especially those of the older generations, are simply scared of technology. They don't know how to use it, and more importantly, they can't see the link between technology serving as an educational tool rather than a mere distraction. But I am here to vouch for the fact, through my personal experience, that technology can be used in education. Not only have I come to understand how to ensure that the technological element of the lesson serves as a contribution to the scholarly content, but I have also come to understand just how useful and technology can be in drawing in student participation and creativity. In order for teaachers to truly recognize the benifit of using technology in the classroom, I feel a course, much like the one we are taking right now, should be introduced in schools for teachers. The course is so benificial because we as the teachers get to experiment with the tools first. Once we understand how to apply the specific tool to its best potential, we can develop a lesson that will allow students to use the technology and creatively learn at the same time. Another essential element is communication. Things like the tech-tool discussions and blogging serve as great educational tools for teachers and provide them with the feedback that they may be looking for. So in conclusion, I think that in order for educators to truly understand the potential of technology in education for their students, they must know how to apply it themselves. Now, as someone who is working towards broadining her technological knowledge, I highly recomend a course like this to help educators move towards that goal.

blog 2

I thought Sir Ken Robinson’s video was great and I am going to go ahead and jump into the idea of “creativity is as important as literacy” and I believe this whole heartedly, yet at the same time I struggle with it. I think there are great minds, hearts and hands out there that get lost in the shuffle because they are being too creative and they are then written off as ADD or ADHD students. They are then never given the opportunity to excel or even succeed in what they love or what they are good at. Research shows that students learn in different ways then why do we force them to learn in certain areas if they want to dance and get up and move around, or they want to spend their time becoming better singers. Another reason that I tend to agree with Sir Ken is the fact that we put all our heart and soul in to athletes in this country while paying teachers and law enforcement agents nothing while at the same time failing to understand why these athletes so often cannot even speak the English language, turn into criminals, or become bankrupt within five years of time they leave their respective leagues. I also cannot understand why we do not put more effort into musical talents when we also put so love into our musicians and their bands in this country. Their talents are revered as much as athletes, yet in schools music is always pushed aside even if students put music at the forefront. At the same time I tend to disagree a little because unfortunately I do not see our country running successfully if we all try to be creative and do not try to push to be the best in the math and sciences. Our business cannot run without people and if we lose people to creativity then it could hurt our national status as if it is not already wounded enough. In closing, though I do not see enough of our corporations being at a loss of employees because people suddenly wanted to take up music or art.

Blog Post # 3 By: Seth Brownlee Ch. 9

It is very important for teachers to be life long learners. Teachers should make it a high priority stay informed on the latest information, both in their content area and in the technology feild. It is important for teachers to follow the NETS standards this way they will be sure to cover all the material that is set for the year and particular grade level. There different ways teachers use technology. They use it for personal reasons, administrative, and academic reasons. a lot of these uses is considered sending and making e-mails. when they are using the academic part they help students use and find resources, and encourage students to produce, solve problems, communicate, think critically and creativitely, explore and learn content more deeeply. There are many things in the characteristics of effective personal development: consider the needs and learning styles of teachers, present information in authentic context with direct links to classrooms and provide feedback while teachers try new strategies in their classrooms, Allow time to reflect and experience, and are social in nature, allowing teachers to interact with colleagues and mentors. There are three steps in the technology professional development process: 1. entry 2. adaptation 3. transformation. According to Cook and Fine time is the number one reason teachers do not get developed in technology, they just think that they will not have enough time to learn how to use a certain activity. Cook and Fine state that schools should set aside time for teachers to undergo learning activities; this will make it possible for teachers to participate in on going learning. Teachers need to have acess to technology, they cant use it and introduce it to students if they do not have acess to it. Teachers also must have knowledge and training in the specific technology that way they can teach it to students. In this chapter it shows many different tools for personal development of teachers.

Blog Post 3: Video Response (by: Tewanna)

The video Deep Learning: An Interview with Elena Aguilar was provocative. Given the fact that research supports learning through integrating studies and different modalities, translation of this is not evident in the classroom. Ms. Aguilar stated that there are some socio-economic groups who do not learn well from 50-minutes of reading in a textbook and class lectures. While integrating studies and using different modalities is more complicated and time-consuming, it is well worth it if students are being challenged to improve their comprehension and retention of material.

Ms. Aguilar addressed several key issues plaguing new teachers. In response to those issues, she suggested that teachers make instruction as authentic and connected to the students' "real-life" as possible. I thought it was interesting that Ms. Aguilar did not "knock" standards; she believes that you can meet standards and the needs of your individual students, respectively. She did not, however, sugar-coat the fact that it will take hard work and dedication, and that we must first understand the curriculum and standards. She advised that we should make small steps (poems, guest speakers). Another good idea that was suggested from the video is to make connections with colleagues and think about it as a long-term goal to prevent frustration.

The video was dead on it, in my view. I do not think that we should continue to spin our wheels over having too many standards to meet, but expend that energy into designing exemplary lessons. I also think that teachers need to take a more active role in selecting textbooks and technology. There has to be a happy medium; we just need to explore ways of finding it.

Blog Post 2: By Initia van Tonder

I thought the lecture delivered by Sir Ken Robinson was extremely interesting, especially since I just completed my digital story on incorporating music into education. Like any other institution that exists today, it is always very helpful to understand the foundations of why and how it came into being. Understanding the basis for the public education system as a tool directed specifically towards the industrial and corporate environment, it is understandable why there seems to be such a lack of creativity in the classroom. I can remember several occasions where the choices that I made in education where based specifically on the notion of how I would be able to apply that in the "real world." Often I had to stear away from the things I loved, like music, because I was under the impression that it was of no use to me in the future. I think that redefining and re-evaluating the importance of creative expression as a tool for education is essential and completely agree with the notion that creativity is just as important as literacy in education. I especially liked Sir Robinson's point about intelligence being diverse, dynamic, and distinct. If we all learn in different and unique ways, how can it be the standard that all students are educated to attain the same goals for the future? Like an issue I addressed in my digital story, it is constantly being shown that having the arts and outlets for creative expression in schools, actually improves student's academic achievement. I feel that it is essential that we explore that idea further, and like Mr. Robinson said, think about the amazingly unpredictable and differnt future that children being educated today will face. Though it seems like a daunting task to re-evaluate the trusted and age old system of education, it does not seem possible to ignore the fact, like the depreciation of the value of a college diploma, that education is changing. I believe it is our job as future educators, and even parents, to explore the possibilites of alternative ways of learning and teaching.

Creativity and Literacy in the Classroom

Sir Ken states, "Creativity is as important as literacy in education, and we should treat it with the same status." Do you agree, disagree or fall somewhere in between?

According to this quote by Sir Ken, creativity is as important as literacy in education. I cannot help but agree with him whole heartily. I feel that creativity is what determines the great students from the good students. Unfortunately, many students believe that they can 'regurgitate' knowledge back to the teacher on a test, a written assignment or worksheet, but it takes a truly creative and very bright student to create something completely unique. I do believe that creativity is as important as literacy. I also believe that creativity should be treated with the same status because creativity allows students to exemplify their knowledge in new and sometimes unusual ways. In order for students to be creative with something they must first demonstrate adequate knowledge or literacy of the topic. Creativity allows students to move beyond their knowledge of the topic into actually demonstrating the application of that knowledge. I once heard that "you have to know the rules to break the rules" and I truly believe that literacy is important, but it is incredible when you see a student think on their own for the first time, without regard to a set of instructions or directions. We as teachers will give students the tools they need and the 'rules' to follow, but they must know when to use their imaginations as well. I feel that if we elevate literacy over creativity we would loose any creditability we had established in trying to help students to become life long learners. We would loose our future Leonardo DaVincis or Larry Pages and Sergey Brins (Google creators) or Mark Twains. These people are some of the most successful and world changing people in history. We do a great disservice to students by not allowing creativity to be as important as literacy and without creativity we could loose the future.

By: Anna Davison

Creativity vs. Literacy

After viewing the video, my thoughts on the discussion prompt question are as follows:

Creativity is an important part of education. I am on the fence when it comes to creativity being “as important as literacy.” Literacy is the foundation of our society and is, in my opinion, the chief cornerstone of developed countries. However, I do believe that creativity is necessary for progressivism inside and outside of the classroom. Much of what we do today is based on creative, out-of-the-box thinking. Many of the inventions we enjoy today were found by accident. Thus, the nurturing of those students who have creative tendencies should not be neglected.

I also do not necessarily agree with teaching creativity (not all kids are programmed the same way) or giving it the same credence as literacy. As educators, we have taken a pledge to educate our pupils based on certain standards and with proven teaching strategies. Nevertheless, educators have a chief role in not stifling the creativity in our students. Instead, we should nudge those creative juices along. An effective teacher/school system is one that is able to embrace creativity while not leaving the most important (fundamental) works undone.

-Tewanna (a.k.a. Busteacher)

Sam Elam's Blog Post #2

Sir Ken's video was enjoyable and poignant. A point that he made that I found particularly engaging was when he said, "creativity is as important as literacy." As educators, we are all concerned with math, english, social studies, science, and then the arts are listed last. He accused teachers of "educating the creativity out of their students" by not allowing equal time for the core subjects and the arts. Students' creativity should not be stifled but embraced. As an educator it is our job to see our students' strengths and positively enforce them. There is an increased emphasis in schools that all children should learn the same things at the same rate, for example, the No Child Left Behind Act. That is why diversity of instruction according to learning styles is so important. We should not be afraid to let our students fail or let our students be afraid of failing themselves. We need to teach them to take risks and do what they love and channel it.

Blog # 2By: Seth Brownlee - Response to Ted talks

This video was great! I enjoyed watching the whole twenty minutes of it. I agree with everything that the man speaking said. I have felt this way about education all along through my college years, but been unable to say it with the precision that the man speaking used. My dad has been a teacher for the past 19 yrs so growing up I heard over and over from him how education was not meeting the needs of the new generations because it focuses on only very few parts of the total mind and imagination. I have seen friends growing up through school and now see students that I work with in feild placement that are cheated by modern educaton. They are meant to think that because they arent good in one particular subject that they are not smart and won't do good in school. It is abvious to me to see why the drop out rates are so large and why so many kids hate school. We make kids sit in a building all day and stay quiet while taking tests for three to four hours at a time. This seems like torture to me and I know it does to them too. I do believe what the speaker said, that imagination is just as important as literacy and we ought to spen just as much time letting kids use their artistic, kinesthetic, dance skills as teaching them math and reading. The speaker said that education is divers wich I completely agree with because there are so many types of intelligences that we have learned from Howard Gardiner. For we as educators to say becuase a student did poorly on a crtain test tha they are not intelligent is the worste thing we could ever do. I am excited to see the revolution that is going to take place within the next couple of years in education.

Shaun Boyd Blog Post 1

Like many of you I happened to choose Mrs. Huffs English class blog.  As stated previously it is a blog directed at the students, who cosist of 9th - 12th grade.  There is a daily posting which we have all seen that consists of assignments for that day.  This blog "works" because it transfers accountibility from the teacher to the student.  The teacher has provided an outlet to the students that shows them what is covered during absences and such.  It also gives the teacher a defense against angry parents.  However, it also lets the parents be aprised of what is going on in the class room thus keeping them informed from sneaky kids who lie to thier parents (you know you all have done it from time to time as a student).  This is a great way to keep parent involvement up in addition to giving the student every opportunity to catch up, which is what teacher's are obligated to do now.

The second one I looked at was the 8th grade history blog.  This blog is about US History.  So in looking over this I will just say "wow".  It is full of information such as podcasts, text posts, and videos.  There is alot of work that goes into this.  I happend to watch a video of him and his classroom and you can really get a feel for how the students are reacting to the way he teaches.  This blog is for everyone and sets no parameters to learn, this is probably the most fascinating blog i have run across.  The students keep up with class, the parents keep up with what students are doing and then everyone else just gets well informed.

Sam Elam - Blog Post #1

I looked at Eric Langhorst's 8th grade American History blog, who is currently Missouri's teacher of the year. Each blog he had posted was educational and about his content area - history. The audience for this blog could be parents, students and also future teachers. He posted lessons and ways to teach history for future educators to learn from and get material from. He also posted pictures and videos of places he had been for students to view, such as Ellis Island. The purpose of this blog I believe is to help teachers or future teachers get ideas and information from his experiences in the classroom. Also, to provide resources and information for his students. The last post on this blog was 10/30/08 so he is definitely still using it and posting. I really enjoyed looking over this blog because it had so many ideas for teaching certain topics, videos demonstrating the lessons, great videos of historical places and his explanation of it all. I believe the blog has potential in the classroom when used correctly and appropriately. Even out of the classroom blogging serves a great purpose by distributing information. It can function in any way you want it to really, it just depends on the purpose you want it to serve.

The second blog I looked at was Mrs. Huff's English Classes. Each blog is a reflection and description of activities done that day. It is for Mrs. Huff herself, other educators, her students, and parents. This blog has many purposes. It is a reflection space for Mrs. Huff, a catch-up tool for students that miss class, and it is a touchstone for the class because it provides information about their subjects and assignments. It also provides information for other educators and great lesson ideas. In a sense, it keeps the door of the classroom open to parents by allowing them to see what their students are doing. The blog is used most every day and is still being used. I think this blog is great because it keeps everyone in her classes on the same page and she provides information in writing that is accessible anywhere. Also, as an educator it is important to reflect on past lessons and this allows Mrs. Huff to do that. It keeps her lessons available to her and makes planning each year easier I am sure. This blog could work outside the classroom for Mrs. Huff's personal reflection as well.