Education and Technology Trends in 2011

The article is filled with lots of technological jargon and on the surface appears to be difficult to read. However, looking closer you can see that it was written that way on purpose to further the goal of the company to pat themselves on the back for all of the progress they have made. They make very small things that they have done appear larger than life. Technology trends are hard to follow and keep up with I am sure. I think their hearts are in the right place in wanting to further the ideas that people have told them they wanted and they make the necessary personal connections having the user be personalized. My complaint about the article is that is dances around the subject rather than just straight shooting. Get to the point and stick to the point! Dee

Teachers losing jobs due to Facebook postings

After reading several articles about teachers losing their jobs because of Facebook, there are some definite points that need to be addressed. First, Teachers do have a right to privacy. I would be upset if I was told I could not have a Facebook page. If it were not for Facebook, I may not have reunited with my husband. Although I believe that teachers have a right to privacy, there has to be a level of professionalism that a teacher must attain. When we become teachers we become public figures that are trusted instantly and looked upon to be role models in society. There are certain boundaries that should not be crossed and having students as friends on Face books is not a wise decision. I chose not to have students as friends on Face book not because of what I might say or do, but what others that I am friends with might say or do. I do not think it is ever a good idea to mix home and work. I do not even have my colleagues as friends on Face book because of this. I will not avoid Face book but I will always be careful about what I say and do and pictures that I post. I do believe you can avoid negative consequences but keeping your private life, private. I do not even think Face book should be used for assignments. I recently did create an assignment to have students post on a blog but I have to say, it scared me. I worried what kids would write themselves ans how they would respond to each other despite the rules of blogging. There will always be some teachers and students though that will cross the line unfortunately. Dee

The Power of Words

The message in Power of Words is just that. Words can be designed to evoke emotion from its reader. Once emotion is evoked the passersby that read the sign become much more generous because they can empathize. They can imagine themselves not being able to see the day they are participating in. Words can change lives and they way they are used even more so. I already do try to choose my words carefully but it has definitely made me more conscious of what comes out of my mouth. Dee

The Worst Professor Ever

This man should not be teaching. His basic questioning skills lack skills and depth. His accent throws me off too. I had to really listen to understand him. His directions are unclear and his explanations lack the potential for understanding. I will admit that at times my questioning skills, are lacking, it is usually when I am trying to wing it. When I am prepared, my skills are pretty good. Learning in a visual way is a good thing, but not all people are visual learners, so it leaves out other populations of students. He should hang up his hat, and play golf! Dee

Digital Dossier

There are both advantages and disadvantages to having a digital dossier. If a child were to become lost, it would be easier to track them today then it would have been years ago. Having this dossier is also a time saver since many programs save your personal information for future use. As a teacher having a digital dossier could help if you live a good, clean, legal life; however, if you were to get into trouble, it would be very easy for that news to spread. Having a digital dossier as a student could be detrimental as well. This is a prime way for predators to get a hold of personal information about the child they are pursuing. Overall this video scared the heck out of me because I have never thought about how a digital dossier begins in the womb with a sonogram. I had lots of them because of high risk pregnancies so my kids had a thick file before even being born. How scary to think that our personal information is everywhere for others to misuse ergo lots of stolen identities. I am making my dossier bigger as we speak. HA! Dee

Waldorf School Article

“Teaching is a human experience,” he said. “Technology is a distraction when we need literacy, numeracy and critical thinking.”

And Waldorf parents argue that real engagement comes from great teachers with interesting lesson plans.

“Engagement is about human contact, the contact with the teacher, the contact with their peers,” said Pierre Laurent, 50, who works at a high-tech start-up and formerly worked at Intel and Microsoft. He has three children in Waldorf schools, which so impressed the family that his wife, Monica, joined one as a teacher in 2006.

I could not agree more with the statements above. Teaching is a human experience. I love to watch students interact with me and their fellow classmates with self- confidence.  I love to watch when their eyes light up because something sparked their interest, either from the teacher to student or student to student or student to teacher for that matter. I learn from my students every day. Creating interesting lessons, which engage students fully or lessons that are tactile usually work best because kids can immerse themselves into whatever they are learning.

“You can look back and see how sloppy your handwriting was in first grade. You can’t do that with computers ’cause all the letters are the same,” Finn said. “Besides, if you learn to write on paper, you can still write if water spills on the computer or the power goes out.”

I love the honesty of the child who wants to see how his handwriting will improve. He also realizes that when power is out, and or the computer is not working you can always turn to writing.

Apple Just Revolutionized Education

I love the idea of technology driven classrooms however unless schools are ready to spend some real money, it will not happen the way it should. My school recently tried a Kindle pilot program. It sounded great and the teachers and kids were all excited at the thought of using a kindle instead of books. the problem was though that the school was only willing to buy the Kindles, not the books to go on them. Unless they were free versions, the school would not download a book in our curriculum. Working with basic level students, would make reading the original version of Beowulf a difficult task. It soon became a big let down to teachers and made teh kids wonder why we weren't using the kindles instead of the books we were reading. I realize that copyright issues can affect the process but they should have thought this through before getting everyone excited about using them