Mr. McClung's Thoughts

I was very impressed with the thoughts that Mr. McClung shared with us. Sometimes while I am sitting in my education classes listening to the instructors tell us the things that we need to know to be a great teacher, it interests me so much that I think I can remember all of it and be the greatest teacher with absolutely no experience at all! Even when I talk to current teachers about how overwhelming it is and how challenging their jobs can be, something inside of me gets excited.

However, this summer I had to do some observation in some classrooms, and all of that excitement was stripped from me in an instant! The moment I walked in the school, I stopped and stood there for a second and thought "what have I gotten myself into?"

So reading this information was very helpful for more than one reason. I appreciate his thoughts so much because it is not from a teacher who has been in a classroom for 30 years. He is posting thoughts about his first year teaching, and that is fresh. One of his suggestions was to continue learning...looks like he is off to a great start!!!!

WIRED??

After reading these articles, it was VERY clear to me why my professors DISCOURAGE Widipedia for any source of research for class material. I do not understand why this is website that is advertised as an on-line encyclopedia is filled with information that could be edited by anyone. Without the scanner, it is impossible to know if what you are reading is true or false.

I don't think Wikipedia really can be trusted in any circumstance. If you have to do work to find out if information is correct, why not just go straight to the source anyway???

And I personally think it is ridiculous for anyone to change information and delete facts to confuse people from the truth.

Randy Pausch's Lecture

I have not been able to load this fully and watch it. For some reason I get to a certain spot and it will not go any further...every single time. I have been trying to watch this video for a week and it is still giving me problems! As soon as I can get it loaded and watch it, I will post my comments here.

Practice

A Walk in My Shoes

This is a presentation about myself that I had to do in class. You can check it out below if you would like!

Is it Okay to be a Technology Illiterate Teacher?

Is it okay? I honestly have mixed feelings about this. I believe that teachers need to be educated up to speed, and that some form of technology needs to be implemented in the classroom, but I can't help but throw the opinion out there that technology does not determine knowledge. As a prospective teacher, I plan to use the skills I am learning an continue to learn new skills as they come about to teach my students, but I can't agree with the opinion that if teachers do not to that, then they aren't effective teachers.

I do not think that the statement comparing tech illiterate teachers to someone who cannot read being the same thing. Sure, the class may be a lot more exciting if the teacher implemented technology, but if not, it doesn't mean the student won't learn. Some of the most knowledgeable professors here at South don't know a thing about computers, and will tell you that technology is important and encourage us to learn about it, but their opinion is that they are too far in to this to learn something different. I prefer a teacher who implements technology as little as Powerpoint because it opens up my mind to see what I'm hearing. Sometimes it makes it a little harder to learn their material without technology, but it can be done.

I want to be technology literate, and I want to move ahead of the speed of my students, and have my students teach me and for the learning process to continue, but if I chose not to, I would hope that my job wouldn't be in jeopardy because of someone else's definition of literate.

Who sets the standard? Is it okay to be tech ILLiterate, sure...as long as you are effective.

A Vision of Students Today

When I was watching that video, I couldn't help but laugh just a little bit because I could relate to the different facts that the students were holding up. It seems as though all of that was true, I see people Facebook their way through class, I buy hundred dollar textbooks that I never open, etc..and it is proof that most of our learning comes from doing. So is a classroom necessary?

This is my reflection. While watching the video, part of me sided with the students. But then part of me couldn't help but wonder if getting a college degree with out stepping in a classroom made sense. I can 100% say that I learn better from doing, as this class is a prime example - but can everything be learned "hands-on?" I am gonna say no...I am a history major, I cannot go back to the Industrial Revolution and be with Andrew Carnegie in the steele industry, or walk with Booker T through his fight for African American education. That's why I have to read books about him and show my knowledge through a paper and get a better understanding than a chalkboard method.

Don't misunderstand me...technology is my friend, without it I'm not sure how I would function. I'm thankful for word processors instead of typewriters, and high speed rather than dial-up, but I do not think that EVERYTHING can be done on the web, and I do not think that classroom knowledge is a bad thing. A little re-vamping, yes, but extinction, absolutely not!

It's Not About the Technology

I have to say that i agree with what Ms. Hines was saying. I am all about technology and the latest invention of a faster, cooler way to get things done! I mean, think about it - blogging is much easier than turning in a hard copy of an assignment every week, not to mention how much faster it is to get an assignment done. However, if we did not learn in our classroom the purpose of what we were doing, and catch up with technology and realize how far we really are "behind" then learning how to blog would be a ridiculous lesson because it would serve no purpose.

I agree that in order to be an effective teacher, the teacher must be a constant learner. This technology stuff is growing faster than the speed of light it seems like, and beinb comfortable with "Windows 95" version just won't cut it in this day. On the flipside, having every piece of technology available does absolutely no good unless you are EDUCATED on how to use and consistently use it effectively.

I want to be a learning teacher. I want to learn from my students. And from learning from them, I want to effectively teach in a way that they will learn so that my job clearly isn't a waste of time!

Videocast Observation!

While I was watching the video cast and thinking about how I would improve it, my first thought would be for the atmosphere to be a little bit more relaxed. It was very obvious that the setting was very tense, and the speakers were very nervy nervous (2 of them lightened up after they started speaking). I think if it would have been a not-so-rehearsed setting and more of a conversational atmosphere, it could have been more intersesting. A good way of proving your point to someone is being confident in your "point" as it is being presented.

I have never published my own video cast so criticizing to make it better really probably isn't appropriate (haha), I would like to make the podcast more interesting for the listener! Learning about all of this seems fun so let's hop on the road to technology!!!

I decided to look over the langwitches website, and I have to say that I really enjoyed the organization of how to publish a good podcast. I think that organization is the key, because just like the website said "you are the voice in someone eles's iPod" and it is important to have a clear voice that can be heard very thoroughly. Sometimes when I get carried away, I talk really fast and I am the only one who understands me at some points, so this is something that I want to take in to consideration when I am publishing a podcast. Staying on task is another thing that is important - being organized and having a goal to meet will help keep me on task. Discussion and conversation is important for other's opinions but just like I said earlier, you have to be confident in the point that you are presenting in order to win people over with it.

Podcasting, from what I have observed, is a lot like public speaking. Nervousness can turn a crowd off to tuning into what you have to say. Being confident and knowledgeable in the material is important. I learned a lot of valuable lessons in reading over this material, and look forward to learning more tips along the way!