January 17, 2010

Did you know? and Mr. Winkle Wakes
It amazes me that people never think it is important to know random facts about the world around them! For instance the radio took 38 years to reach 50 million people while the T.V. took 13 years, the internet took 4 years, the iPod took 3 years and Facebook only took 2 years! How amazing is that? Or is it really amazing? Is it amazing that people have become such sheep they will do whatever the more successful person shows them? What truly amazes me though is that half of the information I learned is outdated. The only information that I know is outdated is the way students cite works on their works cited pages.
Mr. Winkle wakes disturbs me because it strikes such a close cord. How can we expect our students to be prepared to go out into the working world without the skills to succeed? I know that when I first came into this class I was intimidated, and on some level I still am, because I have never had to blog or do anything extensive on the computer. Fortunately, my teachers have helped me and this class doesn't seem as daunting.

The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson wasn't far off the mark when he stated that children grow out of creativity. How many times have we seen the child in the back of the room who loves to draw or read made fun of by the other kids because he or she is different from the "norm?" These students are called out by the teacher (unintentionally) to pay attention and to get out of their dream world so that the teacher can teach them something the student may or may not use the rest of their life.
I believe that Sir Ken has captured educational system perfectly. How many times have we just written a student off as oh they just have ADD or ADHD and told their parents that they have to put their child on medication or they will never learn. We have allowed ourselves to be brainwashed into thinking that people that suffer from these disorders can not function without medication when in fact 50 years ago the people with this disorder functioned perfectly! I believe that we need to find a better way to teach students with ADD and ADHD than to drug them and conform them to us. Yes, this makes our job easier as teachers but does it really help these students?

Harness your students' digital smarts
How amazing is it that rural students from Georgia, who would more than likely be ignorant of the world around them, get to experience the world in ways most students could never imagine? I love how the teacher is so optimistic about life and her students' ability to learn! She has truly inspired me to continue to learn how to use the internet and computer systems in my future classrooms. I cannot wait to become a teacher!