Blog Post #2

"Did You Know"

I was told to watch Dr. Strange's Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version. I did not know how fast technology is growing. I did not realize how many people use YouTube and also had computers in their homes across the world, let alone in the United States. I think it is an amazing thing how fast technology is growing and that the students I will be teaching are growing up, or going to be born, in a generation that is rapidly evolving. Like I said in my last post I am going into Special Education and have seen first hand how helpful technology can be in the classroom.
I think it is a great thing that technology in the classroom is also evolving. Children who cannot speak, due to disabilities, have resources that can speak for them or help them get their point across. I do believe that students can learn without technology in the classroom. How else would my parents or your grandparents have made it through school if not? Technology, I believe, opens many doors to many other resources that can help us teachers!

Mr. Winkle Wakes

"Mr. Winkle Wakes" is a short animated video created by Mathew Needleman. In the video Mr. Winkle wakes up from a hundred year nap and sees all the new technology used in the world today. Businessman using webcams to have discussions about whatever business they had with each other and from half way across the world. All of this new-ness scared him and made him feel sick, so he went to the hospital. The hospital did not make him feel any better because when he got there was all the new technology there also. He left and went to a school and saw that the students sat and took notes as the teacher lectured and he realized that somethings still remain the same and this made him at ease.
I believe, yes, students can learn without technology and I think some peoples point of views are going to be hard to change. This rapidly growing evolution of technology is a good thing in my opinion. I, myself, learned from reading and taking notes and taking tests, but I am a hands on learner. When I got to college I had to teach myself how to use all these new websites and different things on the internet that I had NO idea how to use and that was challenging, but now it helps me and I'm a better student for it. Technology is growing and I think its about time people get on board with it!

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

Robinson fights for creativity in his video. He says that creativity is as important as literacy and should be treated as such. He tells us that he believes children aren't afraid to be wrong and make mistakes, but as a society and us teaching them, they learn to be afraid to make mistakes. BUT how else do you learn? How do you learn to ride a bike, without falling off the bike first? You make mistakes to learn from them. He also says that as we grow, we grow out of creativity. I agree with him because we are taught to learn material and then test on the material. That's what school is now a days and they are trying to take music and art out of the school systems.
Robinson says that there is a known hierarchy in the school systems across the world. Math, Languages, Sciences and then Art and Music. He's very right. In high school you take 3 or 4 "core" classes such as math, science, foreign language and maybe you get to take 1 elective. Maybe an art class. He tells us that intelligence is diverse, dynamic and distinct. I agree on what he says about creativity being pushed out the school system. Creativity is a strong thing people should keep!

Pinterest

I've used Pinterest for about 9 months now. I'm pretty crafty so I love it. I followed all of the 20 because obviously they made the best educational boards to follow, fora reason. Kathy Schrocks account shows all the different ways to use technology in the class and different ways to make great presentations.

Pinterest will help me in my classroom by keeping new ideas coming in! It will also help me decorate my classroom and also teach me new ways to stay up-to-date on the latest crafts that deal with whatever lesson I'm teaching that week. I think its a great idea to use crafts and technology and Pinterest can show me how to make this a simple activity.