Thursday, January 31, 2013

Unassigned Post on Blogs #2

I wish to apologize for not completing this assignment on time which may have created some stress on any classmate who was assigned to view my blog as part of their assignment! No excuse, but I confused post #2 with Project #2 Wordle and thought I was done.

Blog Post #2 - Mr Winkle Wakes & Pinterest

Not much to say about either one of these. Mr Winkle was very truthful and a very accurate perception of our education system, however it's not news to me. Pinterest on my initial observation will be a very useful tool for teachers, I just have no idea what to use it on at this time.

Blog Post #2 - Sir Ken Robinson

I really enjoyed this video! As I was watching it I found some of his statements/comments so profound and enlightening that I restarted the video after getting pen and paper to take notes. I know! I should have done that from the start! "If you are not prepared to be wrong you'll never come up with anything original" wow It makes sense to me. "As we grow we are educating ourselves out of creativity" I'm not sure I agree with that statement entirely. I think our creativity as we get older gets redirected or evolves into a more specific/specialized form of creativity where a child may show more areas/fields of creativity because they are still in a discovery mode/stage.
When Ken started talking about Juliana Len and how in todays world she might have been put on medicine for ADHD it hit home because against my will my youngest daughter was put on that drug at the age of two and it made me wonder what creativity we(her parents may have stifled). I must say the medicine does help her focus in class but at what cost to unexplored creativity? Ken's statement "she had to move to think" makes me think that if I'm able to work through this and the other courses to complete my education as a teacher it will have to remember that statement when some of my kids are active at the very least see them with enlightened eyes. That's all I have to say.

Blog Post #2 / DID YOU KNOW?

After the credits rolled by, the first factoid slide reads "Think about this - The 25% of the population of India with the highest IQ's outnumber the entire population of the United States" So I thought about the statement and what was the statement trying to say, what was its point? Was it trying to say that 25% of India is more intelligent than the entire population of the United States? Well, I googled 2012 populations for India (rounded down to 1.2 billion) China (rounded down to 1.3 billion) and the United States (rounded down to 300 million). That means India has four times as many people as the United States does! The statement as I understand it is comparing a percentage of a number in this case 1.2 billion to a non-percentage number 300 million, this sounds like comparing apples and oranges. If 25% of India's population has an above average IQ then what percentage of the United State's population has the same above average IQ?
If the point of the lesson/statement is that India is doing a better job to educate its people than the United States that may very well be true; I have viewed statistics that rank the education received in the US well below other countries. I truly believe the direction that education is now taking with technology is the way of the future. A thought comes to mind from a Bible lesson where man/mankind all spoke one language and men worked together to build a city with a structure/tower that would reach to the heavens and there meet God. Now God disapproved of this and I quote "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other."(GENESIS 11:6,7) Technology is breeching the language barrier between all the world's people and the future will make all things possible through communication, imagination, creativity, and education. That's all I have to say!

Thursday, January 24, 2013

I have just viewed a teacher blog for the 1st part of C4T assignment it was a short post commenting on another teacher's blog or post. My thoughts are, it's all flutter and opinions and we all know what opinions are like, everyone has one. The subject was "school reform" and it's being screwed up by leading internet figures such as Gates, Zuckerberg and Jobs who are nicknamed as "big money guys".
My comment was on how does this help me be a better teacher or at the very least just a teacher. Somebody please explained to me why this class is important, because until the benefit of reading and writing these blogs are explained I'm going to have a bad taste in my mouth.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Blog Assignment #1

Soapbox Passion
Hello to all you blogger readers who have nothing else better to do then read this useless piece of information about someone you don't even know and who also couldn't care less if you don't know anything at all about me. Assignment instructions said to "tell us about your passions" well a passion of mine at this moment in time is; I value my privacy and I'm very comfortable with my lack of 15 minutes of fame. What do I care about your personal information; if you have something important that may help others accomplish a task or achieve a higher understanding then blog away but without all the flutter (useless information filling space). Don't misunderstand my point; I'm not against tell anyone about myself as long as I have the choice on whom I tell.  <br />

About Me
Ok, because this is a graded assignment and as I always say, anything worth doing is worth doing right. I will now climb off my soapbox about privacy and tell you a little bit about what makes me, me. I was born on planet Earth and raised in America where I served proudly I might add in the United States Coast Guard for twenty-three years. I'm in my early to mid-fifties, I have always enjoyed teaching and instructing those youths who lacked the knowledge or skills needed to succeed in their endeavors. Most of my opportunities have come through coaching several of my daughters softball teams and through a voluntary sponsorship program call P.I.E. Partnership In Education. I decided to attend USA because its close to home and I don't have to drive far. My major interest are freedom of religion and my right to bear arms and living long enough to enjoy life fully.<br />

My Classroom
I haven't given much though on the subject of what methods of teaching I will emphasize, however "I do" "we do" "you do" comes to mind. I haven't received enough instructions on what tools might be available for me and my students unless the tools you are referring to are blackboards, smart boards, pens, pencils, crayons, paper, books. I truly feel that I don't have enough understanding of what it means to be a teacher to write intelligently about how my future life as a teacher would be. I do however remember having fun in first through fifth grade and it's my hope to have fun with the children I hope to have the privilege to teach.<br />

Dr. Pausch
I didn't learn anything I haven't already been told or heard, but it is nice to be reminded.