Wrap Up of the CLass

I wasn't really sure what to expect when I started this class at the beginning of the semester because I know that personally I am not a very tech savvy person; I know my way around my own computer and if you put directions in front of me I can usually figure it out but the thought of designing my own website for a grade was not even a thought in my mind.  I had no idea what garage band or photo booth was and if you asked me to create a podcast I would have probably looked at you like you had 2 heads.  This semester has introduced me to a whole new world of Macs (one that does not include me playing the Oregon Trail, which to tell you the truth was the only thing I could do on a Mac) I have learned about Steve Jobs and really want an iPad now but I know that there is no possible way I could afford one, but man all of those apps! I have seen the benefits of eReaders in the classroom and One-on-One laptops but I have also seen the darker side of technology.  We have watched videos of people who literally can't even live their own lives because they are too consumed with a made up world on a computer screen.  We have explored the good, the bad and the indifferent aspects of technology and I think it is very important that as a teacher I understand all of the technology that is out there for my students to be sucked into.  It is my job to weed through the social media and websites and find the good that can be used in my classroom and in life in general.

Balance between technology and humans

I can recall as clear as a bell exactly what it felt like sitting in Mrs. Freeman's 1st grade class and working on penmanship.  It was the time just after lunch that was dedicated to making our writing look more presentable and professional and we must have spent hours working on it.  Fast forward a few years to my 3rd grade class and I can remember sitting facing the board as Ms. Montreal drew slanted lines on the board to teach us how to write in cursive.  Now move forward a few more years and here I am in college and I honestly cannot recall the last time I sat down and used cursive to write a paper, everything in today's world is typed and classroom notes and papers are not very different.  I am not trying to stop technology from entering the classroom I think it is a wonderful tool that helps to enrich the lessons and helps teachers connect better to students but as I was working on my presentation I can't help but notice how much schools have changed even in the last 15 years. At the beginning of the semester I remember Karl mentioning how up until a dozen years ago you could transplant a teacher from the 1930's into a modern classroom and they would still have mostly the same tools but in recent years that modern classroom has changed so much sometimes I don't even know how to work all of the new gadgets and I graduated from high school in 2006.  I think that students are becoming too dependent on a tool and it is our job as teachers to find a healthy balance of technology and old school methods.  Students should have to write out drafts and go through and edit them themselves they shouldn't have spell check and grammar checks taking care of all of their edits they should be able to solve a math equation without using their calculator; a good teacher should be able to use the technology to enhance their lessons not create it for them.

The GreenHorns

I have spent my entire life living in a city.  I have never really spent any time out on a farm so when we had a chance to watch the Green Horns movie I was excited because when I think of farms I tend to think of older people wearing overalls and big straw hats riding on tractors; but this movie was going to give a glimpse into the world of young farmers and how they are striving to make the world a better place.  I think that in a world where everything is moving towards computers and office work it was really nice to see a change; these young people are creating a world where they are working outside and getting their hands dirty trying to make the world a little better than it was. After watching the movie I kept thinking back to last semester in Beth's class when we talked a lot about school gardens and growing your own food and I think that it is great that these people are extending beyond the classroom and into everyday life. After watching the video a few of us started talking about how we were totally going to go out and start our own farms, but I don't really think that I would be able to put forth all of the work that goes into a farm.  I think trying to boost the economy through something as simple as buying locally grown food can make a world of difference and we should all try to make an effort to help.  I've been trying to make it a point to visit the farmers market each week and buy some locally grown food I'm not able to buy all locally grown food but I figure small steps will one day lead to bigger leaps. 

Creating a Podcast

I'm a huge fan of the show One Tree Hill and in the earlier seasons a character on the show, Peyton, had her own podcast and I always remember thinking, "wow, she must be really tech savvy to understand how to have a podcast" but throughout this class I learned that her technological feat was not as impressive as I once thought it was.  When we were introduced to podcasting in the class I thought it was going to be a complicated procedure but really it was just a matter of having the right equipment.  We were asked to partner up in the class and create a podcast based on something that we were an expert on and I found myself talking to Andrea about how I am an expert on what makes someone a good roommate and what makes them a bad roommate.  It was a simple silly podcast that just allowed us to scratch the surface of what can be done.  I think that when people hear a phrase like "podcast" they immediately clam up and get all nervous because it sounds really important but in all reality it is just a recording that can be posted to the internet.  We spent the next class working on putting a visual to our podcast by reading a children's book, which proved to be a bit harder than just making a vocal podcast.  The most difficult thing with the children's book was allowing enough time between pages so that if you had to go back and edit you could.  I found myself rereading that book so many times because I wasn't pausing enough or my pages wouldn't line up right but as the class progressed so did my understanding of podcasts.  After the two classes spent on podcasting I'm no longer looking at One Tree Hill as the cutting edge of technology. 

Technology in the Classroom

This week I decided to blog about the lack of technology in classrooms.  I touched on the topic in my mid-term paper but since most of you will never actually read that paper I’ll explain what I wrote about.  When I was student teaching at P.S. 131Q I had the opportunity to experience both ends of the technology spectrum in my classes. My first classroom was a half class of 2^nd graders who all had some type of learning disability but no IEP yet, most of my students were either immigrants or first generation American so some of their parents were not familiar with the American school system and hadn’t had the chance to have their child tested.  This classroom was only made up of 13 students but the layout of the room was not a very technology friendly room.  The room could barely fit 13 desks comfortably and the computer was shoved over in a corner; also the sponsor teacher I was working with was a bit older. She was a very nice lady and she wanted what was best for her students but she was not up to date on the technological advancements occurring in the world.  The students never had a chance to use the computer during class and all of the lessons were taught using chart paper and the white board; these kids were not being exposed to any technology while sitting in the class.  Now fast forward 2 months and I was given my second placement of the semester. My second placement was at the same school and it was 4^th grade.  Walking into that classroom I immediately knew that this was going to be much different than my 2^nd graders, the class was more than double the size and so was the classroom.  I had 30 new students and a younger sponsor teacher who actually had a computer on his desk.  In this classroom technology was ever present because of the smart board that was used during the lessons.  Every lesson had a smart board element and my sponsor teacher found different games for the students to play to help learn math skills.  The smart board became my best friend in that classroom because it opens up the door to so much more in the classroom and the students interact so much more with the lesson when they can get up and touch the smart board to answer a question.  This technological element was a great tool that just wasn’t available to the 2^nd grade classroom and it makes me wonder why that is.  The school decided which classroom needed the smart boards and more computers but they seemed to leave other classrooms in the technological dark.  It surprised me how different the two classrooms could be and how uneven the technology could really be. 

Hydrofracking

Prior to sitting in on this lecture on hydrofracking the only thing that I would have been able to tell you is that it’s a funny word.  I cannot even lie, I am not a hydrofracking educated person because it is not a hot topic in my life currently, but after sitting through the lecture I understand a bit more about what it is and why it is upsetting people all over.  There is so much waste occurring every time they perform hydrofracking and in a world where we can figure out how to put a man on the moon I think we should be able to figure out how to get out the resources without causing such waste.  The thing that really shocked me was that there is so much water that is contaminated and they get so little of the resources they are working towards.  I had a hard time grasping the process used because it seemed like they are using more steps and resources than are necessary and that there has to be a better way to get the resources from the ground.  When the presenters talked about the family who agreed to let the hydrofracking people on their land and the way their land dropped in value because of it, it made me wonder why would anyone ever agree to that, but when you are approached by someone with a contract and a promise you tend to overlook that big picture.  I envision that these hydrofracking companies send in a smooth talking guy with slicked back hair to charm the landowners and then swindle them out of their valuable land; I’m sure that this is not exactly what happens but the promise of a quick job with little effect on the family is not what ends up happening and that is what the presenters talked about. 

            I am of course still no expert on the topic of hydrofracking, but when an article appeared in the paper the other day about it I stopped and read it.  I know that there are other solutions to solve the problems that hydrofracking causes but currently the government isn’t pushing the companies to seek them and if they aren’t motivated to change their ways they are not going to.  Hydrofracking is a topic that I’m sure will begin to take up more and more space in the papers as it becomes a more common phrase and when it does I will be able to offer a little insight on the matter.

Welcome to the Technology World

I completely forgot to blog last week, so this week’s posting will include what I was going to talk about for that blog and this week’s thoughts; it’s very convenient that both were going to be about the video that we watched in class.  After watching the complete video I really think that there is so much that needs to be talked about and I think that we covered many of the topics in class, One thing that really struck me about the video was the differences between each country and their computer/technology users.  In the first half of the video they focused more on foreign technology and how it affects the people there, mostly through looking at video games.  The second half of the video had more of an American view of technology and computer games; the big difference with the two was that in the Asian culture there were more young people playing these video games and they seemed to be a more individual form of entertainment.  When looking at the USA and their computer games they focused more on older individuals, in their 20’s and 30’s and the games that they tended to play were more of social games.  They played things like World of War craft and Second Life, games where they were socializing with other players. The part of the video that I found a bit funny was that even at the WOW conventions the people were still playing the game even when the real people were in the actual game.

            It was really interesting that we watched this video because this past week I was watching the MTV show “True Life” and they were doing a special about people who lead a different life on the internet and there was a girl who played Second Life.  It was a fascinating story because she was a famous singer on Second Life, but in real life she had horrible stage fright, she explained that in Second Life she doesn’t have to look at people and she knows they like her music they aren’t just there because there is nothing better to do.  I have such a hard time believing that this fake made up world is better than actually getting out and interacting with real people, but I think that I am a people person who needs social interaction with actual people.  The video we watched in class and the episode of “True Life” offered a glimpse into a world that I don’t really know much about and I think that it is a world that as a future teacher we need to understand because the students walking into the classroom have been raised in this technological world.