A Conversation With a 'Bad' Teacher, 26

This article written by Hana Maruyama gives insight from a man, John Owens, life after becoming a teacher.  John Owens quit his job and decided he wanted to teach writing to high school kids. After landing a job in the South Bronx in New York City he was faced with so many obstacles.  He was bombarded with data and test scores upon entering the school, where students were given rating on even self-determination.  After continuous conflict with administration his career ended less than a year of when it began.  This ending led him to a new beginning two years later.  Owens published a book about his experiences of teaching, where he expresses schools' need for better ways to evaluate teachers and also students progress.  Owens writes, "...I do know that if they have a love of learning, and they have a sense of community and a good moral compass, they'll do just fine."

With the design of Common Core Standards teachers are required to make students college and career ready. However, Owens claims that as long as students have developed love for learning  and a good moral compass they can and will succeed.  I also very much agree with him. I believe that teachers main goal should not be to prepare students for more education, but rather teach them to love learning.  Students who love to learn will persue learning.  Learning virtues and morals is more important and vital then learning for the sake of getting into college. I think that like Owens said, we should be teaching kids to be good citizens, not just good employees. 

Kids Can't Compute-- And That's A Problem, 25

Mike Elgan writes an article expressing his opinion on the so called "tech savvy" youth of today. He claims that children today are not in-tuned with what happens beyond apps and as he says, "under the hoods." Just because computers are being used more and more today does not mean that this generation knows as much about the memory or storage. Computers are getting easier and easier to operate, which is why the young generations can catch on so easily. Because they are so easy to operate and run, they have no reason to know the basic facts of what happens behind it all. His solution is education. He believes that software development should be part of public education. When students graduate from high school he claims they should know how to troubleshoot networks issue and know how to manage and create websites. I think that Mike Elgan makes some good points about children being "tech savvy." I agree that the young today do not know much more than apps and different services that Ipads and Iphones offer. As a future educator, I think that students should be informed on how things work behind the computer screen. Knowing everything beyond the apps and operations can help individuals understand how it actually works; and therefore, solve any issues or problems that may occur. Also, it may help them appreciate the devices more because they can begin to understand the thought and work that was put into creating these devices.

Advisors suggestions, 24

Advisors wrote this letter to inform and better prepare teachers in training about expectations for beginning teachers.  They focus specifically on technology and what teachers should know before entering their first classroom. For example, the letter addresses three specific components to technology training: 1. The actual tool/ service 2. Examples of how it can be used with different content 3. And pairing it with standards. They wish education programs to reach out and teach practical application methods and strategies, especially those operating in the SAMR model. The second thing discussed is learning to operate and teach an LMS class. This involves pulling media and other online resources together  with a particular standard or objective in mind. Education programs should also be modeling how these tools can and should be used in a typical classroom. Interactive whiteboards and smart boards are important types of tools for learning.  Lastly, teachers should be learning how to operate and teach students with all different devices and internet connection. With the rise of BYOD, teachers need to recognize that students are going to have all different kinds of connections and devices and they must know how to challenge students. 

I think that all of these suggestions are great. I agree that being taught how to model tools in classroom is much more important than lecture based material. As futures educators, we should be practicing and demonstrating how technology can be utilized in the classroom. As far as utilizing an LMS in elementary education, I am not sure that I can agree. Yes, it would prepare students for college, but that should not be our main goal in teaching students. It is our job to teach students about life and help them develop virtues and goals that eventually lead them to their dreams and aspirations in life.  Simply teaching to prepare students for more education does not teach them much. They need truth.

Web tools, 23

Mindmeister: concept map is very limited, unless you pay monthly for it. You can make a slideshow using the concept map, which is very helpful for teaching the class. Spiderscribe: This is a free tool that is also a concept map. It allows you to insert images and location. It is centered more for business because of the event time and maps that can be inserted. photobucket: This is a tool that can be used to share and edit pictures and videos. You are able to comment and like photos and pictures that are trending. quinturakids: It's a search engine that is very limited with the information. This could be useful only if you knew the topic you were discussing was on this search engine. DuckDuckGo: This is a search engine, which contains a filter bubble to help tailor your research. It is kid-friendly and allows you to put restrictions on what is being searched or what engines to search. gogooligans: It claims to be a safe and kid oriented search engine; however, it is not reliable. Vimeo: This site is free and is similar to YouTube. You are able to share and watch videos. Wordpress: This is a blog site. You are able to create, read, and share different blogs. It is very similar to blogger. Evernote: This site helps you remember everything across all the computers, phones, and tablets you use. It lets you search through any document you already have. It is an easy way to keep up with your notes. Compfight: It is similar to Google images. It is free and used for searching and downloading images. It provides a wide variety of selection. Diigo: You can are able to share ideas with groups or other teachers. Blabberize: You are able to insert images and cut out the mouth, so that you can record a voice and say what you want it to say. Easel.ly: This website allows you to create and share visual themes in the form of charts, maps, and images. It is organized and easy to navigate. Animoto: It allows you to upload pictures and videos, as well as create and edit your own videos. It is free to create 30 second videos. BookBuilder: This site is used to create, share, and publish books. Weebly: This is a free website that is used to make your own websites and blogs. Storyboard Generator: This website contains videos of people's personal stories about specific topics. It is a way to make your own video and upload it. Tagul Clouds: It is a free themed word cloud. You can easily change the colors, font, and themes. Also, there is an option to buy products with your word cloud on it. Edmodo: This is basically a Facebook for teachers. It has specific information on subjects and provides resources. You can also create a page for the classroom and have the students post on the class page. Socrative: It's a free website that teachers and students use to engage the class. You can create your own quiz or test and then send the scores. Podbean: It is similar to Itunes with music and podcasts. It is free, but only a limited usage. You can upload your own podcast. Pixton: This is website to make comic strips. Icloud: This is a site where you can create documents and save them to your cloud of information. There is also an app for spreadsheets, similar to excel, in which you can use for gradebook. Infogr.am: This a free website to create charts and visual aids.

Educause Sprint 2013, 22

This article discusses a transformation that is occurring in education. Diana Oblinger says, "We think we are moving from the information age to the connected age." She says this because of the recent MOOC's that are becoming the primary means of education. MOOC stands for massive open online course. Chris Dede argues that MOOC's is massive broadcasting to massive amounts of people. I found this article very interesting, yet frightening. As a future educator, this article scares you to believe that teachers will no longer be needed one day soon. With the continuous rise in technology students are connected globally to individuals, can view lectures online on their mobile devices, and are able to interact with tutors. MOOC's are beginning to take away vital instruction support. The human part of education is getting totally washed out. Peer and social support are lacking in students, and become less and less valued as the value of technology rises.

Cyberbullying Website, 21

https://sites.google.com/site/cyberbullying321/