Mr. McClung did a brilliant job of sharing his experience as a first year teacher. I loved how a lot of what he had to say was simple, obvious things that get overlooked in a lot of classrooms. Listening to students and and being able to tell if they are comprehending the lesson are two of the most important things to consider when teaching. They seem so obvious in fact I can see how they can be easily forgotten. Hopefully, I will not be one of the teachers who lets these little things slip by me.
I have never been a big fan of Wikipedia. The only time I have ever found it useful is when I'm trying to recall who sang what song in last season's American Idol. Other than that sort of trivial thing, Wikipedia is anything but reliable. After reading about things that have been covered up by major corporations on Wikipedia, I'm not very surprised.
In general, I still don't think it's wrong to view a Wikipedia page while researching, but I definitely believe everything should be double checked. I would never put something I found on Wikipedia in a paper I write unless I found the same information from another resource. Even then I would cite the credible source not Wikipedia. Trusting Wikipedia to be a reliable source is not worth risking my grades on.
Well, after watching last years version of 'Did You Know,' I was extremely surprised about how quickly technology was taking over. Now that I've seen the new version, I didn't realize a lot of what they had to say, but it didn't surprise me to the extent the first version did.
One thing about this video is that it is motivational, yet saddening at the same time. It encourages me to keep up technologically, but I also hate that the old ways are dying out. I prefer reading the newspaper over online newspapers. Having a physical copy of the news is just something I prefer, unfortunately I'm in the minority for that. The only thing I would question from this video that talks about technological connectedness regards junk e-mails. I feel like a junk e-mail is just as easy to ignore as junk snail mail so the changes won't be very effective.
After the initial introduction I never again thought about how this man had recently been diagnosed with a life threatening form of cancer. He was merely one of the best, most consuming motivational speakers I have ever heard. I loved listening to this man discuss his surprisingly interesting life and give me some amazing advice on how to pursue my own dreams. His advice could be used by anyone. Anyone could have found something inspirational from lecture. For me, some of his most applicable advice would have to be his teaching techniques.
The head fake. It has to be the simplest, yet most brilliant teaching concept ever. Make students learn, but don't tell them they're learning. No one really likes the word 'learn' so avoid it at all costs. Technology doesn't have to be the main factor it's just a matter of setting up a fun atmosphere that is actually a learning environment in disguise. For example, the best of the best history teachers do this. Instead of making students feel like they are at a lecture, a good history teacher will make his or her students feel like they are at story time.
There are also some teaching techniques I caught on from Randy that went unspoken. One for instance is to encourage students to leave a legacy. He did this not by telling them to chase their dreams, but by chasing his own. He was also a man who taught that it is possible for someone to accomplish every goal he sets in life and to be able to look back on life and be happy with it. With everything he did he showed that a life lesson could be taken from all of it. I feel like part of being an educator is to inspire students. To do so requires one to live an inspirational life, and that is definitely something that Randy Pausch accomplished.
Randy taught his students to be better than himself. When he gave his students the assignment to have the virtual reality fair it far exceeded his expectations. They did so well he didn't even know what else to teach them and had to trick them into doing better. Somehow it worked and they exceeded his expectations even more. He taught them to expect the absolute best out of themselves. It wasn't to push them, but to show them what they were naturally capable of. That is something everyone needs to learn and sometimes it take a teacher to do so.
Karl Fisch made an amazingly strong argument for encouraging teachers to become technologically literate. He compares being technologically incapable to being illiterate and it really struck a nerve to me as a reader. In a world where people are relying on computers more and more daily as a tool communication and accessing information, how can teachers willingly not keep up with the rest of society in their classrooms?
Advances are being made constantly and I wouldn't really be surprised if eventually students were being taught how to type in kindergarten instead of how to print letters. As teachers we must stay on top of the game and be more technologically aware than our students at all times. All throughout high school I constantly had teachers who were learning how to work a computer or even a DVD player from us students. When I become a teacher I want to be the one teaching my students things as basic as that not the other way around.
I completely agree with Ms. Hines's point in this article. Technology will change everyday but the ultimate test will be our ability to adapt. Will teachers be able to grab on and use new technology to develop the minds of their students? Ultimately technology will only take students so far. They will still need the guidance of teachers to help develop their minds and it is the job of the teacher to make sure that happens. It will require a lot of continuous learning, but that will only allow the teacher to do a better job for their students.
My favorite thing that Ms. Hines talks about in this blog is how teaching and learning go hand in hand. She said that if students aren't learning that the teacher isn't really teaching. She refers to this concept as 'smart teaching.' This concept is meant to acknowledge how teachers must take the time to discover new teaching methods to connect with their various students.
I think I missed the point of this video. Yes, I completely believe the statistics that this video showed, but I do not believe that the life of a student is as depressing as the video makes it out to be. It felt like the creators of this video were trying to show how hard the life of a student is, but I feel like there is still a piece of the puzzle I'm missing. Does the creator of this video have a plan on how to fix any of these issues we face today?
I don't feel like my life as a student is quite as sad as this video makes college life seem. A lot of the issues that were showcased seemed to be issues that could be changed for the better with little to no effort on the student's side. Yes, many professors don't know their student's name, but that doesn't mean they are fully to blame. I feel like there should have been a piece in this video that showed how many students actually interact with professors outside of class. For me there was an element of hope missing. To me there is always something prosperous to look forward to, but that was no where to be seen in this video.
The children that create Eagles' Nest Radio absolutely amazed me. I had no idea that third graders could be so much tech savvy than I am. Going into this class I was only aware of what a podcast was. I could never have made one before and too see a group of children less than half my age making one just blows my mind. Never in a million years would I have been able to accomplish this when I was in the third grade. Learning how to write in cursive was what I looked forward to that year.
Not only did these children create a podcast, but they made a rather amazing one at that. It was absolutely captivating the whole time. The music playing in the background fit the theme so well, and I could really tell that they loved telling the stories about Caesar. They learned so much about the Roman Empire and I am very impressed by their abilities to bring history to life!
I feel like last semester's videocast is a bit rehearsed and impersonal in the beginning. The speakers seemed to to have planned every word that they said ahead of time, and not everything came across as just natural conversation like it did with the podcasts I listened to with last weeks assignments. It was not until a little ways into the videocast that the speakers started to become more comfortable infront of the camera and that made listening more enjoyable.
For my podcast I would like to have a more interesting introduction. That is what get the audience interested and makes them want to continue listening. I feel like the material discussed needs to be something that captures the audience and makes them want to hear the discussion. That will make them feel like they are an active member in the conversation rather than a passive listener.
President Abraham Lincoln was a rather tall individual. This is his memorial.