Prensky

I feel that Prensky has a lot of great ideas for teaching with technology. I think he comes on a little strong about how often teachers should use the technology compared to the students use. From my experience the students don't care about the interactive whiteboard that much. This could be because its not used to its full potential, but i still think the students aren't impressed by it as much as teachers are. And to be honest im not that impressed by the smart board either, its just a really big touch screen as far as I'm concerned. Prensky's ideas on partnering is something that i do strongly believe in though. I have always believed in being more of a coach instead of an instructor when i teach. I think that the students don't mind working, but they do mind working alone. The only time my students aren't able to ask their peers a question is during a test. That is so that i can receive accurate feedback about how well the students understand the concepts. I like the idea of group tests because it is more realistic outside of the school life. But, the state tests are not group based, so i feel it doesn't prepare them as well. I think the book itself was an easy read, and useful for teachers that are looking to incorporate more technology into their classroom. Even though i didn't agree with everything Prensky said and some things may not have been new information to me, I was still able to get ideas of how to run my class to better engage the students. Which is what i feel it is all about.

Sir Ken Robinson

I'm about to talk about the RSA animate video. I thought it was first of all very entertaining to watch. Second of all it talked about a lot that i believe in. Third it introduced me to some new ideas that i havnt thought of on my own, but i agree with.

I believe that we keep moving toward standardized tests when we should be moving away from them. I think teachers are constantly stressed about meeting all the requirements within the curriculum and the curriculum is being driven by the standardized tests that the students have to take. The reason teachers are so stressed about the tests is because if their students dont do well then their job is in jeopordy. It doesnt seem fair because of the different types of students that certain teachers teach. Some teachers may teach the honors kids, while other teach the special education group. How can you compare those two teachers based on their students scores? They are talking about having to increase your numbers based on the scores your students had from the previous year, but that still isnt fair either. The teachers that teach the honors kids will do well, and how can that teacher expect the next year to beat a 98% passing rate?

One thing that i thought was new and interesting is how the subjects are all seperated, when in the real world you have to be able to combine all of our knowledge. Why are we waiting for them to graduate to put all of these skills together? On top of that if you get rid of the subjects the way they are, then we can get rid of the bells and spend more time where it is needed.

Web 2.0 list

Here are some sites that i thought would be useful to use.

1. www.edmodo.com
         - Is a site that a teacher can set up, so that their students can look at assignments, ask questions to the teacher or other students, and look up grades. The teacher can even make quizes on it. I think the most appealing part about the edmodo site, is that they have an app which allows you and the students to check out any new updates. Best of all its free.

2. www.dipity.com
         - This site is pretty cool. It allows you to make a time line of anything you want. I think it works especially well with social studies. Maybe a project where the students have to make their own timeline about a topic they learned throughout the year. I would use it to show my students the topics they will learn and maybe have challenge questions that they should try at the end of every unit.

3. www.spicynodes.org
         - This site allows the user to create a web, which can be used for concept maps or presentations. I would use it to create a concept map so that my students can know what "verbs"are expected to be known within a unit and exactly where within the unit they apply. The students can use it for presentations because you are able to put video directly into it, pictures, text, and even links to other sites if you want to.

4. www.tagxedo.com
        - This site reminds me a lot of wordle, but the thing that this site allows you to do that wordle doesnt is that you can have to words be shaped into different things. So for example, if a student was doing something on the quote "Don't tread on me", they could put their writings into the site, and the site will mix them up the way wordle does, but now you can have them mixed up so that it looks like a snake.

5. www.braineos.com
        - Is a site that allows teachers to create homeworks or quizes so that the students can complete them. There are some that other teachers have made already too, that can be used for your class to if youd like. These homeworks and quizes give instant feedback to the students and the teachers. I believe that the students are also able to see their classmates scores to if the teacher wants them to be able to do that. Overall a very useful site for the teacher and students.

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