Blogs to Blog About

For this week's entry, we have to take a look at three different blogs and answer four different questions on each of them.  Here are those three blogs...


Blog 1:  http://learningismessy.com/blog/
"Brian Crosby is the author of this blog and a teacher who specializes in “at risk” students. He shares his ideas for learning in a personal style and encourages other teachers to understand that sometimes learning isn’t linear."
Question 1.  Brian tends to write about the important issues that we face everyday as teachers such as having to deal with difficult issues with administrators and trying to help our students to learn in the best way possible.  I think the general audience of this blog is meant to be anybody who is in the field of education.  He wants us to feel comfortable to know that we are not alone as teachers and that anything we can do is possible because there is always a "mess" that needs cleaning. 

Question 2.  I think that this is an important blog, not simply for those of us in this course, but any of us who plan to be teachers.  We can learn a lot from his insight as an educator and from the issues he discusses with his readers.  I would definitely consider adding this to my reader to continue to see what types of things he discusses with his readers. 

Question 3.  http://learningismessy.com/blog/?p=1240 
This particularly post caught my eye for a few different reasons.  One, it was a good reflection on Brian's academci experience with his students this year and secondly, because it included Grace Corrigan, Christa McAullife's mother.  Years ago, when I was in elementary school, I got to see Grace speak at my school since my art teacher had helped build a space shuttle classroom out of a school bus. 

Blog 2:
 http://blog.chegg.com/

This blog is attached to the Chegg website; a student services site for planning and study help. The blog gives advice about finding inexpensive textbooks, study habits, and scholarships. Be sure to check out the post, What Does Your Major Say About You?

 

Question 1.  The authors are varied, so it is hard to determine exactly what their agenda is.  However, in the description of what the blog it states that it is meant to be an overall helpful tool for students.  Perhaps the authors want students and teachers to feel comfortable knowing that they can get information from this blog. 

Question 2.  I think that this blog will actually be helpful not so much for me, but it will be helpful for my future students.  I want my students to be able to feel like that if I am not able to provide the help that they need that I can point them in the direction of support on other sites. 

Question 3.  This was probably one of my favorite posts: http://blog.chegg.com/2012/10/16/biden-v-ryan-anything-goes/.  I think the reason why I enjoyed this post is because it simplifies the information about the recent Vice-Presidential debate and makes it more palatable than having to dive in head first if you didn't see the debate itself.  Students are going to want to read ideas that are not going to overwhelm their minds. 

Okay, seriously, how can we not be interested in a blog with this name? 

Blog 3:  http://funnymonkey.com/blog 

Funny Monkey blog is highlights all the news and information related to Funny Monkey, a business dedicated to making educational materials free. In addition to news, the blog also covers major educational issues, technology, and classroom solutions.

Question 1.  The author like Chegg's seems to be varied.  However, they are very interested in presenting important ideas to the academic community, primarily for those of us who plan to be teachers or administrators.  The blog audience is mostly those who are interested in the "Op-Ed" aspect of education.  This is an important blog for educators to read because it will keep us to date on what the current issues are for teachers.   

Question 2.  Again, this is not a blog that may be beneficial to this class, but it is more beneficial to the overall educator.  I want to be able to keep myself informed and not constantly feel like I am being left in the dark about what is important and what issues teachers are facing these days.  Students should read this blog to gain an understanding of what the current ideas are about education are that floating about. 

Question 3.  http://funnymonkey.com/if-we-outsource-curriculum-standards-assessment-whats-left  This is a very important post, it was the most recent one from earlier this week.  We need to start thinking about what values we place on standardized tests.  Is Common Core going to affect this? Are we going prevent our students from being independent thinkers?  What is going to happen?  What is Pearson's role in this?

Tagxedo

Jake Platt
October 18, 2012

Technology in Education

I am unique and sensitive

I wonder if the future is as wonderful as it seems

I hear people chattering away about their classes
I see myself before a classroom with students smiling up at me

I hear the printer creating text and making noise

I am unique and sensitive

I pretend that sometimes people knew that I had a heart

I feel sad and lonely when I am stuck inside my own head

I touch the keys and they rattle as I write these words

I worry that the future is not bright enough for me

I cry or feel sad when I can not see into my own successes

I am unique and sensitive

I understand that teaching and my future can be scary

I say that if we can all enjoy each other, then we will be able to make the world a more pleasant place

I dream that people can tolerate friends and foes

I try to succeed where I can

I hope that people know me not just for what they see on the outside

I am unique and sensitive

Common Core Standards

6.L.3 Use knowledge of language and its conventions writing, speaking, reading, or listening
6.L.5. Demonstrate understanding of figurative language, word relationships, and nuances in word meanings.

Nets Standards

1. Creativity and Innovation

Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct

knowledge, and develop innovative products and

processes using technology.

b. Create original works as a means of personal

or group expression

Growing Up Online/Digital Nation

Watch This!

and 

Watch This!

These are two very important videos for any teacher, student, and parent to watch!

 1. Compare and Contrast each documentary. What has changed from the first one (Growing Up Online) made in 2008 to the newer one (Digital Nation) filmed in 2010 ? How did what you watched in the two videos support your feelings about technology or how did it change your views? It is quite difficult to compare and contrast these two documentaries because I was not able to complete watching the first one because it was quite upsetting. It is not surprising to me that technology has had such a profound impact on my generation. After all I am in the generation that was raised with America Online's People Connection, Myspace, and Facebook. As I brought up in class, cyberbullying is not something that is easily escapable. I myself have been victimized by it. Unfortunately, people are going to continue to abuse technology so long as it exists. Do we think that this is ever going to go away? Absolutely not, when we discussed the "digital footprint" we all leave behind, it is going to be far more challenging for my generation to erase this mark, much like the footprint Neil Armstrong left on the moon close to 60 years ago. Technology is definitely one of those things that when used appropriately it can benefit others, but put in the wrong hands will lead to utter destruction.

2. Your thoughts on multitasking. Do you agree? Can you multitask? Do you disagree with the video on the topic of multitasking?
This to me is an amusing concept to bring up. I think that my generation tends to believe that it is more successful at multi-tasking than our parents. However, we are not. I am definitely guilty of while I am multi-tasking while I work on assignments. Even as I am working on this blog, I am tagging my music and I am waiting for my insurance company to get on the phone with me. Am I good at this usually? Absolutely not. I would certainly be interested in taking myself to task to see how successful I truly am. It would not surprise me if I failed miserably in this task.

3. Is there an addiction happening in society today with technology or is it just a new way of living? Should we be concerned? Absolutely. Technology is very addicting. We should be incredibly concerned. When I think about the amount of time I am playing with my iPad instead of working on school assignments or when I am working on other assignments that I should be focusing on for different purposes, I have to wonder am I just addicted or am I using technology appropriately. I have to wonder why the United States has not started to see if this is true of American students. I would like to think that most American students are started to be "addicted to technology." They just do not realize it.

6. Do parents of today have any idea what their kids are doing online? Whose job is it to teach them the safety and digital responsibility? Parents/Teachers/Community/Government?? This is an incredibly important question for us to focus on not only as future educators, but as future parents as well. Unfortunately, most parents probably do not know what their children are doing online. There are a number of sick people on the Internet who will take advantage of children. I would have to say that the responsibility of this is on each of these parties. Parents should be good role models for their children in terms of explaining what benefits technology serves as well as any detriments that may come their way. Teachers also have a responsibility of instilling further information on students. Although it was amusing in the second documentary to watch Asian students singing about technological responsibility, it is not something to take lightly. The community is not a group that should be as responsible, but it is very important that laws are enacted (with the help of the government) to safeguard children.

7. Are kids and adults today ruining their digital footprints by sharing too much information online without realizing that it may be detrimental to their future? Should they care? I alluded to this briefly before. Hopefully, students of the next generation (not mine) get enough of an awareness that they realize that their footprints will follow them everywhere. Unfortunately, those in my generation have not begun to realize how much they share will affect our futures.

Vokis and Digital Citizenship

When learning about Digital Citizenship: There are nine different things that we should be paying attention to. In the video I watched on Youtube I came across a few of these important details while watching the video that I link below. See the video below for a little bit more detail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpFhHt82m0k&blend=10&lr=1&ob=5 There is a lot more to digital citizenship than I realized. Digital citizenship is important for all students to learn about. Unfortunately, even those of us who use technology on a regular basis are not always aware of what we need to do to make sure that we are acting appropriately as citizens. Digital access is something that we probably take for granted living here in the United States. As digital citizens living in the 21st century, we need to make sure that we are doing things that are appropriate within the confines of the Internet. If we do not do things that could be perceived as appropriate our access could be denied or taken away from us. I am willing to bet that most of us are people who engage in digital commerce. We are constantly buying clothes, cds, dvds, blu-ray discs, etc. on the Internet. It is going to be difficult unless we are in a third world country to not meet someone who has not engaged in digital commerce. Digital communication, this is one that strikes a chord with me as I had addressed in class. There are so many things that can be said and posted utilizing 21st century technology. Why people do not realize how easy it is to bully someone or to terrorize others just by using the Internet or other forms of technology I will never know. This leads into digital etiquette which I will address momentarily. Besides utilizing Internet and similar technologies for purposes of entertaining ourselves, literacy is definitely changing in this era. Students are often writing papers saying, "k, i, lol, jk, lmfao etc." For those of us who are looking to be English as a Second Language teachers we need to be on the look out for students who are using Internet vocabulary instead of proper grammar and spelling of things in their writing. Digital etiquette ties into the remaining three parts of digital citizenship. Why is it that people think that it is appropriate to do some of the things that they do online? People should be held accountable for it.