Blog Assignment #2

Did You Know???

Dr. John H. Strange

I can honestly say that I really did not understand why Dr. Strange posted this video. It seemed pointless. I mean, all it was was a bunch of stats, BUT when I began really reading the numbers, they astonished me. I mean, really, can you imagine one person sending 189 SMS a day?!?! Actually, I can. I really believe that I send more than 189 SMS per day. It really does not cross your mind when you are texting, but before you know, the number of texts may have increased times three or four.

I wondered where Dr. Strange had gotten all these stats and then I read the instruction manual more carefully. Right beneath his version of the "Did You Know?" video was the original done by Karl Fisch and Scott McLeod. Did You Know by Fisch and McLeod, was insightful as well. The numbers of human population vs. up and coming technology is amazing. It makes me feel as though computers are going to take the place of every human in the world. I still have yet to hear of this "SUPER COMPUTER" though. I think that is still a work in progress. This sort of makes me wonder, has the human race set themselves up for failure? I mean, having technology to help you is one thing, but to become almost completely dependent upon computers, phones, tablets and iPads just to get through the day??? I personally feel that this is going to become a problem that we (humans) may not be able to fix.

Mr. Winkle Wakes 

Mr. Winkle 

Matthew Needleman had a wonderful idea on showing the contrast between the modern day technology and the less modern schools. The story of Mr. Winkle is that he slept for 100 years and awoke to a world that he was unfamiliar. He went to an office where people worked on computers and talked to their co-workers and friends via webcams. This was very unfamiliar to Mr. Winkle, so he went to the hospital where he saw life support machines and X-Ray machines. This was still very unfamiliar to him. He finally arrived at a school where children learned from writing notes from the teacher's lectures. This was all too familiar to Mr. Winkle.

This story makes me wonder are school falling behind with the times?? Most public school, aside from some secondary and post secondary courses, settings still use paper, books, pens and pencils. Will there ever be a time where there is a "paperless" classroom?? I can see that more and more of the schools are trying to get away from paper and pen. I remember reading about The iSchool Initiative. It's a program that was founded by Travis Allen to help bring technology and digital learning into the classrooms. A classmate and I began to work at getting the iSchool at some of our local Mobile Schools, but was unsuccessful. I still want to work on getting this initiative started in the Mobile County Public School System because I feel as though it would keep future leaders up-to-date with technology while saving the school system some MONEY.

Sir Ken Robinson: Education Kills Creativity

Sir Ken Robinson

First and foremost, Sir Robinson is a comedian. He had the crowd laughing from the beginning. "Creativity is as important as literacy and we should treat it with the same status." This statement really stood out to me, not because it blunt but because it is true! Think about it. Students go into classrooms 5 days a week to be "numbed" down by reading and writing. Students' individuality is taken in his/her clothing due to mandatory school uniforms in some areas. They (the school board) says that is for the best interest and protection of the children in the schools, but I do not think that is the full truth. Although students have found ways to express themselves through hair, make-up and other accessories, they still have to go through the task of putting on that uniform Monday-Friday, 7:20am-2:40pm.

When I was attending Vigor from 2006-2009, I had 4 classes per day. Out of those 4, only 3 were in classroom settings. Each class was 90 minutes long and in those 90 minutes tons of information was crammed into my head so that I could just spite them out on an exam 4 weeks later. The only time that I was able to really express myself was through "Drum-majoring". I was the only girl on the drum major line and for that I was talked about. I was called gay, weird, and a host of other things. It's not that I lacked a creative side, it was just that it could not be expressed in the hallways of my high school. Oh but when I arrived at practice and my fellow drum majors and I could "show out", I loved every minute of it. The hard work, the dance routines that we prepared for ourselves and the band. That was the best.

However, the argument that education kills creativity is not all together a valid statement anymore. When I was in high school, yes drum majoring was how I expressed myself but some of my teachers gave projects that required creativity. For instance, I took Economics in the 12th grade from Mrs. Buford. She gave a project assignment on creating your own business. I created a business similar to Edible Arrangements. I had to think up a business proposal, mission, menu and design the building. It was fantastic and I really enjoyed it. It seems as though, the "educational powers that be" (mostly teachers) are recognizing the value of creativity and pushing it into the light a little more every year.

Pinterest In The Classroom

A photo of my actual Pinterest account

This is not my first encounter with Pinterest. While in Auburn, a friend of mine decorated her apartment using this website. I was so impressed at how well the apartment was put together so I asked where she got her ideas from. She replied, "Pinterest". I was like, "excuse me?" She repeated herself and sure enough when I got home and looked it up, it was a real website. My Pinterest includes home decor and education pinboards. While scrolling through the different pinboards, I stumbled one for Special Education. There are books and websites attached to the pinboard that I am going to explore in the near future. When I read about the ways to use Pinterest in the classroom, I was like, "hmmmm, that is actually true. It could be used for that!"

If I were to use this website in my classroom, it would be an extremely important tool for organization. For instance, I am going into Special Education so my students would use a pinboard for daily routines (using the restroom, placing backpacks and lunch bags in the proper area, time management, etc.). It work wonders for me because I could plan out field trips, class lunches, classroom decor, Special Education websites. I'm getting excited about using this website as I am typing about it. I see this as a tool that can be used by all to gather, give and share ideas with the rest of the world.