Blog Assignment 5

    When I first began reading the Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please? blog by Mr. McLeod I was in a little bit of shock. But as I read more I felt his sarcasm and really became interested in his final point. Mr. McLeod speaks towards using technology with students and our children as if it were a horrid thing. At the end of the post he suggests that he is already progressing with his students on technology and they are doing just fine.
    Mr. McLeod brings up a very good point. Technology is on the rise and kids are picking it up younger and younger these days, yet not everyone is excited about it. Believe it or not some people, educators, and parents are very against the use of technology in schools or in general. To me that's insane. Yes, I am pro recess and actually living, experiencing life. But I am not against the use of technology to learn and grow intellectually. There is stuff that computers can teach us that a pen and paper can't. There are programs that help kids in ways that teachers or parents can't. Instead of rejecting this growth in our lives, we should be embracing it.

    The two videos by Travis Allen got my brain sparking. At first when I watched the video The iSchool Initiative I was very against it. My natural reaction to a school purely based out of a technology device is negative. Being pro recess, it's hard for me to grasp the positive side of a computer school for our children. Computers help our world and hands down are absolutely needed in our schools, I'm just not so sure it needs to be our school.
    With that said, Mr. Allen's second video, ZeitgeistYoungMind's Entry, changed my views slightly. When I saw the excerpt of a little girl doing flash cards on what looked like an iPad I automatically thought to myself, "she could learn that just as easy with paper flash cards". But then I remembered that one of Travis Allen's main arguments for the iSchool was that it was "green" and that balanced out my negative views with my positive views. After seeing both videos I am still on the fence about a full on computer school, but I'm not so harshly against it anymore.

    The video from Jennifer Chamber's blog post about Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir blew me away. This video was one of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. It shows all the faces of people singing together in beautiful harmony, yet they have never met each other. How crazy is that? Not only is it extremely difficult for a group of people of that size to sound so incredible in person, but imagine how much harder it is to do over the internet.
    I'm not exactly sure how they filmed this but they did a fantastic job. The internet is an amazing tool. This video really makes me think of all the different ways people can relax, have hobbies, or just have fun. For me, I go outside or go to the gym to play basketball, but for others they explore the web and push the limits of technology. Everyone is different, just like each face and voice in that video.

   The video Teaching in the 21st Century was interesting to say the least. My first reaction was that I better change my major quick because I won't be needed in the future. But then while watching all the reasons and solutions fly across the screen I began to realize Mr. Kevin Roberts point. It's not that we will not be needed, it's that our teaching methods need to be up to speed with the needs of our future students. His views on how the education system will change over the course of time could very well be correct, and if that happens where will the teachers of this world stand?
    In some ways this video draws out fear. Obviously the fear of not being needed or extinction is apparent, but also the fear of not being wanted. Part of me is scared that if it comes down to a vote to keep or remove teachers and let technology rule, technology will win. But not because it's necessarily better, but because the people voting will not see the need to be taught. Some people these days go about life as their own savior, and honestly we won't make it through life successful if we rely on our selfishness and comfort. If we ever do get to this point in life my hope is that society's heads will not be sucked into the easier option aka "the autocorrector for life", but they will see the need to be taught and nurtured in more ways than just education.

    The website Reading Rockets has so many useful resources for educators. It contains everything from different teaching strategies to great children's books to resources for school counselors. Reading Rockets can help teachers or faculty members save money on different online deals for books or supplies. They have articles and blogs to help with specific classroom situations. There are certain links to help you as an educator grow in particular aspects, such as reading aloud, to better your students.
    When I eventually become an educator I can definitely see myself using this site and sharing it with other co-workers. It is sort of like the teacher's "pinterest". There are so many great ideas to choose from on so many different levels of teaching and learning. Personally, I plan on taking advantage of the book reviews and reading strategies for my future students. Reading is something that was instilled in me at a young age by my mother who has been a reading teacher for years, and I plan on instilling the importance of reading in my students and children as well.