Teacher Collaboration

I think that teacher collaboration in an amazing idea. If we expect our students to work with each other, then why shouldn't teachers do the same? I've seen many teachers look like the feel that they need to do the job on their own, and in the process, succeed in frazzling themselves out more than necessary. Having groups of teachers sit down and discuss what they are doing, and trade ideas are not only beneficial to them--because they won't be as stressed out-- but the students also. That way, all the students can be on the same page, and no one will be going too slow or too fast. For example, in English classes, if all the teachers decide to read a book at the same time, then perhaps the students will feel like they have more support from their peers. Or in math classes, it would be easy for students to form study groups if they are all on the same chapter, and a similar teaching style is being shown to them. Working in a school, I am able to see how teachers sometimes form their own little “cliques,” which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just that animosity forms amongst the groups; which I think is counterproductive, as they would much rather shut others out instead of listening to ideas and talking about them. However, it is funny to see the teachers preach to their students all day about working together harmoniously and not practice what they preach. Having teachers work together would be a win-win situation for everyone, and I hope that schools begin implementing this practice in the near future.   

It's a copy...right?

Copyright. To many, this word can strike fear into their hearts. My image of copyrighting, and being caught is a S.W.A.T Team like scenario apprehending a person posting a picture on their blog or something. However, copyright protection laws are very useful. They protect artists from others stealing their work. If I were an artist, I know that I would not be very happy if someone were using my work as their own. As a future teacher, this is something that I have to be extremely careful with, knowing how to use and present the materials properly to students and possibly colleagues is extremely. Since I want to be an English teacher, this is even more important as I have to set the example for my students because they need to learn how cite any works they may use in their writing. As annoying and time consuming as it is, citing a source is very important, as people work very hard on their works, and it is a shame for people to steal them.

CLRN resources

The resources that I found were very helpful. The one that I like the most was BrainPOP. I feel that each of the resources I found were going to be useful and engaging, but to me, BrainPOP, was definitely the most attractive to me. I've seen this program being used in the classroom and students really seem to love it. The Human Journey one, about history was also very interesting, I feel like these were really helpful mostly to teachers to help them explain more about humans and how we have evolved since the beginning. CLRN has some amazing resources that are extremely helpful to teachers and students, and I will definitely use this when I am a teacher!

My goals as a first year teacher...when I get there!

As a first year teacher there are many things that I need to accomplish, but after reading some goals that first-year teachers should follow, some of the goals I want to accomplish when I am a first year teacher are:

1. Use technology wisely. With so much technology out there, I think it is easy to get lost in it and lose sight of what's really important.
2. Open a line of communication with my students. I feel as though some first year teachers get so caught up in that stressful transition in their lives that they forget to really communicate with their kids and they come across as "bad teachers."
3. Be open to new ideas. I think that most people, regardless of the profession focus a lot on what they have learned in the past, in their books and class rooms; and they are too scared to step outside the box.
4. Knowing when to shut off. I know full well I am one of those people that if I know someone may need me, I am on the look out 24/7. Knowing when to say "I need my own time" is very important.
5. Combine the old and the new effectively. Even thought times are changing, I think that there are somethings that we should incorporate into our teachings that are from an older era. For example, while teaching a lesson,  I think it would be great to have students participate in the lecture or lesson by "tweeting" comments or questions digitally, instead of raising their hands.
6. Have fun! What's the point of doing something if you can't enjoy it in some way?

We are connected, whether we like it or not.

The first social network that I even used was Myspace.  I was about thirteen when it hit big.  Then came Facebook. It made Myspace obsolete.  When social networks first came about, they were for young people; but when Facebook started up everyone joined, and I mean EVERYONE.  I have family members in different countries that are in the 60’s and are on Facebook! As I have grown older, my mentality has changed.  As a young teenager, my main reason for having a social networking account was for friends. It was a popularity contest. Now my main reason for having a social networking account is to stay in contact with my family and some close friends.  However, as an added bonus, I get to see all the stories about people I went to high school with, ruining their lives or bragging about how glamorous their lives are, which is really annoying...I mean seriously, who actually wants to know if your day sucked or not? Slowly, my interest in these websites have diminished, and I’ve even considered deleting mine.  However, if I think about the advantages that these websites have from an educational standpoint, I think it’s amazing, yet dangerous, the possibilities are endless.  As a future educator I think that it would be so much simpler to just send an e-mail or an instant message if a student had an issue or a question on his or her work.  This seems so easy and efficient. However, it could also be dangerous.  Sometimes conversations between student and teacher could be misinterpreted, or perhaps a student could begin cyber-bullying the teacher through an anonymous name. Even so, I think the positives outweigh the negatives. From a cultural standpoint, I think we’re at the point where these medias are a necessity. No one writes a hand written letter anymore, it’s too time consuming. I believe there is no going back on social networks. It’s part of us already. Plus who doesn't love a good Facebook breakup?

Floating on Cloud...ware

Floating on clouds is not longer just a fantasy! Cloudware is just amazing. We no longer have to store tons and tons of files on our computers; we can just store it on Cloudware. With Google offering it free, it makes it that more simple. From a teacher’s standpoint, this is so useful. I have seen teachers that I have worked with and that I have had that have tons and tons of files on their computers. Most of these files are power points, or videos that are needed to make the student’s learn as much as possible. However, I have seen teachers search for about three minutes for one file. This is time consuming. With Cloudware, you simply log onto an account and search for whatever it is that is needed. This cuts the amount of search, and gets to the lesson that much more quickly. With this type of technology, teachers now have a much easier job when it comes to keeping organized. I have been witness to many teachers being totally unorganized because their jobs are so demanding. Cloudware is simply awesome; we no longer have to feel “grounded” with our files. Most of us have to use USBs to transfer information from one computer to another, but when your files are stored online, this means that those files are accessible anywhere! As a future teacher, this would make me feel much less constricted when it came to showing presentations, I could present a lesson from anywhere!

"The World is Flat" book talk opinion

If you were to tell anyone today that the world is flat, they would look at you as if you were insane. However, that is just what Thomas Friedman says the world is. How is this possible? Technology. With the type of technology that we have today, our world has become almost minuscule. I found Friedman's idea of the world's evolution fascinating. From how the world went from large to medium, to small; to when people began traveling and colonizing, to companies spanning their business, and finally when individuals began connecting to one another and voicing his or her opinion.  Never have we been able to get our voice heard without having someone else do it for us. Now we can upload our opinion in the blink of an eye. We can view someone else’s opinion and make comments on it, instantly. I think this is truly amazing.

            Another thing that Friedman said that I found very interesting was the idea of “Green” and the concept being invented by the same people who don’t even believe in global warming. He says that we have said for so long that we are in a “Green Revolution.” Then he goes on to say that that is not so, because in a revolution, someone gets hurt. As of today, no one has gotten hurt by our “revolution.” I consider myself to be pretty eco-conscious, but to hear this, makes me want to do more for the earth. 

Technology Article

A Little Place Called the Internet

    How many of us have lost touch with someone wonderful, because sending a letter is too much of a hassle? Many of us have been there. However, with recent technology, talking to someone is really fast and easy! Many have had wonderful experiences with this new technology. One example is Amy Vaskez and Martina Scattolin. These two young women met in high school and quickly became the best of friends. However, Martina was a foreign exchange student from Italy that was only in the United States for one year. Time passed, they had lot of fun, but soon Martina had to go back to her own family that was waiting for her.

    This was a sad day for everyone. Not only was Amy’s best friend leaving, but Martina lived thousands of miles away!
“It wouldn’t have been so bad if she were moving just a few hours away, by car or something, but Martina lives about fifteen hours away by plane!” said Amy, sadly.

Both girls wanted to keep in touch and new that a traditional communication method, such as a phone call, would be much too expensive. That’s when the girls’ had a fabulous idea; they would use the Internet to communicate with each other!
    “Skype is such an amazing thing,” gushes Martina, “I love being able to talk to Amy, and all my other friends that I left in America. It feels like we don’t live that far apart because we can see each other when we talk!”

Their communication didn’t stop there however, “We love the ease of being able to use e-mail, we just type up a few words, send it, and it’s in Italy in the blink of an eye!” Amy explains, “Technology is amazing, it’s like all those thousands of miles don’t exist. The world has shrunk so much.”

Though the time difference, and their busy schedules don’t always result in constant  communication, they girls always find some time to talk for hours on end, and still remain the best of friends.

I'm a 90's kid

I was born before the internet. Plain and simple. I remember as a child walking into my elementary school classroom and along the wall were about four computers, not the sleep modern looking ones we have today, but that big bulky ones, that to us would now look like they should be put in a museum. Back then our idea of fun on the computer was playing Oregon Trail. Now, people sit on the computer for hours and hours going on chat sites, and playing online video games.

After having seen the videos "Shift Happens" and "Vision of Students Today," it makes me realize exactly how much the world has changed. Change is inevitable. It's funny, humans don't like change, yet every second of every minute of every day there is so much change around us. It's amazing to think that just about six or seven years ago Facebook, Myspace and Twitter didn't exist. These websites are now almost essential in everyday life. It's how we communicate.

As someone who wants to be a future educator, the tools available out there today are invaluable. Don't know the answer to a question that a child is asking you? Google it. You don't even have to think about it anymore. I'm not saying that we won't need to have to memorize things anymore, but with the vast knowledge available to us at our fingertips, who wants to? In the classroom this is amazingly obvious. I work with middle school students as a tutor, and for two days out of the week, I am the authority in the classroom. I have gotten up on the board and taught these students. The examples I use are ones that I know they know the answer to, For example, if they are in Pre-Algebra, I use a long division example. I want them to teach me, so I pretend I have no idea what I'm doing. On one of my very first attempts at this, I finished the lesson, and a little girl raises her hand, and in a clear, confident, and slightly condescending tone states "Did you know that you could have saved yourself all this trouble by looking this up on Google?" Aside from being irritated, I was also shocked, how could someone so young be so aware of what's out there? Evidently times have changed and are changing every moment. "Shift Happens" and Vision of Students Today" ring true.

Maybe one day, when I am a teacher, I can teach English to students in India, without having to even leave my living room. Though I'm sure it's happening today, I'm sure it will soon be the norm.