Animoto- U of I Love

Response to Internet Video

The video http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/kidsonline/ portrayed the scary effects the internet can have on children and their families. I had heard of incidents of suicide due to cyberbullying. I had never heard of websites that encourage eating disorders. That was shocking to me. I am definitely worried about the negative impacts the internet can have academically and physically. I agree with Lisa that parents need to be actively involved in their children’s lives in order to protect them from the harms of the internet. In reality, though, Deanna brought up how useful the internet is. I agree with her in that it causes people to become impatient, expecting things to come up instantaneously. I agree with the English teacher in the video that it is critical not to lose the value of paper (reading and writing). The teacher in the video was not caught up with technology, yet was able to run her class in the way I thought was most appropriate. Sparknotes does not make up for reading the book. I agree with Elizabeth that as a teacher, I am going to specifically ask questions you cannot find on Sparknotes. I share her fear that students' attention spans will decrease. I will have to find a way to teach to keep my students’ attention.

Personally, I am addicted to my cell phone and check my email constantly. I did not have a facebook until after everyone had one. I was not sure I wanted one until someone told me that I would lose contact with all my friends if I did not get one. I told her she could call me. She said people will only facebook so if I did not get one, I would basically lose my friends. I bought it. I got a facebook and have been addicted ever since. There are a lot of great things about the internet. I was able to find some friends I lost contact with. Ryan’s story is terrifying to me as a future parent and teacher. I know it is easier to type words than to say them to someone’s face. We need to teach our students and children to watch what they put and say on the internet. We need to end cyberbullying in the same way we try to stop physical bullying. Both are damaging and potentially fatal. The video gave me insight to several negative impacts of the internet. I definitely think parents and teachers have the responsibility to teach their students and children about these dangers.

Blog Sources:
Elizabeth Plog- eplog2.wordpress.com
Lisa Shraub- http://lisaillinois2010.blogspot.com
Deanna Barthel- http://deannasadventuresineducation.blogspot.com/

Earn an A? Here's $50 Response

I do not think giving students money for good grades is a good idea. It may encourage them to work harder in high school, but they are not going to get that treatment in college. It also is not fair to those students who, no matter how hard they try, cannot get an ‘A’. Their self-esteem will be lower because not only can they not get the ‘A’, but they cannot get as much money as the ‘A’-students. This idea is brought up by Janet Bodnar in a blog that responded to this article. She made the point that, “High achieving students will get good grades anyway, so you’re wasting your money. Kids who are underachievers fail because they’re inconsistent [according to child psychologist Sylvia Rimm] so if they slip and get a poor grade, they figure they’re not going to get the reward and give up.” In this blog, they also mention how in the long run, giving money is hurtful. According to Susan O’Harian’s personal website she brought up a similar situation. In New York City, they offered up to $1,000 for those who scored well on Advanced Placement tests. The result was that the number who passed declined. Although I find it odd it declined, the main point was that money did not increase the number. The schools can use the money on other things for students to improve. In the Chicago Sun Times Article “How Six Schools Succeeded in Improving Scores”, it identified what has helped students in successful elementary schools. Such things as small classes, improved training for teachers, specialists, and special programs were some of the items that were named. I think this will be more beneficial to students in the long run because we are educating them, not bribing them. In “CEOs Divided on Paying their Own Kids to Excel”, the Chicago Sun Times presented an article where numerous CEOs supported the schools’ payment of their kids good performance in school. They, however, would not pay their kids for doing chores at home. I feel it is contradictory because it is basically the same idea in different settings. I agree with one CEO, William C. Foote, who said, "We have not used financial incentives to motivate our kids to study. We want them to experience the pure joy of learning." I believe this is an important part of the educational system. These are my opinions both as a taxpayer and as a teacher. As a teacher, I should be able to motivate my students without money.
Sources:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/content/education/chi-money-for-grades-11-sep11,0,4916582,print.story

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1159224,CST-NWS-ceos12.article

http://www.suntimes.com/news/education/159301,cst-nws-thumblock09.article

http://www.goldenappleten.org/index.php/blog/individual_entry/paying_for_grades_will_it_create_successful_students/

http://www.susanohanian.org/show_atrocities.html?id=8232

Technology in the Classroom

After reviewing Christine, Elizabeth, and Colleen’s viewpoints, I mostly came to an agreement with all of them. All of these ladies mentioned the importance of technology as expressed in the video. I specifically agreed with Elizabeth who emphasized how the technological skills the students will obtain will be helpful in the workplace. Like these ladies, I do believe it is our role as teachers to promote technology. However as a future English teacher, I feel that a lot can be lost to technology. In the A Vision of K-12 Students today video, the students told us how they listen to Harry Potter on their i-pod. I am a firm believer that books should be read. There are so many skills students can gain from reading such as vocabulary and it is such an important skill to have. In my opinion, there should be a balance of technology and non-technology in the classroom. I thought that Christine’s idea of teaching the students how to blog was a really intelligent one. The students can practice their typing skills, learn how to blog, and practice their writing skills as well in this exercise. These are the types of activities I want to include in my lesson plans while also covering the basic English skills as well. Colleen makes a great point that English is a subject that revolves around papers and books. It is important that students learn how to use both without any technology needed. I think it is important that if one teacher does not teach their students certain technology, they should learn it in another class. The curriculum should give every student the same education revolving technology and should teach them what they need to know for college and their future.

Sources: Christine Woods: http://commentsbyc.blogspot.com/
Elizabeth Plog: http://eplog2.wordpress.com/
Colleen Mostyn: http://cmostyn.blogspot.com/

Response to Sir Ken Robinson's Speech

I believe that Sir Ken Robinson had many valuable points in his speech. Academic ability is important, but so is creativity. Children, especially at young ages, should be playing in the classroom because they learn as they play. It appears that students are not being encouraged to be creative and that they are growing out of their creativity at an earlier age. In the list of important subjects, the arts are at the bottom. It is important to encourage imagination and creativity because these skills lead to life-changing inventions. As a teacher, it is important for me to include activities that will expand my students’ imagination. To do this, I can include activities where students draw certain scenes from books or have group discussions about the readings. I agree with Robinson that we need to educate all parts of the brain, not just the academic part. As a future teacher, I need to take his advice in order to give my students a complete education.

Response to Sir Ken Robinson's Speech

Technology: A Teacher's Decision?

Q: Given the realities of our modern age and the demands of our children's future, is it really ok to allow teachers to choose whether or not they incorporate modern technologies into their instruction?

A: Yes, I do believe it should be the teacher's decision whether or not to incorporate modern technology into their lesson plans. There are certain classes where technology would not fit into the lesson. If this is the case, the students should experience technology lessons in another class with a teacher who feels comfortable teaching it. The dangers of technology are definitely ones not to be forgotten. Schools should show students only the safe websites and explain the dangers of using unprofessional websites. The world we live in demands people to be knowledgable about technology. Because of this, schools must incorporate it into school lessons while also allowing teachers to choose if they are going to teach it.