"What I've Learned This Year" by Mr. McClung

Mr. McClung's article by far must have been the best one I've read so far about teaching. He touched on every important thing a teacher must must do! He also went about explaining things in a POSITIVE way without being rude . His article was very encouraging. He is the prime example of the kind of teacher I want to be.

I also liked how he always keeps his students best interest in mind. If things don't work a certain way, he takes a different approach. He also communicates and listens to his students. That is very essential to your students preforming well in a class. Classes where I feel connected, I tend to do better and make higher grades. Lastly, he states he is reasonable. Some teachers just set one expectation for all their students. We are each very different with different needs. Mr. McClung indeed ( and Dr. Strange lol) is the prefect example of a good teacher :)

Do you trust Wikipedia?

I can remember from high school my history and science teachers saying " Don't use Wikipedia as a source of information for your research project." Everybody knows Wikipedia is a very incompatible source of information. But, I guess I am contradicting myself because I still use it to look up things. That is probably so because it's the first link you see when you put your topic in a search engine.

As far as the Wikipedia Scanner, it is a good idea to have; however, anyone will still be able to edit things. Now that people know they are being traced, I'm sure they are going to come up with a tool to prevent the tracing. Come now, some computer wise will create something for this soon easily. Why shouldn't Wal- Mart, Diebold, politicians, and etc. edit information for their best interest? It's legal. The only way to prevent this is to hire people to put in the entries. By this, I mean have the entire reviewed before being posted. Wikipedia could pay for that through advertisements maybe. But, until Wikipedia provides better means of security, the site will never be an accurate source of information.

Team Two

I have just listened to and posted on three of the little children reading a sentence. Each child read very clear. They did a great job.

Randy Pausch’s Last Lecture

First, it was incredibility hard to watch and pay attention to this whole lecture. He had too many long stories. But, on the positive note, it is good he doesn't want people to feel sorry for him. He is right when he says he's in better shape than most of this audience because he sure has me beat.

It is amazing that in such little time he has fulfilled his childhood dreams. It takes other people years or even never to fulfill such dreams. My childhood dream was and is to become rich! Like Mr. Pausch said the only one holding me back is me.

I agree when he says brick walls are not meant to keep you out; they are there to keep out people who don't really want it. That saying couldn't be more true. For example it was really hard for me to pass calculus. That brick wall didn't keep me out, it made me work harder. I worked hard, and I didn't complain.

Lastly, Mr. Pausch rest in peace. I know you are in a better place. You are right! If I live my live right, the karma will take care of itself.

Tresher's Shoe Fetish

Did You Know 4.0

Wow, technology has went from good to scary!!!! We just saw 3.0 with its shocking statics. I must take it one thing at a time. All of this is so overwhelming. What are the paper producing companies going to do?
I'm just playing!!!! The increase in technology is great. I can't believe it is growing so rapidly. The most shocking thing stated was that Obama raised so much money over the Internet. You go Obama!!!! I wonder what Did You Know 10.0 is going to be like?

Room 16 and Year 5 Class Blogs

I have just finished commenting on both blog pages. Both were very creative in their own way. Room 16 took beautiful pictures on 9/9/09. The little girl Awhina was very descriptive on the procedure of the picture taking. In Year 5, The Fire of the Dragon was posted. It was a well written story, and it kept my attention. The children did a great job!

Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?

I read a post by Karl Fisch in which he asked whether it is okay to be a technologically illiterate teacher. Well, I know one thing for sure, his staff hates him!!!! I see he likes to start up controversy. But, I agree his theory. People should not be proud of saying they are" Bad with math," or that they " Can't read." Statements like that are not okay to admit. Those people should want to be educated.

But I do disagree with some of his theory. He shouldn't down grade teachers who aren't technologically literate either. I feel he has no room to talk about anyone. He is not the smartest person in the world, and I'm sure it is someone out there smarter than him who can question his job. If he is the smart man at work, he should want to help these people not talk about them. This kind of refers me back to Mrs. Hines article. If a teacher has been in the system for thirty plus years, they are probably older and use to teaching methods they learned in college!!!! He will see that karma is a witch!!!!!!

"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines

In the post to Mrs. Hines I stated, "I think you are absolutely right. A teacher must be able to teach adequately before he or she can use any type of technology. By me being a student, I have ran across teachers who can't teach, but that teacher wants to use power-points, computer programs, and ect. As a teacher I feel he or she must know every student's need and be able to teach that student with or without technology."

It was so ironic to have started on this assignment today. I felt this way before I actually read the article. One professor I have is a prime example of this. She made an elaborate power-point about the lesson for today. After the lecture, she gave an assignment. I go up to ask a question and she says" It was in the power-point go on my web site a get it." I was in amazement. What kind of educator doesn't like questions. Wow!!!!! We do need a new and better breed of educators, not better power-points.

Michael Wesch: A Vision of Students Today

This movie was right on the target. The statistical facts they showed were similar to my college experiences. The last statement the movie said was that " technology can save us." I feel that is true. I think we as people wouldn't have half the problems we have if we used more technology.

However, there are some things in the movie I would have done differently. Some of the words in the movie I couldn't see, so I would have had a voice reading. Also, once that film directer told the problems, he should have continued the movie with solutions. He should have filmed how a life or school with technology would be like. But, for the most part, it was a good movie with a strong message.

Moturoa's Blog

I have just finished posting my comments on the five and four year old children blogs from Appleby School near Nelson, NZ. The posts that I was suppose to view were games the children posted to help with time table skills. They were good learning games. The other post was about the school fair the children had. I wish I could have been their!

Video in the Classroom Introduction

It is wonderful how Mr. Needleman is using technology to enhance his student's reading skills. Better yet, he proved his methods worked. Kids are really learning fast. When I was that age, I didn't know the advance software on computers. Boy! Time is sure advancing.

Last Semester's Podcasts

Well, before I start criticizing, I would like to say the last semester's podcasts were wonderful, and nobody did a bad job. But, to bad the assignment is to criticize, not to commend. I heard several problems I would improve and remove. The biggest one was reading directly off their paper or sounding rehearsed. A lot of the students didn't sound naturual, as if they were having a conversation. A conversation voice sounds a lot better than a robot voice.

The next thing was the quality of the information. Some podcasts just sounded one- hundred percent better than others. Some seemed very sure about their topic, while some were pausing. In, my podcast I am going to be happy, so when I speak you will hear the cheer in my voice. I will also know my topic and sound natural. Lastly, I will help my group members to make sure they're doing the same.


The research on podcasts was very interesting.They really explained how podcast and videocast were used in teaching. One went one to say " Children are familiar with podcast." I agree because I know I spend allot of time on the computer. Podcast and videocast allow children to watch or listen to lessons on the computer any time they want.

Podcasts and videocasts engages the students. I feel the students enjoy being on the computer; instead of listening to a boring lecture. There were two ways resource said it was done. One way was listening while doing an activity or listening in groups. Both ways are good because they keep the students attentive. I learned a lot from the material, so I should have an excellent podcast and videocast.