Voki

Response to "Bully; The Documentary"

        "Bully; The Documentary" was very heart felt.  I had much sympathy for the kids and their families.  I know what it feels like to be teased, but never to this extent.  Kids should not have to go through this at what should be a safe learning environment.
        The second little boy touched my heart.  It seemed like he had a physical disability that made him different from the rest of the students.  So they called him "fish face."  He had no friends because no one wanted to get to know him.  I hate to see children yearn to feel accepted.  It made me question how could I stop this in my classroom.  I probably can't stop it in the entire school, but I can stop it when under my supervision.
        The next student was a lesbian.  She was basically excluded from her entire community.  What type of educator makes fun of a child?  I was totally disgusted with the entire school and community at that point.  I understand that religious people do not believe in homosexuality, but God loves us all and He can only judge us.  I myself am strong in my Christian faith and know exactly what the Word says about that, but I am not God.  I am here to love others just as Jesus loves me.  I feel that treating a child like that is very inhuman.
        After watching this movie, I want to take it to my old high school and junior high.  Although bullying in my community isn't near as bad as some other areas, the students back home should learn how to accept others for who are different than they are.  They should learn to look past those differences and create lasting relationships with people of all kind.  This is truly a life lesson.  Words really do kill and students can be really cruel.  We may not be able to end all forms of bullying, but I think we can get very close through effective prevention and intervention.

Augmented Reality App

Laura Devaney, author of "Augmented reality snags a coveted spot in classrooms" discusses how augmented reality blends real world with technology with interactive and enhanced content.  Using this app on a mobile device interacts real life scenes with an overlay of elements.  Theresa MaGee, a K-5 art teacher, used Google Art Project to help her students understand the difference between thin and thick brush strokes.  Students hovered their iPads over the images, requested different features, and instantly learned about techniques used to create the paintings.
I downloaded Augment-3D Augmented Reality.  There are thousands of different augment apps, especially cartoon ones.  The app that I have is quite interesting.  I haven't quite understood every aspect of it, but it is really engaging, so I understand why MaGee enjoys using it in her class.

Five Essentials to Create Connected Students

Vicki Davis, author of "Five Essentials to Create Connected Students" in EdSurge Article, discusses social learning and why it should be taught in the classrooms.  She says that students who are disconnected to social learning/media tend to abuse their technology privileges when online.  Disconnected students miss the knowledge needed to be successful because they do not know how to communicate through social medias.  Davis lists five essentials for children who are connected to social learning.  They are: a connected author, publisher, conversationalist, strategic disconnector (one that I favor), and a curious, lifelong pursuer of ingenious solutions.  Although connected students have a higher advantage, Davis feels that these five essentials are needed to know and truly understand the use of connecting.
"We educators must shift this generation from being consumers to being creators," says Davis.  I personally love that statement.  Davis' outlook on social media should make all schools re-evaluate their technological device policies.  My high school completely bands any type of technological device mainly because students are distracted by them during class.  Davis' fourth essential talks about students knowing how to strategically disconnect themselves to have a well-rounded life.  That is a discipline that schools should pursue.  That will show students that their technological devices are only an asset.  I also agree with Davis' idea of showing students the professional side of social medias.  Instead of broadcasting their personal lives to their world, they benefit others with their strong ideals.  I never thought of Twitter being used for social learning, but Davis has truly gave me an eye opener on what positive effects it can have on our students.

21st Century Skills

Ken Kay, president of Partnership for 21st Century Skills, talks about the lack of life and career skills that 21st century students do not have.  A new model for education is needed because technology has replaced workers who once performed routine work.  Also, doing well in school no longer grantees one a secure career as it once did previous generations ago.  The minority population is steady rising while American students are still scoring lower than average on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA).  Innovative, creative, critical thinking, and problem solving skills are greatly needed.  Because the world is changing at such a fast rate, educational frameworks have to be revised.  The Framework for 21st Century Learning articulates creativity and innovation, flexibility and adaptability, leadership and cross-cultural skills for "all" students.
After reading this article, I found myself a bit puzzled.  I highly agree that teachers must be pulled out of 20th century thinking to give effective 21st century instruction.  After all, technology is booming.  However, mixing education with life skills can get tricky.  Some children are more independent than others.  Those students go on to be leaders in the working world.  Unfortunately, some children do not have an independent trait in them.  Do I feel like it's my job as a teacher to teach them how to be independent?  To a certain extent. Being independent in the classroom and the working world becomes two complete different things.  There are many ethnic backgrounds in the U.S. and each are accustomed to their own traditions.  Therefore, teaching a child how to find answers on their own does not necessarily mean they will be independent in the working world.  Also, the classroom is a controlled environment.  Everything happens under the guidance of the teacher.  So teaching innovative skills, along with adaptability, has its limits.  

(#13) Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results.

Joanne Lipman talks about her orchestra conductor, Mr. K. She remembers him having a blunt way of teaching. He would sometimes call Lipman and other students an idiot if they did not do something right. Lipman says that if Mr. K. taught in this time period, he would no longer be employed.  However, she argues that Mr. K.'s teaching method is better because it pushes students to do their best.
I completely agree with Lipman.  In high school, I've seen so many "nice" teachers fail at having control of their class because they did not know when to be stern.  There is nothing wrong with being nice, but students will at least try to take advantage of that.  That is the moment when you must let students know that education is not to be taken for granted.  There is a time to have fun, but first things are first and that is education.  I do not want my students to fear me.  Instead I want them to feel comfortable asking questions while knowing I will push them to their limits and beyond.  Teachers are, in some cases, a student's number one fan.  Therefore, at the end of the day, being stern, yet genuinely caring and nurturing is our duty.

(#11) Inspiration Comments

Erika
Great Job!... Has a variety of useful information and engaging activities.  Topic is interesting and will definitely keep her student's interest.


Mary Katherine
Great Job!...   I loved how she incorporated the PBS kids website with her lesson.  Many students grow up with that network and will really enjoy that lesson.

Jennifer
Great Job!...  Her pictures are very appealing and compliment her lessons.

Amanda
Great Job!...  She used a lot of activities that included the student's opinion on what they wanted to write about.  Allowing the student that lead way catches their interest.  That is something that most teachers forget about.

Jordan
Great Job!...  Great activity.  It really reenacts what the hurricane was like.  Special guests talking to the students also leaves an everlasting impact on them so that's a plus for fourth and fifth graders.

Johnathon
Great Job!...  He used a great scene from Pearl Harbor to further explain his lesson.  The clip from D-Day is a wonderful add on as well.
 

DNTM Plus

With Google Chrome I was able to add DoNotTrackMe to my menu bar.  This really comes in handy.  There are so many hackers and tracking companies out there....and just when I thought I was safe.  My laptop is so precious to me and I would hate for it to be damaged by lurkers.  DoNotTrackMe is so helpful because it blocks over 600 tracking companies.  It even tells you when you are free of trackers with a Clear skies! No tracking found here message.  This is really a great extension and I definitely recommend it!