Blog Post #2

Did You Know?

I found this video fascinating! I love cool facts, and it definitely had some very interesting ones. What I found most interesting/disturbing was predictions made that by 2049 a $1,000 computer will exceed the computational capabilities of the ENTIRE human species. That is just insane, and much closer than you think at first glance. I do feel better about it when I think that though this computer might exceed our capacity for computation, it can not exceed our capacity to show emotion. It might be "smarter" than we are, but it really cannot choose to use its intelligence for good/bad/other. The thing that unnerves me, though, it people are always capable of using technology for evil just as much as we are able to use it for good. For some reason, the movie Iron Man comes to mind.

The other thing I found interesting about this video is that it says the top 10 in demand jobs in 2010 did not exist in 2004. In merely six years, we made so much technological advance that the entire industry changed. This fact alone should motivate us to guide our students in the direction of being life long learners! If we adequately prepare them on how to teach themselves, no new technology will intimidate them. They will be equipped to jump right in and learn whatever it might be.

Mr. Winkle Wakes

While this video was an exaggeration to some degree, it was very effective in making its intended point clear. Mr. Winkle has slept for 100 years and woke up to find that almost everything has changed that he encounters in daily life. Everything is highly technical and there are advancements in nearly every field. Naturally, he is uncomfortable with the advances because they are hitting him all of the sudden. He goes on a search to find something familiar and comfortable, and is only able to find this in schools, because they have not kept up with the technological advances.

This is very sad, but true in most cases. Going back to the statement made in Did You Know?, it is crucial for educators to stay up on the most current technology so that we can truly prepare our students for the future. It is inevitable that they will encounter this stuff, and children learn so much more eagerly and easily than adults. It only makes sense to have schools as well equipped, if not more equipped than industries like health care. All doctors, after all, started out in an elementary school somewhere!

Importance of Creativity

Ken Robinson, the speaker in this video, is clearly very passionate about school children. The statement in this video that had the most impact on me was that we educate children from the waist up and then focus on their heads. Our society has focused so intently on science and math, that we have forgotten about the arts. Our education system seems to think that if you can't clearly define something on paper, you don't need to learn it. Robinson says that intelligence is dynamic, and that creativity comes about through interaction of different disciplinary ways of seeing things. This could not be more true! All of us learn differently, and we should expose our children to multiple ways to learn the same thing. Included with this is Mr. Robinson's theory that schools develop in children a fear of having the "wrong" answer, which leads to a dissolution of their natural creative instincts. We are afraid to be creative because we are afraid of being wrong, or worse - "different."

Robinson also speaks of the woman who went on to become the choreographer for the musical CATS. When she was in school, she was always wiggling and squirming and couldn't seem to learn as easily as other students. The teacher told her parents she had some sort of learning problem and sent her to a specialist. The specialist turned on the radio and left the room and she started dancing. She did not have a learning disability- she merely expressed herself differently. I think it is so important to incorporate music, dancing, art, etc. into the everyday classroom, especially at the elementary level. There are countless children who are being medicated for ADD and ADHD when the only thing "wrong" with them is that they are children and we expect them to sit still at their desks and behave all day long while we talk "at" them. They are going to absorb so much more when they are given an outlet for their natural excess energy! If we focus less on what we are trying to pack into their heads and more about teaching them to use their entire bodies to learn, they will learn and retain so much more.

Cecelia Gault

In this video, three false statements about creativity are revealed:

1. Only certain people are creative.

2. Creativity is only relative to design and advertising.

3. There is nothing you can do about your "lack" of creativity.

I am glad that these myths were dispelled! Blame it on my grandmother, but I am a firm believer that "can't never could." If you keep a positive attitude about a project, you can make it extraordinary. If you tell yourself you are not creative, then the only thing undermining your creativity is your bad attitude. As I have said already in this blog posts about other videos, we desperately need to address the issue of using the arts in the everyday classroom.

As far as what you can do about your "lack" of creativity, I think that just like we can exercise our bodies, we can exercise our brains to strengthen our creativity. If you engage in any sort of artistic activity at least a few times per week, you can keep ideas flowing.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts

In this video, a teacher from a very rural school is battling the stigma that technology is only found in more developed schools. She challenges her students every day to learn some new technology and she says that she is constantly learning something new from them. She is working to break the cycle of people from rural areas having to take on the same vocation that their parents do because nothing else is available to them.

Project #3 C4T#1

For this project, I was assigned to Jennifer Brokofsky's blog, A Work in Progress.

Post #1

The first post I read and commented on was My 10 Favorite Math Picture Books : #PB10for10. In this post, Jennifer talks about participating in a blogging event that evidently occurs in August where educators share their top 10 must-have children's picture books. Because Jennifer is an educator who is specifically interested in mathematics education, she chose to adapt the list to include her must-have math children's books. Of the 10 books she chose, some of them were specifically geared to help teach mathematical concepts, but several were "just plain old" children's books that she had adapted for use in the math classroom setting.

I love the idea of using children's books to help with classroom learning. I think that any method of keeping children engaged in the learning process and potentially relating concepts they are learning to real world experiences is key. If we isolate classroom experiences from real life, we are doing a disservice to children. This is why so many people in society today are not lifelong learners. They associate "learning" only with the stuffy class they had to take at some point in their academic career where they are force fed information and asked to recall it on a test at a later time. If we can keep learning engaging and fun, we would all be better off.

I also love that Jennifer was creative and flexible enough to adapt non-mathematical books for use in math class to teach certain concepts. In my opinion, one of the most important qualities a teacher can have is resourcefulness. The fact that Jennifer was able to delve more deeply into the subject matter of these books shows her creativity and willingness to work hard to instill a passion for learning in children.

Comment #1

In my comment, I told Jennifer how excited I was to use these books in my own classroom someday, and thanked her for the resources. I also told her of a book I encountered when having to "teach" a lesson to my classmates in my Math for Elementary Teachers course last Spring called The Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar Fractions Book by Jerry Pallotta. I found it helpful to go beyond the norm of writing a lesson on the board for the class to copy down.

Post #2

The second post I read on Jennifer's blog was Creating Mathland, and it was on the following video that Jennifer found on David Wees' blog.

In this video, the way that math and science are typically taught in the classroom is addressed. Specifically, Jennifer compared it to living in France but only interacting with people who spoke English - we are missing out on the whole experience. She went on to muse that teaching math should be more attuned to the way a French teacher instructs her students to speak the new language. Just as a French teacher uses full immersion to get her students to truly grasp these new concepts, we should teach our students to view everything with a mathematical lens.

She goes on to ask several questions about how to most effectively create a "mathland" for students, and how to foster connections between math and all other subject areas.

Comment #2

For my comment, I told Jennifer that I loved the idea of creating a "Mathland" environment in the classroom, and that I think it is very important to create a curriculum that is constantly relating lessons back to other subjects. One comment left ahead of me referenced the idea that regardless of subject taught, all teachers are to be language teachers, and the commenter pondered that if we took on the role of math AND language teachers, if that message would get diluted. I said that I did not think the message would get diluted in this case, but rather it would be reinforced. I also think that ideally all curriculum should be revolving and relate back to lessons learned previously in the day or weeks past, regardless of subject.

Project #2 - Wordle

Blog Assignment #1

A bit about me:

Hi fellow EDM310 students! My name is Bonnie Gaudet. I was born in Mobile, Alabama but spent the first 11 years of my life living on a State Park in Gautier, Mississippi. My mom was the Park Manager at Shepard State Park before I was born, and she held that title until my grandmother became ill and we moved back to Mobile in 1998.

With my husband, Easter 2011

I have been married for a little over a year and a half to my wonderful hubby, Chris. We were married on December 12, 2009 here in Mobile. We have no actual children as of yet, but we have two dogs that we adore and treat like humans. We also have two precious nieces (Felicity and EveMarie), who we love to spoil.

As far as interests go, I love spending time with Chris and our two dogs, as well as friends and family. I enjoy cooking (though I have learned that baking is NOT my forte!) and I'm always looking for some new recipe to try. I have an unhealthy obsession with the Zillow app on my iPhone. I don't understand it, but I love looking at pictures of houses and seeing the different architectural aspects of them and how they are decorated. I joke that when I retire from teaching I will go back and get my real estate license just to see all these different houses!

Our dogs, Sadie and Scooter

I have ended up at USA because I wanted to be near my family while getting my education. I have several friends (including my sister-in-law) who have gone through the College of Education. I have chosen to major in Elementary Education because I love to learn, and I want to instill that passion in children. I have had three teachers in particular who have greatly influenced my decision to become a teacher and I want to have that sort of impact on someone else.

I get on a soap box about people who decide to major in Education because "they heard it was the EASY major" and haven't been able to excel in anything else. Grammar and spelling mistakes are also a HUGE pet peeve of mine. SO many people in this area have a tendency to "was" when they should use "were" and "seen" where "saw" should be. It makes me cringe! I am determined to work on fixing this problem early!

As far as this class goes, I am very excited about it. I have a bit of blogging experience from the past and I think that will work to my advantage in this class. I think this class is going to be challenging, but I'm always up for a good challenge. I don't feel like it's going to be as scary as it seems. It's just going to take getting used to being the one who has to take the initiative and run with it, as compared to being force fed facts and information. I can't wait to see everyone's projects.

What I learned from Dr. Pausch:

I enjoyed Dr. Pausch's video tremendously! He said several things that really hit home with me. I like to pretend that I don't have a problem with time management, but I know that I waste a lot of time doing unnecessary things.

I tend to get intimidated when I make to-do lists and overthink how long it will take me to get something accomplished. Then, I get worked up about more complex tasks and put them off until the last minute. Dr. Pausch suggests to "do the ugliest thing first." In particular, I think I could benefit from taking this advice.

I also tend to be a perfectionist, and want to get everything just right before moving on to another task. For this, Dr. Pausch talks about doing things RIGHT vs. doing the right THING. He says, "Doing the right things adequately is much more important than doing the wrong things beautifully." This will also be helpful!

I think that the most important thing I got from Dr. Pausch's lecture is to keep in mind that, "If things aren't going well, it probably means you are learning a lot and it will go better later." This is VERY important for me to remember, because I tend to get discouraged and develop a mental block against getting anything accomplished if everything is not going just like I think it should.

Penn State's Pages:

The links from Penn State also gave very good tips on alloting time appropriately. I found the tool that calculated how many extra hours you had after you completed required activities helpful.

Practice Post

This is a practice post.