Sunday, March 31, 2013

Blog Post #10

I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga.
Mock of pc versus mac

After viewing Mr. Spencer's comic I had to read the comments to fully understand its humor. At first I thought the comic just referred to many of life's situations where we take the cheaper, faster route which eventually fails. After reading the comments I realized I was not too far from the actual meaning. In this comic Mr. Spencer is mocking the Mac vs. PC commercials. Macs cost more, but tend to have less problems, headache, and last longer (Ticonderoga). The PC (Papermate) seems to be the more economical purchase but may not be in the long run.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?

In Mr. Steven's post he shares the details of one of his trips to the principals office. He describes how the principal accused him of playing games in the classroom. Mr. Stevens tried to explain that the game they were playing was educational, and helpful to the students. He then explained that the "game" was actually an advanced simulation where the students made a mock factory. The principal still said no. Then Mr. Stevens also pointed out that soldiers and surgeons uses games and simulations as part of their education. The principal told Mr. Stevens this is not a hospital or war. Mr. Stevens then renamed his game to reflect a writing project, but it would actually be the factory game. Sometimes "game" may not be the best word choice for certain principals and administrators! We tend to associate game with tic-tac-toe or a board game, as Mr. Stevens pointed out. That is not what he was using in the classroom. Is practicing real life scenario considered playing a game? Is that wrong? I feel like these "games" are where students obtain the most knowledge for life and their future career. Simulation is used in drivers ed. classrooms to practice driving scenarios all of the time. I don't see how our future career would be any different.

Remember Pencil Quests?

In this post Mr. Stevens describes his "pencil quests" adventures that were so exciting to him as a student. They had a map of websites and a list of questions for each site. As he looks back he realizes how far we have come with technology. Something that seemed so exciting and new to him may not even be used in future classrooms. I can definitely relate to this post. I remember as a young student going to the computer lab on the old apple computers to play Oregon Trail, or in high school having internet worksheets. My students will probably never play Oregon Trail, or get excited about internet worksheets once a month. As a teacher I will be a part of all of these phases, and I can not wait.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?

I was a little confused at first while reading Mr. McLeod's post but it all made sense in the last few lines! Mr. Scott McLeod is "widely recognized as one of the nation’s leading academic experts on K-12 school technology leadership issues." He currently serves as the Director of Innovation for Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency 8. He also co-created the country’s first graduate program designed to prepare technology-savvy school leaders. In his post he asks teachers, parents, and everyone involved in the school systems to not use technology in the classroom. He asks why we would ever need these things. He pleads us to not use blogs, PLNs, twitter. Most definitely do not allow cell phones. Don't use technology in the classroom, because he IS. He wants to prove his point that technology in the classroom helps tremendously. We will see in the long run who is more prepared, and it will be the teachers who took advantage of these resources. I completely agree with Mr. McLeod. I would love to be the one who proves to some of these stubborn people how valuable technology can be in the classroom. They would soon realize that he is the better educator, and his students are far more prepared. So my advice for teachers is DO. Do utilize these resources, and don't be the teacher who rejects change. For more information on Mr. McLeod visit his About Me page.

3 comments:

  1. "In Mr. Steven's post..." Mr. Spencer?

    Metaphors and satire. They almost threw you for a loop but you figured them out.

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  2. Hey Mary!

    I think your post is really good, besides the name confusion of course but it't okay!

    I like your advise you wrote from Mr.McLeod's blog. "DO" "So utilize these resources, and don't be the teacher who rejects change" I think that is a good tip because change will always happen and we all need to be able to do it and learn from it!!

    Good job!
    Bailey Baker

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  3. Hey Mary!! Great post first of all! Secondly, I love that you agree that games is a way that students obtain knowledge the most! I love hands-on learning!
    Keep up the good work, we're almost done!

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