Blog Post #10

I have been assigned to explain the above cartoon provided by John T. Spencer's blog. I believe this comic strip represents the old and the new. For example the differences between a Dell laptop and a Macbook. The Dell is cheaper, but usually won't last as long as the Macbook which is more expenive and usually built to last longer. I you could also see the cartoon as saying that the old way is changing and the new era is coming. They are both pencils and I found this assignment to be on the strange side. I could also say that this cartoon could represent education. The papermate could be high school, which is inexpensive and the ticonderoga could represent college, which is very expensive, but it will last longer and provide you with better outcomes.

Why Were your Kids playing Games?

In Mr. Spencer's blog post, Why Were Your Kids Playing Games, he makes a point through his dialogue that I find very important and interesting. His dialogue is between himself and the principal. He is being reprimanded for playing a game that allows his students to learn and he is getting in trouble for moving away from the norm. His students were no longer just sitting at their desks taking notes that they would forget in a few days. They were interacting with their subject and internalizing the information instead of having burp-back education. I find this teaching technique to be a great way to teach students. Too many times I sat in a class taking pages and pages of notes and not remembering a thing. In some of my classes, by playing a game or doing a interactive project, I was able to LEARN. We are educators, so we need to EDUCATE our students. We need to give them the tools which will make them want to gobble up as much information as possible.

Avoid Social Networking

Another post by Mr. Spencer that I found to be interesting was his post,

Avoid Social Networking. After reading the dialogue in the post I am shocked. Avoid eye contact if you see one of your students at the grocery store, resign from coaching a non-school affiliated baseball team, and stop using social networking sites to keep in touch with your youth kids? This sounds so stupid to me. I don't have any other way to say it. Communication with students is a top priority in my eyes. I want to have a relationship with my students, because I want them to trust me and ask for help if they need it. I am involved in church and I would love to talk with kids from my church about God, I could not imagine not talking to them about that subject if they were students in my classroom. If I followed this Avoid Social Networking idea I would have to find a church and market where my students wouldn't be. This is a terrible policy to make and a rather ignorant one at that!

Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please?

The blog post, Don't teach your kids this stuff. Please?, by Scott McLeod is very amusing and totally true. The post is about the use of technology. It is very sarcastic, but makes a good point. Parents, teachers, and schools usually do not want their students to use technology when learning. This type of thinking needs to end. Technology has become a staple in everyday society and the older generations need to embrace the technology. They also need to learn about it so that they can protect their children in certain ways. The usual teaching has risks, just like the new teaching with technology. If one is educated about these risks and takes advantage of the avenues of learning with technology, they can protect their children. The technology revolution in school is already beginning and if everyone does not jump on the train, they will get left at the station and fall behind.

Who is Scott Mcleod?

Scott Mcleod is considered a expert on K-12 school technology leadership. He is the founder of CASTLE or the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education. He is also the author of What School Leaders Need to Know About Digital Technologues and Social Media.