Blog Post #2

Did You Know? 3.0 – A John Strange 2012 Version
Every student that was enrolled in EDM 310 in the fall of 2012 had a cell phone. That is amazing to me because I can remember when cell phones were in a bag in your car. People of all ages this day and time think that they cannot function without a cell phone or some type of technology that will text. I have a fifteen year old that thinks she will not survive if she doesn’t text someone after each breath. My nine year old has an iPod and he will text me while we are in the same room. He mainly uses his for games but is learning about all the free texting apps available. My soon to be two year old even knows how to work my ipad. He insist on playing his games all of the time. I am amazed at how quickly they all learn how to use this technology. We are in a very fast world today and we need to learn to adapt to it or we will be left behind.
The video talks about how the top jobs that are ten years away haven’t even been created yet. I can’t even begin to imagine what those jobs will be like. In colleges today we have online classes. I hope that the future doesn’t take us to having online kindergarten classes. Technology is an awesome tool to have but if you don’t know how to use it then it becomes worthless. It amazes me how fast the Chinese are wanting to and actually are learning how to use the English language. I believe that we need to somehow incorporate more technology into the classrooms so that our students will be able to find jobs as they graduate.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
I almost felt like Mr. Winkle when I enrolled back into college. I graduated high school in the year 2000. I went to a junior college for two years before putting my education on hold to start a family. When I came back to school a lot had changed. I walked into classrooms and everyone had laptops. The teachers were using smart boards. I was shocked and amazed at the smart boards but also embarrassed that I hadn’t ever seen one. I felt so old and out of place in the college world today. My junior college years we had to take notes fast because the teacher would talk and we would write. I came to south and the teachers just email you the notes. This helps me because sometimes I just couldn’t write fast enough.
In the video everything except the school had changed. The hospitals had machines helping people live. The business people were using computers to talk to each other across the world. I believe from my experience that the schools have changed over the years but not nearly enough. Once I was introduced to a smart board I asked my daughter if she had ever seen one and she said a few classes had the promethean boards. Today I asked my nine year old if he had ever seen a smart board and he didn’t know what I was talking about. I wish that all schools could afford and would make it a priority to have these things in each classroom. I feel that each student needs the opportunity to learn how to use one.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
I love when students use their creativity to learn. I feel like students learn better when they get to create something. They are actually using their mind to think how they want it to look when finished. Students today are so fast paced with video games, cell phones, and text messaging that when it comes to sitting inside in a classroom doing pencil to paper work they get bored. I feel that technology has them wanting to learn in a faster different way than we were taught as children. We need to step up the creativity level and help the children of today learn in way that their minds require us to teach.

Pinterest
I love pinterest! I have never pinned anything but have liked many things. I am still learning how to use it but I am eager to figure it out. I think pinterest can be used in each profession you have. Pinterest is even made for the homemakers of today. Anything that you need help with or ideas on how to do it better you can find on pinterest.
I will use pinterest in all four ways shown in the link. Lessons plans from pinterest is a great idea because you are getting ideas that actually work from teachers that have actually tried these. I love how they show you pictures of what they used with their lesson plans. They give you step by step how they taught it and it if was effective. Sharing ideas is also great to do on pinterest. Everyone was created differently and think differently so when we can have ideas from everyone on a website for all to share that is wonderful. I often find ideas that I love and are super easy but would never have come up with on my own. Organization is something else that I plan on using in my classroom. I love to have everything organized and love all of the ideas I find on pinterest. I love the idea of using pinterest for student use also. They can use it in group projects in ways that I never would have thought of.