Keeping the focus

Something I always wanted to is how to keep student active near the end of the year or around holiday times like Christmas. I know you can do activities centered around the holidays but lets be honest when I was in school and we were doing those activities i was only thinking of not being in school. So do we just keep doing these activities or try to just remained focused on the topics? I remember thinking in the classes that stayed on topic i was more annoyed and not focused on the work. It was just a curious question I had and wondered peoples thoughts on the topic. I just think that it can be hard to do as a teacher knowing yourself that it is the holidays and it is suppose to be fun. It is halfway through the year so it can't hurt to let them have fun for the time of the year it is. Also to show them that school can still be fun when we learn is something else teachers do at the holidays. But the question to me still is, how should we keep kids focused around holidays and mid year breaks?

Changing technology

Over Thanksgiving I was sitting on the couch and had my cell phone out. I noticed my Great Aunt kind of staring at it then she asked me a question that I was taken aback by “What kind of gadget is that?” Now I know she is old but to not know what a cellphone was really made me think is this could be my future. I just figured everyone knew what a cellphone was and the fact we were using touch screens really confused her. It got me thinking that in 50 years am I going to be looking at some new technology and be like what the heck is that? I honestly think that it could happen with the way technology is going. I told my girlfriend and she mentioned how her grandfather thought you had to buy Google and barely knows how to work email.  I am not the most tech savvy person however I do know how to operate certain things like a cellphone and computer. But look at the way cellphones have changed since they have been out. Now people have their entire lives put into one small little device it is crazy to think, what is next? Are there going to be chips in people heads, or holograms that we talk to instead of making phone calls? Look at cars how the technology has changed they can parallel park by themselves.  I just think that it is going to get to the point that if we do not keep up with technology we will be left behind wondering how to work them.  I may be the person in the future who has too asked for help to open a simple email so my big question is just simply is technology getting too complicated?

Benefits of CEP

Okay not gonna lie I was not big on technology coming into this class. I had never really done blogs before and it was something that I put on the back burners and forgot about. However as I am sitting here commenting on others blogs responding to my own I have seen what I have been missing. There is so much conversation going on topics that just interest me and I can not help but just speak my mind about. Not only just with using blogs Google docs have changed the way I do group projects. I have never used Google docs however since taking this class I have been using them for all my groups projects it makes it so much easier to collaborate with one another. Also some of the websites we have used in class i have introduced to my CT and I can see the benefits of using all the stuff we are learning in class in the real world. I am definitely going to be taking away more from this class than I thought that I would be. 

medicalization of children

Okay so for my history class we are doing research papers and I chose to have the topic of medications and children. Before doing this I had a little idea  about the topic but I did not know how big an issue it was out there. There are so many people who are for or against it. I personally believe that we should only give the drugs to kids that need them, but after other measure have been tried.  There was one thing that i found interesting and very strange. Read this article "Seeking straight A's" it is an article talking about how parents have been seeking drugs suck as Ritalin and Adderall not because their kids need it but they want their kids to focus more in school. Why is it that parents think that they need to drug their kids to focus more? Yes it is true that some kids do in fact need those drugs but the reason why some people are against it is because of this misuse of it. It is shocking that parents think that their kids need drugs to get good grades and do not have this faith that they can do it themselves. Now I just wanna know what you guys think about the topic. There are other means to treating kids than just sticking them on drugs but our society demands quick fixes. Should it be harder for parents to get kids these drugs?

Treats=Mistrust?

In reading blogs this week I stumbled upon something interesting. In "For love of learning" there was an interesting post. It was called “Treating Kids like Pets” the post talks about how giving kids bribes are manipulative and create a competitive nature among student. Where I agree is yes it is manipulative to say that if you answer this question and get a candy. But to me it is more along the lines of motivation. There are just sometimes when students will not answer and has a teacher we need to try and get them to answer. Yes there are probably other ways to get students to answer these questions however there is nothing wrong with being able to offer candy for an answer. Not all competition is bad I feel like this idea is getting blown out of line to say that it is built on mistrust and manipulation is wrong. It is simply a way to motivate students, yes in an ideal place it would not be but they are just rewards for answering a question that is all.

Digital text

Digital text is something that personally I think you will either like it or hate it. I have heard from people that have said that they dislike books online because they can not just sit there are stare at a screen. Some people just need to be able to hold something and read it that way. Then there are some people who don't mind e books. Personally I don't mind e-books or digital text. I find them to be very convenient I can have 4 or 5 books all saved on my computer and that is all I need just a few clicks. Also I really do not need to worry about losing the text because i can save it in more than one spot. I find digital text easier to read when I need to look something up I can just click on the section I need to get to. Also I can search for certain words and find them easily in the book. I think that the future is going to be more digital books mainly because it is cheaper and easier for students to use. However i feel like there are enough people who like print to keep it going and still have the same amount of printed books.