Blog Post #10

I'm a Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga. Mr. Spencer's cartoon made me laugh! I knew right away that the titles were two types of pencils. Ticonderoga pencils are commonly used in elementary school classrooms. The thick ones are great for teaching younger children how to hold their pencils correctly. My initial thought was the cartoon was about pencils, which seems ironic since this class is all about technology. After reading the comments on the cartoon it made much more sense. This cartoon was not about the pencils, it was a metaphor. Mr. Spencer explained that this was mocking the "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" commercial. The Papermate is less costly than the Ticonderoga thus, the PC is less costly than the Mac. To say "you get what you pay for" could never be more true than when dealing with technology. The PC is great because it was an original, a base for the technology world, however the Mac is in a class all it's own. The very first computer I ever owned was a  "Gateway 2000," and at the time I though it was amazing! I later advanced on to a laptop, it was about as big as an anatomy textbook and weighed as much as an Atlanta phone book. Eventually I got an HP and then an ACER. Finally, after wasting ALL that money on new computers every time mine crashed, I got a MAC. And I have to say I believe that once you go MAC, you never go back. I could not imagine NOT having one now.


Why Were Your Kids Playing Games? 
This post made me laugh! The principal wanted to see Mr.Steven in his office. He had concerns about Mr. Steven's students playing games in his class. Mr. Steven's talked about the strategy of using advanced simulation as one of his teaching techniques and further explained on how physicians use the simulation strategy to learn to operate. The principal was not happy with that explanation and reminded Mr. Steven that he needed to follow the state based methods of learning. The principal lectured Mr. Steven  on focusing on memorizing information so his students could pass the tests. This just goes to show that principal had very old fashioned teaching styles. He suggested Mr.Steven the use of other methods of worksheets and algorithm information to help his students. Mr. Stevens found a solution-  another game, called the "The Factory Game" including algorithm into a Conflict Oriented Reading and Writing Project. This was great solution to the problem and funny too. I bet that the principal did not like this, however I think that Mr. Steven's  methods were far more effective in the modern classroom. Mr. Steven's was very brave to challenge his principal like this.

  Remember Pencil Quests? 
Mr. Stevens talks about one of his junior year teachers and the scavenger hunt ("Pencil Quest") she took them on. Instead of looking for different items, the students were looking for specific pages of materials to read. The students had a map with locations marked on it. The teacher said the quest was called a "moving textbook" and the students had to finish the quest. He remembered this activity because it was one that was different and more exciting than other assignments he had done while in school. He still uses the pencil quest activity in his classroom.One of our EDM 310 class projects a few weeks ago had a scavenger hunt activity where we went to different sites locating specific items. The pencil quest activity reminded me of our assignment. It was interesting and broke routine of reviewing videos and reading blogs for an assignment.

 Mr. Stevens was telling us not to throw away all of our pencils because they are still useful. The writing in books are still captivating for some people.  Some old techniques are still relevant and technology being all the rage now is not the end all to everything. Ibooks are still written words, maybe not written with a pencil, but still written .

  Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please?

The blog post by Scott McLeod called Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please? looked  slightly strange to me as I opened the post. At first I thought my web page did not load correctly and so I reloaded it. I loaded the same way a second time. In this post the parents and teachers are asked to not teach their children to use computers, write on line or anything related. He digs at people who think the internet is bad and tells everyone not to teach their children because he is teaching his children and wants to see who will be more successful later in life. This post is full of snide remarks.Mr. McLeod mentions students taught the correct use of computers kills will have an advantage in life. He pokes fun at parents and school board members that believe the internet is evil. His thoughts on the subject really peaks my interest. 

The students should be taught internet skills. I've never had a class on using the internet and I am self taught. I am of the generation that did not grow up using computers, iphones,ebooks, etc. My young friends taught me to use Facebook, Skype, and Facetime. When you teach yourself sometimes you learn the wrong way and in this class, I have learned the right way to do some things I learned on my own as well as many new things. The material I have learned has many benefits to my professional life and to my personal life too.Scott is fervent about using technology in the classroom. He has received many awards centered around technology leadership as stated on his blog. He has a continuous challenge to introduce schools to technology in the classroom. His career has been focused on helping school integrate technology into the schools. Mr. McLeod is also a blogger.