Social Justice...or Tech Equality

“Access to instructional technology is not enough for today’s students. Students must be technologically fluent and able to use technology to solve problems with various sources of information, create new representations of their knowledge, and enhance their learning through the diverse strategies afforded by technology. Students without these skills are at a decided disadvantage in terms of future educational and employment opportunities in our global, technological, and information-based society.” I know this is a long quote but I think it is long and complicated way of talking about social justice. Also, I don’t feel the term social justice really fits this definition. Maybe it is my own perception but I feel it should have something to do with law enforcement. But I get it, I understand. We have a huge problem with dealing with students and school districts where money might be tight and technology experience and opportunities will be lacking.

I think this is going to be a huge problem. It is going to be something that isn’t going to go away and something that has to tackled head on. I want to believe we will have computers in the classroom with access for all students so they can accomplish tasks during school hours. But sometimes that just isn’t going to be possible. So what do we do…as of right now, I have no clue. If the school has the capability to have computers than a lot time will be spent working on projects in class so that each student has the opportunity to work equally on the computer no matter what economic status is.

A disservice to students by not using technology in the classroom is a rough way to put it. I am not sure if it is the right way to put it. I think it is more of a hit on the teacher and their teaching style if they don’t use the technology in the classroom. It is something right now in the age we live in that has to be utilized and used to our advantage. Why not use something that the school district provides (if they have access) and something the students love and are attracted to. It is something that is going to draw them in anyway, take advantage of that and use it to our ability!

The only way to make things easier on the students who don’t have the ability at home to be on the computer is to incorporate it into the class. If there are projects or assignments that need to be done with technology we need to have them in class so we can give them time. Class work time is vital to helping them get the time and experience they need with technology to advance with the assignment/project and be able to stick with the class. We need to be able to not single anyone student out for something they have no control over. By giving them work time during class, we can bring technology into the classroom as well as give every student the ability and opportunity to work with it!

PowerPoint....Yeah Baby!!

There was a lot of great information that was presented today through PowerPoint. There was obviously a lot of time that was put into it. The graphics and maps were awesome. A lot of old pictures and information that proved people did the research. What I liked the best was the video that was shown during the math PowerPoint about proportions, it was awesome. I am excited to teach math and hopefully be able to use some of this stuff that will engage students differently than they are used to.

The least engaging parts of the PowerPoint’s were when technology got the best of us. I know these are just little things but it is still a bit of a nuisance when stuff like that happens. We are all still new with PowerPoint so it catches us off guard and are forced to reroute our presentations. Once we have more experience with it, we will be okay. But it is hard to stay engaged when there was a huge emphasis on it with build up from the presenter. Just something we have to deal with!

I definitely don’t know all about PowerPoint. There are a lot of information and cool graphics/functions that I can learn from my cohort mates. They can do much more fascinating things with it than I can. I do like the interactive nature that a lot of people brought into their PowerPoint. I need to learn when to animate and when not to. I need help with all of the different layers that are involved because I feel if they were together, it would have appeared better!

While I don’t like to use PowerPoint, it fun to have a reference point when you teach. But it is very subject specific and with some subject, PowerPoint just doesn’t make sense. I have a hard time thinking about using this in math, but I know it can be done; thank you Noelle. It can be a great source of note taking for the students as well. However, I do fear that many teachers can lean on the PowerPoint as a crutch to lead the class. It is only a guide for the students and teacher; the teacher still needs to elaborate on the information. It is very nice to point to things on the board and not have to worry about changing transparencies.

Cell phones....why not?

Why shouldn’t a cell phone be used in the classroom to help aid the students learning. I do not know the amount of money that school districts spend on trying to stop the cell phones in school. A better use of that money might be to try and find some way to implement them into the class. I mean lets be honest, we are never going to stop the use of cell phones in our class. Students get cleverer and the phones get more elaborate it is going to be impossible to stop. We need to stop wasting our time, energy, and money on trying to curb something that could be one of the most useful tools at our disposal.

Josh Allen, who is speaking on the negative side is out of date and needs to recheck his finances. “Laptops are much more versatile yet uniform than cell phones,” is a quote from him that I find totally ridiculous. Why should take money that we probably aren’t speaking to combat cell phones and buy laptops? He is arguing about buying new laptops when we could be using what the students are already bringing to the classroom. I agree laptops would be great, but they are expensive to purchase and maintain; where cell phones are already in most of the students’ hands already! So why not take a little money and find out a curriculum plan that works with a cell phone and integrate it.

Students are always looking for something that is going to engage them. This is a cost effective and easy way to do that, use something they are already bringing to school. This isn’t rocket science, just using the best available resource to the best of your advantage. I feel as a teacher, we need to stop looking at all of the bad things that students are doing these days and start looking at how we can use those moments as teaching moments. Also, how many of those moments are because of bad teaching. One of the big questions that I have is how would we include them in the curriculum. The biggest and most pressing question is why wouldn’t we use something the students are so attached to as a teaching and learning instrument?

Cyberbullying

Cyberbullying is this crazy term that has taken the world by storm in the last few years. I am not trying to be little the topic because it is one that is serious as any. Bullying people through forms of cyber space via the computer (myspace, facebook, and chat rooms to name a few), text messaging, and other forms of interactive technologies. I have no experience with this myself and have never done anything like this; I even have a hard enough time thinking about doing something like this using technology. Call me old school, but I am used the old forms of one on one bullying. Which I was a part of, both ways, but as we get older and smarter so do the mean things that kids do.

Cyberbullying is that hot topic where schools are trying to hold their ground and hold children accountable but when it happens off school grounds…can you still hold them accountable? Do I know the right answer to this, absolutely not, and if I did I would be rich right now. Obviously, this is an area of issue that is happening off school grounds but is being brought day in and day out onto school grounds. And in some of the cases and gotten bad enough that innocent little children have been emotional damaged or even been pushed passed that point and ended their own lives. I would love to say yes we should control this and monitor it as teachers and administrators but where do we draw the line and force some of these parents to be accountable and actually raise these children with dignity and respect. This is a huge moral question for me, where we as teachers can help but it ultimately lies with the parents/guardians.

A plan of action for trying to help this problem is a very puzzling quandary. I have no idea where to start…but I do know that I would start with a pre-emptive attack on the issue. It would be more focused on creating that cohesive safe classroom and letting everyone know they are accepted no matter what. It would be something we would need to hit on but I am not sure how time I would spend on it, but it might be good to scare them a little with some of the facts. I would like to think that me leading by example of respect, dignity, and acceptance would help lead some of them away from that.

Does Google know me?

I thought I was going to find a lot more about myself through google. I was invloved in sports, social networking, and other various media sources. But as a teacher, I am glad that I am nowhere to be found. There were a lot of “Nick Thompson’s” and Nicholas Thompson’s” but none of them were me. They ranged from professional golfers, MMA fighters, and published authors. Using gooogle.com and pipl.com, it was a bit surprising to find nothing but it did leave a good feeling know I don’t have to correct much.

Social networking sites have blown up in the last 5 years and it is because of this, we as teachers, have to be very careful about what we put on there. Having a facebook page has made me aware of that. I already had privatized all of the information. At least, I believe I did until someone finds some photos of me. That is going to be the hard part is keeping my friends from tagging me in photos after I become a teacher. I know we don’t have the most glamorous job; we do need to do it will respect and dignity towards our students.

We have a huge responsibility in teaching the youth of America; the youth that are going to be running this society in the next 50 years. While we still need to be able to have fun and enjoy our lives, we do need to watch what we are doing. One of the questions, that needs to be asked is “would this decision effect my ability to teach respectfully.” Would my students still respect me if they knew the decision I was making? I am not saying we need to be put on this podium but we do need to think before we act, if we are asking our students to do this, shouldn’t we? If our personal lives during our personal times are not effecting our schools reputation or our students, it should not be held against us.

Viral is the new word of this generation. Whether it is the new youtube video or it is an email that shouldn’t have been sent. It only takes a second to hit the send button and snowball has been started. An email go from one person to the next, then two more, and two more from those two and so on. It is something that cannot be taken back and before you know it an email that we sent to a colleague bashing the new curriculum has gone viral and is back in the superintendents’ email box. Be careful who you send this to and make sure you aren’t the one continuing the snowball!

Protecting myself and my job is priority number 1. Limiting myself with social networking and understanding it can be more painful than it is worth. Keeping my opinions to myself and if I really have that big of a trouble taking it to the people that matter, not just gossiping about it behind people backs. The big thing is taking a second to think about what you or I am going, and making sure it is not going to hurt anyone or even myself!

Digital Native

It is weird to actually have a specific title to having used technology in the classroom and out. I am a digital native. I have grown up with technology in the classroom, from the early years with the old Mac's with the Oregon trail game and the netscape game. And ending with the high school years and AOL taking over the world and overhead projecters. "They have spent their entire lives surrounded by and using computers, videogames, digital music players, video cams, cell phones, and all the other toys and tools of the digital age." This quote says it all, from the beginning of school to after school parties at friends house to just passing the time. I have always been surrounded by it and whether I used it or not I am always aware they are there.

"Sure they have short attention spans—for the old ways of learning, says a professor." I really believe that this quote says it all. While most teachers are quick to say that we as students have short attention spans, I do believe it is because the old school tacher who is lecturing is having a tough time keeping the attention of his students. It is up to these teachers to be on top of their game and not just pull the material out of their filing cabinet every year and expect the class to be engaged. It is the teachers who need to change and remain plastic to teaching styles and making sure they are keeping the students interest, not the other way around.

One of the main aspects our jobs as teachers is, "all the students we teach have something in their lives that’s really engaging—something that they do and that they are good at, something that has an engaging, creative component to it." It is up to us as teachers to keep the students involved and engaged. It is our job to allow them to bring in their personality in the class while sticking to the cirriculum. While this is going to be one of the hardest aspects of the job, it is also what is going to being the best results!

It is this age in technology where the huge majority of the students are going to be smarter with technology than the teacher. But it is up to us as teachers to stay on top of this and not forget about where we came from! We need to embrace the technology and work it in whenever possible into our course work. It is up to us to keep the students engaged and pushing with using specific examples that not only interest them but push the envelope with our subject as well!

Introductions

My name is Nicholas Thompson but you can call me Nick. But either is okay. I am looking to teach middle school or high school. My endorsements will be in middle school math or high school business. Math being the emphasis because the business side is more of an elective. My favorite animal is the chupacabras. Some people might say it is a mythical creature, I am not sure why I like it but part of it is the mystery behind it.