POST #8

THIS IS HOW WE DREAM 1&2

Dr. Richard Miller of Rutgers University tells the Presidential Forum about the fundamental change in the way we must teach. Today we have to be tech-savvy. As teachers and learners we are forced to share and discover ideas by way of the world wide web.
Dr. Miller refers to the web as a rich store of knowledge. This knowledge is at our finger tips. The way we compose our work and our thoughts is changing. The way people share ideas is transforming into something we can hear, see and read instead of just one or the other. And this is the way teachers and learners are, before long, going to be expected to produce their work all of the time. This way of composition is going to be the common way.
He goes on to say that it would be the common way if we only had more inspiring pedagogy and resources. But I believe there is plenty of that. He is inspiring and there is more where that came from. I just believe that since we are in the middle of a transformation, it's going to take some time for everyone to catch on. All in all, I understand that this speech is an example of the way teachers today must be thinking and doing in order to help the students of today be all that they can be. We have to offer them our imagination.

THE CHIPPER SERIES AND EDM310 FOR DUMMIES

Who knew the key to my success in EDM 310 is to watch a bunch of tutorials. I don't operate quite like that which is why you see me in the lab often. Coming to the lab plus watching the tutorial might get me through this and good enough to teach my kids.
Chipper is a perfect example of someone who has to learn the hard way that procrastination is not worth it. When a person finally realizes that taking care of business ahead of time ensures you plenty of goofing off time later, then that person will try to avoid procrastination at all costs. Although there is a difference between me and someone who has their parents paying their tuition, I don't feel that anyone should be allowed to procrastinate. However, being forgiven every once in a great, great while is different in my opinion.
I would love to create something at least as impressive as The Chipper Series or EDM 310 For Dummies (ha,ha). I think a revised version of "Dummies" would do all students some good and then require it to be watched, like, the night of the first lecture.

WHY SMARTBOARDS ARE DUMB AND WHY I HATE...
Well, there is just no end to the knowledge I gain from these blogs and videos in this class!!! I was one of those easily dazzled parents who just got into a feel good frenzy when I saw the smartboards at my daughter's school. There are just some things in this life that I don't think twice about. I didn't think of a smartboard as being almost the same as a projector or chalkboard. I am being honest when I thought it was a miracle tool. But I have never used them, so I don't know why I thought that. Just naive I guess. I will learn.
It is so sad that a teacher can't just say to an administrator: "Hey, I need some money to work on this awesome idea I have for interactive learning that doesn't involve a physical object." But something is lost there. I guess it's trust. Whatever it is, I'm sure that any determined teacher could use the abundance of information on the internet either to use their smart board more effectively, or to get around having to spend money on one in the first place. Like, both the blogs said; it's not the money but the pedagogy that matters.
When trying to find a link to something positive about smartboards, I didn't find anything that seemed as informative as an article from Educational Leadership by Robert J. Marzano called Teaching With Interactive Whiteboards. It has the point that the other two blogs are trying to make laid out in it among the good and the bad; a good teacher plans ahead and becomes familiar with the materials they use.http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/nov09/vol67/num03/Teaching-with-Interactive-Whiteboards.aspx I hope you find it most informative. Thanks for reading. Oh yeah, one more thing. Isn't Jamie Lynn such a good, no, wait, great actress?