This article makes me sick. I simply refuse to believe that a 12 year old girl had to go through psychological treatment and counseling just because of a movie about two homosexual cowboys. Granted, there are a couple explicit sex scenes in the film, but I've read the short story- I thought it was incredible and very touching, even though I have experienced none of the situations in the story. This relates to my reflection in a roundabout way, so I thought I would post it in here.
Goodbye for real this time.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
But as you go, I will spread my wings...
This will most likely be my final blog for this course. Not "most likely"- definitely. As I am about to write my written reflection on the course, I look back on the work I have accomplished this semester in ENG 307. A whole new different world (haha) has awakened my senses. And this is why I decided not to become a high school English teacher.
If you are interested more in the topic, send me an e-mail and I can send you my final reflection. But the point of this post is to prime my writing for the big show. I was looking at the latest eSchoolnews post and this jumped out at me: [one of two themes] "the need to overhaul teacher education in the United States to produce a new generation of educators who are not only comfortable with technology, but expect it to be used in schools." From what I've seen in this class alone, this is imperative to the survival of your students in the working world. Even from what I've read in Friedman's book, the ability to become adaptable to the new technology that is constantly cresting in a tumultuous environment is the key to success. That one lady who started working in one position, then moved to another while learning new technology along the way. This is what the students need to obtain: the opportunity to become available to new positions wherever they work. Even if they work at McDonald's and decide to do nothing else in their lives, if they can work Excel and Word fluently that is management material that most of their co-workers may not have. This is not meant to sound facetious, but realistic.
Also, this shouldn't come as a shock to many people, but this article proves that our current president (to use an original phrase) "doesn't get it". He and his administration cut funding for technology because "It's not about technology, it's about teaching.'' Not only did he ruin chances for Katrina refugees (I've recently been enlightened to the horrible negligence that occurred in NO) but he is ruining the futures of our students. The older generations are saying that we are losing jobs to the Chinese, and after learning what I've learned this semseter, is this really a surprise to anyone? Kids in India and China are being taught that Americans are lazy and that we can outwork them. Not only do they have a better work ethic, but their governments realize that technology is the cornerstone to becoming successful to this flat world that we are currently living in.
So. This is it. Class has been interesting and challenging, to say the least. I've got to meet some cool individuals and this semester will not be forgotten for a long time. I am glad for everything I've experienced and I don't regret a thing.
Till we meet again.
Chris Turo.
If you are interested more in the topic, send me an e-mail and I can send you my final reflection. But the point of this post is to prime my writing for the big show. I was looking at the latest eSchoolnews post and this jumped out at me: [one of two themes] "the need to overhaul teacher education in the United States to produce a new generation of educators who are not only comfortable with technology, but expect it to be used in schools." From what I've seen in this class alone, this is imperative to the survival of your students in the working world. Even from what I've read in Friedman's book, the ability to become adaptable to the new technology that is constantly cresting in a tumultuous environment is the key to success. That one lady who started working in one position, then moved to another while learning new technology along the way. This is what the students need to obtain: the opportunity to become available to new positions wherever they work. Even if they work at McDonald's and decide to do nothing else in their lives, if they can work Excel and Word fluently that is management material that most of their co-workers may not have. This is not meant to sound facetious, but realistic.
Also, this shouldn't come as a shock to many people, but this article proves that our current president (to use an original phrase) "doesn't get it". He and his administration cut funding for technology because "It's not about technology, it's about teaching.'' Not only did he ruin chances for Katrina refugees (I've recently been enlightened to the horrible negligence that occurred in NO) but he is ruining the futures of our students. The older generations are saying that we are losing jobs to the Chinese, and after learning what I've learned this semseter, is this really a surprise to anyone? Kids in India and China are being taught that Americans are lazy and that we can outwork them. Not only do they have a better work ethic, but their governments realize that technology is the cornerstone to becoming successful to this flat world that we are currently living in.
So. This is it. Class has been interesting and challenging, to say the least. I've got to meet some cool individuals and this semester will not be forgotten for a long time. I am glad for everything I've experienced and I don't regret a thing.
Till we meet again.
Chris Turo.
Wednesday, May 2, 2007
Interview
Given the current scenario presented to me, I have created a wiki in about fifteen minutes. To show the teacher who is asking the question, it would not be difficult at all. What takes the longest other than actually writing your information or doing research, is setting up the account. When your account is all set up, the only thing left to do is make sure that you have a substantial and impartial post with enough content and you are, as Taco Bell would say, Good to Go. Check it out here.
Ah, but why a wiki instead of a webpage or podcast? Because Friedman says that we all need to become collaborators to stay relevant in the upcoming flat world. Because Richardson shows us how easy and powerful the wiki can be. The fact that a teacher can challenge their students to work together to become the best students that they can be and to encourage a sense of competitiveness in their students to create the best wiki in the class is solid motivation to help students achieve, especially who feel that school is rather dull. Wikis allow our students to work together to make their world a better and better informed place to live and to keep up a lifetime of learning; one that surpasses primary and secondary school. Not only can a student create a wiki, but they have the power to edit the posts of other people, if they find the information presented to be irrelevant, subjective, unfair or plain false. I think about the false death of Sinbad when this issue came to mind. Another good reason is that it forces students to write concisely and objectively about a topic that can easily turn into a strongly opinionated article.
To conclude, I chose a wiki because the collaboration factor that the wiki presents will be essential for our kids and students to master, because eventually (sooner than we think) people will start pooling their intellectual resources to make the entire world more enlightened. Also, wikis are simple enough as to where anyone to create and edit a post, as long as they have the correct information.
Ah, but why a wiki instead of a webpage or podcast? Because Friedman says that we all need to become collaborators to stay relevant in the upcoming flat world. Because Richardson shows us how easy and powerful the wiki can be. The fact that a teacher can challenge their students to work together to become the best students that they can be and to encourage a sense of competitiveness in their students to create the best wiki in the class is solid motivation to help students achieve, especially who feel that school is rather dull. Wikis allow our students to work together to make their world a better and better informed place to live and to keep up a lifetime of learning; one that surpasses primary and secondary school. Not only can a student create a wiki, but they have the power to edit the posts of other people, if they find the information presented to be irrelevant, subjective, unfair or plain false. I think about the false death of Sinbad when this issue came to mind. Another good reason is that it forces students to write concisely and objectively about a topic that can easily turn into a strongly opinionated article.
To conclude, I chose a wiki because the collaboration factor that the wiki presents will be essential for our kids and students to master, because eventually (sooner than we think) people will start pooling their intellectual resources to make the entire world more enlightened. Also, wikis are simple enough as to where anyone to create and edit a post, as long as they have the correct information.
Connect-i-Final-Cut
I just read the article about the Stamford, Connectcut school that is employing high tech tech in their buildings. Right on the first page a couple things stuck out to me. First off, it says that with the high schools in SoCal, they have a 100% graduation rate. This understandably is surprising, but should it be, really? Using technology such as movie making is interesting. It's fun. I know I enjoyed it more than writing a paper or even making a wiki for that matter. I would love to go to school if I knew I was going to make movies all day and have fun and do projects that the stupid teachers consider "assignments"; I'm not learning anything, I'm having a good time. If we can get students to think like that (alright maybe not exactly but you get the point) then three quarters of the battle is over.
Another thing that struck me as a good sign is that it says in the article that the school is using Final Cut. I am not a huge software junkie, but from a couple of conversations I had at work with this fine chap named Mike is that Final Cut Pro costs around a thousand dollars (Ed. Note - I just looked it up and Final Cut Pro 2 costs $1,234.05). Regardless of the discrepancies in price, spending those copious amounts of ducats is something to behold, especially for a high school. For those that don't know (i.e. most of you) Final Cut is used to edit movies. By professonals. It's the Paul Bunyan of movie editing software. It's HUGE, Tom. Granted, there is a lot that can be done with iMovie and it is a good tool. But for serious movie auteurs, Final Cut is soemthing to strive for. It's the type of thing you save a summer earnings of mowing lawns and selling lemonade for. But I digress. The fact of the matter is that this school is committed to quality if they have purchased Final Cut for their students who probably aren't going to make movies for a living when they get out of high school. It shows a lot of promise and effort on the school's part to become interested in their students and their want for the students to take them serious and in turn become interested in what they are saying.
My last point is this paragraph: "Principal Paul Gross says the goal is to better equip students by giving them hands-on experience with technology, encouraging them to work in teams, and helping them attain the skills that business leaders agree are needed for success in the modern workforce." This smacks vaguely of something I recall reading...oh yeah. Friedman's Great Collaborators. This school is on the cutting edge of what will become a flat world and thank God (or whoever you choose to believe in or if you are an atheist, well thank goodness) that the students will be ready for it when it comes. Hopefully more of these schools with technology and the students' happiness and interest pop up in the future and based on current trends, this day isn't tat far away.
Another thing that struck me as a good sign is that it says in the article that the school is using Final Cut. I am not a huge software junkie, but from a couple of conversations I had at work with this fine chap named Mike is that Final Cut Pro costs around a thousand dollars (Ed. Note - I just looked it up and Final Cut Pro 2 costs $1,234.05). Regardless of the discrepancies in price, spending those copious amounts of ducats is something to behold, especially for a high school. For those that don't know (i.e. most of you) Final Cut is used to edit movies. By professonals. It's the Paul Bunyan of movie editing software. It's HUGE, Tom. Granted, there is a lot that can be done with iMovie and it is a good tool. But for serious movie auteurs, Final Cut is soemthing to strive for. It's the type of thing you save a summer earnings of mowing lawns and selling lemonade for. But I digress. The fact of the matter is that this school is committed to quality if they have purchased Final Cut for their students who probably aren't going to make movies for a living when they get out of high school. It shows a lot of promise and effort on the school's part to become interested in their students and their want for the students to take them serious and in turn become interested in what they are saying.
My last point is this paragraph: "Principal Paul Gross says the goal is to better equip students by giving them hands-on experience with technology, encouraging them to work in teams, and helping them attain the skills that business leaders agree are needed for success in the modern workforce." This smacks vaguely of something I recall reading...oh yeah. Friedman's Great Collaborators. This school is on the cutting edge of what will become a flat world and thank God (or whoever you choose to believe in or if you are an atheist, well thank goodness) that the students will be ready for it when it comes. Hopefully more of these schools with technology and the students' happiness and interest pop up in the future and based on current trends, this day isn't tat far away.
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