Last Things.......

Well this short summer semester is over. I must say it has been an enjoyable class, but like all good things it must come to an end. To be honest when I signed up for this class I had no idea what it was going to be about. I learned a lot of new things that I'll be taking with me into the classroom and my personal life as well, as far as technology goes. I wish more classes were as, dare I say, fun as this one was. Mr. Tashbin really has an enthusiasm about the subject matter that really showed throughout the semester. As far as improvements to the course, not sure I can really suggest any improvements at this time. I just wish I could take another class like this.

Response to "I am An Optimist" by Mr. McClung

Teachers need to hold on to their optimism, or else why are they there. A positive attitude toward the profession, subject, and student body will go far in the way students perceive the teacher. I can remember those teacher that seemed like they didn't want to be there or had just a negative out look on the students, these were the worst classes to be in. Label the students is also a dangerous affair. Putting kids into groups of those who will succeed and those who won't is setting them up for failure. Teaches should go into the job with the attitude that all can succeed. It is not for the teacher to condemn students that they feel can't succeed. If teachers start labeling kids into a group of "those who can't succeed" then it might become self fulfilling. As teachers how can we live with ourselves if we did this?

What I Would Try to Do to Make My School Unique

I don't have much in the way of special parties, or anything like that to try and make the school unique. I will only go back to my last blog about why I'm interested in teaching. What I would do to make my school unique is light a fire under the tail end of students to get them passionate about history. This is lacking amongst our young children and young adults. These are the next generation of law makers, executive and voters. They must be knowledgeable about our history and who we are as a nation and about the basic freedoms we are afforded in able to cast their vote with utmost confidence. A knowledge of history in th minds of the next generation is the only hope of salvation for our country as THE United States of America.

A Reason I Would Love Teaching

The reason I think I would love to teach is my passion for the subject. I am going into social studies (History). I love figuring out the "why" of things around me. Why are we in Iraq? Why is the situation in North Korea so delicate? Or even the simple questions like, Why does the military salute with the right hand? Some of these questions have very serious consequences. An understanding of history can help put things into perspective. I feel that most students don't really give a rats tail about history and I believe it is because most school put history on the lower end of the spectrum in the hierarchy of required subjects. I want to pass on my passion about history to the students.

My Brave Thing

http://keepingkidsfirst.wordpress.com/2009/05/03/5-brave-things/
I must disagree on this blog from the get go. The requirement for community service as a part of curriculum in school goes beyond the scope of what I believe school should be. This is nothing more than forced servitude, SLAVERY. Albeit a soft form of it, it is still wrong and it is my belief that schools have overstepped their grounds. I understand the argument that it is suppose to help foster an education of community, but I believe that voluntary service should be just that, voluntary. The Lord God gave us free will to love him or reject him, and so when those who chose to love him did it made that love real. Likewise when one is forced to serve and their free will is removed then that service is cheap and meaningless. Thus what is it that they really learn, to get a grade in school I HAVE to do this. They don't learn what it really means to volunteer which I believe is what the purpose of this REQUIREMENT was. This practice is counterproductive to the true spirit of the very thing that it is suppose to foster. This assignment asked to add to the list of brave things, I don't believe I can add to this list and so my BRAVE thing is this. My BRAVE thing is to speak out about a practice I do believe is unjust, many brave men died on the battlefield on our own soil to eliminate SLAVERY. Don't let their sacrifice be in vain.

My Comments on Dr. Strange'sFrom the 3Rs to the 6Cs

The more that I hear about "The Clouds", "ClassSpace" and the sort the more I start to think about movies such as "I Robot", and "Terminator". Are these movies science fiction or prophecy of things to come? How much do we want to enslave ourselves to these machines? Are we raising a generation of people that can't function without technology? I have many more questions like these when I read articles and thoughts like Dr. Strange's "From the 3Rs to the 6Cs. Don't get me wrong I see the upside as well to all the points he makes. How great it is to be able access any type of information you want at anytime. How wonderful it is to connect classrooms around the world to enhance education. As far as collaboration goes, I can see the upside in training our young pupils to work as a team, yet they still need to understand that they need to strive for personal excellence, not just for the excellence of the collective. I understand the strength of unity but they need to understand that like a length of line depends on the strength of each fiber so does the whole of a group depend on the strength of each individual. The other 3Cs go together; Change, Creativity, and Curiosity. In encouraging curiosity of the students it is hoped that they will be creative with the education they have acquired and will bring about positive change to our country as well as the the whole world.

Response to Dr. Strange's No "BurpBack" Education

This concept of teaching our children how to think sounds like a wonderful idea. I am on board with this fact that our young children need to be taught how to think. But how do we track that progress without tests. Is Dr. Strange advocating no tests or just simply challenging the accepted form of tests? Test how students think would require harder test for them. It may force some to step up but it also might force some students to step out. Schools should not be the only place educating our children, families and communities were our children live need to have some skin in the game as well. Too many time our children are looked on as inconvenient little humans that we must tolerate and thus are treated as second class citizens, abused and neglected. We all need to look upon these sweet face and see the future of our families, communities and our nation. This perspective will go far in how our children are taught in our schools as well as in the communities.

bloging in US Classrooms #2

http://www.dreamextreme.us/blog/

This is a blog site for an actual class. I looked at an article in my last post about US classrooms using blog sites. I thought a look into a classes blog might help expand on the idea. The Dream Extreme team is a fifth grade class in Oregon. They used a blog space as an exciting tool to enhance the mundane of education. They shot videos and had them posted on their site, blogged to continue their classroom discusions. They had videos from NASA and other students around the country. It looks like these kids had fun in their class.

International Classrooms Using Bloggs #1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/3804773.stm
Childern as young as seven are using blogs in their classrooms in one British school. They claim that these little bogers are preforming better than those who are not utilizing the blog. The childern love to blog that they are willing to do extra work for the class on their blogs. An after school club was set up and nearly half of the students participate durin the sessions. The students that are participating have been scored at levels of high school students with regards to researching ability an Information Technology knowledge. This seems to be having a positive impact on the students.

Blogging in US Classrooms #1

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/19/technology/circuits/19blog.html?ex=1250654400&en=df535dc1863105e8&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt
This article starts out talking about a second grade field trip to an Indian park, and instead of their teacher leading a classroom discussion on what they experienced she instructed them to blog about it. The teacher reported that blogging seems to level the playing field, those students that are shy and quite during classroom discussions come alive on their blogs. Blogging allows the students to continue what was being discussed in class if the discussion was cut short. They report that it allows the student to interact much faster. It really sounds like these students are well on their way to a cyber education.

Debating the power of Google's Wave

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10256471-2.html?tag=mncol
A new application from Google, it is very interesting. I'm new to all this Google stuff, and there is more being created that I need to learn. This article talks about WAVE, an application that looks to be a hybrid of e-mail, instant massaging and google docs.

Changing the way we think

I do believe that the Internet and these large search engine have changed the way we think and the way we expect things to be, notably instant gratification. The speed of the Internet has made us as a society impatient, unwilling to do the hard work, like look in a book, to get answers to questions. I find my self experiencing what Carr was talking about when he explained how his mind drifts after only a couple of pages. There does not seem to be any end in sight in the reprogramming of the way we think. We as a society will just have to learn to adjust to this new way of thinking. I'm sure there is a pharmaceutical out there that can help us get focused, more of that instant gratification.

Google plans to make PCs history

Google's plan to kill the need to have a PC at your house looks to have some promise. There are a few good points to having a centralized database. We won't have to worry about losing data no matter what may befall our computers. We will be able access our file from any web based portal. The big negative that looms large over this golden egg is the fact we will be putting all of our eggs in one basket. If the database goes then we all will be out of luck. Not to mention all that data being in one centralized location. I'm not convinced that Google's grand plan will totally kill off the personal computer.

Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide (ACCESS)

Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide (ACCESS) is a useful program that allows high school students to have opportunities that they might have missed out on. There are a lot of good aspects to ACCESS with a few down sides. The ability of students to take classes that may not be offered at their school and participate in Advanced Placement courses is a step toward bringing equal education to all students. It exposes students to technology which will prepare them for their future. A point that can be taken as a pro or a con is the fact that the number of teachers will be reduced. With regards to fiscal policy in the way of saving money and the fact that some subjects are hard to find teachers for then it can be viewed as positive. On the other hand it could put some teachers out of work.

Alabama Learning Exchange

The Alabama Learning Exchange (ALEX) looks to be a treasure trove of usable resources. This is my first look at ALEX and I was impressed with the available resources and links to even more available resources, all for free. ALEX homepage has eight "buttons" that allow one to navigate the site. The eight "buttons" are: Course of Study; Web Links; Lesson Plans; Search; Personal Workspace; Professional Learning; Distance Learning; Help. A few of these buttons are self explanatory. The "Course of Study" and "Lesson Plans" buttons allow teachers to search for lesson plans. ALEX offers a place for you to get a "Personal Workspace" which allows you to; find a lesson plan, create a lesson plan, or create a teaching page. It also shows the number of approved lesson plans you have submitted. The "Professional Learning" button opens up yet another treasure trove of web links that look to be very useful in advancing knowledge for teachers. The "Distance Learning" button opens up a link to "Alabama Connecting Classrooms, Educators, and Students Statewide" (ACCESS).

Again this is my first look at ALEX and I am impressed with what this seems to have the potential for me as a prospective educator. I know I will be using this site as a resource in the future. There is a lot of features that will take time to learn, but they look useful.

New Baby in my Family

I welcomed my son, William Charles Lee Mounsey, into the world on Thursday in Bay Minette at North Baldwin Infirmary. He was born at 7:51 a.m. and was 6lb 15oz and was 193/4" long. We had little time with him before the doctors recommended that he be sent to the Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit at the Women's and Children's Hospital in Mobile. It was merely a precaution, he still had a fair amount of fluid in his lungs and an air bubble developed in his chest cavity. They wanted him a place that was prepared for any emergency, NBI was not equipped for any such emergency. Little Billy is doing fine and should be coming home Monday or Tuesday.

Welcome to my blog. A class in educational micro computing systems, EDM310, at USA.