I would not say that this video captured my college experience completely. However, many aspects of the video did relate to my experiences. For example, I would agree that about 18% of my teachers actually know my name. I also strongly agree with the statement "If students learn what they do.. what are they learning sitting here?" In many of my classes ,this semester especially, I have been trying to figure out how I am expected to learn more sitting in a classroom than going out into the schools and working hands on with students. There were more differences between my experience and the students' experience in the video than similarities.
Some things I would change about the video were the percentages for assigned reading, how much they write for the semester, and how many hours they work everyday. The statistic that the students complete only 49% of their assigned reading and only 26% of it is relevant to their life is both true and false for my experiences. In my beginning years I would say that yes, I probably completed only about 49% of my assigned readings and at most 26% of it was relevant to my life. However, now that I have entered my major classes I actually read close to 95% of my assigned readings and pretty much 100% of what I read is valuable information for my career and my life. Next I would change how many pages I write for a class in one semester. I easily write more than 42 pages a semester. In all of my classes I take notes during class and I take at least 8 pages (front and back) of notes while reading per chapter. I would also say that I rarely email, thus my total pages for emails are considerably less than 500. The final change I would make would be the number of hours they work everyday. Having an on campus job allows me to have a pretty flexible work schedule. This means that I work at least 4.5 hours a day.
Overall, I found this video extremely interesting. I also found it a bit relieving that other students have the same thoughts that I do and to know that we are all on the same page.
"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
I really enjoyed reading this blog post by Kelly! I liked that she admitted that technology is not the only aspect that needs to be changed regarding teaching. Today we are always eager to find the quickest fix possible, we don't always take the time to find the best solution. In order to be good teachers, we must understand that by choosing this profession we made a huge promise. A promise not only to ourselves, but also to our students. We promised to be the best we can be to better their future. However, if we are not willing to adapt with the times, then we are not upholding our end of the promise. We must continue to learn and grow with and for our students. Personally, I think this growth keeps it exciting. Teachers are privileged enough to get the chance to constantly grow and learn and experience new things. It keeps our jobs from ever getting mundane. One of my favorite lines from her post was this: "Teachers who want to be truly successful must be voracious and self-motivated in their pursuit of evolving understanding." I thought this line was a very powerful and moving statement. We have to want something in order to make getting it truly worth while.
Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
While this post had similar messages of the post by Kelly Hines, it also had a very different approach to the situation surrounding technology in the field of education. I also really enjoyed this blog post. Like Hines' post, Fisch makes it very clear that teachers need to continuously learn. If we do not keep learning, students will be taught how to be successful "in an age that no longer exists." Being part of a generation so consumed by technology, I always just assume that everyone is technologically literate. However, reading this blog post really put it in perspective for me that that was not the case. There are many many people out there that do not even know how to turn on a computer and that is in a way a very scary thing to try to comprehend. One line that really got my attention was when Fisch was discussing his wavering between wether or not illiteracy was somewhat acceptable. In this part he stated "there's so much on teachers plates that it's unrealistic to expect them to take this on." This is how he sometimes felt about making teachers learn technology. I disagree with this statement. In this regard, teachers should not be pitied. As a teacher, it is their job to be the best they can be for the betterment of the students. Like I said before, we made a commitment to be the best teachers possible. If we cannot even take the time to learn technology properly so that it is used in our classrooms for the very best purposes, then we are not doing our job. We are not only letting ourselves down, but also our students.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Seeing these numbers change so rapidly is truly overwhelming. Majority (if not all) of these changes are involving technology in some way which means that for every number that changes, there is a person out in the world using technology making that change. Students today are absorbed by technology and are living in a very fast paced world. This Social Media Count helped me realize how essential it will be for me to keep up with technology and all of its evolvements.
"It's Not About the Technology" by Kelly Hines
I really enjoyed reading this blog post by Kelly! I liked that she admitted that technology is not the only aspect that needs to be changed regarding teaching. Today we are always eager to find the quickest fix possible, we don't always take the time to find the best solution. In order to be good teachers, we must understand that by choosing this profession we made a huge promise. A promise not only to ourselves, but also to our students. We promised to be the best we can be to better their future. However, if we are not willing to adapt with the times, then we are not upholding our end of the promise. We must continue to learn and grow with and for our students. Personally, I think this growth keeps it exciting. Teachers are privileged enough to get the chance to constantly grow and learn and experience new things. It keeps our jobs from ever getting mundane. One of my favorite lines from her post was this: "Teachers who want to be truly successful must be voracious and self-motivated in their pursuit of evolving understanding." I thought this line was a very powerful and moving statement. We have to want something in order to make getting it truly worth while.
Karl Fisch: Is It Okay to Be A Technologically Illiterate Teacher?
While this post had similar messages of the post by Kelly Hines, it also had a very different approach to the situation surrounding technology in the field of education. I also really enjoyed this blog post. Like Hines' post, Fisch makes it very clear that teachers need to continuously learn. If we do not keep learning, students will be taught how to be successful "in an age that no longer exists." Being part of a generation so consumed by technology, I always just assume that everyone is technologically literate. However, reading this blog post really put it in perspective for me that that was not the case. There are many many people out there that do not even know how to turn on a computer and that is in a way a very scary thing to try to comprehend. One line that really got my attention was when Fisch was discussing his wavering between wether or not illiteracy was somewhat acceptable. In this part he stated "there's so much on teachers plates that it's unrealistic to expect them to take this on." This is how he sometimes felt about making teachers learn technology. I disagree with this statement. In this regard, teachers should not be pitied. As a teacher, it is their job to be the best they can be for the betterment of the students. Like I said before, we made a commitment to be the best teachers possible. If we cannot even take the time to learn technology properly so that it is used in our classrooms for the very best purposes, then we are not doing our job. We are not only letting ourselves down, but also our students.
Gary Hayes Social Media Count
Seeing these numbers change so rapidly is truly overwhelming. Majority (if not all) of these changes are involving technology in some way which means that for every number that changes, there is a person out in the world using technology making that change. Students today are absorbed by technology and are living in a very fast paced world. This Social Media Count helped me realize how essential it will be for me to keep up with technology and all of its evolvements.
Great post Morgan! I agree it does not make sense for teachers to remain technologically illiterate. Lately, a teacher would have to try hard to totally stay away from technology. These are the tools of the trade. Like paper and pencil, in time they will become second nature.
ReplyDeleteYour blog looks excellent. Keep up the good work. SS.