Blog Post # 10

Paper-mate & Ticonderoga:

In this picture that John T. Spencer drew there are two different brands of pencils but ultimately the same characteristics. The boy drawn which represents the paper mate is very nice and looks professional. As for the other boy which is the Ticonderoga he is not professional, at all. I think the point that this picture is trying to convey is that it does not matter how much something cost it is how you present your self in life. The paper mate boy looks clean and very well taken care but the pencil he represents is not expensive. The point is, is that it does not matter the amount of money you spend on something, it matters how you present your self and how people perceive you.

Why were your kids playing games?

This was a very interesting blog post written by John Spencer. This blog post contained a conversation between a teacher and his principal on how he can not have "games" in his classroom. This is obviously a strict policy in that particular school. The teacher explains and tells the principal it was, in fact, not a game but an advanced simulation. The principal does not let the teacher explain his purpose of his activity; instead he gets grilled on doing memorization for the children. In my opinion, I think this is a significant problem because everything inside a school should be based on the students and their needs to learn effectively. If a advanced simulation helps them learn something better than putting it on a piece of paper then that is how it should be done. It should not be a one-way learning street.


I Banned Pencils Today:

 I read the blog I Banned Pencils Today and it was very interesting to read. I did not have a particular reason for picking this blog; I just really liked the title and it caught my attention.  In this blog post Mr. Spencer writes about the day he banned pencils in his classroom. This was a way for students to really use their minds to solve a problem. It was more difficult because they did not have any way to record any information for the problem they were given. Mr. Spencer's purpose to this experiment was to get the students to use their highly evolved minds to solve this problem. It is amazing that we have all this technology and depend on it for so many things but Mr. Spencer is right for doing this to his students. It is a great way for students to think and get their minds motivated.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please!

This is a blog post written by Scoot McLeod, he is a blogger, author, and professor. He is also the Founding Director of UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE). I really enjoyed this post because it was very humorous and everyone needs a little funny in their life. I would have to say I am on Mr. McLeod's side. He made some very vital points. I think ignoring technology will only hurt you in the long run and, quite frankly, that is not even going to work. There is no way to avoid technology unless you live under a rock. I think people preaching pens and paper have not seen the beauty that technology holds in our world. Yes, there are some horrible things that happen on the internet; but in this case the bad out weighs the good. The internet and everything it provides for our learning is absolutely amazing and it does help us more than hurt us. Yes, we might talk a little funny or write weird but that is something we can be a little stricter on. I really enjoyed this blog post; I think Mr. McLeod is a brilliant/hilarious person!