Blog Assignment 10

"I'm A Papermate. I'm a Ticonderoga."
This cartoon is an obvious parody of the "I'm a Mac. I'm a PC." campaign for Apple. In this cartoon, the man personifying a Papermate pencil states that he costs less money than the Ticonderoga pencil, but breaks all of the time. Clearly this represents the PC. The man personifying a Ticonderoga states that he, on the other hand, is an expensive purchase. However, once you buy one, you will have it a long time. This obviously represents the Mac. I think that this cartoon is great! I loved the Mac vs. PC commercials that used to air on television. I, as a current PC owner can say without a doubt, when I have to buy a new computer it will definitely be a Mac.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games
After reading the post Why Were Your Kids Playing Games, by John Spencer, I decided to read his post I Banned Pencils Today, as well.

In Why Were Your Kids Playing Games, Spencer creates dialogue between a teacher and his principal. The principal asks the teacher why he and his students were playing games as opposed to him teaching a lesson. The teacher's reply was that he and his students were in fact participating in a mock simulation, but that it was educational. The principal does not accept this though. The teacher goes on to say that soldiers and doctors do the same thing everyday when learning their craft, but the principal still disagrees with his methods. In the end, the principal recommends a technique that the teacher can use in the place of the "game." The teacher however, outsmarts the principal by using the recommended methods, but making them into a game.

I really enjoyed this post because I feel like it important for student's to participate in games, or simulations in order to get more from a lesson. I think that students will pay more attention to the work and even recall things better if the information is presented to them in a way other than a traditional lecture. One thing that stood out for me in this post was his reference to soldiers and surgeons. Can you imagine going into a surgery where your surgeon had never practiced the procedure before? I wouldn't be too crazy about that!

The second post I read from John Spencer's Blog was, I Banned Pencils Today. I loved this post as well. Spencer states that on this particular day, he banned pencils during a particular subject, Math. He asked his students to find the volume and area of a cylinder using mental math. No paper and pencil could be used, just their brains. He states that though it took some of them a while, the students all came up with an answer to his problem. He states that the reason he held this little experiment was because he wanted his students to see that although they can use tools, like pencils, they don't need them. His purpose was to show them that they have highly evolved and powerful minds.

I thought this was so wonderful. I will definitely copy this from Mr. Spencer. I think that reminding children that they have the ability to use their brains to figure out a math problem instead of having to write it all down is great. If this had been something that one of my teachers had done in class, I probably would have freaked out a little at first. After coming up with the correct answer though, I think I would feel very fulfilled and proud of my small accomplishment.

Don't Teach Your Kids To Read This Stuff. Please?
When I first started reading Scott McLeod's post, Don't Teach Your Kids To Read This Stuff. Please? I was a little distracted by his writing style. After getting into the post, I soon realized the point he was making. He states that reading and writing for the web can be harmful to students; that there are many harmful things online for children to find or be introduced to. He goes on to list a lot on negative things associated with the Internet as well as the usage of cell phones. At the end he advises once more to not teach your kids to do these things. His reason? He is teaching his children all about every one of the things he listed. He asks which students will have a leg up in the future; his or ours.

I think that this post is really thought provoking. If you shelter your students from all of these things, what kind of person will they be in future? If they can't use technology in the future, what can they do? The kids who are exposed to these things will surely have a leg up. Dr. McLeod lists many negative things that are associated with the web. If you teach your kids about these negative things, and how to avoid them, and how to act when they are in a particular situation, they will be less likely to abuse the privileges of technology.

Dr. Scott McLeod is an academic expert on school technology leadership issues for Kindergarten through 12th grade. He serves as the Director of Innovation in Iowa. He is the author of the book What School Leaders Need to Know about Digital Technologies and Social Media. He also is the Founding Director of the UCEA Center for the Advanced Study of Technology Leadership in Education (CASTLE. EDM 310 students will recognize his series, Did You Know? from an assignment earlier in the semester.