Tuesday, April 28, 2009
April 27, 2009
This week we discussed the importance of technology and the trend it is taking with educational learning. We saw that technology is not actually making easier for students to learn but the level is staying consistant. To me, this makes prefect sense. Just like our parents learned from text books, is how we learn from PowerPoints. The information is presented in a way that is easy for us to understand but does not really make it more informational or interesting to us. We are just understand the information in a more technological sense then that of our parents. It is important to understand that we are not learning more because of technology, it is just the way we understand the material. If a class was presented in the way of the past it would be less likly for students to understand the material as quickly. I think this was a good lecture because it explained this idea. So far this class has been about how important technology is, which is true, but it is also important to note that it is just easier for students to learn, not that they learn more.
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Lecture for April 13, 2009
Legal and Ethics Issues
Academic dishonesty happens all the time, however, that does not mean it is right. I think that most students understand what they are doing is wrong when they copy and paste paragraphs from the interent and put it in their paper. I liked learning about the Google advanced site that allows teachers, or anyone, put in an entire paragraph to see if it is ripped off a webpage. This will be helpful if I think one of my furture students wrote a little too good for his or her level. As a teacher, I think it is important to make sure the students and the parents know what I would consider cheating and what the consequences are for my class. Instead of sending a small paper home with the basics and having both the parents and students sign, I would want to hold a meeting to discuss the rules of my classroom. If that could not be arranged then I would mention it during a the parent-teacher conferences. If you want academic honesty to be important to your students you have to show that it is important to you as well.
We discussed the issue of personal lifes of teachers and the different social networkings avaiable to teachers on the web. Of course teachers are going to have their own life outside of school but posting everything they do onto Facebook or the equivelent will not help with professionalism or get ahead in their career. As a teacher, there is a certian line that should not be crossed. A teacher over twenty one have every right to drink but that drinking should not be on display for everyone to see. I feel like certian pictures should not be put out either. If a teacher is drunk and posts obviously drunk picures on Facebook where the students can see the respect level will go down. There will be less control over the classroom.
Academic dishonesty happens all the time, however, that does not mean it is right. I think that most students understand what they are doing is wrong when they copy and paste paragraphs from the interent and put it in their paper. I liked learning about the Google advanced site that allows teachers, or anyone, put in an entire paragraph to see if it is ripped off a webpage. This will be helpful if I think one of my furture students wrote a little too good for his or her level. As a teacher, I think it is important to make sure the students and the parents know what I would consider cheating and what the consequences are for my class. Instead of sending a small paper home with the basics and having both the parents and students sign, I would want to hold a meeting to discuss the rules of my classroom. If that could not be arranged then I would mention it during a the parent-teacher conferences. If you want academic honesty to be important to your students you have to show that it is important to you as well.
We discussed the issue of personal lifes of teachers and the different social networkings avaiable to teachers on the web. Of course teachers are going to have their own life outside of school but posting everything they do onto Facebook or the equivelent will not help with professionalism or get ahead in their career. As a teacher, there is a certian line that should not be crossed. A teacher over twenty one have every right to drink but that drinking should not be on display for everyone to see. I feel like certian pictures should not be put out either. If a teacher is drunk and posts obviously drunk picures on Facebook where the students can see the respect level will go down. There will be less control over the classroom.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Review and NYC Charter School
April 6th, 2009
This class was mostly devoted mostly to allowing students give their opinions on the class and how it could be imporived. I agreed with many of the things that were said and I was happy to see this conversation taking place.
The next topic was about the New York Ctiy Charter school and the pay raises that are happening there. I feel like it is okay to raise the pay but only if they can afford it without cutting major corners. This school is taking away options for the classes the kids may take so that they can pay the teachers more money to teach less subjects. For all schools to raise the pay of teachers salary there would probably be an increase in "bad" teachers, or ones that do not care. Teachers that get into the profession now are probably more passionate about teaching students because there is not a lot of money involved. Because of pay raises, they will not be able to hire as many teachers. One solution that was presented was to force the teacher to take a verbal test. This will not make the teachers more qualified because the way a person speaks and the skills they have does not tell anyone how well they will work with kids. Another option that was mentioned and done in one school system is paying the teacher as well as their class does. This would seemingly cause more problems because the teachers may make thier class eaiser to pass. Coming into any classroom, no matter what you get paid, a teacher would need to have access to a computer, a projector, possibly a smart board, and other technologies to help them relate to their students. If they pay is raised and the technology budget is cut, the teachers will have to pay out of their own pocket.
We talked briefly about the Learning Management System. This is a place where students can go and learn without the need for teachers. Everything is structured for them. Pleateau is a huge site where you can buy software to learn a lesson.
This class was mostly devoted mostly to allowing students give their opinions on the class and how it could be imporived. I agreed with many of the things that were said and I was happy to see this conversation taking place.
The next topic was about the New York Ctiy Charter school and the pay raises that are happening there. I feel like it is okay to raise the pay but only if they can afford it without cutting major corners. This school is taking away options for the classes the kids may take so that they can pay the teachers more money to teach less subjects. For all schools to raise the pay of teachers salary there would probably be an increase in "bad" teachers, or ones that do not care. Teachers that get into the profession now are probably more passionate about teaching students because there is not a lot of money involved. Because of pay raises, they will not be able to hire as many teachers. One solution that was presented was to force the teacher to take a verbal test. This will not make the teachers more qualified because the way a person speaks and the skills they have does not tell anyone how well they will work with kids. Another option that was mentioned and done in one school system is paying the teacher as well as their class does. This would seemingly cause more problems because the teachers may make thier class eaiser to pass. Coming into any classroom, no matter what you get paid, a teacher would need to have access to a computer, a projector, possibly a smart board, and other technologies to help them relate to their students. If they pay is raised and the technology budget is cut, the teachers will have to pay out of their own pocket.
We talked briefly about the Learning Management System. This is a place where students can go and learn without the need for teachers. Everything is structured for them. Pleateau is a huge site where you can buy software to learn a lesson.
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