I am a very organized person (I have hundreds of DVDs ordered alphabetically in my entertainment centre) so I want to keep everything together on my Blog. I will try to add all my current events here.
Current Event #5
There is a campaign to make giving go viral. The website Everyone Gives "is an online fundraising campaign tool launched last week that seeks to harness the power of social media to help nonprofit groups around the world" When someone donates to a charity the website uses the donors social networks to 'push' the donation. It them keeps track of how many people were inspired based on that one donations. Watch the video.
This idea and website is something that my school is looking at for our Take Action Day. I thought I would make my own donation to see what it was really like, so stay posted!
Current Event #4
My current event this week is centred around my interests: Math. I am not a fan of entering into the "what do you do?" conversation, because the minute I mention I am a high school math teacher people (most of them anyway) always cringe and say something like "really? wow, I always hated Math, good luck with that!" And I realize that people have strengths in many different areas, for example, I am not a fan of writing essays, but if I set my mind to it I could type up something that passes as readable. I struggle with the stigma that is applied to my subject every day. Which is why (back to my current event) I am pleased I found this blog which lists a bunch of Math apps for the ipad, ipod etc. I am really interested in the critical thinking ones, because that is what I think Math in high school is all about. Unless students are planning on continuing education in science, or math really all I want to teach them is problem solving, and critical thinking. The common sense stuff so that when they go out into the real world they can work things out (whether they be math problems, or just working out how to do something better at the office). I hope you enjoy this one! It makes me want to go out and buy an iPad, but with the political waters in a turmoil at the moment I think I am going to hang onto my money for the time being.
Current Event #3
My current event this week comes from TEDx (Independently Organized TED events) Chris Lehmann talks about what is described as a “revolutionary idea in education: Encourage learning by allowing students to do things they are good at instead of restricting them”. What he talks about is really exciting, but again I don’t think it is anything really ground-breaking, my school is doing this currently with the IB projects, and it also seems slightly ‘montessorri’ perhaps with students making their own projects and parameters. I think ideas like this have been around for years, but programs such as this don’t get developed because some (definitely not all!) teachers don’t want to try something new, and there are always budget constraints, and lack of technology devices available.
I actually come across this all the time in my Math classes. Students ask me when they will ever use this in real life. And like Chris I reply that if you can do these Math problems involving equations, calculus and probability it means you can think logically, and you can solve problems, and that is something that is very important in the real world.
Check out the video here
There are some great quotes from this video (I wrote 3 pages worth) but I will only post a few here.
“The most important thing we have to do is ask questions, and we have to ask questions we don’t know the answer to. We have to understand that we don’t have all the answers, we can’t let kids think all the answers are held in the four walls of a classroom.”
“school was built in a time of information scarcity and now we are in a world of information overload. It used to be you had to go to school to get the information, now our job is to make sure that kids can make sense of the world. That they can make sense of all those images and ideas and information that they get bombarded with everyday.”
“When we allow students to see themselves as authentic agents; when we dare them to ask questions, seek out answers, and build things that matter, high school doesn’t suck anymore. And when we do that we encourage kids to change the world.”
Current Event #2
This isn’t a “current event” in the sense that it is something that is happening out in the world of education and technology, but it is something that relates to me personally at my school.
My principal is a self-proclaimed ‘newbie’ when it comes to technology. But the administrators in my school (and the district according to trends in the twitter feeds) are really excited about the use of iPads in schools. My principal purchased 10 iPads for the start of the semester (he has just arrived at our school). Teachers were asked to submit proposals on how an iPad would enrich their teaching, and enhance the learning in the classroom. His plan is to purchase iPads throughout the year so that eventually all teachers will have one.
The teachers in my school now have a monthly iPad meeting where they share new apps and ways that they have been using their iPads in the classroom. Even though I didn’t get an iPad in the first round I went to the meeting last night, and now have many new ideas that I can use in the future. I have noticed that the topic of iPads has featured strongly in these current events posts, so I apologize for adding another one.
We talked about lots of good apps like Noteshelf, SplashTop, and AnnotatePDF. But the one I found very useful was ExplainEverything. (website http://www.explaineverything.com/) It is an easy way to create and record tutorial videos that can be exported as movies and then uploaded to class webpages for student revision. Or if you know you are going to be away you can create a lesson that the students can watch. Very helpful for me as a Math teacher as it is rare for me to get a TOC who is comfortable with the senior subjects.
This may not be applicable to everyone, but it is definitely a current event that will make a difference in my daily teaching practices.
Current Event #1
I stumbled on the article by Sharon Kirkey in the Vancouver Sun the other week. The Title pretty much says it all: "Study finds parallels in Internet, cocaine addiction; Brain abnormalities similar in drug users and those with compulsive urges to surf web". Besides the obvious worrisome dangers stated in the title, I was more struck by the 3 simple questions used to classify the subjects who were suffering from IAD (Internet Addiction Disorder). "Do you feel preoccupied with the Internet?" "Do you stay online longer than originally intended?" "Do you feel restless, moody, depressed or irritable when attempting to cut down or stop Internet use?" I am sure there are times when everyone could answer yes to all 3 questions!
I also came across another article in the same paper "150 suicidal electronics staff coaxed down from factory roof" by Malcolm Moore. At first I got a chuckle by misreading the headline and I thought staff had coaxed suicidal electronics off a roof, then reading the article I was a bit disappointed. 150 workers at an electronics manufacturer in China were on a rooftop for 2 days threatening to jump due to poor pay and work conditions. It made me think that there is a bigger cost than just money for the rise in technology.
Works Cited:
Kirkey, S. (2012, January 12). Study finds parallels in Internet, cocaine addiction; Brain abnormalities similar in drug users and those with compulsive urges to surf web. The Vancouver Sun. pp. B4.
Moore, M. (2012, January 12). 150 suicidal electronics staff coaxed down from factory roof. The Vancouver Sun. pp.B6.
