Sir Ken Robinson

     If you have never heard a TED Talk by Sir Ken Robinson, you should. He believes, “We are educating people out of their creativity”. This rendition of Changing Education Paradigms  is creatively illustrated by RSA Animate, so it also interesting to watch. He urges that a change be made to how we educate children, which should be different from how children were educated before the technology boom. He also believes that there is not an ADHD epidemic, but rather children are being (over) medicated so they will not be so distracted within the intensely stimulating world we live in. He feels there is a connection between the increase in cases of ADHD and the increase in standardized testing. We, as future teachers, need to be aware of how each student needs to learn. Some students’ behaviors are influenced by the size of groupings, times of the day, or merely interest in subject matter. Robinson has given me a lot to think about on the subject of education and how to become an effective teacher!

(another interesting TED Talk by Robinson Do Schools Kill Creativity?)

Netflix and Learn

     Besides the obvious enjoyment factor that everyone gets from watching their favorite television shows, there are educational uses for Netflix. Just like with many unique technology ideas, the more diverse classes that are offered, the more a student can learn from a variety of areas and different methods.

     Many educators would scoff at the idea of bringing in Netflix or another streaming service for an education purpose; mostly because it costs money. That being said, a school would only really need one account and that runs $7.99 a month. The administrator could also lock certain movies or other parts from being used that a teacher may try to abuse. Another reason the school district may have a problem with it is because parents may not be thrilled to hear your school has Netflix. "They'll just be watching movies all day" a parent might think. Just like with so many things, it depends on how you are using it.

     I do use Netflix at home, mostly for shows, but after exploring a little more, there are places where education can be used. There is a category for documentaries that range from autobiographies on celebrities to global warming, the drug trade, terrorism and history. While looking, there was a documentary called "World War II in color" which obviously could be used in a history class. A geography class can use ones on global warming or on making the world green again. There are even some on cooking that a home education class could use once in a while for practical uses. A Spanish or french class could use this to watch foreign films to test their knowledge of the material. Although, the point this would make the most sense for would be a psychology class. Shows like "Making of a Murderer" or "Inside Out" can be analyzed for different purposes. Even horror movies like "Silence of the Lambs" can be useful, but permission slips would have to be given out. For a criminology class, "NCIS" or "Criminal Minds" can work to teach about the solving of crimes and how the evidence is tied together.

     Teachers have been showing movies in classes for years. Sometimes for educational purposes, and other times because it's almost Thanksgiving break and everyone is tired of learning. By using Netflix, in the right way, students can get an enriched learning experience by being able to analyze, for lack of a better word, real world problems. Movies are not just always for entertainment purposes, but to make people stop and think about life and what needs to be fixed.

Standing Desks!

     Since I have "liked" the We Are Teachers page on Facebook I have been exposed to many inspiring ideas. This one I think is brilliant! A standing desk! With a fidget bar! The article that I read contains a link to the story that was done on NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt about the AlphaBetter Desk from Safco. Watch it!

http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2016/02/18/why-i-decided-getting-rid-of-my-classroom-furniture-was-the-best-thing-for-my-kids

     There have been classrooms that I have been in recently that this option would have been perfect for some of the students. Students can quietly move the fidget bar and the teacher would not have to constantly say "sit down". Also, there is the option to have a stool for those student who choose not to stand at any point in the day. These desks are a couple hundred dollars a piece...but, may just be a valuable investment.

"A Maths Dictionary for Kids"

While helping my daughter research for a brochure that she needed to create on a famous mathematician I came across a really great website.

http://amathsdictionaryforkids.com/

(*there actually is an “s” after math in the title of this webpage)

The sites “Quick Reference” gives great definitions and examples of many (if not all) mathematical terms and functions. The “Interactive Original” is similar to the quick reference, but gives the opportunity to try sample problems that are corrected right there on the page. The “Math Charts” section contains just as many printables to use within a classroom. I thought this site was pretty cool!

Purdue OWL instructional material

In high school I had a specific English teacher that always had the class write essays in APA format. She first introduced this writing style to the class and I in ninth grade. She would always mention that one day we would need to know this to complete college papers. I somewhat believed her because of course they always say you "need" to learn certain material for the real world. So in my first year of college we didn't use APA formatting at all. Needless to say the next year we did, and I was sort of shocked. A lot of my classmates were clueless as to what APA formatting was. Many had heard of it but never used it before. In high school my English teacher introduced us to the Purdue OWL website. This is how I learned most of what I know on APA formatting. It gives you step by step instructions, of course your professor may want things a certain way. 

Purdue OWL also gives you MLA formatting instructions. Which is what most people I know are accustomed to using. In general I think this website is a great tool to use. It is free and certainly very handy. I have used it plenty of times and it never fails to rescue me. 

Pinterest

Pinterest focuses on visuals and base on bookmarking site. A bookmark allows users to pin something, when you share an image. However, sharing another person pin is called repin. People could share an image by directly uploading an image from any website. This would allow users to share their pins in Facebook and Twitter. Users must join Pinterest, but other people could search images on Pinterest without having an account. Pinterest was created as a media platform for personalizing pictures. There are many ways teachers could use Pinterest as a class project. For example, students could create an account for English class for an assigned book. Teachers could ask students for each chapter they must post a place that the book describes. They could share their place with their classmate and share them easily with one another. This would help students remember places in an organized way. 

https://www.pinterest.com

Blendspace

This past week the class was introduced to Blendspace which sounds like the ultimate quick lesson planning tool a teacher could have. It’s perfect for creating guides to homework problems and resources for students to refer to. It could be used for flipped classrooms and for test reviews. It’s a great tool to have for emergency lessons if students don’t understand. Students can get lost in the lectures and text so this multimedia applicator is a great alternative to everyday teaching. Personally this is my favorite technology tool I have been introduced to.   I don’t see using Blendspace as an alternative to teaching a whole lesson but it’s helpful in getting the important factors in a lesson through the students. I see multiple possibilities with using Blendspace. I checked out some of the featured lessons and found great resources for teachers to suggest to students. You can even have upper level student create their own study guides for each other or even mini lessons for extra credit. Teachers can asses students understanding using the comments, work and quizzes. 

Here is a link featuring lessons on Blendspace: https://www.tes.com/lessons/gallery?redirect-bs=1