Blog Assignment #13

Back to the Future

In this video Mr. Crosby is teaching fourth, fifth, and sixth graders, most of whom are second language learners. The video shows how he uses collaborative learning inside and outside the classroom. He has one on one laptops for each student and all the students have their own blogs. They even sent a hot air ballon over a hundred thousand feet into the air. Through this activity his class met several history, language arts, and science objectives. They posted videos and wrote about the activity on their blogs and many views from other students and teachers that wanted to do the activities they were doing. This is a great way for students to start growing their learning network.

I loved this video, especially that he had a student that had leukemia and could not come to school and they still skyped with her and involved her in everything. I think it is so important that all students get the same collaborative learning experience and that technology can help that happen.

A Vision of Students Today

This video is about the students of today. It is about how they learn, what they should learn, what their lives are like, and what their lives will be like in the future. This is a video that every college student can relate to. How much will I be in debt when I graduate? Could my teacher be more boring? If you enter the average college classroom today you will see many students on their computers and phones, not even paying attention to the teacher. Technology can be such a distraction but why not use it in the classroom where it will be much more effective?

As a college student I completely relate to this video. Most classes are boring and the teachers are not enthusiastic with the material. The work I have to do, most of the time is pointless and not even for a grade. Society and the world are changing and teachers need to change the way they teach as well. As a future teacher, I hope to make my classroom fun, exciting, and as hands on as possible. I do not want my students to just merely memorize information and spit it back up on a test, I want them to understand, see, and relate with the material taught. Technology needs to be incorporated as much as possible too. Although I had teachers that bored me and did nothing to motivate me, I had some teachers that went above and beyond to be great teachers that made class interesting and a warm environment. I hope to be like those teachers that pushed me and helped me and effected my life a great deal. They are the very teachers that inspired me to be a teacher and I want to effect my students in the those teachers effected me.