Blog Post #2

Mr. Dancealot
Many teachers teach in various ways. However, the teacher way of teaching might not be effective for the students. In the video professor Dancealot is attempting to teach his dance class straight from a power point presentation and it do not work out so well. He does try to demonstrate some of the dance steps he is teaching, but he did not let his students try. While he is reading from his power point and demonstrating dance steps that he already know how to do, his students are lost and have no idea what is going on. The central message of the video in my opinion is that class participation is very important. If a class is not participating in a lecture then a teacher cannot be sure that their students are comprehending the material being taught. Just because someone is listening does not mean that they comprehending what is being said. The conclusion that class participation is important was made after seeing that the students struggle to perform the dance that they were taught in the lecture. I strongly agree with the conclusion because teachers cannot assume that students are listening to them. Some students learn differently from other students and some learn at a slower rate than others. Getting the students involve is a great way to see if they are learning.

Teaching int the 21st Century
Teaching in the 21st century requires teachers to continue learning. Robert states that students can get information anywhere at any time. He is absolutely right. Kids are getting information from the internet, so teachers are no longer the primary source. Robert argues that teachers need to use different tools to teach. Technology is a large part of life now, so we as future educators need to use it to our advantage. Robert gave a suggestion to create an e-portfolio to let students store their work. They can collaborate using skype , twitter, facebook, or google docs. As technology grows, teachers will have to grow with it. Learning will never cease for a teacher

The Network Student
Teaching is constantly changing. It is not how it was when I was in school and it will not be same as it is ten years from now. The video showed that along with the student learning facts, the student also learned skills. He learned how to use various program to make connections that would help him. Also, having access to technology gave him access to many more things that a text book could not give him. He is primarily in control of his class. He decides when and where he completes his work. So why does he still need a teacher? He needs a teacher to help him make those connections. He will need a teacher for when he do not understand something. It is unbelievable how much information that is given to us through technology.

Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts
Mrs. Davis thesis is that only certain types of student learn from pencil and paper. Mrs. Davis wants to appeal to all of her students just as any teacher should. She is teaching her students to be independent learners. She wants her students to be comfortable using technology. She wants them to be thinkers. It is so much offered to us through technology and we need to take advantage of it. She gives the example of teaching literacy by having her students google words that they do not know. I agree with Mrs. Davis. Learning is not all about pencil and paper. We need to teach our students to be thinker, to make connection, and to learn from whatever is out there.

Flipping the Classroom
Flipping is very new to me and now I am a fan of it. I like the idea of the students being able to see what the next day lesson is going to be about and they can prepare for it. I like that it allows the students to think on a higher level. It also let other students share their process of figuring something out and it possibly can help another student. Flipping is something that I would love to try when I become a teacher.