Presentation Three

This was a good presentation about the history of education in the United States of America. I found this to be interesting because they went all the way back to the colonial days when only rich white males could go to school to the days of segregation. We actually thought that we were doing good things segregating people. I find this hard to believe. I thought that this was a good job because they had discussion questions and got people to talk about their topic I think this is a great way to learn and to get peoples opinions out. I really liked this presentation.

Presentation Two

This presentation was talking about working with students with intellectual disabilities and people that are developmentally disabled. I thought this group was great they passed out a sample IEP and had us write on it to get an idea of what our everyday life will be like at work. I thought this was a great idea that I would have never thought of. I thought the group made some great points and it meant a lot to me because I plan on going into special education and I think this is a great way to give people an idea of what it will be like. This was a great job!

Walker defends proposed school cuts

http://www.twincities.com/education/ci_17630923?nclick_check=1

I looked at this article right away because I now understand how messed up things are in Wisconsin. Thank god I do not live there! The governor is trying to get support while he is ruining a fairly well ran education base in Wisconsin. I think back to the days of Tim Pawlenty and he never did anything like this but now our neighbors are getting harassed and no support from their state government. It is bad enough that Walker went after teachers now he is hearting the kids by taking away money that is needed desperately to educate these children. This whole situation is just ridiculous.

IGCSEs - an end to the national curriculum?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10299194

I cannot pretend to know what this article is talking about but I do know the article is about a change is testing policy in the UK. Now the reason that I picked this article is due to the fact that we are talking about the same thing in the United States. I find this interesting that testing is not just an issue we are having but also an issue that is international. They are debating the way The article says this first major change in 20 years in the UK. I think that we should think harder about our testing policy we could use and overhaul like this as well.

Q Comp pay plan isn't a winner with Anoka-Hennepin teachers

http://www.startribune.com/local/west/117766388.html

This article talks about the reason why the Anoka Hennepin teachers voted down Q comp. The teachers voted against it for a couple reasons while the district thought it was a good deal for everyone involved. I think that Q comp is a good thing I really do like the idea and I would love to work for a school that uses it. I feel that it is unfair the way that teachers are paid right now. I am not saying that all senior teachers are bad but there are some that are just skating out until retirement. I think that no matter how long you teach you should make better money if you are clearly working harder than other teachers. I hope that this is an acceptable plan and is adopted by more schools.

Education Nation Chapter 4

The time/place edge. This edge is about learning everywhere and anywhere. Technology and online learning exemplify this because it removes the bricks and mortar and allows kids to learn everywhere. A great idea is to put wi-fi in buses so that you can get your kids to study on the bus and get homework on the way home from school or on school trips. This also means helping kids learn at home. These kids can learn more at home and homework would grow into something more than it is today with help from online sources at home. Summer can also be used to teach students. This would be a good way for students to loose less knowledge over the summer. This chapter is good because it makes you think out side the normal box of education and think of new ways to teach kids and new ideas of what education really should be.

Education Nation Chapter 3

The third edge is the technology edge. Chen offers some very moving ideas on why technology is important for kids and how they learn. I could not agree more, computers are just the first step, smart boards, tablets, etc. All of these things put technology in the hands of kids who use more technology than most teachers. I feel that technology is a good way to keep today's children interested in education. But technology is more than just in the class room things that we think about. But online learning is just as important and this enhances another point collaboration. I feel that we can use all of these technologies to enhance the way we educate our children. We can even use games to help teach kids. I think that all of these things can really help the classroom.

Education Nation: Chapter 2

The second chapter or edge as it is called in the book is about curriculum. This is a very important edge due to the fact that this is what we teach our children and how we assess them. Something that I read about and I whole heatedly agree with is project based learning. I think this is a great way to enhance critical thinking. Also collaboration can really be seen through project learning. Also you can see that there is a way to teach without forcing memorization. I feel that you need to learn not memorize. How many doctors just say, "that's is cancer." They usually have to look at their books to make sure. You can learn without memorizing everything. Another point made in the chapter is that we should like high school, college and your career. I think this is really important because we can get kids interesting in things so that they will not drop out and will be excited to go to school. This book just keeps getting better.

Speaking in Tongues

I liked this video and I like idea of an immersion program. Some of the things that interest me about this program is the fact that it forms students into world citizens and also gives them more options for choices after high school. These are some great reasons to have an immersion program. Also I found it very interesting that it is easier for Spanish speaking students to learn English through a immersion program. This is a great reason to have an immersion program. I do not think the modern day ESL programs work great but this is a much better thing to have. I wish I could get involved in a program like this, very cool.

Tony Wagner Video

I found this to be very interesting. After looking at the seven skills in the video that kids should be learning to be successful in today's world. I really think that the most important skill is critical thinking. I think this is a great one to learn. Kids need to learn that and the more they know how to critically think the better they will be able to compete in the world economy. Also I think that kids need to learn good oral and written communication. Tony Wagner seems like a very smart man and that we can learn a lot by him. I really enjoyed watching this video and I hope as a whole our education system can work to reach these goals.

Atomic Learning

I learned about Atomic Learning and it was great. I think this is a great thing to know about so that I can learn how to use some technology that I have not used before. This is good stuff for when I start to teach. I now can use a smart board or many other things on Atomic Learning. Also there is stuff about using exel. Exel can be a great program if you can figure it out now I can. It is a great thing.

IDI Reflection

After looking at my IDI I know that I am actually in the Minimization orientation. Which means that I look at the similarities between cultures and may forget some key cultural differences. So I feel that I can work on this over the semester by learning and reading about cultures and looking at key differences because we may have things in common but it is good to know what we have as differences so we can learn more about the people we live with. I am going to read and learn more so I have a better understanding.