Reading Time

Brian wrote the blog, "Reading More to Better Read... What a Concept!." He talks about his class and how he gives his students more time to read. He thinks that giving them enough time to read helps them pick topics they are interested in, and makes them have enough time to take notes and such. I think he is right because when kids get to read what they want and have enough time to read it they can write more in depth and better. This also helps in my opinion because students start to learn how to think for themselves. In my English class we are blogging to learn how to think more in depth and for ourselves. Brians class is too, and they will definitely benefit from this when they get older and need to write more. They will have already had the skills to suceed. Brian also talks about how much the kids read. I think the more you read the more you are exposed to this world and the more you can connect with it. Later on in life we will have jobs and things so we need to start our connection now.

TV. and the Recession

Alessandra Stanley wrote an interesting article called, "New Fall TV Seasons Tackle Hard Economic Times", that takes an interesting view of how tv in some ways echoes the mood right now. I think she is right, for people usually watch something they can relate to. Even if in the slightest way, they can relate. I think the new shows this fall have more conflicts that the characters have to deal with. In some ways I wonder, do we make shows like that so in comparison to our life they are worse? Are we trying to deny something? The mood though is really echoed through our shows because that is what people care about right now. They can relate to the characters conflicts and feelings. What will hapen if we pull out of this ressesion? Will what we watch suddenly change? Is tv an insight to how people are feeling?

Flu vs. School

  As many of us aready know, many people are getting sick.  This makes it really inconvenient for school and learning.   Brian, wrote on how to sove this issue.  His post is called, "So How Could I Still Teach My Students If School Was Cancelled?"  He brings up some excelent points on how to conect learning with the Internet.  He thinks we could use tools like wiki, blogs, and moodle.  I see his points and the benifits with all these kids missing school now, but don't really believe that is a foolproof solution.  I think the Internet is a great tool, and that it would be most helpful if our school was shut down for the flu or something.  However, I think the Internet takes away lots of true learning.  When I say true learning I mean that the kids fully understand what they need to understand.  On the Internet we have so many tools that lots of times there is no need to do any work at all.  Spark Notes are a great example.  There is no need to read the actual book if you use Spark Notes because they give you summaries and quotes.  Where are our standards?  If we become competely dependent on the Internet, then how will we measure actual academic progress?
        
Now this doesn't necessarily aply to sickness, but the Internet and the tools on there are by nature inpersonal.  There is no face to face contact.  Many kids need face to face contact and kinetic activities to thoroughly learn something.  The Internet does not meet those needs.  When he says that we would use things that our kids already know how to use, that is not completely true.  Many, includuing myself, do not know how to use some of the modern Internet technologies.  The Internet would indeed be useful when you are sick to find out assignments and class learnings, but blogs and wiki spaces I think take everything over the top and do not always help our learning. 

 

Technology and Learning

The article, "The New Literacy", was very eye opening. It brought some new ideas to the table. I had never given much thought to the idea of literacy. It had seemed a bland topic to me. It however is a very important topic because it is how we comunicate. Technology has been stepping in and changing our literate world. Is it for good or for bad? Although I see many benefits to the Internet and technology, I think it has sometimes been abused. Truly I believe that people write better when they know the are writing to an audience. It is the same concept to giving a presentation. I know when I give a presentation I spend more time on it if not only my teacher is reading it, but also my classmates. However, I think many kids are hindered with all this technology. When I text I know I do not use appropriate diction. Mainly because it is too hard to text. It is much easier to use bland diction with words like good and great than other words.

When I watched th film by Michael Wesch, "The Machines Are Us/ing us", my frist reaction was fear. He made the computer do so many things. It also made me think about what the Internet really was and who created it. In lots of ways we created the Internet. It represents us. I thought Michael brought up a fresh new way to think about things.