Blog Post #2

Did You Know?

After watching Dr. Strange's version of "Did You Know?" I wasn't entirely surprised with the facts that were presented. Honestly, it doesn't surprise me at all that English-speaking Chinese will surpass the number of native English speaking people in the entire world. China usually requires the students to learn English in order to graduate. There are 300 million Chinese learning English, so if they actually learn English they will surpass the entire population of the United States. How crazy is that?

Also, it doesn't surprise me one bit that in one minute exactly 11,491,629 SMS messages were sent world wide. Everyone is always on their phones texting, calling or emailing. in 2012, 58% of 13-17 year old had smartphones. I didn't even have a cell phone till I was a sophomore in high school and that was about 5 years ago!

I just wonder why other countries are surpassing our education system. Does it mean our educators are doing something wrong when teaching? I hope to find out while I continue on becoming an educator.


Mr. Winkle Wakes

It is so sad to see that technology doesn't play a part or at all a role in the classrooms. It's appalling that  people sit there and complain how the school and classrooms need more technology but yet they won't put in any money to support and help them out to actually get the technology needed. I'm sure there are parents and organizations that try to help the schools out by doing fundraiser and giving donations but it is never going to be enough

I think using iPad, computers, smart-boards  etc. really help out in the classrooms. They get to explore parts of the world that they will probably never ever see and they get to because of the technology that is created each day. They also can expand their imaginations and learning capabilities which is so very important.

Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity

“Every education system on Earth has the same hierarchy of subjects: at the top are mathematics and languages, then the humanities, and the bottom are the arts.” — Ken Robinson

I disagree with Sir Ken Robinson. I do not think the education system takes the creativity out of students. Maybe a few years ago that's what was happening but not now. In my Arts for the Elementary Teachers or EDU 301. We talked about how there is an art project for any subject. From math, science, social studies, reading and so on. You can write a song about adding and subtracting for math. There is just so many ideas that can be incorporated into the different subjects that help the students use their creativity!

Our society makes it seem like the arts are not important because that is the first subject that gets cut from the schools. The students need creativity to express themselves. Most people believe that you can't make a living out of the arts. Each and everyone of us is different. Our intelligence and creativity comes in all different shapes and sizes. Just because the student isn't good in one thing doesn't mean they don't excel in another subject. We need to be happy that they want to express themselves and want to open up to everyone.

Pinterest: Using Available Resources

I LOVE Pinterest. Absolutely love it. It is amazingly helpful from classroom ideas, to food recipes to planning your dream wedding and closet! I've actually had an education board for a really long time now, just trying to get ideas and such for my future classroom. It's a blessing whoever came up with this site. There is so many websites that can help you out when you need a lesson plan, organization skills, or you just want to share your ideas with the rest of the world.

It's a very effective site. Even the students can get on and pin things that interest them and that can help them in their schooling. There is many, many free resources and teacher blogs to help you along the way. I definitely plan to use this in the future when I am a teacher!