Assignment 5

The Accuracy of Wikipedia

I feel so naive! I truly did not know that Wikipedia was an open source that anyone could edit. After reading the assignments: NPR Blog and Wired Story I found out that Wikipedia can be changed by anyone. The concept of Wikipedia is good. The world is ever-changing, especially when it comes to advances in medicine. Sources such as Wikipedia are very valuable and should be ever-changing as well. However, there needs to be a better system as to who changes the information. The scanner the Cal Tech student from the Wired Story created is a good start, at least this way in some cases you can see who is changing the information and decide for yourself whether or not they would change it honestly or to benefit themselves or their corporation. To me a more accurate encyclopedia would be one that was added to rather than edited. Just like a blog, the information should be presented and then anyone can comment or debate their position - especially when it comes to information related to corporations or politicians. For now, I will just know that Wikipedia is not the most accurate source of information and use other resources as well such as Google Scholar or a library database for research type projects.

At the Teacher's Desk: What I've Learned by Mr. McClung

I loved the way Mr. McClung expressed his trials and accomplishments
of his first year teaching. As a former teacher I can completely relate to what he wrote. Mr. McClung stated he learned that the lessons should be driven by the students, your true audience, and not evaluations by administrators. This is very hard in the beginning. You have so many people telling you what you should do, but often time not how to do it. It takes time to realize you need to listen the most to the students and their needs. He also expressed that you should be flexible and not get upset if every moment isn't planned or didn't turn out the way you thought. I too would get disappointed when I would spend so much time developing a lesson only to find out the kids did not relate to it or it didn't go as well as you wanted. Time and experience will help iron out all of the kinks, but don't expect something that worked one year to always work the next. After teaching 2nd grade for five years straight, I could rarely use the same lesson plans twice. The dynamics of the class were always so different from year to year.

The most important point to me in Mr. McClung's blog was when he stated communication is the best medicine. This was what was the key to my success. Clear and constant communication with the students, parents and colleges are what truly made me an effective teacher. I am so excited about all of the new technologies we have now that will enable me to keep in constant contact with them when I go back to teaching. This brings us to the point that he made that teachers should be continuous learners. We should model our thirst for knowledge to the students and be adaptive to all new technologies and ideas presented to us. I can say to be a truly effective elementary teacher your plates are overflowing, but like Mr. McClure said, "we owe it to our students."

Comments4Kids Week 5

This week I was assigned to comment on a Year 5 class (9 and 10 year olds) in a primary school in North Nottinghamshire, England. The title was by Bitten and it was written by Maisie and Faith. I am amazed at the writing ability of these 9 year-olds. Their use of descriptive and expressive language is very impressive. What makes it even better is that they published it on a blog and are not only getting practice blogging and using technology, but further developing their writing skills. This was an excellent example of an effective way to integrate technology into the classroom.