Blog Post #10

I feel that this cartoon is somewhat of a mockery of the PC/Mac comparison. "Hipsters" tend to follow the latest trends and fashions. Because Macs are the "in" thing now, they would naturally lean towards those. Even though Macs are expensive, because they are "cool," people want them. Of course, Macs are great computers, and Apple is a great company, but people don't always buy them for that reason!

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?

In this blog post, John Spencer speaks about how he was reprimanded by his boss (the principle) for what seemed to be his children playing games in class. Spencer tries to explain to his boss that it was more than a game to the children, but he doesn't want to listen. Spencer even states that "...soldiers play games. Surgeons do simulations. It's part of their education." Even with this being said, the principle is avidly against games of any kind.

I thoroughly enjoyed this post and Mr. Spencer's stance on game playing in classrooms. He just wants to teach his students in ways that keep them engaged. I cannot blame him for that; in today's society, it is hard to compete with other technology to keep student's attention. In my opinion, Mr. Spencer should not have been criticized for trying to do that.

No, I Won't Address Pencil Bullying

The second post I read from John Spencer was about "pencil bullying." In this post, he speaks about a conversation he had with a district office representative about bullying. A child had written something about another child and posted it on a wall. The representative wanted Spencer to talk to his class about it, and let them know that there was a zero tolerance policy for bullying of any type. Spencer thought about this and decided against it. He says that we don't think about why a child bullies another; we just put up a no tolerance policy and expect it to fix things when it doesn't.

I agree with Mr. Spencer. I think that bullying is obviously not ideal, but it happens. We all know that, but (especially in schools) we try to completely eliminate it. We know this won't happen, but we fight it anyway. Spencer says that a chat about pencil etiquette in a classroom is not the answer to bullying; the only answer he came up with is love. This is an obvious answer, but in all seriousness would be the only solution to the bullying problem.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff, Please?

I loved this post by Scott McLeod! It speaks volumes in such a small amount of words. I feel that the media has put out so many negative things about the internet that McLeod points out: porn, predators, cheating, etc. My mother was EXTREMELY against me using the internet when I lived at home. Because of this, I missed out on many opportunities to really dive into a subject for a project in class. In my opinion, knowing how to use technology will get you further ahead in life, and I believe that is what Scott McLeod is saying here.

After reading a little bit about Dr. McLeod, I learned that he is a co-creator in the Did You Know? video series. I loved learning about and watching these videos earlier in the year. They have great concepts and are so informational. Now, Dr. McLeod is the Director of Innovation in Iowa for the Prairie Lakes Area Education Agency 8.