Blog Post 2

Did You Know?
After viewing Did You Know? 3.0 - A John Strange 2012 Version I sat and thought about what I really did know, and it is not a lot. I had an idea in the back of my head about most of the facts covered in the video but I was not fully aware of the extent of some things. The fact that just 25% of India's population with the highest IQ's far outnumbers the population of the United States. Also, more children in other countries can speak more languages than the children, and adults, here. This shows that our education systems are failing at doing their job, we should be striving to have the children we teach be the best, not just average. I was aware about the large numbers of technology that the world uses, it is still mind blowing to see the numbers.
It is still mind boggling knowing that other countries are rapidly surpassing our education system. As educators, it is out job to make sure that we are at the top and that our children we teach get the most out of education. Today, it seems as a lot of educators give up on kids who misbehave and act out in class. Instead of giving up on them we need to find ways to channel their energy into something that they are good at so they can succeed. Education is the foundation of life and we need to make sure that as an educator we set up a good foundation.

Mr. Winkle Wakes
Watching Mr. Winkle Wakes really made me think just how much the world has changed the past 100 years and how it changes even faster in a shorter amount of time. However, I thought it was interesting that the schools had not changed at all. Is that a good thing? I have not yet decided. Part of me believes that schools should evolve and change with the rest of things to enhance the learning experience. But then I think of how simple it is just to keep things the same. Though, as I'm typing this, I'm starting to think it would be more beneficial for schools to evolve with the changing world they are in.
Technology is a great thing and can be very useful in the classroom. However, I think we need to be careful in limiting how much technology we use. Personally, I prefer the face to face interaction with a teacher because if I need help I can raise my hand and someone can come help me and show me what I'm doing wrong instead of telling me over the computer. I realize that online classes are beneficial for college students but I would hate to see online classes become available for students grade k-12.

The Importance of Creativity
I really enjoyed this video, Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity, I thought Ken Robinson was entertaining yet hard hitting at the same time. I absolutely loved when he said "If you're not prepared to be wrong, you'll never come up with anything original." That is so true and such an obvious statement, though I never thought about it. Watching this video made me think about creativity and how, in fact, educators are killing it.
One of his stories that really stuck out to me was the one about Jillian Lynn and how she became a dancer. Her mother brought her to the doctor because she could never sit still. Today Jillian would have been diagnosed with ADHD, thankfully back then that disorder did not exist or otherwise she would not have become the amazing dancer that she is. It's sad that people would rather take a drug to cover up their disorder than do something spectacular with it like Jillian did. I know that when I become an educator in the classroom I will encourage kids to be creative so that they can come up with something original.


A Day Made of Glass
I really enjoyed this video, A Day Made of Glass . How cool would it be to be able to have access to all of the glass technology described in the video? I would love to have all of it. I think it would be useful for so many different things, even things not described in the video. I think this type of technology would allow for easy access to many everyday tasks as well. Organizing would be so much simpler. Yes there are already tablets out on the market to buy but they are not glass and and transparent and can not do nearly the same things that the tablets described in the video can do. Sometimes technology scares me with it taking over so fast but I would welcome this kind to our world in a heartbeat.
In light of Mr. Winkle wakes, I think these two videos correspond together perfectly. Our world, in the aspect of technology, is changing so fast it is hard to keep up with. Sometimes I feel like Mr. Winkle, I wake up and all of a sudden there is a new piece of technology that is beginning to take over. For example, the iPhone 4s came out about a year ago and the new iPhone 5 is being released sometime this month! How many of us even have the newest iPhone? I sure don't. Anyways, technology is all around us and eventually I think it will be all we know so we better be prepared and welcome it with open arms because it is happening whether or not we want it to.