A Vision of Students Today

K-12 YOUTUBE VIDEO
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_A-ZVCjfWf8&feature=related
VISION OF STUDENTS TODAY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGCJ46vyR9o&feature=related


Both videos were very creative in presentation and I enjoyed watching them. The statistics in both are both shocking and interesting. Jacqueline (http://jjachym2.blogspot.com/) wrote out some of these statistics in her response:

"The average K-12 student will spend three and a half hours a week playing video games and five and a half hours on the internet, while they will only spend two and a half hours reading a book. Only 67% of teachers have ever used wikis, blogs, or podcasts. Also, only 63% of teachers will allow students to use technology in the classroom. Most students these days understand and use technology better than their teachers."

I am 20 years old and before this class, I had never used a wiki, blog, or podcast. This statistic made me feel a little old. I thought I was still part of this technological learning generation, but it has changed significantly within the past 5 years, and it is going to change even more before I get into a classroom. What can I do to make myself a better teacher?

Jenny (http://atejenniper.blogspot.com/) wrote that she would try to be an "agent of change" in the classroom to meet student expectations and inspire learning. It is our responsibility as teachers to keep our students engaged and interested in the lesson to enhance the learning process. Jenny also points out that many students learn by doing, so we as teachers should have them actively inolved in the classroom rather than passively sitting while we lecture. This can be achieved by bridging the age gap and using technology in the classroom that the students are used to and familiar with - even NEW technology. I went to a meeting for America Reads America Counts to become a tutor, and one of the best parts of the meeting was the fact that the teacher had a digital writing pad that he could pass around. We could write on the pad and the result would show up on the projector screen for everyone else to see. I wanted to volunteer just so I could write on the pad.

Since students spend a lot of time on the internet, I agree with Jenny that it would be beneficial to have a class website. When I tutored at Central High School, I had the opportunity to work with a child who had been gone for two months. The teacher handed me every worksheet the students had worked on for the past two months and told me to teach the student. If the teacher had had a website with PDFs of the worksheets and classnotes, the student probably could have tried doing the worksheets at home. Instead, I tried to cram everything I know about functions into 50 minute periods. It was extremely difficult, and I know the situation could have been made easier with technology. Technology is a great way for teachers to relate to and communicate with their students, and it is an essential part of teaching in the 21st century.

As Jeff (http://jmudrock.blogspot.com/) summed up his blog entry, "I will do my absolute best to never stop finding information about technology that can be valuable to students. I will do this because I think that I owe the young people, who will be the future, the education that will allow them to achieve their goals and make the world a better place." I think this is a tremendous outlook on the career of teaching, and a teacher that truly believes this will truly inspire.