Listen vs. Read

I would vote for reading. I am a tactile learner so I really have to put my hands on it and view it and write it to remember it. I can listen to someone talk all day long and if I don’t physically write it down on paper it just goes in one ear and out the other. I even take notes in church or I won’t be able to tell you what the preacher said. I have a sister that is the exact opposite; she has a hard time reading things and does much better listening. This being the case, and my knowledge that there are such differences in learning styles, I know when I start teaching that I will have to use mixed media. That way I’ll be covering all the learning styles and hopefully my students will have a great learning experience.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhmLxII-Xfc

Technology and Education

Sir Ken Robinson said in his video that, “all kids have tremendous talent and we squander them pretty ruthlessly”. With education being geared at a higher rate one of the things we need to focus on with teaching is technology. My 3 year old already loves playing games on the computer. He can turn it on, load a disk and bring up one of his games. Therefore, technology as it grows needs to be used and taught in every form and way to our children so that they are receiving a complete and marketable education.

We need to look at ways to incorporate more into the classroom. I take courses all the time at UNT that after and 1 ½ in class I think wow, that could have all gone on the web for me to read at home in my pajamas instead of driving 35 miles to Denton and 35 miles home in the pouring rain. Technological resources need to be integrated from our pre-K classrooms all the way through our graduate programs. Colleges and Universities like UNT need to focus on getting the entire faculty trained in making use of the technology that is offered so they can better assist the students with their courses. If students are comfortable texting, e-mailing and tweeting then the teachers need to take advantage of those avenues to better reach and teach today’s children.

On a side note in reference to Sir Ken Robinson video and speaking as a mother who was very hyperactive (ADHD) as a child I disagree totally with his analysis of putting children on medication for the disorder. I had such problems focusing in school and my father refused to drug his children. I eventually gave up and dropped out my senior year. I will be graduating this fall with my BA in English Language Arts which I feel is a great accomplishment but it has taken me 20 years to get to this point. My daughter has the same issues. She’s a straight A student with a great social life but she has a hard time concentrating and focusing on her school work. The medication she takes hasn’t changed her energy, her abilities, or her social standing at school but it has given her the ability to concentrate. Now when I come home from work her homework and nightly reading is done and no one has to remind her or fight with her she’s just able to focus better and concentrate on the tasks she needs to complete. I’m hoping that this will help her do better in school than I did and therefore maybe it won’t take her 20 years to finish a 4 year degree.

Mind Mapping

There are many advantages to using a mind map. The pen and pencil or chalkboard and eraser work best in my opinion for the first draft. A software program works great for capturing the ideas after they are out there and that way you can save them or upload them to a webpage for students to refer back to. Below are some of the benefits of using a mind map.

1. Allows visual learners to see it and wrap their brains around something more tangible than just a discussion.

2. It allows the student something to refer back to when they start working.

3. It allows a way to throw ideas out in random order and then later you can put everything into a more organized list.

4. It gives a way to branch off of important ideas with facts and ways to back it up so that when you begin writing a paper you have your arguements ready.

5. You can always add more branches as you go along. For instance, if you start reading a story or going over a lesson you can begin with a topic and one or two main ideas but once the lecture or discussion is over you can go back and add to your mind map all the important information that way students are actually giving input and showing what they learned an remembered as a way of reinforcement.

Bloom's Taxonomy with Twittering and Blogging

Blogging and twittering both give input and insight into the lives of others. They allow you to see what people are doing and understand commonality between you. It can open a person to new ideas such as a quick twitter on how good a book is might peak your interest enough that you go pick up a copy that normally you wouldn’t think of reading. For the person creating the blog it’s a way to share interests.