Additional Assignment 5

Adventures in pencil integration

Yes, I am one of the many that got completely turned around while reading the first post on "pencils." No I did not necessarily believe he was talking about pencils, but I did come out very confused. So here goes shot number 2.

Just teach them how to solve for X

This post was very thought provoking and interesting. I do believe I understand it more than I did the one about pencils. I agree with this. It takes more than just simple memorization to understand things. Using metaphors, he is allowing his students to completely understand something instead of just using it and not knowing what it really means.

Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and Pencils

It is absolutely amazing how he can use metaphors to describe everything. A pencil is a computer, a pencil is a child. It is wonderful to read things like this; things I never thought would come together to make sense. But it does. Children are like pencils, black and white, sketchy, temporary. Especially student's at that age where they are still trying to figure themselves. Of course this can be frustrating to us, but it is something that must be understood and worked with.

He Just Likes the Class for the Pencils

This post was my favorite. No, the boy does not like the class just because of the "pencils" or the "technolgy" or the "fun stuff". It goes a lot deeper than that. I also agree that you must keep a close connection with your students. You have to have trust, respect and understanding. If you can listen to your students, you have a much better chance of getting through to them.

The Medium Shapes the Learning

To me, this post is completely relevant to our EDM 310 class. In teaching, even if you have the tools, you MUST know how they work. In order to get the full effect, you need to be aware of the best way to go about using your tools. With technology expanding and becoming more popular, you can not just have computer in the classroom and say "here ya go students." I believe this will get us no where, not if we have a certain objective we need to get across. If you have a new method of technology, you need to know HOW to use it to accomplish what you need to accomplish.