Blog Post # 10

Adventures in Pencil Integration:



This pencil cartoon reminded me a lot about the PC and Mac commercials. Just like PC's Papermate pencils might be cheaper and work for a litte bit, but you won't really be getting all your moneys worth. And in the cartoon the Ticonderoga pencils are more expensive, but they will last longer and will be a better buy with your money. The hipster part of the joke is like talking about how "hipsters" only buy Apple products because it's not what in the "mainstream".

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?:
I love John Spencer's blog Adventures in Pencil Integration ! In his blog post Why Were Your Kids Playing Games? Mr. Spencer shares a story with us on a conversation between him and his school's principal. Mr.Spencer was being questioned as to why when the principal had walked past his classroom, did it look like the children were playing games instead of doing busywork. The talk continues between the two and the principal finally gets down to the point he's trying to make. He wants Mr. Spencer to teach his students how to memorize information, so that the students will just be able to pass their standardized testing. Not so that the students can actually learn. He just wants the students to have "burp back" education.
The second blog post I read from Mr.Spencer is The Con Academy In this blog post Mr. Spencer meets with a man who wants to help "flip" his classroom. What the man was trying to provide for Spencer's classroom worksheets that students could work on outside of his or her classroom and work at their own pace. Mr. Spencer's thoughts of the "flip" is "I just don’t see the appeal of this. It’s a series of worksheets”. The salesman tries to tell Mr.Spencer that he can't give 100% to each child who doesn't understand what he's trying to teach. At the end Mr. Spencer isn't won over and describes the whole idea a "Trojan Horse".

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?:
I want to first say that Scott McLeod's blog post Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please? was very funny. I loved his sarcasm throughout the whole post. It was a very creative post. And I agree with the whole thing. His class will be prepared for the future because he is preparing his students. All the other students won't be as prepared or as well rounded.

Mr. McLeod is an author as well as a professor. He also just happens to be a very hilarious blogger about technology issues in the classroom.