28--I smell bacon!

Yes Geoff, I do have unoriginal blog titles. I use to name them according to the entry subject, but to make things easier for you and me, I decided to use integers.
I am very excited to eat a nice brunch in about six hours; I am hungry and very exhausted. I could use some good 'ol cookin' right about now. Burning the wick from both ends to get semester projects and assignments done is not the way to go. I prefer the "get it done on time and the right way the first time" idea, but it seems to just be an idea at this point. Anyway, as I sit here thinking about this semester and all the things that I have learned and accomplished, I ask myself if I really want to be a teacher. I ask myself if I am in this major because I like to have hands-on classes, including wood shop, or if it is because I have no other idea for major--come to think of it, I am not so sure anymore. Maybe it's just because I am tired, but even though I love this major's courses and that is helping me to like school again, I seem to doubt what I am suppose to do in life. I still feel that I am suppose to be a teacher, and I want to be one, but the issue of lower paid wages and demand for continued education (for potential salary growth) haunts me. I just want what is best for my family. Maybe money isn't everything. Maybe being happy with my occupation and my life is what my family needs the most from me. No one wants a grumpy head of the house. So, I have concluded that this semester's learning has helped push me to want to be a technology teacher. Because of this class, I can now see why that position is important to have and why it is good for me.

27

Well it is definitely a close-to-home feeling for me with this lesson plan assignment. In that I mean that if feels like I have to make a lesson plan for a class that I will actually be teaching. In other words, I am getting the butterflies in the stomach. The idea of having to make several lesson plans that must correlate with an entire unit is much more overwhelming than just coming up with something for an afternoon's junior high class. It is also close-to-home because I am in charge of the manufacturing weeks. This is right up my alley with teaching hands-on assignments and building all kinds of things. It is beginning to scare me though; I never really thought about teaching so many different hands-on subjects at once. I also never really realized how it would be to try to demo, teach, and supervise 30 students efficiently all at once. Even though it is just for an assignment, therefore I won't be teaching it any time soon, I get scared to think that I will be responsible not only for the education of the students, but also for their safety. I get scared that I will get a bunch of students who don't really want to learn, but would rather goof off and mess with the tools incorrectly. I don't anyone getting hurt. I also don't want to worry about those who don't listen during demos. I get it down. It will be okay. I guess that these are issues that I must consider in my lesson plans. I think I need to premeditate about would I could do and would do under certain circumstances. We shall see what happens.

26

I think that this new idea of having the entire class come up with a unit of lesson plans, collaboratively, is a good idea. I think that is it going to let us come closer together as a class, feed off of each other for better suggestions and actions, and get a chance to see a fun and complete unit plan. I am excited about the idea of making a plan for a tech 1 class. This choice has given us as a class the opportunity to include various fields within technology teaching. It has helped multimedia coordinate with engineering, who in turn coordinates with manufacturing. I think it was a great idea. I do wish that we had more than a week to come up with this unit plan. I am afraid that it is not going to be enough time to do a good job. My goal is to efficiently incorporate my area with the other two areas of our class.

25

Private schools versus Charter schools--

I didn't really know the difference. I thought that charter schools were private schools. I thought private schools were only those like you see on Dead Poet's Society. All in all, I thought that they were all just meant for the rich kids who had to wear funny uniforms made with plaid fabric. I thought that I didn't like charter or private schools and I know that I was definitely pro public schools. I wanted my children to have the same experience as I had, growing up in the public schooling system, being around a diverse demographic, and getting a chance to be on a big school sports team.
I had an uneducated bias opinion. After Thursday's class and debate, I learned quite a bit about the difference between private and charter schools. I had a chance to learn about the pros and cons of these schools versus the pros and cons of public schools. I must say now that I am totally against charter schools. I do want to look into these school system more closely for the sake of my children. Charter schools are in fact public schools; they just have their own charter. Because of this custom charter, or rule book, they don't have to abide by (except for a few) the state rules. Typically these schools are more accelerated in academics, versus the normal public schools, and can also be found to focus more strictly on a particular discipline. For example, the charter school in Spanish Fork, Utah is geared towards engineering.
Of course there is always the issue of money. Many people like the idea of charter and private schools, but cannot afford the tuition. They are then forced to send their children to the public schools where they feel that their children are not getting the better education. Other parents are not so excited about the charter schools because they do not supply a mode of transportation for their children, like school buses.
I think that I like the idea of charter schools. My bias opinion is slightly changing the more that I learn about them. I want my children to have the best education that I can help them receive, but do want them to be just like everyone else. I want them to get a public school experience with lots of weird students, big sports teams, dances, assemblies, detention, and fun.

24

I really enjoyed class from this last Tuesday. Geoff enlightened us with information that was more than valuable. No matter what major, or desired career choice, every career-seeking individual is interesting in how much money that specific career is going to offer them. I had a ball park figure in mind with teaching at a secondary level. I knew that it wasn't a wonderful number compared to what other careers can pull in. I didn't know, however, how one is able to move up in pay scale in the teaching world. I didn't know that every school district has steps and lanes. I also didn't know that every teacher's steps are negotiable upon hire; an experienced teacher can loose all of his honored years of teaching (in pay) if he tries to hire on with a different school district. I think that is outrageous and not fair. You know what it seems like to me? Teachers are needed more now than ever, with a higher demand for those who are highly qualified, but they have to continually jump through hoops and blow whistles just to try to earn some kind of a descent living salary. I guess it is all for the passion and reward of teaching. I guess I can't change the politics of it all, all by myself, but I can make sure that I do the best I can for those that I teach.

23

So this teaching class is beginning to rub off on me. On Sunday, I was in front of a group of young Primary kids, trying to give a Sharing Time presentation. I don't know why, but right from the beginning of the presentation out from my mouth came the stupid and open-ended questions,"Does that make sense?" and "Any questions?" As soon as I said those questions, I immediately felt ashamed of myself. I was suddenly hit in the head with my own guilt, labeling myself as a "bad" teacher. From then on I found myself trying to overly concentrate on my teaching style and ability to use good questions. I found myself getting self-conscious and nervous--in the front of a bunch of little 3 to 7 year-olds!! I don't know what got into me, but I learned from that experience that it is very important to some kind of lesson plan, included with prepared questions, even for the Primary.

22

Thanksgiving was great! We ate lots of food and had a good time with the whole family. Vacation is always too short though. It should definitely be longer...

21

Okay, that experience teaching on Thursday was really cool. I think that because we were the second group to teach and that we were able to observe the behavior of the students prior, we were able to create and modify our lesson plan to best suit the class. I think that this was a real plus for our group and made me realize the importance of communication with the students on their level and mine, as a teacher. I was satisfied with the way that our group executed this teaching assignment; of course there is always room for improvement, but that is why we are students. I think it was a good thing to have an attention getter with the familiar media clips at the beginning of class. I think it was a sure connection with the attention of the students, they being at the junior high age. I think it set a precedent. One thing that I would seriously consider taking out of our performance was the issue of discipline. I know that I carried on about it in my previous blog entry because I was negatively observing the students while the first group was teaching. I noticed, however, that the students responded boldly to discipline. When we were handing out candy and the students were excited, one of us spoke out loudly, telling them to be quiet, which was done in a demeaning voice I think. I noticed the immediate response of the students; it wasn't positive. I think that having parameters and class discipline is good to a degree, but I must remember that it will always have an impacting impression on the students. So, if I decide to include it in my classroom, I think it must be done fairly and respectfully and in a teaching way. I think discipline can be a great teaching moment instead of a negative connotation. It might even be able to be fun or funny. Who knows, but I do know that our form of it was not good in our situation; we lost the excitement, enthusiasm, and attention of the students.

20

So, is it illegal these days to discipline in any form in the classroom? I think a couple of us wanted to discipline those students on Tuesday's junior high visit. I think that there are too many teachers that are too afraid to do anything, whether it be an enforcement of a citizenship grade or loss of privileges, to help the students maintain respect and task. It seems, as I was observing the students on Tuesday, that they know what they can get away with, and that there are not going to be any real repercussions for their behavior. I noticed at the end of the lesson, the teacher was signaling to one of his students to turn around and pay attention. The student did not comply. If I were the teacher and visitors were coming to my classroom and my students were rowdy, I would interrupt the visitor's' presentation and readdress the fact that their behavior was not satisfactory. I need to observe more teachers and their students to learn more, but from what I have seen so far, not many teachers stand up and hold their own floor.

19

You know, it's kind of funny that the world tells you to follow your dreams and that it's best to have a career that you enjoy. It's funny because the whole idea is conditional. If one tells you to follow your dreams and then critiques and criticizes your choices, then I guess he or she is not really supporting you. The thing is, everyone these days is expected to become who they want to become, but then when the career path is chosen and it doesn't have a common white collar title next to it, it is looked down upon. The world should appraise those who can become who they want to be and become successful at it. I find this observation to be true for my major. I use to be in the mechanical engineering program. I thought it was boring. It wasn't me. Then I switched to TEE. When I did and people found out, when they asked me what I was going to do and I replied that I was going to be a wood shop teacher, they gave me the,"oh" answer. I realize that teachers don't make a ton of money, especially in Utah County, but it is an important job to have, if not one of the most important. Everyone has to go through school. Everyone has to learn. If there are not any good teachers, then how will we learn and by whom? I think test scores are dropping every year not because No Child Left Behind needs to be stronger, but because there just are not enough teachers with a passion to teach. I think teaching is an important and applicative job; sitting in a cubical for some random company doesn't amaze me. I think teachers should be moved up the social pedestal and get paid more for what they do; teachers go through a lot of schooling and don't get much of a reward financially. I think that my choice to teach people how to become well-rounded, learn about nature, and use their hands is a note worthy job. It is my dream.

18

I normally do not agree with group work. I find that it takes longer to make decisions, ideas clash, there is lack of time to meet, and there is a lack of communication. Anyway, that has been my experience with group work in the past. So, over the years I have become bitter to the whole thing and preferred to get things done on my own. I will tell you that now is different. I am really glad that I was able to study up on some of the STL's and then teach them for our class. In those STL's, I learned about and realized the importance of group work and group collaboration. Even though this semester in my other classes I am still trying to get use to the concept, I find myself enjoying group work more and more in 276. Tuesday's class was beneficial. I think that I wouldn't have been able to come up with a teaching rubric on my own for a communications class; I just don't know enough about computers and videos. However, being able to use the enthusiasm and experience of others in my group, we all came up with an idea that I think will be great. I think that the STL's are more than just number and sometimes boring information. When applied, they are extremely useful.

reflection 17

Even though I wasn't able to make it to class on Thursday because I had to go to work for a special project, I was able to learn a little more about democratic classrooms. Something that stood out in my mind was that "students who are strongly motivated to learn do not need a manager." What I caught from that was that if a teacher promotes individual thinking and student interaction, along with a positive atmosphere, then the students might be more self-motivated to learn. In essence, the students will not need nor want the traditional teacher, or classroom manager, who tells them exactly what to learn, do and expect. From this newer theory of self-motivation, the old authoritative teacher is out and the new teacher allows the students to help govern the way the class is run. I think this promotes the students' will and desire to learn and be a part of the class; they feel like they are part of the class. When I become a wood shop teacher, I am going to have to be authoritative at the beginning and throughout to a degree; I need students to practice safe techniques and behave around heavy equipment. But if I can promote student motivation to want to learn how to efficiently design and woodwork, then I think the students will naturally want to behave and be safe.

Reflection 16

I hate computers. I feel like I am the slowest in the classroom because I don't know how to use a computer. Maybe it's because no one ever showed me how, or maybe it's because my family didn't get one until I was 18. Who knows. All I know is that it took me the entire class period today to get word processing and excel done while everyone else was complete with all four tests an hour early. Why do I feel stupid? I want to just be done with it.

Reflection 15

With passion comes great learning. That it my way of saying, "Interest proceeds learning." And that is exactly what I observed during our visit to Heber high school. What I saw was a teacher who loved his subject matter so much that his students and technological availability excelled. He was adamant to keep pushing the school board to let him purchase bigger and better material; he was also determined to to dedicate much of his free time. These two things along with a love for seeing students grow in learning assisted him in developing one of the coolest high school programs that I have ever seen. Not only was it a complete television and production class, it had professional technology that I know BYU would love to get its hands on. It seemed that the teachers pride and joy was being able to see the students grow and become self-sufficient; over a short amount of time, he didn't even have to tell the kids what to do. They just did it on their own with efficiency.
I want to be able to love my students that much. I want to be able to excel in teaching woodworking just as much or more than this teacher has in his field. I want the school systems to continue granting the educational inclusion of technology classes such as wood shop and not dispose of it because of the override of computers or core classes. If my field of woodworking can still be taught in the schools, I will prove to the school board that it is a fundamental course to take to help students in wide variety of achievements.

Reflection 14

Class was really awesome on Tuesday. I do have to admit that doing more than one or two presentations in a day can be overwhelming on those who are sleep deprived, but they are always good. I liked the little "5 minute" game that we did. I say "5 minutes" because it was only supposed to take a couple minutes and turned into a half hour, just like all of the presentations. Making a game review of the things that we learned was a good move by Geoff. I needed it. I tend to forget things or space them out when they are being taught, so going over those qualities of a good teacher, Teacher A, was beneficial. It made me realize how much a teacher needs to pay attention to when he or she is teaching. There are so many things to consider when coming up with a lesson plan, and then so much more to consider when actually teaching. The one thing that stood out to me the most was that it is important to like what you teach; it makes you want to teach better and more effectively. That's why I am going into woodworking teaching. I don't care so much anymore about earning money, but rather influencing lives with the passion and talent that I have. Plus, I will want to go to work every day instead of dreading it when I get out of bed. My goal is to know the qualities that we put to Teacher A, apply them, and like what I teach.

Reflection 13

Observations are always interesting; every one of them is different and is a learning moment. Amanda, Meagan and my experience on Thursday was definitely one of those learning experiences. We went to Lone Peak high school, and were a little late because I happened to sleep through my alarm clock again--go figure, but it didn't matter; the teacher forgot we were coming and he was testing. However, he was very apologetic and quickly showed us to a few more classes that we might have been interested in. We ended up in a multimedia class with twenty students. They were developing individual movies and announcement videos. Half of the class was goal oriented and hastey to go outside and get the work done. The other half stayed in the class room and messed around with the idea for while, but were mostly disruptive. What I found very interesting was the fact that the teacher was so interested in the subject matter and tried hard to push his students to making a better product. It showed me that it is a crucial thing for the teacher to have a love for his work. His most excitement, I think, came from showing us the tiny school radio station in his room. There students were able to add to and DJ the radio station. He was super excited that the school was thinking about upgrading their watts for the radio so that its broadcast could go farther than the perimeter of the school. I hope that I can continue to persue the field of work that I am headed toward and maintain the love for teaching and woodworking that I have. I hope that I can have a huge desire to help students learn what I know, just like the Lone Peak teacher.

Reflection 12

I must say that I was not able to make it to class on Tuesday because of a family situation that arose. I wasn't able to be there to participate with the presentations, but I assume that they went well. I would like to talk a little about the moral dimension talk by Gordon B. Hinckley. I liked what he said about trying harder to breath a little more testimony in all that we teach. I think it is getting harder and harder to comply with that suggestion in our day of living. Too many civil rights movements are taking place and politics are just in the way of anyone breathing the name of God in any school. So I guess in order for us to incorporate our testimony into our teaching, we need to be good examples. I guess living our testimony and being good examples is all that we can do for now.

Reflection 11

Even though it might have put some of us in a slight mode of discomfort for the time being, I think it was a great thing to receive the feedback handout of our last STL presentations. I think that receiving that handout, and then hearing Geoff review with us individually and as a whole what the handout said, helped me to understand what my goals need to be when I teach. I learned that I had some okay points in my last presentation, but that I need to eliminate my open-ended questions and also do better at assessing my students learning. It was good for me to read and hear what areas other students in the class need to improve on as well. I was able to learn from their feedback results and apply and reflect them to how I teach. I am going to attempt to remember these important points of review from my feedback sheet and do better in my presentations and teaching in the future.

A mixture of things

Thursday's visit was short and sweet. We went to Timpview high school and observed a group of 22 students learning how to use a wood lathe. Many of the students were very creative in their designs and it seemed that a handful caught on quickly to the dynamics of the tooling with the machine. They impressed me. Furthermore, the shop impressed me. I think it was a wood shop comparable to the quality of our university's, and in some cases even better. I think that the kids there have a wonderful opportunity to learn a lot about woodworking from a highly qualified teacher and also get the chance to use a handful of great machines. They are more lucky than I was at their age. I am beginning to realize how hard it is to teach a large group of young students such a discipline that has so many dangerous aspects. I learned a lot in our little visit about some things that I would like to include in my teaching styles for the subject. I know that not all of the students are going to be as curious or interested in the subject as I, but I learned that it is important to ratify that interest, at the most possible, so that they can bring out different personal characteristics and skills, and so that they perform safe procedures. I am going to have to make a log of the ideas that I have concerning these things.

Today's class was good. I got the chance to learn more about Dewey and his fatherhood to teaching theories and strategies. It helped me to understand more today about the importance of scaffling, or recapping material previously learned by students to get their minds to make connections. I also enjoyed learning a little more about the importance of a lesson plan. I think that lesson plans are a great way to keep yourself organized and on task. It also helps you to make yourself know the material better because you can't just follow the plan exactly; students' learning or questions may invoke something other than what's on the lesson plan. So what I really learned from this was that I need to be organized, but not be too sticky about following the lesson plan directly. I hope to learn Geoff's lesson plan better (cause it is the best one out...) and how to apply it to my teaching so that I may get better.

Reflection #9

Okay. I don't think that any one of us in the class is going to fail this whole teaching prep stuff. From what I can see, we are all doing a good job. The STL presentations have shown me that we are beginning to grasp the concept of teaching and with the help of our teacher, we are gradually applying great tactics. I noticed that on Tuesday the lessons taught were very good. They involved the students, provoking more thorough questions, and got the message across well. I noticed that we still had some gitter bugs (like me) but we are doing awesome. Once again I am impressed with the intelligence of my peers. There is one thing that I think we could improve on when we present and learn to be teachers; I think that we should know our presentation well enough that our heads and eyes can be more attentive to the students. There were several times that I noticed that a student had a question and was raising his or her hand and the presenter or teacher had their head down, looking at the computer power point. I think that I will try to learn my material better next time so that I will be able to get more involved with the students and maybe have to change my lesson plan on the spot. ??

Oak Canyon

Interesting. Simply interesting. I didn't know that junior high schools offered technology communications classes. The class that I went to on Thursday was one of these communications classes. They were in the process of developing their own motion picture video. For the day's work, the students were to get into their three to four person groups and sketch their thirty second video on paper, scene by scene. Then they were asked to write a one paragraph detailed description of what their movie was about. First of all, I was amazed at the number of groups that had story lines based on violence. Maybe it was the fact that out of a class size of 21, there were only two girls. Who knows? Once they were complete with their sketches and story lines, they were told to go over to the computers in the classroom and play around with different software, especially I-MOVIE. The teacher wanted them to become more familiar with the programs. I was shocked by the intelligence and versatility of these students in their ability to instantly become familiar with computer programs. I only wish that I would have had the opportunity to learn about computers when I was their age; it could have paid off for me by now.
I know it is good to let young students be creative and come up with solutions on their own, but I think that if I were the teacher of this class, I would have helped to stimulate their creative minds better. From what I observed, the teacher was only periodically walking around the classroom to answer students' questions. Many of the kids looked like they were at a stalemate. I would have had more of a one-on-one approach with each group, going around and spending ample time with them to make sure they were reaching a higher potential. I think they would have had more fun if the teacher would have given them some creative feedback on their own ideas, which is to say helping them to expand what they already had.

The Crew

7/28/06 San Diego

It's all in the Question

What I learned on Tuesday is essential. We had the mindtool and standards presentations on Tuesday. I learned for myself in my presentation not to get nervous and blow the entire presentation with something that I happened to know pretty well before hand. That was a big mistake...
Anyway, the real learned topic here was what Geoff brought to our attention at the end of class; we should not ask,"Are there any questions?" What we learned was that by asking such a simple one-sided question, especially to junior high students, we would not get any responses. To help us understand through a peer example, Geoff reminded us of Scott's presentation. In it, Scott performed a series of questions throughout that were directed to particular individuals in the class. He called on students by their names, which got their attention, and he asked questions that had to be answered in other ways than a simple "yes" or "no." Scott did a really good job at this, I think. I also think that every one else who presented was awesome. But what I need to do to become a better teacher is learn how to invent and spontaneously apply direct and thought-invoking questions. If I can stimulate learning and a learning desire by the questions that I ask, then my students will have a better understanding, will want to learn more, and hopefully remember the content to be able to teach another the same stuff.

We All Have A Little To Learn From Gong

--and especially for a few teachers who have been in the field a number of years. Do you think that they too learned about Gong and his teachings? Even from some one's point of view that does not have much experience to back it up, like mine, teachers could get so much more out of their day and so much more out of their students if they would apply Gong's teachings. Gong taught about his applied methods of getting his students to like learning. He wanted his students to respond genuinely to his teachings and take what they had learned to build upon it. In this, learning would never cease; ambition to learn would never cease. Students had better academic outcomes in Gong's classes, I believe, because he had real concern for his students. I also think that he tried to understand them and did not try to put them on a lower pedestal than himself. -- My teaching observation experience on Thursday brought this concern to my attention. Even though the three class periods that I attended were quite excellent and the teacher did a pretty good job in my perspective, I think that he could have applied more of this subject of Gong's theory. I noticed at the beginning of the first class period a student walked in normally and sat in his chair. He looked alert and ready to learn. I was not sure if it was his Hispanic ethnicity or maybe something from his prior class behavior that made him stand out, but the teacher seemed to latch on to him almost immediately from the time that he walked into the classroom. Out loud and in front of the whole class, the teacher asked the student where he had been for the last few days of school. The student did not answer. The teacher continued with his persistence in inquiry. The student then finally replied that he had been absent because he had his reasons. The teacher did not quite hear the student's sheepish and quiet answer, so he asked again with more intent. The student then began to become more insecure, looking around at his peers who were then staring at him. He bowed his head and replied more loudly that he had this reasons. The teacher then doubtfully muddled,"Oh, you have your reasons."
I think that Gong would have handled things differently. I don't think that he would have embarrassed his student in front of his peers, which could in time make the student not want to learn or even attend class. I think Gong would have pulled the student off to the side at a different time when no one else was looking and inquired about concerns if they happened to be present. That's what I would have done. In order to have a desire to learn, students need to want to respect their teachers, not hate them.

What Kind of Learner am I?

Learning about the seven different types of learners or learning styles made me really think what kind of a learner I am. I am not so sure I even know yet. I find myself leaning towards so many different styles of learning that I get myself confused. I thought that I was only a hands-on learner, but now after learning more in depth about each style, I think that I prefer auditory and visual. I am for certain that I don't prefer a couple of them. I know that I would rather learn on my own instead of being in a group, unless I get along with the people well, and I know that I don't like to hear people talk too much. I guess that would explain the results of my learning survey. It said that I am a visual and nonverbal learning. It also said that I enjoy learning by working with my hands. I think that I would have to agree with the survey results. I think it is a lot easier to be a learner if you listen more than you talk. I know that this statement is my own opinion based on my personal character. I think that God gave man two ears and one mouth for a reason; we must listen twice as much as we talk. I believe that observation, visually or auditory, is a key factor in learning. I believe that one must think things through before doing in order to be assured that the results will have less error. By observing and thinking, or not speaking, I have found my better way of learning.

Technology in the Classroom

After having the opportunity to observe the seventh grade students at Centennial Middle School with Rachel and Jess, I have come to the conclusion that technology has greatly benefited the learning curve. We had the chance to sit in and observe students in their technology and engineering class. They were in the process of constructing mini bridge models out of thin bass wood strips. Their goal was to use basic engineering skills, that were previously taught in class, to make a bridge that would sufficiently withstand a machined pressure/weight test. If a student's bridge could withstand over thirty-five pounds of downward pressure, then he or she would receive an A. I was deeply amazed at the ingenuity of these students. They were smart and dedicated. They were focused; I give much credit of that ambition to the computer program that was learned prior to the direct construction of the bridges. It was called Bridge Builder 2006. It was amazing! We got to use the program briefly and I must say that the program threw me for a loop; I wasn't able to make one bridge that could hold up a truck. When I finally made one that could support the truck, I realized that it cost over two million dollars. This program was able to supply a number of different materials and material sizes all while keeping track of the cost. The students in the class were challenged to make a cost-effective bridge that had little weight stresses. The instructor added that most of the kids were able to do it. I think it helped exponentially in their learning curve for their bridge building assignment. Technology had completely aided these students in learning.

Sometimes the Greatest Teachers are Your Peers

Every time I go to my education class, 276, I am dumbfounded by the magnitude of intellegence from my peers. They seem to have answers, suggestions, and ideas that boggle my mind because I find that I had never thought in that way previously. Not only that, I have noticed that every student, teacher as well, is more than willing to help and aid any questions or misunderstandings that I might have. They are genuine and unrestricted by their personal affairs at the time. I just want to add that such support and behavior means a lot to a person like me that has a hard time understanding many concepts and procedures, especially those involving the computer. I thank them all.
Now getting back to the fact that your fellow students or peers can be the greatest teachers, I must say that I learned a lot from the presentations that were delivered yesterday in class. I was amazed at the level of talent from those who presented. They might not notice or agree with me, but I think that they did an excellent job with their ability to speak publicly, articulating well and showing a real sense of personality and character; that which is different from many teachers who try to impress or don't seem monotone and uninterested. The information given to the class during those presentations helped me to easily capture, on my level of understanding, what a mindtool is and can be. I thank you all once again.

It's Wiki Time

It's a wiki world. Who could have guessed that I would be helping to design a wikipedia web page today? Two days ago I did not even know what or who a wiki was. I thought it had something to do with Star Wars--go figure, I work with wood. Even so, I learned a handful today.
Has anyone ever asked you to define a word before? Sure. I suppose one has. But after you gave that person your answer, did he or she ask you to analyze it again and expand on your thinking? Then an hour later ask you to give a more integrated definition? Well, it hasn't happened to me before and I am glad it did because it helped to realize that there is much more to a word than a simple bland definition. Today I had the chance to define what a teacher and teaching are. After critiquing my initial general answer, and after a given opportunity to broaden my vision by our instructor, I came to the conclusion than in my field of technology, a teacher is much more than one who spews out information. The best thing that I realized today was that the best teachers put the burden on the students to learn. He also does not attempt to manipulate the student in becoming like himself, but he will teach in a way that allows the student to take what it taught and expand on it. I learned that a good teacher will influence the student to have a genuine disposition to procure learning on his own with a passion for the content. If the teacher does well, the student will not only learn well about the taught material, but also use it as a concrete base to take off and search for larger possibilities and opportunities.
The world of technology is like this in our day and age. If students were taught the same exact things yearly without the opportunity to expand on those ideas, then the technical world would never progress. Things like computers and other modern-day inventions would have never sky-rocketed in their innovations like they have within the last ten to twenty years.

Reflection 9/4/07

It was quite an interesting morning, one that did not line up with what I had imagined. I had no idea that I would have to have a special code to get into my classroom; that was a great start. I guess my imagination is geared in the wrong direction because though I was locked out of my classroom for a moment, I found that this 276 course is awesome. A class size of eight and a highly personalized atmosphere add good ambiance.

For starters today we had a fun activity to not only get to know one another a little better, but to also learn a little lesson. First of all we learned a little about networking. In this, each of us had the opportunity to write a few things about our self on the whiteboard and somehow make a connection to another person's list of qualities using a web-like diagram. In the end, there were many different words scattered across the board that represented each student and the teacher, with lines connecting anything in common. I think this was an excellent method of getting the jitter bugs out of the students and being able to who carried with them what qualities. By making connection among the students with simple circled words and lines, everyone was able to notice the similarities among all of us. I believe it made us feel more like a team working together in a classroom setting, rather than a number of students competing for position in the class. The great lesson behind all of this, I think, was that in the real world it is necessary to make connections with people, to make a network. In doing so it will be much easier to receive and give information and also expand in a career.

The next thing on the list today was another game involving sticks. There were twenty sticks drawn on the whiteboard and two players were to compete using the drawn lines. Each player had a turn to remove either one or two sticks at a time starting left to right. The player to remove the last stick won. It seemed to me that there was a certain strategy to this game, for the instructor was so adamant that he was going to win every time. Actually, he ended up loosing every time. Nonetheless, the strategy behind the game involved a method of breaking the precession of lines down into groups of three. By doing so, the player was able to dis guard his focus on a victory over the extent of the large line of sticks and narrow his aim to mini victories over each section of three lines. In this the player was able to have an unwaivered focus on the overall goal. Life is much like this stick game. Many times people tend to focus only on the immensity of a huge problem; something that seems almost too hard to attempt to overcome. In correlation to the game one may learn to redirect his focus off of the big problem and onto the little stepping stones, which are usually more easily conquerable, and one step at a time overcome the overall problem. This was a great game.

These exercises applied well to the three points of Dewey's Reflection that we learned about today in class. Dewey came up with a three point system of how to make a proper reflection. His three points include description, critique, and action. In order to remember one thing taught and make sure it is applied to life, one must make a note of what it is, analyze its content, and then come up with a way that pushes him to improvement. There must be action.