Blog #5

The iSchool Initiative and Travis Allen's Zeitgeist Young Minds entry
At 17 years old, Travis Allen produced his idea of the iSchool for the world to see. This young man is dedicated to helping the world to see his side of the argument on America's education problem. Travis states how expensive it is per student for school supplies and how high the expenses are per each school. Also, he says his school's budget is being cut, teachers are being let go, and their classroom sizes are getting larger.
His proposed idea is to have public schools use the iSchool on iPod Touches. The iSchool would allow students' and schools' costs to drop dramatically. The iPod Touch already comes with classroom ready apps but other apps could be installed for use as school use as well. Basically, using the iTouch in place of all other resources such as books, paper, computers, and calculators. It's a universal way for teachers, students and parents to stay in touch and up to date on the current schedule. Travis Allen is pursuing the dream of revolutionizing education in America.
Travis has an amazing dream! I believe he is capable of doing whatever he sets his mind to. I personally think his idea is fantastic but I do have some questions regarding the iTouch such as 'What happens if a student loses or breaks it? Will they lose all their information they've stored on it?' The iTouch can only connect to the internet if there is wireless internet available. Therefore, this could potentially be a problem for a student to do homework if they do not have wireless internet at home or it goes down. Nevertheless, I agree with him on saving everyone money. Using technology on a daily basis helps the students grow with ever changing technology. Many local schools in my area are already using iPads and Macs in place of paper and books. If and when the student graduates high school they are allowed to keep the Mac/iPad, this helps keep the young adolescents working towards graduation.

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir
This video was absolutely astounding! The first 2 and a half minutes I kept thinking to myself 'is this real?!' It's unbelievable how these 185 people can come together to produce such a beautiful piece all while not being together to make it. It made me raise questions for the singers; such as 'Do they miss the experience of being able to come together in one room and practice?'

Teaching 21st Century Video
Kevin Roberts made the video to bring new topics to teachers' minds. His video was quite long but it got his point across. He brings to the table topics such as with new technology students are able to find any information they need on the internet whenever they want. So, why are there still teachers? Are teachers actually teaching students something they'll retain and use for a lifetime? Even with all the new resources people have to find information teachers will always be needed. I agree with him about teachers needing to change up their styles of teaching to incorporate life lessons. We as teachers should show our students new ways of searching for information online such as knowing how to use [brackets] in google to narrow searches.
An example Roberts gave was if your connecting flight is cancelled what should you do? and how will these things fit into Blooms Taxonomy? Simple answer, we teach our students more life scenarios then they can evaluate, apply, and execute what to do. I feel it's all about critical thinking, if we can teach them to critically think well they can use that skill for the rest of their life with any problem. Teachers don't need to fret about new technology, they just need to learn it, use it, and find ways to incorporate it into the classroom. Like the old saying goes, "If you can't beat it, join it."

Why I Flipped My Classroom
Katie Gimbar made a quick video explaining her reasons for flipping her classroom. Her classroom time was once spent mainly reteaching students the foundation needed for her class or reviewing material. Now, since the flip she spends the majority of her time actually teaching her lessons. Ms. Gimbar is a math teacher and I certainly can see the need for her to do this. Math is a difficult subject for many students therefore they need more time and there's students that just pick up on math quicker than average so they're bored. With Ms. Gimbar posting the lessons to be taught ahead of time her students that are having difficulty with math can have more time and can also go back and re-watch the videos. Those that were advanced can advance to another lesson. I remember being a high school student and this specific scenario was a daily thing for my class and my teacher. Now that I'm in college I can say my last 2 math classes were the same as well, with the exception of one teacher posting websites and some videos to help students. That one teacher of mine that posted those few videos did have more time on some days to spend teaching rather than reviewing.

Dr. Lodge McCammon FIZZ Video and Flipping the Classroom-4th Grade STEM
Dr. McCammon came up with the "Flipping the Classroom" videos that teachers produce for their students to watch at home before their classes. Flipping is a new approach for the 21st century learners. It allows the students to watch the class lessons before class, raise questions they may have to bring to class, and they can re-watch the videos again whenever they need a re-fresher. This allows the teacher more time to engage with the students in the class room and allows each student to work at their own pace.
Mrs. Munafo made the 4th grade STEM video. She explained to parents and others the need for the flipping and what it entails. Her explanations were the same as Dr. McCammon and Ms. Gimbar's. Mrs. Munafo stated she's currently using this for her math class and hopes to begin using it for other subjects as well. Like I've said earlier, math is a very difficult subject for many and I feel if a teacher was going to use this style it would definately benefit the math lessons. I most certainly would not be opposed to using it for any subject!