This video presented many different "did you know" facts that were really interesting. Two of these facts really caught my attention. The first fact, "China will soon become the number one speaking English country in the world," really shocked me. Wow! This just blows my mind when it's the official language of our country or should I say it is supposed to be. Although I do not have a problem with foreign languages being spoken in the United States, I do believe English must be learned, taught, and actively used in this country. Let me give an example to back up this belief. The Gulf Oil Spill greatly impacted the Bayou La Batre seafood industry. An industry that is made up of 75% Vietnamese and Laotians who do not speak English at all. That's one of the reasons why the claims process has been so difficult in that area because one side can not understand the other. I think it should be a requirement by law to know the English language to live in the United States. I think it's sad that a foreign country such as China will be speaking more English than America. It is our country's language and we should be speaking it the most.
The other fact is that we are currently preparing students for jobs that do not exist yet. This is why today's learner will have 10 to 14 different jobs by the time they are 38. This is a sad fact to me. We spend so much money on our education, a price that is continuing to rise each year. We should have permanent jobs ready and waiting when we graduate. This is one of the reasons why the unemployment rate is so high in our country and why so many people are in debt before their lives ever begin. The price for my graduate degree from the University of Southern Mississippi was $35,000.00 and I think that is a crying shame! I'll be paying for my education the rest of my life.
Mr. Winkle awoke from a hundred year sleep to find the world as he remembered it, had changed so much. He visited different buildings to see what he could find and heard strange noises coming from machines that he had never seen or heard of before. All this "newness" was making him feel seek so he made his way to a hospital where he observed people being kept alive and made well by more machines. He knew there was no way the hospital could make him feel better so he left. As he was walking he came across a school that he entered and immediately it was familiar to him. Nothing had changed there. Students sat in neat little rows, taking notes while their teacher lectured for hours, just like he remembered. He did notice one of those new devices in the back of the class room but it was old and dusty and had not been used. Mr. Winkle enjoyed school because "even after one hundred years" it was still the same.
I actually disagree with the message in this video very much. I believe our way of teaching and learning in the class room has changed tremendously in the past 100 years, even since I graduated high school back in 2000. Children are growing up with computers, smart boards, lap tops, tablets, and smart phones at their disposal in class rooms now. When I was in school the only technology we had was a computer and they were only in the library. Now they are common in every class room and students are learning to use them even before they get to grade school. Technology has advanced greatly in the past 100 years and continues to do so on a daily basis.
Sir Ken Robinson: The Importance of Creativity
Sir Ken Robinson's lecture on The Importance of Creativity was highly entertaining. This video kept me laughing. He basically says that "creativity is as important in education as literacy". This is so true. We need children to stay creative and not be afraid of being original. It is important for a child who is extremely talented in drama or dance, and maybe not as good in math or science, to feel like their talent is just as worthy in school and in life as their peers. Sir Robinson is right! There is a hierarchy of subjects in our schools and that translates in to your degree of worth in college and in your future career. I am one of those students who is creative. My first degree was a Bachelor of Fine Arts in drama from USA and do you want to know how many high paying jobs I have had with this degree that I am very proud of? None. I did get a job with Pirates of the Caribbean II & III immediately after graduation but it wasn't because of my degree, it was because my uncle owned the ship yard where the Black Pearl was being built. I also worked in television but that was on a salary of $23,000.00 a year with a college education. So I went back to get my masters degree in Communications so I could be a reporter and no television station would hire me because I did not have experience. How do you get experience if no one will give you a chance? So now I am in school again, working on my third degree,so maybe this time I will get it right and my education will be good enough to teach children that creativity is important and it does matter in life.
Four Ways to Use Pinterest in Education explains there are four ways that Pinterest can be useful in the class room: Lesson Planning, Sharing Ideas, Organization, and Student Use. I will definitely be using Pinterest for all of these categories as a teacher. I am new to Pinterest this year but I have already started creating a board for my class room. I have been pinning lesson plan ideas from my other friends who are already teachers in elementary school. I have also been pinning organizational ideas for my class room. Especially creative ways to set it up so that kids feel energized and eager to learn in my class room. I will utilize Pinterest in my class room as well for student use, so that kids and parents can share ideas and see what is going on in my class.
