Blog Post #10

Two Questions That Can Change Your Life by Daniel Pink
I found this video to be very inspirational. From start to finish it had me thinking about my life and decisions I make each day. I like the idea of, "every great man is a sentence." In the video he provided great examples of men who are a specific sentence and still impact our lives today. The best part of the video was when he asked if I was better today than I was yesterday? I think that is a question I need to start asking myself everyday. It will keep me motivated and wanting to do bigger better things each day. Sometimes it is hard to answer yourself truthfully especially with a question like this, I will carry that question with me from now on. As far as my own sentance:
I will always try to do the right thing for the right reason and be a committed, devoted teacher to my students.

Don't Let Them Take The Pencils Home by Tom Johnson
This was a creative approach to the way many teachers look at things such as test scores or things that affect a students test score. Many educators are hung up on test scores for the sole reason that it is a direct reflection of their teaching abilities. However, this may not be true in all cases. When students do not preform well on tests this does not automatically mean they are not learning. They are learning all the time, it's what students do and want to do when they show up to school each day. Educators often get hung up on the problem they are experiencing in their classroom when in reality they need to be focused on the solution. Educators have the power to negatively affect a students education or they have the power to inspire and encourage students.

An Open Letter To Educators by Morgan Bayda
I must say I agree with most of the issues Ms. Bayda brought up in her letter. Especially about sitting through long lectures, trying to stay focused and take notes only to have fifteen minutes until the next lecture. Leaving me tired and with little motivation it is hard to remain focused in my second, third and sometimes fourth round of class for one day.
As for the Daniel Brown video, I thought he did a great job. I myself wouldn't drop out of school because of the issues he raised but I did agree with them. He stated that the value of information is going down and society is moving forward with less information. He also said the internet is the best thing that has happened. He is right! We have access to any information we may be seeking. His example, back in the day to get somewhere you had to buy a map, plan your route and hope you didn't get lost. Now we have mapquest, google maps etc. All we have to do is type in our starting and ending point and in a matter of seconds our route in before our eyes. Daniel Brown also asked the question, what has education done to reinvent itself? Nothing was his answer. His final statement, "the world is changing and if you don't change with it the world will decide that it doesn't need you anymore." I think this statement holds true, we need to be up to date with technology, teaching techniques and the virtual world in order to be successful.