"Let it Rock!"

"Let it Rock!"

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Critical Thinking! Module 3

“A hand picked faculty, an enthusiastic leader, and a teacher evaluation system that made technology use a priority are three factors that are difficult to find in most schools.” It is a changing world, is it not? We constantly look to improve quality in education. As technology emerges so do we assume the product does without flaw…

How do we as a nation get on a better track as a whole? How, individually do we surpass the norm and bring out our absolute best in the school infrastructure? Even more, where’s the instruction manual on, “teaching the perfect class, by Michael Myers.” Now pay attention as we focus our organized thinking, making it logical, and incorporating it amongst our ideas. I believe the key to moving forward in education starts at the ground level, moving up.

Royal Van Horn’s article made complete sense! There seems to be this overall idea of pushing technology off on others and, “oh, they’ll figure it out.” This is not the case that is all too well, often practiced. The three models Van Horn mentions are still, push me offs as he even describes. Even the third model, “HCA” is excellent for inner cities, but not so much the more well to do suburbs. Technology is almost starting to seem cancer in ways.

In my personal life, when I was in school, I learned the most when I was in a private school with teachers in the computer lab hired for the sole purpose to teach technology to us, the students. Not that it’s all great in the private sector but in my experience in public as well, it was more push me off with less held standards when we did use the computer lab. Yes technology is constantly advancing, but how well are we striving to implement a more well rounded structured progam to understand and incorporate this technology at the ground level. The earlier we start in school systems, primarily elementary, the earlier we develop the sound techniques and second nature tools to achieving success in technology.

This reading connects in the, critical thinking aspect to a very high degree where I am currently taking a speech class that involves the same high effort! It’s easy to hear something even when we read it, but listening to what we read means we are actually understanding what we are incorporating into our lives. It seems an overall concept or main theme amongst our reading is to start with less so that we can give back more in such articles like, “Teachers & Teaching” English with an Edge”, and “Accountability, Yes Teaching to the Test, No.” These articles make technology and other important factors Van Horn describes in this one wih the importance of the leader role, and a more well chosen one at that, a neccisity to a more rounded picture.

Van Horn, and his study in Education at the University of North Florida, has shown in this article a great deal he has learned and the level of true excellence we can strive for. I know I will always remember this article specifically, because some day I want to become a principal and I want to be the best principal I can be. I now know three important factors in being the best I can be to make sure I have all three of those boxes checked off. We’re all in control of the classroom more than what we may believe. One day it will be ours, will we be ready?

References

Van Horn, R. (2006). Toward a New Model of High-Tech Schoolrooms.
Technology, 487, 551.

Deiter, Ron (Nov/Dec 1998), Why Use Humor in the Classroom? Iowa State University Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching Journal, v11(n2), downloaded 29 May. 2010.

1 comment:

  1. I totally agree with your statements on how technology is pushed onto students and they are expected to know how to use it. Technology is only really effected if it is used in the right way. I wish teachers would take more time to really show their students how to use it. I also think that you have a great mind, you will make a great principal!!

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