Computer Time

Thinking back, as high school student, I really didn't receive much "computer time." The only time we were allowed in the computer room was if we were in there for a class. There were no passes to the computer lab to type a paper, etc. There was never any research being done on school computers, all that was to be done on your own time. I actually did not like going to the computer lab at all, since I knew that meant that I would be sitting there doing something extremely boring for the entire class period. During my pre-internship, my mentor teacher would send kids to the library all the time to type or research something, although most of the time they got nothing accomplished. I definitely think that students need to be monitored in the computer lab, as it is pretty easy to get side tracked.

Wikipedia

I never really use Wikipedia because I have been warned by many professors and professionals that this is not a reliable source. I think that sometimes it has good information, but there is no way to actually prove if the information is from a credible source. I do think this a good place to get some initial ideas from, as often use it for that.

I liked the assignment we did in class, as it showed all the different topics that are available to search for on Wikipedia. It also showed us how we should be careful when using a website like this because of the information that can be added or deleted by absolutely anyone.

Black Lies Activity

Some ideas my group came up with:

• white horse
• black death
• black Tuesday
• black Friday
• snow white
• black out
• innocence(white)
• white as a ghost
• black ball
• black cat
• black list
• black mail
• white out
• white noise
• black sheep

I really enjoyed this activity, I had never thought of the meanings of these words, but it was shocking when I discovered the negative and positive connotation that go along with these words.

Education and Technology

Technology is an amazing thing. The advancements that have been made over the years has helped both teachers and students to become more successful. In the classroom I will be doing my internship in next semester, my mentor teacher has her own blog that she updates every week. This gives students and parents the ability to keep up with what is going on in her classroom. She posts homework, upcoming events, as well as general comments. I feel this is a great tool to use. However, I feel that technology can also be frustrating for the kids that may not have access to it at home. Most teachers require things to be typed rather than written in hand, so this could be an obstacle for some students. Overall, I feel that while technology is a great tool, we need to provide students with options.