Edmodo, and What We Did

I think that the students like using Edmodo, because they had other people to bounce ideas off of.  They also had someone to pushe them in a direction for their writing.  Their writing is still their own, because they had the choice of which prompt to take.  Many of the students like the collaborative writing because it was a new way to look at writing methods.  I enjoyed the Edmodo project, because it exposed me to an atmosphere that I may not have seen otherwise.  I also enjoyed reading the other students' stories and seeing what level that they wrote on.  In future classes, I may use a tool similar to this to give a class a challenge problem.  That way, they can work together to get the problem finished.

President Obama: Cool under Pressure?

In these pictures, President Obama is portrayed after the Gulf Oil Disaster.  Each picture tells something different about his personality and his composure.
In this picture, Mr. Obama seems concerned, but still collective of his abilities.  His facial expression visualizes his concern.  The tense upper lip, and the lowered eyebrows are the best visualization of concern.  The camera also helps with the visualization of concern, the camera being above his eyeline emphasizes the facial expression with particular emphasis on his forehead and eyebrows.

In this picture, Mr. Obama seems more relaxed than in the other picture.  The relaxed look comes from his facial expression.  He is smiling, and his posture also looks relaxed.  He appears to be having a conversation with some friends in this photo.  The surrounding people in the foreground help the relaxed look, because many of them are smiling as well.  The background portrays a different picture, however, the people in the background have binoculars and one person in on the phone.  The background gives more of a concerning look.
The top picture shows that Mr. Obama has true concern, and the bottom shows that he can keep himself calm and collected under pressure.

Media Literacy?

In this day and age, too many people rely solely on the internet, and electronics.  The problem is not relying on such media, the problem lies in being able to interpret the messages being sent.  In the article, a study showed that two thirds of American adults didn't know the difference between paid and unpaid search results.  If we cannot tell what a reliable source is we will not find credible information.  If we don't have accurate information, we will not be able to make informed decisions.  A study at my high school a few years ago found that over half of the students didn't know what the suffix on the web address meant.  For example, sites ending with .edu or .gov are the best place to look for new scientific discoveries.  .edu is and educational institute and .gov is the government.  All the information at our fingertips is great, but we need to be able to determine the credibility of the information presented.

Teacher of the Year

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."

Henry Brooks Adams

Teacher's Influence on World History

New Media; Cool, or not?

I believe that using new technology is not the same learning as writing a report.  In some ways it's better, and in some it's not.  One way that it is better is it engages the students more than a report does.  The research done is the same either way, but the effort in the final project will vary depending on the student.  One reason that using new technology is bad is that it provides the students with a crutch.  A quote from the reading, "As the technology becomes stronger, the story becomes weaker," sums up my opinion.  Too many students will focus on the technology, rather than the message.  All in all, it is up to the particular teacher whether or not this is worth incorporating into the classroom.