PLN #15

Today for my fifteenth PLN I read an article titled "Becoming a Better Teacher" by Drape, basically telling about how teachers can become better teachers by using creativity and knew methods of teaching.


This is what I had to say:

As being a student my self I definitely agree with just about every single point that is on that list. It is the student’s job to come into the classroom everyday expecting to learn, be taught, take notes, and study for quizzes and be the best overall student that they can be. It is the teacher’s job to come into the classroom everyday and be prepared with something to teach the students about and create a learning environment for their students. It is also the teacher’s job to help their students in most ways possible and to make sure and assist them in maintaining the information that they will need for next year and to move on in life. As a student I most likely do not understand what it is like being a teacher but I can imagine that it wouldn’t be very easy to teach thirty to forty students five or six different times a day. Not only do they have to do that but they also have to do it in such a way as to make it creative and interesting for the students. I think it is a good thing that most teachers are open to new ideas on how to teach things as to not bore their students as well as most likely themselves. It is also good because as the times change, teaching changes. We don’t still talk about the same stuff in school as we did fifty years ago, or even when my parents were still in school. Now, my parents don’t even understand any of the stuff I’m doing in math but they can do the same problem in a different way but their way is much harder. Why is the way I’m learning now so much easier? Because teachers have adapted to new, more efficient and creative ways of teaching.

PLN #14

For my fourteenth PLN I read and commented on The Fischbowl blog on an article titled "Another Shift?". It talked about some very interesting things about how America can improve on cutting down on gasoline prices. It also stated that other countries have already started to use these means of cutting down on oil prices such as: electric cars that charge over night and windmills.


My Comment:
You make some very interesting points in this post. I definitely agree with you that the United States needs to start thinking about what we are going to do about rising gas prices now. Why wait? What is America waiting for? Sooner or later the gasoline supply is in fact going to run out, and where will we be when it happens? How prepared will we be? Where will we stand economically? The things you mention above are fantastic ideas and I think we should begin using them immediately. As you also mention some of the other countries in the world have already begin to use those great ideas. The United States needs to get with the program and begin to use these ideas in order to pull away from the "rest of the crowd" like we do in so many other areas.

PLN #13

For my thirteenth PLN I read an article called "Phoning it in" from T Sale's blog. I found this article extremely interesting and some of the things he had to say made me really think about how technology and students could easily be combined to make learning a simpler, faster, and easier process.

My Comment:
Wow, it’s really amazing what some of the students in high school are doing today. I myself am a high school student and I find this extremely interesting. Usually when I see phones out or other electronic devices they are being used to fool around or not being used properly. It’s very intriguing that this particular student decided to use his iPhone in order to help him with his school work instead of using it the wrong way. In my opinion I think just about every teacher is afraid or lenient on letting their students use technology like this because they think students are going to be distracted or not use the technology in order to improve their school work. I think this little incident shows that not all students use technology in a bad way, and if instructed most students would use it the right way. Why not give students a chance with it? If successful this would most likely speed up the learning process of most students and would eliminate teachers from having to answer questions that would take a simple trip to Google.

PLN #12

Today I read an article called "Boulder Police Arrest 3 Students in Drug Case" by Annette Espinoza of The Denver Post. The article basically told about how Boulder policemen recently arrested three juveniles on April fourth after receiving some complaints from officials at Nevin Platte Middle school. It was reported that the students had brought proscriptive drugs to school to share and swap with other students. The drugs that were used were called Strattera and Concerta that are used to treat and order called ADHD. One of the girls who took one of the pills went home sick after trying it. Two of the students have been charged with distribution and possession of a schedule II controlled substance and unlawful acts while the third was charged with possession of a controlled substance and unlawful act. It was rather shocking that these harsh of measures were taken, but it is definitely a good thing and will hopefully teach these students a lesson. The girl who had taken the pill was later taken to the hospital and released by her grandparents.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is the fact that these students would want to do this to themselves and put themselves in this sort of situation. Instead of taking such harsh disciplinary action why not sit down and have a serious talk with these kids about why they did what they did? I personally think that would be much more effective than punishing them.

How this Affects Me: I think this affects me as well as the rest of the teenager population, it's things like this that ruin kid's lives. While I do support some kind of discipline to be handed out I do not think that that's nearly as effective as sending the kid to a counselor or someone like that. I also think that these school should be doing more than they are currently doing to cut back on things like this.

PLN #11

I recently decided to read an article titled "Carmelo Anthony: I'm Going to Man up for my Mistake" by Rocky Mountain News for my eleventh PLN. The Denver Nuggets basketball star was recently arrested on Monday morning under suspicion of driving under the influence. Anthony recently stated in a press conference "It's kind of bad timing right now due to the playoffs for this to happen. It's totally unacceptable. I'm going to man up for my mistake". Anthony stated that he was very sorry to his family, the fans, and most of all his teammates and for the distraition he brought to the franchise especially since the playoffs are coming up.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is all of the stuck up athletes that we have in professional sports today. If you think about it, it is kind of ridiculous how athletes act not only in public, but also on the court. They seem very humble and respectful until they sign or get drafted to a professional team and start making seven number salaries. Then it seems that they are on top of the world and seem to become oblivious to how they act or what they do.

How this Affects Me: I think this affects me as well as every young, inspiring athlete. When the athletes we look up to and admire do something like this, what are we supposed to think? Do the athletes even care what they are putting into the minds of their young fans? It is definitely a bad situation for Carmelo but hopefully he can bounce back and redeem himself, the right way.

PLN #10

For my tenth PLN I read a very interesting article titled "College Students Lobby to Carry guns" by The Denver Post basically telling about how collage students want to be able to carry arms on campus in order to protect themselves. Collage students who feel that they are powerless against against attacks involving guns are attempting to push legislators as well as school administrators to allow them to arm themselves. A thirty year old senior at the University of Denver and a member of Students for Concealed Carry on Campus stated that students at CU-Colorado Springs and CU-Boulder will join in a national demonstration on April 22 through the 25th wearing empty gun holsters. Students hope that this will show that students are defenseless at school.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that these students are not thinking this whole situation through. It is very easy to see why these students would want to be armed with all of the recent school shootings, it would probably give most a sense of security. But to me allowing thousands of kids to carry around a weapon is just plain crazy. Students get into fights all of the time, and if they have an armed weapon close by, what is to stop them from using it? Allowing students to carry around weapons would most likely create more havoc and distress than it would take away.

How this Affects Me: This definitely affects me, as well as the rest of the high school and collage students especially since I live in the state of Colorado. If this is somehow passed and allowed I can honestly say I would feel unsafe attending one of those universities. I can not imagine every student on campus walking around with an armed weapon. It would almost encourage destruction and killings. What happens when two or more students get into a heated argument and the guns get pulled out?

PLN presentation reflection

I think I did a fairly good job with my presentation. I think I did some things well, and I think I did some things that I could improve on next time. Some things I think I did well were: being prepared with note cards, summarizing my articles, and coming up with a good question. Some things I think I could have done better were making more eye contact and not relying on my note cards as much. I will definitely try to improve on these areas of flaws on my next PLN presentation.

PLN #9

For my 9th PLN I decided to read an article called "Ritter Signs Cheap Textbook Bill" by The Associated Press telling about how collage students can now buy their books for much cheaper. The Senate Bill 73 now requires publishers to tell teachers the prices that the students will have to pay for their textbooks. Also, if professors ask for textbooks including CD-ROMs they can now be bought in bundles. Publishers must also now tell teachers if the newer version of their book has any new, important information in them that the students will need, opening up more opportunity for students to buy used textbooks. Senator Ron Tupa a democratic Representative stated that this will now save collage students hundreds of dollars each and every year.

What Matters: I think what matters is the fact that our government is making positive steps to help out our collage students that are already making sacrifices and paying large amounts of money to attend their collage. These kids are going to be the next generation of America and going to run the world some day so why not encourage them to continue collage and help them out a little bit? In fact, there should be more bills passed like this and soon. It could be a simple bill like this that can help students attend collage and get a good,and proper education.

How this Affects Me: I think this bill and article relate to me, as well as every other high school student in the United States. With collage only a couple years away it is important to start thinking about it now and help the up and coming collage students.

PLN #8

For my eighth PLN I read an articled titled "Sharpie Boy, 8, Suspended" telling how an eight year old boy continuously sniffed the fumes of a sharpie marker. The principal of Harris Park Elementary school originally gave a three day suspension but was recently lowered to one after re-assessing the situation. The principal, Chris Benisch said the suspension was given because the eight year old boy repeatedly kept sniffing the sharpie marker. John Harris, the boys father said school officials assumed the boy has huffing or inhaling fumes from the marker during a writing class. Deb Haviland, a school district spokesmen stated that the marker was "enormous" and that after this incident the district may have to re-think their current guidelines concerning the kinds of writing utensils allowed to students.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that a student like this could be so stupid to think it is O.K. to inhale or smell the very dangerous fumes of a large sharpie marker and then for his father to stand up for him. To me, that makes no sense and if it were my kid he would be getting punished. In my opinion the school was just trying to protect the kid and teach him a lesson, as well as teaching the rest of the students a lesson. It was also just a one day suspension, bid deal. All in all I think the suspension helped the kid as well as the rest of the children attending the school.

How this Affects Me: I think situations like this affect me as well as the entire kid population. It is little situations like this that define how kids are going to react to being offered drugs in the future so why not take a great opportunity like this and set an example to all of the kids attending the elementary school? If I were in the same shoes as the principal I would have done the exact same thing, if not given a harsher punishment.

PLN #7

I recently read an article called "Teacher OK'd Beating of Tardy Student" by Associated Press mainly telling about how a high school English teacher allowed students to beat up on a kid that was late to his class. The teacher, named Brian Havel is twenty-two years of age now faces charges of child abuse which occurred on March 14th. Police began investigation after the student (who is about 15 or 16) complained to his parents about the abuse. Students reported that Havel demanded that tardy students do a certain amount of sit-ups and push-ups in a certain amount of time when late for class. Students also said that a student said they should be allowed to hit him if he didn't complete the exercise in the set time, and Havel allowed it. Fortunately the student received no injuries and the case is now being handled by the Delta District Tourney's office.

What Matters: I think what matters from this article is that a teacher is stupid enough to allow his students to hit a student and on top of it force him to perform physical tasks instead of giving a simple detention. I can not seem to see what was running through this teachers head when he OK'd students to hit another one. Did he honestly think that he would not get in trouble? Because to me, that is amazingly stupid.

How This Affects Me: I think this article affects me as well as every other student in the United States. I personally have never had a teacher do something like this to me, or any of my classmates but you never really know. Maybe the teacher was having a bad day that influenced his decisions or a personal problem, you never really know. Even if he was having problems that definitely does not give him permission to allow the things that he did.