Read Kiddo Read

ReadKiddoRead

I really like this group because not only am I an avid reader myself, but I feel very strongly about getting kids interested in reading, not only in the classroom but at home.  One of the resources about this group that I particularly liked was that it offers lesson plan ideas for different children's books.  I was surprised to find lesson plans for one of my personal favorites, "Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus."  They also offer things such as book suggestions to use for students, broken down into genres. All in all, it is a great resource that I plan on fully utilizing!

Technology as a Pro and a Con

I watched the video, A Vision of K-12 Students Today and had mixed feelings about the message being presented.  Overall, I agree with the idea that teachers need to be up on technology, and need to integrate technology into their classroom and lessons.  It is a waste not to incorporate the interests of the child into your attempts to teach them something.  If a child is constantly glued to their ipod, why not give them educational podcasts to listen to?  You need to work with those interests to come up with the best learning experience you can give that child.  However, it really bothered me in the video where the signs were reading things that were implying that we should be giving the children technology based things all the time, anytime, whenever they wanted.  A friend of my is currently reading the book  "Play: How it Shapes the Brain, Opens the Imagination, and Invigorates the Soul" By Stuart Brown.  She was telling me how it discusses all the technology given to children today and that in addition to helping them, it is hindering them.  Back before all of this technology kids were forced to be more creative with their free time, making up their own games, using their imaginations.  But nowadays so much of that is done for them, with interactive toys that not only give them something to play, but tell them how to play, what to think, etc.  This has resulted in adults entertaining the workplace without the creativity to come up with innovative ways to do things that their predecessors had.  Some of the brightest minds in NASA right now are retiring, and they are concerned about the incoming people who are taking their jobs, because they lack the innovativeness and creativity that is necessary in a job like that.  Taking this into consideration, I found it ironic that some of the signs being held up referred to creativity as something that needed technology to grow.  So while I think that technology in the classroom is a good idea, I think that it is a fine line to walk, and that teachers need to be aware that not everything should be replaced by technology, because you risk losing valuable skills in the process.