Spreadsheets and Templates

Using spreadsheets and templates is a good way for any teacher who wants to make their jobs a little easier.  Using spreadsheets can help teachers with with documenting grades and such, when using them their are even calculators and things that will help even more.  Templates allow teachers to create rubrics, lessonplans, and schedules.  It is up to the person who decides to use the resources.

Tech-Knowledge G

Technology is everywhere.  In our ears as we walk down the street, in Best Buy during black friday, and even in front of me as I post this blog.  The thing is there is no fighting what is going on in the world as far as technology is concerned, in fact it is needed.  In today's schools thousands, even millions of dollars are being spent on finding new ways to improve the youth's education.  What's ironic is why not just let the kids use what they have now.  Today almost every kid at least at the age of 10 has a cell phone, ipod, etc. so why not use those to help get lessons and such to students.

L.O.O.K. (Leaders of Our Own Kind)

What is it? A competition where teenagers are able to show case their writing abilities HEAD to HEAD in slam poerty.  What's the name of the competition? "Brave New Voices", as I was sitting in my room flcking through channels while on the phone with one of my friends (who happens to do slam poetry), she told me to turn to HBO.  What I came across was a team of teenage poets presenting their best poems in front of judges and their peers.  Now one might ask what might this have to do with Education?  Well to that person I say this, as an aspiring High School English Teacher, I know I will have to cover poetry at some point.  Instead of presenting the same poems that schools go through every year, why not make this genre of poetry apart of lessons. Here is a link that displays one of the poems spoken at this years competition.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2A7wD5Rew8

Going Social

Social Bookmarking is a way for internet users to share, organize, and manage bookmarks by simply copying a URL and puting tags on it to make it user friendly.  When I first heard of social bookmarks, I had NO idea of what it was until I read more about it in my 21st Century Tech class.  Before this project I had never used nor heard of "delicious" and social bookmarking.  Delicious (social bookmarking website) could be used for educators because one could simply search education, then tons of people's bookmarks will appear with websites that one may find useful.  This activity was something new, It will help me because I plan to become a teacher so now I have a way to help me with lessons and things of that nature.  http://www.delicious.com/kscriv30

Copyright to Prevent the Copycats

Copyrighting is important because it labels a work(s) as ones own.  It happens everyday, someone puts out a song, some form of literary works, just with intentions of displaying their gift, next thing you know someone has found that work, and has made it their own all because the REAL creator failed to copyright it.  I have seen it first hand, my cousin (a rapper/producer in Virginia) put beats on a number of different artists twitter pages, when one day he finds that a known artist Arab (of SODMG) took his beat, used it and placed it on his mixtape for people to download and buy.  All of this could have been avoided had my cousin done something as little as mailing the beat to himself.  Copyrighting is a necessity when one has intentions on placing his/her up for public display, especially when the work is being placed on the internet for EVERYONE to see.