I've completed and emailed my assignment for my final evaluation, and I'm glad that it is something I will really use. I definitely learned some new ideas and was reminded of things I had let slip away. Today I did something unrelated to the course but a technological advancement nonetheless: I put the finishing touches on getting the Kindle and the IPAD into circulation. Perhaps it will increase reading. I hope so.
One thing I'm feeling as I come to the end of the class is that maybe I should get out. I never wanted to be that old guy who is mean to the kids and can't do the job. I'm not that; I'm kind to them, and I have lots of energy. I just don't share the faith that's sweeping the profession. No podcast can replace kneeling down next to a boy's desk and looking him in the eye. The apostles all say that that's not the intention, but it doesn't feel that way.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Week 4
This week I've able to keep up with the work much better. I don't think it's me; I think that the material is a shade less voluminous. Also, some of the beginning of the year mayhem has settled down.
I have already put thought into my culminating assignment, and I've prepared a rough draft. It's a realistic plan that will clearly produce benefits for Iona, so I'm pleased. Today created an Animoto account and threw together a ridiculous slide show just to try it. I don't think they could make that any easier. I also started getting a little instruction in Audacity from Darin. It's all going to work.
One piece that totally turned me off this week was the article about Voicethread and Death Comes for the Archbishop. I have grown tired of the steady push to turn everything over to the students. The idea of students "making their own meaning" and similar mushy concepts feels more and more like a shirking of responsibility. Doctors don't make their own meaning as they learn their profession. Neither do electricians, masons, firefighters, or orthodontists. In all of those and many others, someone who knows tells someone who doesn't yet know how things are. Why are teachers afraid to say that they know more than their students? Many of my guys have gone on to successful careers and have proven themselves to be more intelligence than I. However, when they were 17, I knew more than they did. I taught them. That's what I get paid for.
I have already put thought into my culminating assignment, and I've prepared a rough draft. It's a realistic plan that will clearly produce benefits for Iona, so I'm pleased. Today created an Animoto account and threw together a ridiculous slide show just to try it. I don't think they could make that any easier. I also started getting a little instruction in Audacity from Darin. It's all going to work.
One piece that totally turned me off this week was the article about Voicethread and Death Comes for the Archbishop. I have grown tired of the steady push to turn everything over to the students. The idea of students "making their own meaning" and similar mushy concepts feels more and more like a shirking of responsibility. Doctors don't make their own meaning as they learn their profession. Neither do electricians, masons, firefighters, or orthodontists. In all of those and many others, someone who knows tells someone who doesn't yet know how things are. Why are teachers afraid to say that they know more than their students? Many of my guys have gone on to successful careers and have proven themselves to be more intelligence than I. However, when they were 17, I knew more than they did. I taught them. That's what I get paid for.
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