Blog Post #11

Ms. Cassidy

Ms. Cassidy is a first grade teacher from Saskatchewan, Canada. In her video Little Kids.... Big Potential, she lets us have a look inside her classroom. I absolutely loved this video. When it begins, a student is at the door to welcome you into the room. On the door is a sign that reads "College Graduating Class of 2025". That really stood out to me because most teachers' doors read "Welcome to Ms. (Insert Name)'s Class!" Her sign gave me the impression that I was going to see a teacher that, although her students were only in 1st grade, prepared her pupils for the real world. And that's exactly what I saw. Throughout the video, students tell the audience the types of technological activities they partake in daily. They use everything from wikis to Nintendo DS. The one thing that really stood out and hit me in the face was THESE KIDS LOOK LIKE THEY ACTUALLY ENJOY GOING TO SCHOOL!!! Hearing them talk about how they love writing on their blogs and doing all the other activities Ms. Cassidy does with them, really made me envious of this school. I know many kids that age, and they don't enjoy school nearly as much as the kids in this video do. The kids I know view school as a place where they have to sit still and quiet at a table all day and listen to what the teacher says. I would gladly show the school officials in my hometown this video if it meant it would inspire them to change the way the school system does things in the US.

During the skype interview between Ms. Cassidy and Dr. Strange, she said two things that really caught my attention.

The first is how she goes about ensuring her students' safety while publishing their work on the internet. I would love to use blogs with my future classes, but I would be lying if I said exposing them to the internet didn't worry me. I've often wondered what measures I would take to keep my students safe because let's face it, there are some creeps out there. Technology is awesome, but there are people that use it to prey on innocent people. Ms. Cassidy gave the best answer to my dilemma: only post first names and don't post names with pictures. I don't really know why this didn't register with me sooner since for the past three months I've been commenting on student blogs, and none of them have their last name listed. Sometimes I need to be told things! I definitely feel more comfortable with trying to start a class blog knowing some of the measures another teacher takes to protect her students.

The second was her comment "you are handicapping the student and yourself by not taking advantage of the resources of technology." Before she said that particular statement, she spoke of how students and technology go hand in hand. Technology is apart of this generation's life- it is not foreign to them. I agree with her 100%. I mean, some kids show me how to do things on a computer or iPad! She also states that we cannot continue teaching kids the way we were taught simply because we are in a different world than we were in 20 years ago. While I don't believe we should rely solely on technology, I do believe it needs to be incorporated into this generation of students' learning. I fully believe that if I teach my students using the methods that were used on me, I'm doing nothing but hindering them. First of all, they are going to be bored and ultimately not listen to a word I say. Secondly, students will have to use technology in their future occupations. The way I see it is if I teach the way I was taught, once my students get to the point where they have to use certain technological tools, they are going to be as lost as a chicken with its head cut off. With the way the economy is now, finding a job is like fighting on a battlefield. My senior year I applied for a job and was asked how well my computer skills are and if I could use certain programs. My response: "I've never used that program before, but I'm a fast learner." Guess what. I didn't get the job. They wanted someone who already knew how to use those programs and how to perform certain tasks. With technology being such a huge part of everyday life, most employers don't want to take the time teaching employees how to use certain tools- they want people who already know how to. One of the reasons I decided to become a teacher is because I want to help kids succeed and accomplish their goals. If I want to do that, I HAVE to show them how to use technology. I don't want my students to be turned down when they apply for jobs because I didn't do my job and prepare them every way I knew how.