Jaybro88’s Weblog

Like I had mentioned, I travelled to China last year teaching English in a city called Xi’an

Throughout my journey in China, I noticed something that I found quite strange.. the students had no computers to use. Not only did I notice this in my school, but I witnessed in others and talked with friends that these elementary schools had no computers for the students to use. Not only being a part of the ECMP 355 class but also from my own childhood years do I know the importance of experiencing and integrating computers into the classroom. This school that I was at had sooooo many kids, maybe that was an issue, however it seems quite ironic to me that they live in China where pretty much all computers and technology is made, and they aren’t even being raised into it?… Even the teachers never used a computer for lessons etc. it was a strict and distinct teaching style in which they lectured the kids didn’t talk or express their views, It was strictly teacher taught.

As much as I think Maury is a terrible show, I was so intrigued by his episode of most talented kids. Every child on that show blew me off the wall, and even brought out some jealousy in me haha.

I’ve danced all my life and know that activities and sports like it, are not easy at all. For most they don’t come natural one bit. However I really noticed something while watching these shows, the younger they are, the more they retain and are capable of. It’s so amazing to witness how spongy children’s brains are at young ages, and this episode goes to show how important it is to be a good mentor and teacher in these young children’s lives. I think as a future elementary teacher, what I do will really direct and shape their futures!

I was sent this absolutely amazing video in my e-mail the other day, and thought I should share this for a couple of reasons. I thought to myself, if I were a teacher, and I had one last lecture to give, what would it be. Secondly I think it’s people like this man Randy Pausch, that remind us the importance of living our lives to the fullest, choosing what’s important, simply because life is short.

I thought about myself being put in Randy’s situation battling cancer and potentially given 6 months to live. What would my last class be about. Well ideally I see myself in the future teaching elementary students, so my last class would basically be about having the best time we could. I think I would would incorporate every fun thing that no students would ever think possible to happen at school like swimming in a pool of spaghetti etc. all ending with a similar message to Randy’s.. life is to short to worry about who was being mean to who, who is cooler, who has more money etc. what is most important is that we live our lives with respect, with no fear, limits or restrictions, life is just to short to worry…

I was quite curious after I watched the video what happened to Randy. He’s actually got a homepage going on, where he blogs himself and keeps people posted.

So, to anyone and everyone.. if you were in Randy’s situation.. what would your last lecture be like?

So, I decided to write this blog, to voice my opinion and hear others.. Currently I’m living with my boyfriend in Brandon while he finishes up fire college.I’ll just give you the background info here that his school is mighty intense, and demanding, so he always appreciates a good teacher to guide them through. |So my boyfriend and his room mate come home the other day and are complaining how they are getting this 23 year old instructor for the next week. Another note 90% of the class is 26 and older. So they immediately stereotyped this guy to be incapable of doing a good job. I just kept my comments to myself even though I disagreed with them. Turns out, this young teacher was so well prepared and did a great job, they really respected him. I think this really relates to young teacher’s today. I will finish my degree at the age of 22 and i’m sure their are parents and teachers who would judge me on my age and not ,my capabilities. I think it’s important to set factors like age aside and have faith!

Our second ECMP 355 class took a look at the variety of online software and tools we have access to and may find useful in the classroom. It’s amazing the power of this world wide web, and the most convenient part is the cost.. FREE!!. Throughout our lecture of course I found the most dominating features to be with google. From google docs to reader to google earth i google, The possibilities are endless. I myself not only see the possibilities for my future classrooms, but last semester I put the online software to use. Goggle docs has created what I would call a secret weapon aka “Sharing”. Sharing allows for students to easily access others work, and in our case made a group project work wonders. Sharing was just one of my favorite features, however we are being introduces with so much more like the google earth etc. that can bring so much more into our classrooms, and diversify the ways we teach.

After the class lecture I decided to do a little research myself on the power of google. I was so amazed to see the transformation and evolution google has gone through. In 1995, Larry Page and Sergey Brin both University students were on a mission to organizing the endless amounts of information on the web. I found a page from google, that shows their whole journey.

Lastly, I’ve attatched what I found to be quite interesting, is a video from youtube. Oprah had a segment on google being the best place to work. WOW, what an amazing corporation they’ve got going on, and the comfort they are living!. The video mentions also about the beggining of google, and how it basically started in a garage, and now looking and there work settings. Quite the progress they are making!.. It was also kind of neat to see the work environment that appeared to be going on, and yet these amazing new softwares and tools are being produced.

As I begin to write my first blog ever, it amazes me my reflections thus far. Even simply writing about my personal information, I’ve found blogging to be like a day dream. With that, I’d like to share with you a little about who I am. Well let’s begin with my name is Jayla and I am a 19 year old female. Currently i’ve just completed my 1st year of elementary education. It was an amazing first year of University for me, and i’m so excited with the paths I’ve chosen. I did graduate in 2006 but took my first year off to travel to China where I was teaching English for 6 months in a city called Xi’an. I grew up in a small town of about 850 just outside of Saskatoon so trecking from that background to a city of 15 million was frankly a culture shock. However not only the culture but my love for teaching was soon evident. It definitely was the experience of a lifetime, and where my inspiration for teaching came from. I live in Saskatoon, where I love to get together with friends, head to the lake, go shopping etc. I’m a pretty easy going girl, and love living my life to the fullest!

Technology wise, I would probably define myself as confident and open. I love learning new things I can do with technology and I seem to be the call on or go to girl in the family when they can’t figure it out. However their is so much to the world of tech, and so much I don’t know. In past experiences I am known to explore. If I don’t get something right away I play around until I do. I’m a huge fan of making slide shows with movie maker and powerpoints, As well the online world was my key to communications when I lived in China. Skype was a savior!! I have a very positive attitude towards technology in both school and personal life, maybe excluding the odd computer crash and unsaved project!

Fortunately the older I got in school, the more time and money spent on technology there was. Not only can we see the progress schools have made, but also the children. Obviously any kid today can say they know a lot more than their parents, and this is simply because they didn’t have the opportunity. I believe giving children the opportunities with technology will make them more efficient people in this society we live in. Our world is beginning to revolve around technology, so it is so important we are able to cope with that. In my opinion their is nothing but benefits to incorporating technology into classrooms. We even see it benefiting special needs students, who can function better with a personal laptop. Technology provides a world of possibilities and I think all schools should be aware and motivated towards it. As far as new innovations such as facebook and myspace go, they can be both positive and negative. I think the key idea behind behind them is using them responsibly, In that case they can be very beneficial, communication and event wise. However we still can be concerned with privacy and other negative issues, in this way I don’t think these types of things should be in classrooms. Instead different online exploring that will ensure safety should be used like blogging!

As a future teacher, I have many goals involving computers in the classroom. As far as this class goes, I want to gain knowledge, resources and feedback on making those goals happen. I am excited and eager to learn new things and hope to accomplish a confident outlook on my job as a teacher and technology.