February 14th Assignment

Wikipedia

I've always known that Wikipedia is full of untrue facts. The reason I knew is because I've changed facts on Wikipedia before to throw off my friends about bands. Now I know it isn't right to do that, but I promise it was funny and I changed information back after I was done. I did check back a few times though and there was always new, probably false, information. The weird thing is that I never thought that people could trace my IP address! That's pretty crazy. I can't believe that all of these large corporations are changing their own Wikipedia information to make themselves look better. Walmart, Exxon Mobil, Diebold, and even more change their facts to make themselves look better. I can't say that I blame them, but the lies are wrong.

The Wikipedia Scanner created by Virgil Griffith was an awesome idea and a great tool for the website. Now they can trace back any information or comments left on the website by IP addresses. I promise I will never tamper with Wikipedia again. It is a form of vandalism. I can't believe all the information that has been changed by politicians and even the CIA! I would never trust Wikipedia to be a good source for school assignments or anything else. Maybe one day they will have more limited editing of their website and then it would be alright to use Wikipedia as a reference. For now, I will stick to more reliable information from scholarly sources.

'What I've Learned This Year'

I've just finished reading Mr. McClung's blog post, 'What I've Learned This Year'. He had just finished his first year as an elementary school teacher and shared a lot of interesting information. He shared facts such as reading a crowd, being flexible, communication with your students and fellow teachers, being reasonable with your expectations, embracing technology, listening to the students, and continual learning. I thought his post was wonderful and very insightful! I know that as a first year teacher, I will have certain ideas of what should happen in my class. Through this post I was able to see that I can't let those ideas get in my way! I will have to adapt to my classroom and embrace all the resources that I can find.

I love the part where Mr. McClung talks about expectations. He points out the fact that we sometimes forget that we are dealing with children. He also says that when children don't meet their goals, it is our job to pick them up and encourage them to try again. I also loved when he pointed out the fact that when a teacher takes the time to listen to a child, the child feels respected and more comfortable with the teacher. I want my classroom to feel respect from me and their fellow students. Finally I want to point out the way Mr. McClung said don't be afraid of technology. Many adults are afraid of the use of technology in the classroom. I know I did not think technology was appropriate for a classroom until I entered this class. I will now use many forms of technology in my class since they are such great resources! I hope that my first year of teaching will be as successful as Mr. McClung's!