OK so I have taken an old blog and tried to transform it into a BLOG for the Kahuku High and Intermediate masses. Hopefully this works. To start off my blog I want to share a video that we received in a training about two years ago. I am not sure where it came from, but I think it is something that all people could benefit from. I hope you "like" it and please feel free to comment.

We always feel better throughout the day when we have someone there to say "good job" or "I think you are great!!!" Positive vibes are always the way to go and I have a lot to learn from that lesson. There is way too much negativity in the world and by adding to it we only make the world weaker!!

Testing is the only assessment?

So my assignment for this weeks blog is:

Reflect on the idea that tests are the only objective assessments of student learning.

I have 4 children. Every day is a learning experience with them. They are all different ages and I have two boys and two girls. They have different styles of reading and writing because they all learn from different teachers. My 5 year old just finished her Preschool career and will now be entering Kindergarten with my other two who are older than here. I am pretty sure she knows way more than they did when they went to Kindergarten because she went to a different Preschool than they did and she learned a lot more than they did before they started school. I am sure that there will be students that are at her same level and there will probably be some that are higher, but most of them will be lower I am sure because they did not attend preschool. 

With that being said I am sure that they will have to test all of the kids differently according to what they know. I know some of the teachers specialize in helping those kids that have never gone to school before and I know there are others that work with the kids that know what they are doing already. As a teacher I know that there are many different ways to figure out is students know what we are learning. Some of them do well taking tests, some do well giving presentations, some do better doing a project, but all of them show that they know the material in some way. 

I do not think that tests are the only way to see if kids know their stuff or not. I think that since the whole world is different that there is probably more ways to accomplish the same goal and sitting taking a test is not the only way.

I found this funny video that I thought would be fun to do with your students to help them learn their testing materials.

Funny Test Video 

 

Technology Infused Classroom

       So this week we were asked this very pertinent question about our classroom: Reflect on the idea of what a technology-infused classroom looks like. How do you plan to have a technology-infused classroom? I think most teachers where I work are trying to infuse their classrooms with as much technology as possible and some without even knowing it.

       There are those who turn on the TV and pop in a video and have their students watch it and answer questions. There are those who are not watching as their students use their phones to text the kids in the next room. There are those who use the computer labs to do research and create PowerPoint presentations to share with the class. All of these, although some are not the perfect example are ways that teachers use technology in the class.

       I see a technology infused classroom as one that uses the technology of the day to accomplish great things. I see a technology infused classroom as one that allows students to use their creativity to solve problems. Actually I see the technology infused classroom as one that uses the creativity of the students together with the technology of the day to solve the problems of the future!! There are no limits to what can be done today and never have been any limits.

       Whoever said that everything that will be invented already has been invented is a FOOL. Everyday kids out there are coming up with ideas that are leading the pack for the newest inventions. A technology infused classroom is one where there are no limits on teachers or students. Where the possibilities are endless and the creativity abounds in full force. Where the noise is good because it means there is collaboration, rigor and learning.

AAAAHHHHHHAHAHAHA

OK well I think I have decided to have a BLOG for each of my students this year? My thinking is it can be a kind of journal that they can look back on and realize later how much they learned or the things that they were able to accomplish in the student government years at our school.
I on the other hand am getting a little frustrated with technology as I have submitted two assignments all in the same week and for some reason they have not posted which has given me the worst grade I have ever gotten in any of these classes as of today. Even though technology is a wonderful it still needs some work?

In researching this week I came across this video that I think most kids can relate to. I was very shocked to hear the speech given by the valedictorian, but I can't say that I did not agree with a little of what she said. I started to think about myself? Do I push my students as much as they can be pushed? Do I require more of them? Do I make them want to be better and do better every day watch this video and let me know what you think?

Public Education Today

So many times we feel like technology is there to save us. This past week I have realized that we are only as good as we make ourselves. It is nice to have technology to back us up, but we cannot always rely on it. I have tried a couple of times to post some things for my homework and it seems like it worked, but it did not go through. I get the report for my grades and realize that it did not go through.

It is the same thing in class. Sometimes my students report things that I think are not truthful, but now I am realizing that these things do happen. I guess I need to be a little less hard on them? Where would we be if we did not have this new technology? I can't see myself looking through the card catalog again at the library, but how did we ever do it when we kids? I wish I did not rely that much on it. I can remember the days when I can't find my phone or haven't checked my Facebook, but really should it be that way?

Anyway, I work for the Polynesian Cultural Center as well and the other day I was following a group of preschool children who attend a full Hawaiian immersion school. They entered into one village and proceeded to do a chant that they learned that has been passed down from ancestors and I thought how great that they are learning these things at such a little age, because these are things that are slowly being forgotten, now that we have so much technology surrounding us! Here is a little piece of what they did...

 

Epiphany

       I was lucky enough this week to go to the Big Island of Hawaii and learn from some of my mentors in the Student Activities World. We had a lot of fun ate more than I can say and learned a lot from each other. While there I learned that I don't know as much as I should in this class. I turned in my assignment and for some reason it would not load. Because I was outer island I had no way of resubmitting my assignment until I returned home. I just realized in looking at the assignment that because it was done in EXCEL it was not uploading. When I changed it to a Word Document it finally uploaded. I knew that it did not work with PowerPoints because I have done a lot of those in the past classes.

       With all the technology that there is out there you would think that it would be really simple to change the uploading process so that it would be able to accept all types of submissions. I take it for granted that I have technology and rely on it way too much. My wife and I thought that maybe this summer we would try to have a day where we did not use any technology. I am not sure if i could do it. With work and children it is hard to not use the phone or the computer throughout the day. My kids are constantly stuck to the iPad, which is one reason why we want to try it. Challenge anyone?

Blog 1:  Describe the importance of the using a variety of instructional strategies and the value they add to education of students in the 21st century. Evaluate the role technology plays in the implementation of various instructional strategies. How will this impact your teaching of students in the 21^st century?

I was reading something the other day and it really made me think? It said that the brain creates certain chemicals after each activity that we do. With each of these activities we are are creating specific memories in our brain that will cause us to remember things. For example is we burn ourselves using a pan we will never forget the pain it caused and will think twice before doing that same thing again. Technology is so prevalent in the students lives now that each time they use it their brains are remembering the specific things that they do to get to each point in the activity. That explains why my 2 year old niece can navigate so quickly on the iPad with no help.
 
I think that using all types of technology helps to make our brain fire our synapses in so many different ways that it helps us to remember. one of the things said that if we create an emotional tie that is one of the strongest ways to create memories. have ever seen these kids play video games? lots of emotions!

Day #3 Helpful or Lazy?

I can't get past the thought that technology is making us lazy? I mean if you have to use the cash register to calculate the change that someone is going to receive because you do not know how to count money then that makes you lazy, right? I just read a post from one of my classmates that said she had to work with some students and they had no idea how to give change to people because they needed to use the register to figure it out. Is that true or were they just being lazy? I know with my own son if I want something done I have to threaten him with no use of the iPad. He gets up early and gets ready for school quickly so that he can sit and watch NETFLIX before school, but he wouldn't do it if I didn't threaten him with not being able to use it?



Is technology causing us to be more lax since it can do everything for us? My ancestors come from Hawaii and New Zealand. I know they use to be able to read the stars, and the currents, the movement of fish and winds all so they could do their daily activities. What do I use? My computer and my phone, my iPad and my calculator? I do math with my kids using IXL.com, it is a great site, but is it really helping them learn or should they be having to struggle like we did with PROOFS and FORMULAS in order to really know their stuff? All of a sudden I am in a quandary and wondering am I really helping them out by using technology so much? 

Day #2...Changes

"If we teach today as we taught yesterday, then we rob our children of tomorrow." 

John Dewey

I think some of the teachers at my school need to read this quote and adapt? I can't imagine teaching the way that I was taught. Nothing would ever get done and those complaints about being bored would truly be merited!!! Ask these kids today what is the Dewey Decimal System, what is an Atari, or even an abacus, they would probably look at you with the biggest daze on their faces? 

I know that my children are far more advanced than I ever was at the age, but I also know that they are very impatient. Things today can be gotten at a minutes notice and without any real work. I think that may be one of the problems of society. The ease with which things can be gotten is a problem that is creating ripple effects that maybe we will not see for a few more years. Look at our test scores as a nation? No Child Left Behind is leaving every child in the dust. It is going to be scary to see where this all ends up.

 

Week one of continuous professional learning...

       To be a Life Long Learner there is a necessary component that is involved. Learning continuously throughout your whole life...kind of easy to say, but very hard to do, especially when you are a teacher, a father, husband, owner of your own company, or even the president.
      
       It takes humility to realize that even though you know a lot, you can never know everything. Even when you are an expert in a certain field you can never know everything, right? I mean look at those scientists who thought that Pluto was a planet, wow all of us growing up knowing that MY VERY ELEGANT MOTHER JUST SERVED US NINE PIZZAS is now going to change to something else, I guess we don't know everything? and things are constantly changing!

      This is my blog and my attempt to learn more and more through this new class that I am taking at Grand Canyon University with some very knowledgeable teachers. I feel sometimes like I know nothing when it comes to technology and that is why I am taking this course. I hope that through this fun and exciting journey I will learn many things that I will be able to use in my classroom to help my students become life long learners!! Ready, set, learn!!!

       One thing I am trying to learn is to take pictures and here is a recent picture I took during our May Day Celebrations for the High School.