Blog Post Assignment #13

Salman Khan: Let's Use Video to Reinvent Education

I watched the video, Let's use video to reinvent education by Salman Khan, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. He starts off by telling us how he came about making these youtube videos that he has done. He started it by doing these videos to help his nephews learn math. He did not make these videos private and very soon he started getting comments from other people telling him how these videos helped them. So soon after that he decided to quit his job and focus only on these youtube videos. His organization is a non-profit organization.
In his video, he talks about humanizing the classroom. What he means by this is getting the students that are watching these videos and working on these problems in the program are now learning at their own pace and then going and tutoring their peers. Now instead of the students going to class listening to a one size fits all lecture, they can watch these videos at their own pace and as many times as they need to until they understand the lesson they are trying to learn. In the program you can work many different types of problems, any where from basic mathematical problems to vector calculus. This program is designed to help you master each step along the way so you do not miss any important details as you go along in math.
I think that we can learn from Salman Khan is that students shouldn't have to learn in a setting of a one size fits all lecture. I think that students if are given the chance to explore and learn for themselves, then they will surprise all of us. Also if the students can learn to master the lessons on their own and then come back to the classroom and help other students who are struggling is less intimidating, then having a teacher come to them and not understanding why they are not getting it. I think that if we incorporate outside instruction and supplement from someone besides the students teacher, then when they get back in the classroom with the teacher they will be more prepared for what the teacher has in store for them.

Education in the Slums - Sherri Hudson

From Ken Robinson's ten favorite Ted Talks, I watched the video Education Innovation in the Slums that was conducted by Charles Leadbeater. I learned that any child can learn through technology. During his lecture he empathized the drive that children living in the Rio and Kibera slums possess to better themselves with education. The children in those slums went to research centers and locations where computers were in the wall and willingly taught themselves information. Two thousand games were designed to teach the children, and they were gathered to sit in a circle to answer a question. Most of the children didn't have living parents, and the ones that did have parents had dying parents. Those living in those conditions believed "education plus technology equals hope" Mr. Leadbeater says that "motivation is the key," and I believe that motivation kept the children from giving up. The conclusion: Let children be attracted to their education. If we make radical teaching more possible then more ideas are developed to improve the future! Think about what Mr. Leadbeater discovered about education from the slums. I believe American children have a lot to learn from children in the slums. They can learn drive, dedication, and gratefulness for the new aged tools and assistance they have. I learned to attract my students to my lesson. I can ask quality, open- ended questions such as "how" or "why." From there I want them to control what they learn next.

"To This Day"...for the bullied and beautiful - Tonya Hudson I watched the video, Shane Koyczan: “To This Day”...for the bullied and beautiful. WOW! What a powerful video. This video brings to life the reality of bullying in the classrooms and in the hallways. This video brought me to tears. The age that bullying starts amazes me. How can children be so mean.! As teachers of these young children, we need to tell our students every day, “you are beautiful.” We need to uplift our students to compensate for the tearing down that the other students may be doing. We need to find a way to constantly be trying to build the confidence of our students. Being a teacher shouldn’t only be about teaching. We have to love on our students as well. I know there are boundaries in school, but we have to find a way to let the students know that they are loved and cared for. We as teachers need to let our students know that we chose to be teachers because we love children and we love them. We didn’t become teachers just because we love to teach reading and writing. In his poem he said to look in the mirror and see something beautiful and if you don’t see it look a little longer. We need to help children find beauty in themselves. Children are so influential. If they are constantly hearing you are nothing and you are worthless they begin to believe it. As I said earlier, we need to counteract this and help these children discover their beauty and talents. Show them that they are worth something. I did a little research and according to bullyingstatistics.org, 42 percent of kids have been bullied online. 77 percent of children have said that they were bullied. “The American Justice Department bullying statistics show that one out of every 4 kids will be bullied sometime throughout their adolescence.” As a parent this is appalling. What is wrong with children today. Something has to be changed. Koyczan mentioned that he tried to take his own life. This breaks my heart. According to bullyingstatistics.org, “10 to 14 year old girls may be at even higher risk for suicide, according to the study above.” These are babies! What I got from this video is bullying is real. We as adults and as teachers have a responsibility to educate these children on the effects of bullying. I remember bullying was around when I was in school. I am sure it has been around forever. I don’t ever remember a teacher educating us on bullying or trying to talk to us about it. We need to do that.