Blog Post #2

1. Mr. Dancealot
The central message of the video Mr. Dancealot, is that when teaching a dance class, you need to actually teach/show each dance move instead of just lecturing it.  Some students need hands on experience as well, like me.  He expects the students to know what to do, just by him giving them notes.  At the end, the students are in the ballroom for their final to dance.  Most of them have notebooks in their hands, while they are dancing.  The author is making the case for conclusion by having the students practice hands on, which I think is better.  I agree with the author because it's better to be hands on than just looking over a powerpoint or getting lectured to.

2.  Teaching in the 21st Century by Kevin Roberts (John Strange version)
To me, Kevin Roberts thinks that teaching in the 21st Century has to deal with mainly towards technology.  From my understanding, students are now focusing on google, blogs, and so many other sites and basically learning on their own.

• Filters
• Roles as teachers
• Classroom changes
• Where does the students get their information from?

Teaching the students research, how to analyze and synthesizing information, are all important for teachers, so they can teach the students.  Only if the role that teachers have is to provide stories, content, dates, facts, information, theories, and research then our role in the lives of students is obsolete, says Kevin Roberts.  I agree with everything he had to say in this video, because change is good.

3. The Networked Student by Wendy Drexler
After watching The Networked Student, by Wendy Drexler, I realized that it is so many great opportunities out there and including resources.  When he asked, "Why does the networked student even need a teacher?" is because she offers him guidance when he needs help, shows him how to communicate properly, how to differentiate between good information and propaganda, how to turn a web search into a scavenger hunt, and she even help him organize the mountains of information.  When you have a good teacher, you can't go wrong.  They will always find a way to help you when you need it.

4. Harness Your Students’ Digital Smarts by Vicki Davis
The video "Harness Your Students' Digital Smarts", by Vicki Davis was very interesting to me. She really finds a way to reach down into each student minds.  When you motivate students to do things, it makes them excited about learning and that what she does.  Using technology is so amazing now because you can do so many great things with it.  This also helps each student become independent in learning.

5. Who’s Ahead in the Learning Race? by Dr. John H. Strange
In "Who's Ahead in the Learning Race?" video, Dr. Strange asked this question and my answer is elementary students.  It's never too early to start teaching young students how to use technology.  From watching this video, it amazes me because I am still learning some new techniques myself and they most likely could teach me some new things.

6. Flipping the Classroom
Flipping the Classroom is new to me, I have never heard of it before.  I think that this particular approach can be useful to me as a upcoming teacher because it gives the students a chance to interact more with online activities.  They can also practice more and discuss what they like and don't like about it.

7. Bringing the Locker Room into the Classroom
After reading "Bringing the Locker into the Classroom, by Craig N. Owens, I could always use in my coaching/teaching skills that was discussed is always giving the students/players a prep talk.  I agree with Craig Owens when he said, he would let the team ask questions, discuss scenarios they may have encountered, and let them maybe offer each other some advice to help them with their strengths and the opposite teams weaknesses.