fall 2012

HI everyone who is registered in this course for Fall 2012!
Welcome to the BLOG portion of the course.
We do this to provide you with a new venue to share ideas.
You might find that blogs will be helpful in the future for when you have your classroom.
You can be creative...
You can explore topics.
You can share ideas.
TO CRITICALLY THINK about education and all the issues surrounding teaching.
You can go above and beyond with this.
I have found in the evals over the years that in the end people say they were not into the blog at first, and then it turned out to be one of their favorite aspects of the course.
Being savvy in some of the tech stuff involved with blogging is important in education, and it is an easy way to start.

A STORY ABOUT NOT CRITICAL THINKING:
Last week I had to commute into work. Along the way there is a toll.  The cars were backed up miles and miles before the toll, and I saw a sign that said "left side go to EZ PASS and right side CASH...The right side was moving along swiftly, while the left side was backed up.  I have an easy pass, but I know that cash lines let you go through with an ez pass, so I cruised passed hundreds and hundreds of commuters, went through the cash line effortlessly and went to work.  All those people saw the sign that said EZ PASS and like cattle, stayed in that line.  It makes me wonder about why people cannot think, or do not think.

As teachers, our role is to get people to think, to ask questions, to put one and one together and make a decision for themselves.

In an election year, it is an important time to critically think.  One thing that seems critical is the ability to assess what these politicians are saying. luckily, in the day and age of web and internet, there are FACT CHECKERS.  These have been invaluable as I listen to the rhetoric that is getting people all crazy.  Be a thinker, quection...and education is heavily on the line in this election, so pay attention!  Find out who is for education, TRULY... Use this blog to explore these issues when the topic is open.
http://www.factcheck.org/  (a nonpartisan, nonprofit “consumer advocate” for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.)

so enjoy!  You will see the blog assignments as we move through the learning modules.
YOu will create your first one in LM 2 due Sept 25.

I personally blog a lot.
I blog about my family mainly.
I also blog as a reflective practice for my own teaching.