I chose to do this map about Panda Bears because Panda Bears are my favorite animal, and they fascinate me.

I really liked using XMind to create this concept map. I was able to add subtitles and links where I needed, and even wanted them.

This concept map is from Bubbl.us. I must admit that this software is not the easiest to use, or to understand how it works.

My favorite software that I used today was XMind. This software was easy to use, and easy to figure out. I also liked how you can edit the information off to the side of the screen. This made it easy to manage. I didn't like using Bubbl.us because it was too complicated for my mind to comprehend. Bubbl.us also had huge bubbles, making my map rather large. I would rather have my bubbles small and easy to follow.

Violence in Video Games

For one of my classes I was given a scenario, and in that scenario it had me researching about whether or not violent video games changed the behavior of children. I have found many different opinions on this view. The opinion that I liked the most was from the Youth Prevention Website. It talked about how there is solid evidence against those video games. It states that violent video games do actually have an impact on the minds of children. I wonder what our future generations are going to act like. More and more children are watching violence on the media, but is that their fault? No. It is our fault as the older generations. We need to take a stand against the violence so we don't raise a violent generation.

I found this website that would be great for science lectures and fun science facts. This website contains many different podcasts. They have everything from King Tut down to walking from heel to toe. The music makes the podcast easy to listen to, and draws our attention right from the start. I highly recommend visiting this website and listening to all of the sixty second pod casts.

Feb 11, 2010

Today in practicum I learned many a things to do in my own class one day. I feel that today was very productive, but I could have done things very differently. My teacher that I am observing had to go to a meeting down at the district office, so she had a sub come in, but asked me to teach the lesson. The lesson was in English, and of course that is the one subject I don't feel adequate to teach on. The lesson plan was quite simple; have the class write a five paragraph essay on their opinion of going to bed at 8:00 PM. I talked to the class about what the teacher wanted to see in their essays, and then I sent them on their merry little way to write the essays themselves. As I went around the room I became more and more frustrated. The class was certainly writing their essays, but as I read them they were horrible. I couldn't decide if I should stop them and talk about how to write an essay or not. Looking back, I think I should have, but of course I didn't. So pretty much I learned that I need to take charge of what I'm teaching. If I notice that the kids aren't understanding what the assignment is, I need to stop them and explain better.

Race to the Top

For my educational blog assignment I read Jim Taylor's blog about the Race to the Top. Since learning about Race To The Top, or RTTT I have been wondering why the government would want to help only one school district and not others. This blog has helped me build my own opinion on RTTT. The RTTT states that any school district interested in obtaining this great amount of money must first improve their school buildings, improve test scores, and improve the overall function of the school system. Jim talks about the schools starting to teach more to the test instead of teaching what is important once they reach the real world. I found this quite true. I have seen more and more teachers wanting to have their class pass the test so they don't teach them to be creative. How many times in their adult life are they going to recall what that test said? While on the other hand, how many times will they be grateful that their teacher spurred their creative side? The Race To The Top will most likely flop just like No Child Left Behind did. Neither system has visualized the goals that would be most helpful to the community. Each system only wants what is best for that year. I have seen a couple of students fall through the cracks because the teacher can't get that certain student caught up while helping the other children rise to the top. If you want to read more about Jim's opinion you can go to this website. It is http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-power-prime/201002/education-race-the-top-part-ii

Hello. My name is Jenna, and this is all about me and my glorious life. I will blog about work, school, and play. I hope that you enjoy reading about my life!