Thoughts on Doug Johnson's "Seven Stupid Mistakes Teachers Make" and "Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Use with Technology" and "Classroom Rules"

When reading the "Seven Stupid Mistakes Teacher's Make", I thought that all of the mistakes mentioned were pretty important mistakes to avoid. However, the two that stood out the most to me were: 1) Not supervising computer using students. 2)Ignoring the intrinsic interest of tech use in today's kids. First of all, I cannot imagine letting any child be unsupervised on a computer. Even though many websites are blocked from classroom computers children today are very intelligent and computer savvy. They know how to maneuver around the internet much better than we give them credit for. With that being said, many children also would not purposefully log onto to an inappropriate site on purpose but by accident. It is my responsibility to protect any child under my watch and care. This also means monitoring them while on the computer. Secondly, children are growing up with technology in a much different way than we did. They are so interested in learning and collaborating with one another. Using technology while teaching is a great way to keep them interested in the materials being learned whether it is science or math.

The article by Doug Johnson titled, "Seven Brilliant Things Teachers Use with Technology" went along with many of the topics that we have learned in EDM 310. Dr. Strange has done a really great job of introducing each one of these topics to us. The two that really stood out to me and that I know I will continue in my own classroom were: 1) Put kids in touch with the world. 2) Accept the role of co-learner. First, putting kids in touch with the world is something that we have done over and over in EDM 310. We have communicated with children all over the world through Comments 4 Kids. This has been one of the highlights of this class for me. It has shown me how important and powerful technology can be in the classroom. Secondly, accepting the role of co-learner is very important for any teacher, especially when it comes to technology. Technology changes daily and to pretend that we know everything that there is to know about it crazy and would do nothing but make the teacher look stupid. We must learn and collaborate together as a class.

The "New Classroom Rules" were true but comical to me. They go against everything that we have ever been taught about the traditional classroom but, I like them. Classrooms are changing because of technology and the way that we teach should also be changing. We cannot expect our students to bring the outside world into the classroom. In my opinion this in another form of inclusive teaching. We should be inclusive of all of the resources available to help our students learn. My two favorite rules were: 1) If you need help raise your hand, but don't wait for the teacher get help from your neighbors and post your questions to your online personal learning network. 2) Use polite speech when speaking, blogging, texting, Twittering, instant messaging, etc. This rule is especially important when considering that we leave our tracks behind on anything that we do on the computer. Everything that be traced on the computer back to its original source.