Thursday, June 7, 2012

C4T #1 Summaries

The World is full of Technology

C4T #1: Mr. Genereaux's recent blog was about teaching digital media to all of society. I love this part that he wrote: "We don’t teach video-making as a necessary skill to all college students. Only certain majors are likely to ever have a video project required, yet digital online video is a huge part of almost every college student’s life." I most certainly agree with him in that aspect and replied to him that I think it should be a requirement in high school. Every child should learn about technology and the digital media there is to know. The world has so much to offer to young people and they should take advantage of it all. He also talks about media literacy and "digital natives"; "digital natives" supposedly being experts in communicating with technology. He said it is a mistake to assume all young people are aware of all the types of digital media out there and he thinks everybody should be taught more about it.

C4T #2: Mr. Genereaux's newest post is talking about his home life and how he thinks he should keep up the blog to interact with the outside world other than in the classroom. He is working on a dissertation called "How my work in school fits into larger context of schooling and society." He goes on to tell us what he has so far. It starts off with how he feels pressured to be the "authoritative source of knowledge" to teachers, student and superiors. He talks about fairness in the classroom and how students said they described it as "treating everyone the same." Well, he stated "The only way to be truly fair is to treat each person as an individual with respect and dignity; not sameness." I couldn't agree more. I believe all kids are different and learn in different ways. He asks some very deep questions like "Is it fair that some students were raised in families that encouraged a strong work ethic and resilience in the face of adversity and others were not?" No, it's not fair but that's reality and how people live and sometimes nobody can change that. We have to strive to get our students on the same "level" as far as preparing them for the future. He says to never give up on students and to let them learn with their abilities and talents. He thinks grading is unnecessary because jobs do not look at your GPA which I do not agree with because if you are a high school dropout, I think there is a lesser chance than getting a job as a lawyer. He says that he feels like he could be a better coach and he will continue this dissertation talking about his role as an educator.

2 comments:

  1. I have met Mr. Generaux only through Twitter but I count him as a friend. We have had several "discussions" about his dissertation. You will encounter him again in this class.

    I agree with him on grades. Grades do not measure ability. They are used to include and exclude people from work but they do not tell us what people know, can do and have experienced. Your argument that a high school dropout can't become a lawyer seems irrelevent to a discussion about grades. How do you link the two?

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  2. Hey Dr. Strange, I was just relating grades with a GPA, which all colleges look at and if you are a dropout, of course you wouldn't have a high enough GPA to get in school to become not only a lawyer, but a doctor, teacher, etc. But I also see where you are coming from. I see pros from both sides. I think grades don't measure ability or talent as well. I just don't understand how you would keep record of that throughout grade school to show to colleges in the future.

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