Experiencing Group-Collaboration with others

My Stance on This Whole Group Thing...

My group and I did our research presentation on inclusion and how it affects the classrooms of the twenty first century. We all had to conduct actual research on Google drive, a research paper, and a presentation on  our topic. I learned how to use Prezi, which I feel will aid in student learning and will help in giving presentations someday when I am teaching. I also think that Google Drive was a very useful tool. It facilitated in sharing information, making it more convenient for our group to communicate with one another. I felt as if it was just an instant message Microsoft Word, and I really liked using it. As far as the tools we used for this project, it was successful and useful. Prezi, Powerpoint, and Google Drive will all be substantial to aid in teaching someday.

As far as the "group" portion of this project, I felt as if it was unsuccessful. I realize that collaboration among teachers is important in the education field, but I feel as if group projects in school are a hell of a lot different than group projects in the work field.  FIRST When working with people in the work place, you are all mature adults who have the motivation to do well because you are getting paid to do whatever particular project you are working on with your peers. When working on a presentation in school, you want to do well to get a good grade, but since so many other people are in the group, you don't put as much effort into the project as you would if you were by yourself. SECOND Most of the time, if you are a teacher, you don't have to do group projects. In school, we are forced to be put in groups to learn how to work with other people. I really am a people person, I love people. I am a cashier at tops, so I deal with people all of the time at work. I see people from different ages, cultures, races and economic statuses. I have the skills it takes to be amiable with people, and to understand that everyone is different. I know that someday, when I am a teacher, I have to keep an open mind to other religions, cultures, and economic statuses. Being a teacher, I can not afford to have prejudices, I have to look beyond that and think of the bigger picture. Every person deserves a solid education and opportunity, and that will someday be my job. That being said, when collaboration with other people affects my achievement or well being, I don't want to do it. I do not like group projects because I don't think they are fair. I would much rather work by myself instead of stressing out over what I have to do and what my group members are doing. 

In the end, myself, along with two of my group members, split up the work and got an equal amount done. However, one member of my group did absolutely nothing. We all offered to do a part of the project, where as she did not. She did not help with research, she didn't help in creating the Prezi presentations, she didn't help with any of the research paper. Nothing. Group texts were sent out between us throughout the few weeks we had to work on the project, and she never responded. Texts were sent out the day before the presentation was given about stepping up our game because the first few presentations were AWESOME and our's sucked compared to their's, but she never responded to that. The day of the presentation, she asked how the presentation was going, and I told her, of course. After, she started asking about the texts that were sent out the night before, and asked if we got any of her texts. She started apologizing and saying her phone didn't work, and then she went on facebook and that didn't work... blahblahblah. First of all, we had how many weeks to work on it? And she had how many opportunities to help? Also, she could have easily gone on Google Drive to get updated, or got on the Prezi account to work on the presentation throughout the weeks we worked on it, and she didn't.

IN CONCLUSION, school group projects are unfair. There's always going to be that one person who just slides by, getting a good grade that they don't deserve, or that one person who doesn't emit as much effort as the rest of the group does. There's always going to be that one person who goes above and beyond, more than everyone else, not giving the rest of the group the opportunity to shine. I think it is important to be able to work with other people and to be understanding of people's differences, but I don't think that school group projects are the best way at practicing collaboration with others.

PowerPoint (UNGH)

I'm a little unsure how I feel about making my powerpoint.

In my Teaching with Technology class, I was assigned to make a PowerPoint presentation explicating a lesson plan. Since I am a Middle School Education major, I decided it would be appropriate to use a fifth grade level curriculum, that of which included Reading Comprehension. I used my powerpoint to express the difference between synonyms and antonyms, and how to correctly decipher suffixes and affixes for certain words. I enjoyed the whole creativity aspect of the project. I liked choosing backgrounds and picking pictures appropriate for each slide. I used photobucket to find these particular pictures and backgrounds; I have always considered the website to be a useful tool in finding pictures for any project because they have such a wide variety. As far as the actual material, I used a website called FLOCABULARY, which included a list of fifth grade vocabulary words, which I chose for my synonyms and antonyms to include in the powerpoint. Part of the criteria for the project was to use hyperlinks throughout the powerpoint. I thought I would make a quiz/game out of it and use hyperlinks to direct the students to different slides if they answered questions correctly. However, I ran into a major obstruction while doing this. Half of my hyperlinks wouldn't work. I stressed out a little over it. I figured it was just that my laptop was 'goofed' up and for some reason wouldn't allow me to open them. I found out, though, that I couldn't put the blame on my laptop because, after putting the powerpoint on a flashdrive and trying it on my roommate's laptop, the links also wouldn't open on her computer. I tried re-hyperlinking on her laptop, but I still had no luck. I also tried opening the hyperlinks in the library, and on the classroom computers, but the stubborn links refused to open. My professor ended up being able to get the first serious of question's, in this case my synonyms, hyperlinks to work, but I couldn't help but be super bummed out that my links refused to cooperate. The whole hyperlink fiasco kind of made me skeptical about powerpoint. Like I've said, I did enjoy the creation aspect of the project, but the hyperlink thing really pissed me off. I'm sure, with practice, I'll enjoy creating powerpoints more, but in the future I will try to stay away from too much hyperlinking.

JUST FOR LAUGHS

Two More for the Roll

A Few Sites I Really Like

I very much enjoyed Lauren Conrad's website/blog. The once reality television star (Laguna Beach and The Hills), is now a best-selling author and a 'fashionista'. Her web page contains a little bit of everything, she explains how to do hair styles and make-up styles, she gives out fashion tips, and basically any other essentials a girl needs to know. Basically, her site includes everything pinterest would. The site is lay-outed very well, I would use the adjectives "fun" and "pretty" to describe the site. She includes videos and snap-shots in her blogs/articles to make the site even more interesting. I was very impressed with her site and chances are I'll visit it a lot. CHECK IT OUT!!! 

The other Blog I very much enjoyed was a site called Design*Sponge. The layout of this site was also very cool. There are more than one creators/authors of the blogs/site, but each creator has awesome ideas. I also really liked the posts, which included miscellaneous things such as home interior, decorations, different kinds of delectable treats, and much, much more. It's definitely really cool and worth checking out.  

My Beliefs about Technology and Learning

I think that as we progress into the Educational Society we will come across more advance technology. It's obvious that technology is rapidly getting more and more convenient. Take the Apple iPhone for example. Newer versions seem to come out quicker than I can even follow. I do believe it is important for students to learn how to navigate certain aspects WITHOUT technology, such as doing math without a calculator or finding the definition of a word using a dictionary. We, as human beings, can catch certain things that computers cannot. With that being said, if we are not taught to navigate without technology, we are better off in the long run. However, as I've mentioned, technology is advancing faster than we can say PEANUT BUTTER AND JELLY as we enter into the future. It's very important to know how to navigate technology inside and outside of learning facilities to keep our knowledge up-to-date. I also believe that new technology really can help us learn. A prime example is my laptop; it's been a godsend as far as learnings concerned. It facilitates research and writing etc. CONCLUDING THIS SUBJECT MATTER: I believe Technology goes a long way with Learning. Technology is important for learning. And learning about technology is ideal for the years to come.

Important Educational Issue

An Educational Issue That is Important to Me.

There are too many educational issues that I believe are important. The issue I am going to focus on, though, is the issue of Sex Education and Drug Abuse Classes. These topics are usually covered in Health Courses, naturally, but the programs that schools provide are highly flawed. I am fresh out of highschool, I have just recently underwent these programs, and I have found that school did not prepare me or inform me AT ALL for real life experiences.

SEXUALEDUCATION: At my high school, we had a week long program about Sex. I believe it was called REAL LOVE WAITS. I am not dissing on the program at all- I do believe that it was helpful. However, it was very biased. Instead of giving students information on how to practice safe sex, they gave information on how to practice abstinence. YES- abstinence is key, but we all know very well that probably about 95% of high school students experiment and engage in some sort of sexual activity. Telling a child NOT TO PUSH THE BIG RED BUTTON only initiates them to push that big red button. It's the same thing with sex, if you sit there and tell them not to do it, it is only going to make them want to do it more. Kids don't need to be taught abstinence, they need to be taught safe sex, and the effects of what happens if they do not engage in safe sex. They also need to be taught that if they DO choose not to abstain from sex, it does not make them a bad person- It makes them human. It's clearly what no one wants for their kids: to be going around having sex. NEWSFLASH they are going to do it anyway, whether we are aware of it or not. Would you rather have your children running around having unsafe sex and getting STDs or would you rather them be engaging in safe sex? EXAMPLES OF HOW THE SEXUAL ED PROGRAM AT MY HIGH SCHOOL DID NOT WORK: Many Students got infected with chlamydia by not using a condom. Many girls became pregnant, one of which who graduated with me in 2011. She now has two children.
DRUG ABUSE CLASSES: In high school, we were taught what drugs were out there and what negative affects they have on our brains. Anything that I have learned about drugs has been from personal experiences, not from my health courses. It's the same thing with the Sexual Education classes,    If a child is told not to do something, it makes them want to do it. Clearly drugs is a whole other era then sex. Drugs really actually do damage your brain, but what seemed that my Health teachers didn't exemplify were actual cases and scenarios of how that drug affects a person. Like I said previously, I have learned the dangers of drugs not by what was taught in school, but what I have experienced. EXAMPLES OF HOW THE DRUG ABUSE PROGRAM DID NOT WORK: Nearly everyone in my hometown who went to my high school has experimented with marijuana (although I'm sure in years to come marijuana will be legalized), many, if not all students have experimented with drinking, many students drive after drinking, I know personally many people who have experimented with varieties of pills and LSD, One of my best friends from high school got into 'snorting' pills. She has dropped out of school and is now in a rehab program.

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 IN CONCLUSION: The Drug Abuse and Sexual Education programs that schools provide are flawed. The problem of using drugs and engaging in unsafe sex persists and only gets worse.

I BELIEVE SOMETHING IN THE CURRICULUM NEEDS TO CHANGE.