My Plan to Use the NYC Pop Ban as a Lesson

            I personally believe this ban is ridiculous. Everyone I talked to seems to agree with me. By banning pop(I will never ever refer to pop as soda) in schools the school board seemed to show how uneducated they are on the subject. The argument is in terms of how unhealthy pop is and yet diet pop is still allowed? Diet pop has been proven to be worse for you than regular, so it seems to me that those in charge are just going off of an uneducated opinion. I can't understand this decision at all, but I digress.
            There are a few ways that I could use this topic to teach students my subject of biology. One way for instance would be group studies. This is where I split the students into groups and they do research and present their findings in the form of a presentation to the class, or they just write a research paper and show me what they've learned. I would of course make them relate this to the subject of biology, and would make them find research that gives scientific backing for their findings. For instance, in their research they'd find out about what is in the different pops and what about it is unhealthy and how this is related to the obesity problem in America.
            Another way to go about this would be a debate in which half the class picks one topic then prepares for this debate for a day and debates it out later. I could use this opportunity to teach them to research or I just could provide the research so that they can focus on interpreting scientific research. The way I'd set the debate up is for instance in a class of 20 I'd split the groups into four teams of five people and two of the groups would be pro pop and two would be against it. I'd allow teams time to review the subject and then discuss amongst themselves during class. Then the two pros and two teams anti pop groups with meet and discuss their group findings, and then the debate would unfold.
            There are of course other ways to incorporate this but these were the first two that came to mind. If I wanted to let the kids use technology then it would be useful to have them research this topic online. They could communicate their findings to me through email and see if they need any improving at all.

Post Class Reflections

            I didn't really know what to expect going into my EDU 504 class last week. I remember from Jeff's previous talks about the class that neither professor was exactly a wiz at technology, so I didn't know what kind of approach this class would take. As you can tell by me putting this blog up a week late I really am horrible at technology. If this class was about how to use computer programs for specific tasks I feel that this would be very challenging for myself, but at the same time this may be what I need the most. My fears of technology were quieted by the professors essentially saying that this class was about knowing how technology applies to the classroom and how to use it. We are not exactly being drilled on specific computer programs, and this will make the course easier for me but I wouldn't have minded learning how to better use technology either. This class did make me excited for the future though because I do find it interesting to learn about the applications of technology.

            After all the introductions had been done we proceeded to address the Sheskey reading "Creating Learning Connections with Today's Tech-Savvy Student". In the discussion of this article we addressed students and their accountability in the classrooms. All of this discussion was very engaging and it seemed like most people were interested in the subject. This article brought up discussion of whether or not it's ok to put students work up for everyone to see through technology. While some people believe that other students seeing their work may push them to be better, I think it invades their privacy. I personally did not come from a school were technology was allowed in the classroom, so this was strange to me to envision a class where this goes on.

            Through this class I came to an understanding that in todays world technology is basically a second language. Young people are fluent in it and if I hope to connect with them I should know how to speak the same language as them. I can see from the Sheskey reading how it could improve classroom life, but also how technology can be controversial as well.

            I guess that it's time for me to learn how to use technology. This is my first ever blog, never thought I'd be blogging but here I am. I am willing to do whatever it takes to best serve my future students and if learning how to use technology in and out of class is a step I need to take them I'm fully willing to learn. Maybe one day I'll start texting!