The Power Team

We briefly touched on this essay in class but the one thing that we did dicuss was the fact that it is a controversial essay.  With that little piece of information in mind I wanted to make sure that I kept and open mind while I read this.  After I did finish reading the essay I understood how people could feel an issue with the topic but at the same time I didn't have a problem with it.  Basically, the essay was about this power lifting team that goes around to churches, gatherings and schools and put on a show of pure strenght and muscle.  The purpose of this team is not only to break any possible object but also to try and spread the Christian faith.  A lot of their acts represent different obsticles or issues that people face no matter what faith they follow.  For instance, one final act that they do is where they break a set of hand cuffs, this is supposed to represent breaking away fromt the devil and sinning.  In the essay it talked about how this is just considered baiting people to tune and and listen to the Christian faith.  If so, it is working well and I have no issue with it. 

I did not have much of a probleme with this essay.  I felt like if people want to come watch them break things but don't want to listen to them talk about faith then they don't have to come.  It is part of the act, it is a two part act and if people don't like it then they don't have to watch or be a part of it.  One important thing I took from this essay is that this team also talks to schools and teens.  One person actually said in the essay that they stopped a few teen sucides and that all the lifting and working out makes it all worthwhile when that happens.  I think that if these men are getting through to these types of teens then let it continue.  The power team is only trying to do what they believe in and think is right.  It is not right to condem these men because people think their show is just bait.  They are doing a noble cause and I support it.

Sixth post: A plague of tics

I have never known someone that has had an issue with tics but this story does and a wonderful job at explaining to the reader what it is like dealing with tics.  Basically, this boy in the story is burdend with tics his entire life and he struggles with it as a young boy.  His parents do not support him and his teachers seem to offer little help.  The same routine everyday is part of his daily life and he just can't find anyway to break the habbit.  One day he is in the car and his day is driving and he gets the ich to put his nose up to the windshield.  This is a bad idea because his dad pushes on the breaks and he flys into the windshield and gets a bloody nose.  Most would think that the consequences in this situation would out weigh the positivies but that is not the case.  The boy likes the feeling of pain, because it releases a sort of feeling that he never can get rid of.  For the rest of his life he continues to cause pain to himself until college.  In college he finds drinking and smoking and his tics started to retreat.  The smoking is almost like a sort of medication for him.  He continues to always find himself with a cigarette and constantly needs one to resist his need to twitch.

It is a shame that his parents did not help him out.  I feel bad for the boy because this is such a difficult life to live when you are burdend with a disorder like this.  Also, it is sad to see him resort to drugs and alchohol to eaze his pain of the tics.  I did particuarly enjoy this story though because it provided me with a vivid understand of what someone goes through on a daily basis living with a condition like this.  It must be so difficult and I respect anyone that has to live with it.

blog post 5

                The one particular question that I hope to answer in my paper deals with the debate over whether or not technology used in the school is harmful or beneficial to the students.  My stance on this topic is that technology does in fact promote learning, achievement, and motivation and in turn it is beneficial to students.   In any research paper it is important to have a standing thesis on your particular stance.  My thesis for this paper is as such; it important to incorporate technology in the classroom because it promotes academic achievement, student learning, and student motivation. 

                I know that there has been a lot of debate recently about whether or not technology is beneficial or harmful to students, so I chose to pick this particular topic because I wanted to further investigate this controversy.  After reading multiple pieces of literature and research on this topic, I decided that technology does more than it hurts.  We live in a society where technology is prevalent with almost everything we do.   With that being said, technology has started to become more available in the classroom through the use of computers, smart boards, webcasts and many other devices.  These privileges in the classroom are extremely helpful to the students because it promotes a sense of active learning all the time.  There are two different types of learning, passive and active learning.  Passive learning is where the students are sitting in their seats taking in information, basically just verbally listening.  Active learning is where the students are engaged in learning, they are moving around, talking to each other, interacting with something else that complements their learning.  While many students use technology for this very reason many people also feel as though technology in the classroom takes away from valuable learning time and skills.  For instance, one particular argument that people would make is the fact that sometimes technology does not always cooperate and there can be technical glitches that get in the way.  This does in fact take away from time the teacher could spend teaching and working with students.  Also, many people feel as though technology does not address student’s specific needs, which can only be addressed with teacher to student interaction.  I would argue this because there are multiple educational computer games that help with student learning, which address particular needs like fluency, comprehension, vocabulary, basic math skills and many more. 

                I have read multiple sources of information on this topic and like most things, there are pros and cons to anything that is done or used.  In this instance I feel strongly that the pros out weight the cons.  I have read multiple online sources dealing with the controversy; I have read a few scholarly journals on based on the test scores and the achievement rates of students when using technology in the classroom.  Also, I have read two books that describe what technology in the classroom exactly means and entails.  There is a lot of data, ideas and knowledge on this topic that I have yet to review, I will continue to read the research and I hope to further support my position with correlating facts. 

Plagiarism Lines Blur for Students in Digital Age

As our class starts to research information and we begin to form ideas about possible papers, I think it is appropriate that we are aware of plagiarism and what it has become.  The definition from this article is the act of passing off someone else’s work as your own.  Now that is a pretty specific definition but for most students the difficulty is finding the boundary or the line to be drawn when taking and using other people’s information.  In the article a lady by the name of Sarah Wilensky said that she thinks one particular reason students do plagiarize is because “students leave high school unprepared for the intellectual rigors of college writing”.  She continues to talk about how students need to be taught how to read sources of information and change them into our own words, if that was taught in middle school and high school then this issue wouldn’t be so prevalent.  

 I agree 100% with her statement that students need to be taught how to research correctly in high school  because so many students, me included, read information on a website or a journal and we simply feel like we can use those same words; or we get lazy and just decide to copy and paste.  This is wrong and where the line is crossed with plagiarism.  I had one teacher do a little lecture on the correct way to research and avoid plagiarism.  Basically, what she said was to read the information you are researching, then from there completely close that web page or book and write what you remember in your own words.  From there on out, every time that I research sometime I make sure to just look at the information as a reference then I write what it says in my own words. 

Effects of Technology in the classroom

Does technology in the classroom promote success?

            As a future educator it is important to be aware of what types of educational tools will not only help me as a teacher but help my students as a learner.  Our world is constantly changing and evolving with new technology in the palm of our hands and it is important that we use it to our advantages.  In the last few months I have read a few articles on very particular pieces of technology that will not only change our lives outside of the classroom but also inside it.  Children as young as elementary school are starting to have computers, cell phones and Ipads.  It a different generation of minds, a generation in which technology is prevalent with the youth it is no wonder that technology is being used so much in the classroom. 

            I am interested in researching the effects that technology has in the classroom because I know of more and more teachers that are using computer, smart boards and other devices to propel students in a successful direction.   I understand that there are many tools out there to promote success but I want to find out if they are really helpful to students and their achievement. 

            I am excited to research this topic because I think it is important for all teachers to be aware of the effects, positive or negative that technology has on children in the classroom.       

Annotation

Dalton, Bridget, and Dana L. Grisham. "10 Ways to Use Technology to Build a Better Vocabulary." Internation Reading Association.

This journal is important to all teachers that want to make sure there students are getting all the proper tools to become a successful reader, writer and thinker.  This journal makes readers realize that we live in a day in age where children in elementary and middle school are growing up with computers and use them regularly.  As teachers we must understand the technology can be a tool to help them become successful.  The article presents ten ways to go so and this will make it easy for the teacher to pinpoint was is necessary for their students.  The journal gets to the point and is surrounded by important information.    

Attached to Technology and Paying a Price

I enjoyed reading this story and thought that the author made a lot of important points.  I did agree with everything he was saying as well as the main purpose of the story but I do have a little different take on story.  There were many points made in the story that I was never really aware of.  The author cited many different research studies as well as important facts that would definitely persuade the reader to sway away from multi-tasking as well as being too dependent on technology.    

            The main issue of this story is that technology is becoming such a major part of our modern day life that maybe there is starting to become some negative effects from it.  For instance, multi-taskers that are doing too much at one time sometimes have trouble filtering out irrelevant information that are receiving with modern issues and events.  Also, the author makes it a point to the reader that too much technology is bad for young children that are still developing their brain.  I can defiantly see how this is a problem because it can turn into a health related issue and affect the child for the rest of their life.  The author continues to prove his point that technology is affecting our lives by continually going back to the main character in the story, Mr. Campbell.  Mr. Campbell has a family with a loving wife and children that are under the impression that he cares more about his smart phones, his tech savvy devices and his video games than he does his own family.  This may or may not be the case but in multiple examples Mr. Campbell is more concerned with these devices than he is with him family, from vacations to simple family days he is always busy and always needing to be connected.

            It seems that the author is trying to make a point to the reader that with tech savvy our world is becoming that it can possibly become unhealthy.  I do agree with the author that this technology can become distracting as well as unhealthy.  It can lead to many issues that the author didn’t mention from depression to even violence.  The author threw out a pretty interesting stat as well, saying, “that people at home consume 12 hours of media a day on average”.  Clearly 12 hours is extremely overwhelming and defiantly unnecessary.  It is a shame that this is the type of world we live in, something has to change.

            I mentioned earlier that I do agree with everything the author has said but I just want to point out that to some people like myself, technology has made me a smarter person, from becoming a better reader to becoming a better writer.  I am thankful that we have all the technology that we do out there.   I understand how to manage my social media networks as well as the time spent on my Ipad and my computer.  I do benefit greatly from the opportunity and privileges that technology provides me with.

Introduction

What's good English 202.  Im Nick Fallone and I am a junior at IUP, my major is Elementary Education and it is probably the best major on campus.  I have a focus on urban education and I will be student teaching for an entire year next year in Pittsburgh.  I am from North Huntingdon, P.A. and back home I live with my mom, dad and sister.  I am a hip hop dancer and have been doing so for about 6 years.  I also play volleyball here at IUP, im the captain and president.  English is sweet, science blows! Go STEELERS!!