Project vs Teacher-directed

            Although this article purpose was to convince the reader to have a better view on using the project approach method for disadvantaged students I still preferred the teacher-directed approach after reading the article. I know it’s difficult to determine which method would work best for you because you have to know your classroom but for the sake of personal reference I am not fully convinced which one I like the most. After reading this article I learned the benefits and the weakness for both methods. I think the weakness for the methods is what made me have somewhat of a bias opinion. For example don’t like the fact that the teacher-directed method seems to “baby” the disadvantage students more by treating them as if they are incapable of doing anything on their own. For example the article states, “ Their teachers are typically more directive, breaking each task down into smaller pieces, walking the students through procedures step by step, and leaving them with less opportunity to engage in higher-order thinking.” This quote exemplifies how the teacher-directed set up their students to rely fully on them and disadvantages them from growing. The article mentions the fact that these teachers deny disadvantaged students the opportunity to participate and learn from projects and other classroom activities that promotes individual problem solving and higher thinking.

            The project approach method is something that I wouldn’t necessarily feel comfortable doing especially in my first yr of teaching. I feel like one would have to be familiar with students and be comfortable enough with not using the school curriculum. For example the article states that the project approach method was an “ongoing, recursive, improvisational, and challenging.”  As a first year teacher I don’t think I would want that to be my teaching method. In the end both methods could work just at the right timing for the sake of the teacher and students.

Web 2.0

I liked this article mainly because it placed the teaching profession in the spotlight as the most powerful job to have as a career. As I was reading through the article what kept coming to mind was the word “Wikipedia” it’s a clear example of supporting what the article is trying to point out. The technology world has encouraged freedom of speech for everyone of all ages. It’s no longer an information provider but an open mic for anyone to use for their pleasure. The author writes, “we no longer just find and use information: the web is now a participatory, interactive place where we create information collaboratively and share the results…everyone can participate…anyone can control content in Web 2.0 world.”pg 8

            This article supports exactly what I said which is that teachers in some ways have little choice whether or not they will embrace technology in their classrooms. What I liked about this article is that encouraged teachers to embrace technology in optimistic manner as oppose “just because it’s what all teachers are doing.” It expresses the benefits when teachers decide to embrace technology and for the most part I agreed with it. It expressed the fact that because students tend to spend hours on the web teachers can use that to their advantage by using it to motivate and engage students.

            The article points out that educations is suppose to focus on the skills and abilities that students will need if the next generation  is to remain competitive in a changing world.  After I read this article I came to the conclusion that teachers should get more props then they get mainly because society relies on the teaching profession tremendously. I’m recognizing that eventually will have to choose sides and I will have a choice to make whether or not I’m pessimistic about the use of technology because we are coming to rely on it a lot. Or I can take the optimistic outlook and make good use of the advantage. I felt as if this article was arguing that the use of technology has become of the only way that could motivate students to learn web tools to be competitive for the 21^st century.  As a teacher one obviously wants to have a successful class so it makes one question should I just embrace this new web 2.0 phenomenon

Death by PowerPoint?

I found "Death by PowerPoint" far more interesting than "PowerPoint Magic" mainly due to the fact that I felt challenged as a powerpoint user. Having years of experience of using powerpoint i've come to understand the benefits the program and take full advantage of it, especially while being a student. Generally powerpoint usuage is popular in schools, maybe even more in colleges because there is so much more information that is being given. Both students and teachers take use of  the program the one's that still use the tranparencies are considered old fashion. For the most part there is little complaints about the usage of the powerpoint program unless someone is having difficulties in using it.

As student i know more benefits as to why I should use the program but very little reasons for why it should be limited. This is the main reason why i felt that this article challeneged me. I agreed with what was mostly argued such as creating more ways other than relying on powerpoints to engage students. Eventually students will get accustom to using powerpoint and it wont be as engaging. The main purpose of this article to acknowledge that yes the use of powerpoints can be engaging but dont bank on that being your method of keeping students engaged all the time. Instead use other methods that are creative and  is going to work because it's more spontaneous which can always keep people engaged.

Technology for the sake of students

It's difficult for me to embrace a PK-2  grader using technology to foster skills. Mainly due to the fact that they are young and so technology and some ways give them freedom and maturity not many children in other countries are privilege to. I would think that as a PK-2 grader there may be parents that are hesitant of their child using technology because it can place their child in risk situations. Some parents are fearful because the use of technology for their young child can encourage their child to have the desire to explore more which can lead them into trouble. For example one of the example of an learning activity with the use of technology was to "Engage in learning activities with learners from multiple cultures through email and other electronic means."I know parents that wont allow their child to have an existing email account til their an specific age because of the risks they fear. Teachers would have to go out of their way to show their involvement, and supervision.


I recognize that the standards that teachers and students are hoping to succeed in are the same no matter the grade. In the end the result of having the same standards is that they will grow to the point that they are fully skilled in each of the standards. As the student gets older the activities seems to get better with the use of technology. I recognize that in order for them to be able to participate in the older level activities they need to skilled in the steps that will help them in higher level technology usage. I personally believe that PK-2 grade students should not have large amounts of the usage of technology as much as a secondary or High level student should. Mainly because I feel at the PK-2 grade level the child should still be learning without the use of technology, they should be learning the basic skills because technology can be unreliable.