Blog Assignment #10

Papermate or Ticonderoga

This cartoon from the blog, "Adventures in Pencil Integration,"by John T Spencer, was fairly easy for me to understand. The papermate tends to try and spend less money on objects despite the poor quality of it. A ticonderoga will spend the extra money if it's good quality. I personally am a ticonderoga. I'll spend the extra money on something if I know it will last me a long time. Basically, this cartoon is saying if you are a papermate then you're the type of person that tries to save money, but will end up spending more in the long run because of faulty equipment. If you're a ticonderoga then you will spend the extra money to get good quality. Mr. Spencer commented on his blog about the cartoon saying, "it's a mock of a Mac and a PC," well, I have a Mac so it confirms my argument that I'm a ticonderoga.

Why Were Your Kids Playing Games?
"Why Were Your Kids Playing Games," by John T. Spencer is a post of a conversation between a teacher and a principal. The post starts off by the principal telling the teacher they need to talk. It's easy to tell that the principal is a stickler for rules, because he won't even shut the door for their conversation because of his "open door policy". The principal goes on to condemn the teacher for what he calls "playing games instead of teaching".

"The game" that the principal accuses the teacher of playing with his students consists of the students reading a scenario and then writing our their solutions in a descriptive way. The principal is so against games because of a hangman game that went poorly in 1985. The main point the principal isn't grasping in this conversation is that the students were engaged, and learning.

I believe this principal is way over the top. Having educational games in a classroom is a good idea. It keeps the students involved, and eager to participate. Students learning is the whole point, and to me it doesn't matter how that is done as long as its tactful.

Spelling Checker
The post I chose to read was, "Spelling Checker," by John T. Spencer. This post started off with Mr. Spencer telling us about a letter that was sent to him by a students mother. The mother was upset with Mr. Spencer's "spelling checker program" he uses to correct misspelled words. I completely disagree with this mothers complaint, and completely agree with Mr. Spencer's method. He underlines the misspelled words so the student knows what they have done wrong, and then gives them a dictionary to use as a learning tool, by making the student look up the word.

Students shouldn't be given every answer. They should have to put in some effort, and learn on their own. The complaining mother wants her child to be babied, and Mr. Spencer refused. Mr. Spencer responded to the mother by sending her a graph of the decrease in spelling errors due to his system. I will definitely be implementing a system similar to Mr. Spencer's system in my classroom. The best way for a child to learn is on their own with only the guidance of a teacher.

Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff Please?
"Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please," by Scott Mcleod is a great example of being stuck in your ways. Mr. Mcleod is being sarcastic saying not to teach your kids technology. The principal from "Don't Teach Your Kids This Stuff" reminds me a lot of this post, because the principal also refuses to change his views on certain subjects. I completely disagree with not evolving with the world. Technology is only growing, and if teachers aren't growing with it then they are doing a disservice for their students.