At the Teacher's Desk

This collaborative, professional blog site, At the Teacher's Desk is very important for students and teachers because it allows them to connect through learning and sharing information, and also allows them to help others at the same time (Fundred Project). I watched this video on Mr. McClung's post. This project talks about the effects of lead in children which is found in the soil in New Orleans. An art project allows children to make fake one hundred dollar bills; hence the name, "Fundred". Students around the country are asked to design their own bill any way they want to in order to raise awareness about this deadly problem. I did not know about this issue until I read this post. Awesome!

I thought the post by William Chamberlain about tweeting teachers for help while he was filling in for a colleague was intriguing. This shows the power of social networking at its best. He immediately received tweets from teachers with help for the math lesson he had to teach. I believe all teachers should have their own PLN. The post about banning pencils and crayons was a little ridiculous. These tools have been in our schools for decades and do have learning value. Chalk can still be used, along with technology in the classroom. Yes, pencils can be used to injure someone, but so can a ballpoint pen, which was suggested. I think this idea is carrying it a bit too far.

The "Why I Blog" post by Mr. McClung is one to which I can definitely relate. I initially did not see the use of blogging, but as time went by, I realized you can build a network of educators to share ideas with and learn from. The statement, "School is much more than a 8-3 job" is true, and technology can be used inside and outside the classroom. Blogging is an awesome tool and I plan to use it after my EDM 310 course is over. The post by Mr. Chamberlain, "Something That Matters" really hit home for me. Why did someone feel compelled to write these words on a wall at Louisiana Tech? Perhaps they were not being fulfilled with their current direction in life. We do live in a culture that pushes our students and everyone else to get their degree and make as much money as possible. Doing something that actually matters is way down on the list of objectives. Dr. Strange left a comment that basically says, we should model that behavior. For example, Mr. Chamberlain's support of a school in Africa, and Mr. Lamshed's various cancer projects. Students will likely pay attention to our ACTIONS, instead of only our words, when imploring them to do something that matters.