it isn't BIG to make others feel small

One out of ever 4 kids will be bullied sometime throughout their adolescence.  I know that bullying is a common  issue among schools but that doesn't make it any less important.  As I prepare to be a teacher I think it is important to understand issues occurring in schools now because it is possible most issues will still be continuing when I have my own classroom.  Recent bullying statistics show that bullying is on the rise among young adults, teens and children.  Bullying isn't going to just go away on its own.  With technology advancing, so is bullying.  Cyber bullying is just as bad if not worse that bullying in school.  Students don't have a place to get away from it and it has the ability to cause serious implications if not fixed.  Bullying can have serious effects on children.  For example, students who are bullied are more likely to be depressed, lonely, and anxious.  They also tend to have low self esteem, feel unwell, think about suicide, and have more migraine headaches.  That is a lot for a student to carry all by themselves.  A teenager should not have those types of problems.  Let me ask you this, school is a place to learn correct? If students have all these problems going through their mind how does that effect their learning ability? their work ethic? 

It may seem like bullying isn't real, especially if you aren't the person being bullied.  I came from a small school where bullying barley happened and when it did, students stood up for each other.  When you get to larger schools more bullying is seen and less is being done about it. Bullying is going to happen, the only solution there is, is to stop it! If you see it, tell someone! say something! don't just let it go 


160,000 students stay home on any given day because they're afraid of being bullied.
43% fear harassment in the bathroom at school.
282,000 are physically attacked in secondary school each month
1 out of 3 students surveyed said they hear another student threaten to kill someone
Do you want more statistics? or even statistics on cyber bullying? click here!

All it takes is one person to stand up and do what's right!

There are ways to help stop bullying, one way is to learn about it

BULLYING IS WHACK! GET ON THE RIGHT TRACK

Twitter

Before this class I already has a twitter. My twitter. However, I haven't had it long.  I was against twitter until my friend made one for me.  I don't love twitter but I'm getting used to it.  For education purposes I still don't see a point for a teacher student relationship.  I do see how it can be helpful for a teacher to see other educators blogs and get ideas.  To me, it isn't necessary to have students get info from a teachers twitter.  There are other ways.  But, I almost contradict myself when I say that as a student in the education program I would like to see tweets from other math teachers.

PowerPoint!

The power point excercise was useful to learn how to use powerpoint and all the techniques.  But, in my own opinion math shouldn't be taught through a power point.  I know that technology is changing and we need to change our ways but I believe power point to be useful under certain circumstances.  The presentation of the power point was good because it was nice to see what other people came up with and their perspectives.

CHAPTER ONE:

I have finished chapter 1 from the book Personal Learning Networks, Using the Power of Connection to Transform Education, written by Will Richardson and Rob Mancabelli.  Because I'm only through the introduction and the first chapter I still have an open mind and many thoughts bouncing around in my head.  Understanding the power of personal learning networks is very important because of the effects they can have.

I may not agree that all the network effects are positive however, I do agree that these effects are present in schools that are immersed in global learning networks.


1. Students are better prepared for life and work in the 21st century.
2. Classrooms are more engaging.
3. Students are responsible for their own learning.
4. Instruction is more individualized.
5. Adults become better at their jobs and build problem-solving capacity.
6. Students are safer.
7. Schools save time and money.

I do believe that schools with more technology and global networking can better prepare students for life in the 21st century.  It is clear that technology has advanced extreme amounts and will continue to advance so it is important for younger generations to be prepared.  Global learning networks can make classrooms more engaging but I feel that it also gives students the opportunity to get off task easier. Students being responsible for their own learning and instruction being more individualized has its hight points.  As shown by the author students would be more interested in their work and they could create their own text with resources that fit their learning style instead of a generic textbook.  In my opinion, there needs to be some sort of control and organization in the classroom.  It brings about the question, how might this affect state standards? I completely agree that adults become better at their jobs and build problem-solving capacity because global networks would give the opportunity for feedback.  Teachers need to be active learners and this allows them to actively learn all the time.  Educating students on how technology works and the dangers of that can keep students safer however, the internet can be unsafe even if you are aware of the dangers.  Opening global technology to kids at an early age has the possibility to be very unsafe when used improperly.  Lastly, I can see how networking can save schools time but money?  Technology is very expensive and some schools have trouble affording generic textbooks.

Any school can make changes toward being more globally networked.  This change will not be easy and it will take time but in the end I think it will be worth it.  Transformation in technology is going to happen whether we like it or not, so instead of fighting against it we might as well work with it to transform education.