PLN 1 Summer Reading

During the summer i did a lot of reading, i got really into the twilight series! The reason i started reading these books is because my sister has finished all of them and she told me out of any book that series will be my favorite! And it most definitely was! This book is very suspenseful and always leaves you on the edge of your seat! It all starts with Bella, the new girl at school. After a little while she stated noticing weird things happen with this group of kids. she noticed that they are very pail, very strong and have a huge temper. Edward, a kid that hung out in that group started talking to Bella one day and they started to get to know each other. After a while she puts two and two together and find out that there is something unique about Edward, And why can't Edward be in the sun for too long?

PLN 22 - US Life Expectancy Experiences Slight Dip

The CBS News HealthWatch article, "US Life Expectancy Experiences Slight Dip" talked about how the average life expectancy for a US citizen has dropped by amount a month.  Arialdi Minino, the author of the preliminary 2008 report, said the drop in life expectancy was very small and worked out to be about one tenth of a year.  Minino also said that it would be very difficult to determine if this drop will be the beginning of a trend in lower life expectancies.  The 2008 report showed a drop for both men and women.  The report says that a baby born in 2008 can expect to live to 77.8 years of age if the current trend continues. This is down from the 2007 number of 77.9.  They are not sure what is causing the decline and may not know for some years.  The report is created by combining data from all of the death certificates in 2008. A final report will be released later.  This article matters to me because it makes me wonder what might be causing Americans to live shorter lives.  A tenth of a year doesn't seem like a lot of time, but if this starts a trend could mean I won't live as long as my parents.  This article matters to education because many students will be interested in learning why this is happening and get involved so they can maybe stop it.  This matters to the world because this could be a wake-up call that we need to take better care of ourselves if we want to live longer lives.  

PLN 23 - How Cognitive Surplus Can Change The World

Clay Shirky's talk on "How Cognitive Surplus Will Change The World" talks about how we can make a better world by sharing our brain power.  He uses examples like the Ushahidi website, which started out as a very localized site and is now a worldwide site.  Cognitive surplus is benefiting our world in many ways.  Little ideas can turn into huge ideas for our world.  The blogger that wrote about all the violence going on in Kenya was getting more reports from the field than she could keep up with.  By reaching out to other minds, she learned about two programmers who could take all the different and fast moving information and create one central website.  This shows that we can work together and share our brain power to improve the world.  Clay Shirky's talk relates to me because I learned just how much my ideas can benefit others.  This relates to the classroom when we all put our minds together we get a lot more work done than we would if we were working alone.  This relates to the world because our future can be even better if all of us contribute our ideas and knowledge.

PLN 14

In "Qualities of an Effective teacher" by David Walrick, he explains something lots of teachers don't know. Kids are always looking to have a good time so when you have a really cool teacher learning seems a lot easier and the class periods go by much faster. With modern education kids don't see a reason to go to school, they are very disrespectful to there teachers. Some educators don't handle that well and start being disrespectful back. Which just leads to chaos. This matters to me because when I have a good teacher I usually get a higher grade in that class, and i'm always looking forward to that class. This matters to classrooms because i guarantee students will get higher grades and participate more in school if all teachers were more understanding and reliable. This matters to the world because we will have a better future if the kids of our generation strive, and for them to strive there needs to be good teachers.

PLN 21

After watching  "Changing Education Paradigms" by RSA animate it really went into detail on how similar education is to what it was like when our parents were in school, but there are some changes. some people think education is headed in the wrong direction. Students are not as motivated to go to school anymore because they are not even guaranteed a job and a successful life when they grow older. People think that using standardized testing will make it easier on the kids.  This matters to me because i am in high school and i know my life will be better if i stay in school and get good grades, even if it is stressful. This matters to the classroom because i work with tons of other students that feel the same way i do about school. And this matters to the world because its not fair to spend all your childhood earning your education when you grow up and need to make money for your family all your hard work doesn't even pay off.

PLN 19

After i read "Boys And Boredom" by George F. Will I was not at all suprised because i agree that boys get bored alot faster that girls do. Did you know the average young man has the attention spand of thirty seconds? Boys are only interested when it has something to do with them. This matters to me because i am a boy and i agree that i have an attention spand of thirty seconds, i live with that everyday of my life. This matters to edjucation because half of most schools are boys, so that makes it more difficult to teach because boys get distracted easily. This matters to the world because everywhere you look you will see a guy looking off into nowhere, getting confused or something close to this. I totally agree that boys have a very short attention spand and get bored of things really easy.

PLN 17 - Karl Ficsh's "What If"

In Mr. Ficsh's Powerpoint presentation "What If" he states that students are depending too much on things they purchase. Not things they make, or know how to make. What if the world runs out of these resources they use to make the items you purchase at the store?  What will you do?  Some examples he used was students using pens and pencils instead of chalk on a chalkboard.  Another example he gave was people using "Google" to get information instead of visiting a local library.  This matters to me because I need to start using what the earth gives me to do schoolwork.  I need to try and resist the television; computer and cell phones.  This matters to education because if all the students in the world think like I do than we won't run out of these materials so that our children can live the nice life we get to enjoy living.  This matters to the world because if we all partake in this ... we will have a better life!