Randy... what an amazing man...

WOW! That's all I can say about this video! I am amazed right now, just after watching it. I think this is something they should show in classrooms and definitely to teachers. It is so inspiring and it just touches your heart. Here are some things I found especially interesting and worth nothing. (Which was hard in a video where every part of it is moving!)

First off, I'd like to make the note that during this whole lecture he is upbeat and extremely humorous. He's making witty comments and cracking jokes about his colleagues. It was extremely uplifting to watch. As he was talking about achieving his dreams, he made it clear that he left them open to translation. He did not have to be Captain Kirk, but meeting him was just as much of an achieved dream. I loved how every story he told had a point of advice to it, and not just advice but real advice that all people could hear and use. Such as the advise given to him by one of his football coaches, "When you're screwing up and no one's telling you, they stopped caring." His stories were interactive and imaginative. They made me realize and remember some of my childhood dreams. What an inspiration!!

When he began to speak on teaching, you could tell it was his life and passion. His whole life was spent making people learn by having fun... "indirect learning!" What an outlook to have as a teacher, to always make something hard for students to learn, fun and interesting, like kind of tricking them into doing it.

He repeatedly mention these brick walls. OBVIOUSLY they meant something. These brick walls in his life made him realize that he really did want these things, and made them that much more satisfying to achieve them. I really think I am going to take an outlook on life with that. A brick wall on means you have to want it more. I always heard him repeat, "Wait long enough and people will impress you. They aren't all evil." This is so true. We as an immediate gratification society, want things to happen now. People building real relationships and showing you their true self does not happen immediately.

I admire him for the ability to say no to becoming a full time Imagineer. I couldn't imagine being faced with this option. Such an honored position and a job that is so dynamic and gives back to the world, but for him to be able to say no and take the option of not being stressed and enjoying his life.

As he discussed his class of 5o students, you could tell his heart was in this class. This was his way to make dreams come true. As a professor or teacher you sometimes have this ability and sometimes there will be many brick walls to making dreams come true instead of teaching the required material. But we know what those brick walls mean. He also mentioned that in this class there was no "book learning." I admire that. It is much harder not to use a pre-written book to cover what you're suppose to be teaching. What a man!

TIGGER VS. EEYORE! What a way to put things into perspective! Here's two options in life pick one. Watch Whinnie the Pooh to see the lives of these characters and you choose who you wanna be!

This man is truly a Tigger man! Even upon death he is still having fun and enjoying his last days. The best gold is usually at the bottom of the barrel of crap...

What I've Learned this Year... Mr. McClung

When I first clicked on this link, on his page the first thing that popped up was, "An important decision I've made this year: stay positive." What an eye catching way to start off a blog on his lessons from his first year teaching. He speaks about how to read the crowd.This is something I feel I have struggled with and hopefully will learn to leave in college as a teacher. As I was reading this I could see myself as the teacher, too worried about her observation that day, and not interacting and teaching my students. This may be way of key, but it reminds me of an episode of Saved By the Bell: Middle School Years. In this episode the teacher is up for a teacher of the year award, and an executive is coming to evaluate her. Her students are too preoccupied with the evaluator to even realize they're in class, let alone learning. She sends the evaluator out because she is there to teach her students. What a great way to think about teaching; to worry about the crowd receiving the message, and not the people watching you.

He also mentioned being flexible. This is something that I don't think I'll have so much of a problem with. Every job, every relationship, every situation in your life teaches you to be flexible and able to adjust. Teaching is only another aspect where you must apply it.

Communication. This is a big one too. Everything in your life teaches you to communicate as well. The only difference is you must be open to it, and ready to do it. In a work setting, where there are many employees, just like you; there are many bosses, like the principals and administrators; and also people under you, your students; you must learn to communicate with each effectively. Each group must be spoken to in a different distinct way, to help them understand. You teach your students so they will hear and understand and want to learn from you; you speak to your boss with understanding, respect, and with the idea of being flexible, and your fellow employees are the same way, they are much like you, but they are still employees.
Let's not forget parents... they are going to be the hardest for me to learn to communicate with I believe.

I believe this course covers the "Don't be afraid of technology aspect..."

Listening to your students: This may be one of the most important things a teacher must learn. I have joked with friends before, telling them I would have my students be able to anonymously tell me when my classroom days were getting boring so we could switch it up a bit. I think your students must be heard and understood. They are what's keeping you employed...

As a teacher I see this phrase of, "Never Stop Learning" keep popping up. Obviously because it is one of the key points of becoming an effective teacher. The times are changing and so is technology, our group of students, families, everything really. As a person interacting with future leaders and adults, if you are not continually learning then, you are failing your job.

It's not about the technology...

Wow! I loved this blog! It explain a lot about how I feel teachers should be in the 21st century. I actually wrote down some of the things she said to remind me, as I become a teacher, what I became a teacher for.
I think that one of the most important, if not the most important, factor of being a teacher is being a teacher who learns. I once got a fortune cookie that said, "The best teacher is a student," and I couldn't agree more. I find that our minds are endless vaults of information, and as a teacher I feel its my job to open this vault for my students. I can only get on their level to teach them if I know them, and I know how to get to evolving students. The students that I student teach with and the students I have my tenth year as a teacher will probably have very different learning styles and technology of which to use for education. I must continually adapt.
I also agree upon the fact that a teacher cannot rely solely on technology as an aid and "teaching method" for their students. Yes, it is vital and extremely helpful, but like Ms. Hines states, communication and problem solving skills are not found on a computer. This is something that also scares me about the future, though. I notice so many students, faculty, parents, everyone really that communicate via technology and not face to face. This means that we as a race are losing our ability to effectively communicate in a personal setting. It's terrifying.
As a future teacher this blog was HIGHLY appreciated and much advice was received out of it...
Thank you Ms. Hines.

A Vision of Students Today...

I enjoyed the video and a lot of the signs the students held up were true. I have MANY teachers who don't know my name. I will be in debt after I graduate. I had to become a multi-tasker because I work 15 hours a week, have 15 hours of class, I have friends, and I am involved at my church. There is no time or money to be a college student. I am forced to work, do class work, and be with some friends (just not to go insane.) Being a student at USA, I have only had a few large classes, so I don't really have to deal with large classes. On the flip side, being a Social Science major I am given thousands of pages of reading assignments that I am also expected to read, when I have school and work, as well...

I think for me the only changes I feel like I would need to make would be the class size, but honestly in this video I think that taking down the size would take away from the message of the video.

Other students blogs....

So today i listened to three different students podcast, which all were very interesting and helpful.

The first group I listened to was on Itunes in education, something I am very interested in. In this group was Angel Clark, Rosa Howard, and Owen Gates. One of the big topics I continue to see popping up in these discussion on using Itunes is that it's free. It is also accessible to Mac and PC computers. The amount of information you can share on an Itunes account is endless; podcast, videos, lectures, music, and play list. One of the problems the students mentioned was that Itunes was limited to computers and Ipods, both of which are quite expensive for some students.
I thought their explanation of this topic was interesting and informative. I really enjoyed it and think they did a good job.

The next group discussed Burpback Education. In the group was Ashley Ryals, Ashley Hill, and Jessica Miller. Going into this discussion I didn't know exactly what burpback education was. They explained the topic in detail and I immediately began to think of teachers I had that have or do this. Their solutions to this problem were amazing for upcoming teachers. Going into education I constantly try to think of ways to not become a burpback teacher. To me that is not a teacher. Anyone could do that. I also enjoyed this discussion and took so much away from it. You can tell where they edited and cut their words, but overall their information was clear and understandable.

The last group Facebook as an educational tool. Something I didn't think would be possible. This group had Jaclyn Hendrix, Kayland Lamar, Brittany Carson and Julia Roe. I am an avid user of Facebook and have yet to see the educational side of it, but as they explained I began to see aspects that could be used for teachers. There are several applications that teachers could use, and Facebook has the option to create a group that can post pictures, notes, and share information between group leaders (something my history professor has done). My thought on Facebook as an education tool is not so positive though. From personal experience and seeing other students, Facebook is easily distracting, and can consume hours of your time. They did explain the things they found well, and their information was well organized.

Other students blogs....

The first student I commented on was Angel Dixon (T/R4). I read her blog on Ken Robinson, which I also listened to. She blogged about how she felt that she agrees with Ken when he said he believed schools were killing creativity. She said she thought that classrooms shouldn't have guidelines for the teachers, so they can teach freely. I disagree with this idea. Without some guidelines some students would be watching movies all day. I think teachers should have some guidelines, but still have the opportunity to teach material in ways they see fit, that some older teachers or faculty may not understand.

The next student I read was Carl Herring(T/R11). I read his blog on "Vikki Davis: Harnessing Your Students Digital Smarts." She suggested that by using the Internet to get students interested in their subject matter. Also by getting them on something they are already interested in and love to be on, it gets them involved in their subject matter; much like a field trip would, but without all the money for admission and transportation.

The last student I read was Haley Mills(T/R4). I read her blog on the use of Itunes in education; something I am really interested in. I feel that the use of Itunes would be such a investment for our students. She also brought up the point that by using Itunes, the teacher could put her lecture on a podcast, which would make them accessible to the parents and for the students for homework purposes.

Google is taking over!!

In some respects I agree with this article on the fact that, I feel sometimes by being online and "Googling" and "Tweeting" that I am losing interest in books and normal articles. I also agree that Twitter and Facebook are our generations drug of choice. You can see the addiction, just take away a teenagers phone or Facebook/Twitter page and they freak. I have had numerous friends try to "quit" Facebook only to have an update a week later... "... is back on Facebook, man I missed this thing." It's crazy! I also have to agree with the feeling of gaining knowledge online. When I am researching or just browsing around, and I find something interesting and informative, I am able to read it then and there; without having to go to the library or borrow it from a friend. It's incredible and can be used for so much good, so much knowledge gain, but also can be addictive and cause so much brain "mush" as I like to call it. (Mush is what your brain gets on when you start browsing Facebook bumper stickers or people's updates.)