After looking at this cartoon and looking up the word Ticonderoga, I figured out that it was just a fort that was taken from the British by the Green Mountain Boys in 1775. Definition All I can really gather is that he is saying that the cheap stuff like paper and pens break easy and we need to replace that with the more expensive stuff? I am not really sure so I sent him a post asking him to explain. So when he responds to that I will add to this short paragraph.
Why are these Kids playing Games!?!?
Pencil Quest
In both of these blog post the teacher lays out conversational posts between himself and another ,teacher or student, and it always is interesting. While I was reading the first one about the strict principal, I was behind the teachers view the whole time. I would argue that the principal was overreacting when it came to the "no game policy" however, he is the boss and I think the teacher respects that. The principal wants him to just teach the class about memory skills in order that they may all do well on the rote memorization test. This teacher is teaching the students the skills needed to achieve a great status in life, instead of teaching them about just memorizing. In the end I believe the teacher is being a little bit of a "smart butt" when he quotes his solution, "My solution: we'll create an algorithm factory and integrate it into our Conflict-Oriented Reading and Writing Project (a.k.a. The Factory Game)"
In the second post, I get a chance to read about the class going on a scavenger/ and dealing with riddles. They are to use pencils to write down about what they find in order to move on to the next point. The whole project was a pre-thought out one that involved students going from station to station following a map and reading pages, followed by writing them. I like how the teacher incorporates pencil usage instead of the computers. If this teacher is anything like anything we have been studying I might argue that he is just doing this to teach the students about how easy and more fun the classroom would be with technology. I am not sure what this teachers approach is after reading a few of his blogs. I did however send him a post asking for some explanation.
Don't Teach None Of It
I really enjoyed McLeod's post. His sarcasm was on point in delivering his message to the readers around the world. His word choice and sentence structure really helped back up his message. He acts like he is supporting all of these views and then in the end he allows the reader to know that his class is actually doing all of this "evil" stuff and that they are going to be ahead in the world. For my last project I am writing a song/poem and one of the lines are,
"This group made a podcast, this one is recording a book trailer, my class is going to be ahead of the game with not a single failure." I can relate to both sides of his post as well. I know how it feels to not want kids to have the computers. However, I would argue that my reasons are different from the ones he names such as porn and tasteless stuff. I simply believe that when kids are that young they do not need to be shoved in front of a computer. They need to be out learning, exploring, and having fun with friends. Not in front of a computer. After reading all some of the comments left, I realized that not everyone really understood Mr. Mcleod's sarcasm. Some just supported his bashing of the internet, and other's thought it was cool how he was trying to "mislead" all the other teachers into making them not use computers so he could have a one up on them in the world. Regardless of what they all said in their post, Mr. Mcleod was professional in his writings and really showed a bunch of people the silliness in trying to restrict kids from computers in the classroom.
Thank you Mr. Mcleod
Thank you Mr. Spencer
A Papermate is a pen (or mechanical pencil). A Ticonderoga is a brand of ....
ReplyDeleteHey Keith,
ReplyDeleteLet me help you a bit. The picture above actually argues the difference between a Papermate and a Ticonderoga. These are both brands of pencils. It argues that when compared to a Mac, the PC may be cheaper but it has less qualities or in the case of the Papermate, it may break all of the time. Have you ever heard of the saying," You get what you pay for"? This is what this picture is saying.
In "Why are your kids playing games" I was a little upset at the principal's approach because we have read many blogs that state how the lesson plan should be student centered and I just felt this principal was not concerned with this concept. In "Pencil Quests" I think the message was more about how technology is rapidly changing!
You were on point with Dr. McLeod. He was funny wasn't he? I really enjoyed his sarcasm as well! I am looking forward to watching your final reflection. It sounds very interesting.
I hope I helped you clarify a lot of the questions you had with these post.
Hang in there! We are almost through!
The first part of the assignment was to explain the cartoon. Papermate is a metaphor for a PC. Ticonderoga is a metaphor for a Mac. The cartoon characters resemble the stars of the long series (66 over 4 years) of Apple ads starring John Hodgman as PC and Justin Long as Mac.
ReplyDelete2. The second part of the assignment was to read the post Why Were Your Kids Playing Games? , read at least one other post, create a link to in on your post, write a quality post about the two posts you read.
3. The third part of the assignment was to read the post and some comments by previous students and then to discuss your position on the arguments made by Dr. McLeod.
In addition you were to send Tweets to Mr. Spencer and Dr. McLeod.
You missed the metaphor in the cartoon.
You missed the message Mr. Spencer was sending via the cartoon.
You apparently understood, at least partially, the message of Mr. Spencer's post in which the principal wants him to practice "drill and memorize" activities instead of projects or other learning approaches. All to pass the tests. But you do not catch the metaphor Spencer uses to compare the late 1800s to now.
You understood the satire of Mr. McLeod. You made an interesting argument to support your belief that young children should not be confined to classrooms but should have many opportunities to engage in exploratory activities outdoors. I doubt that you will have much success in achieving this. The schools and the children will object.
You got the message of Mr. McLeod which is that you can try to keep your kids away from technology which is fine with me. Mine will use it and speed past your kids in skills, abilities and rewards.
You read the comments left by previous students.
As is the case in other writings of your, you are colloquial in your approach when the objective of EDM310 is to have you write as a professional educator.
"While I was reading the first one about the strict principal, I was behind the teachers view the whole time." Awkward. Better: In Spencer's story, I supported the teacher rather than the principal.
"In the end I believe the teacher is being a little bit of a "smart butt" when he quotes his solution, 'My solution: we'll create an algorithm factory and integrate it into our Conflict-Oriented Reading and Writing Project (a.k.a. The Factory Game)' " You miss the satire and metaphor that mr. Spencer is using. This is an example of your inappropriate colloquial approach to your writing.
"In the second post, I get a chance to read about the class going on a scavenger/ and dealing with riddles. They are to use pencils to ... " You again missed Mr. Spencer's metaphor. Think iPads (or other technologies) instead of pencils. Angyl White is correct in her comment immediately above.
" I am writing a song/poem and one of the lines are, ..." Use is instead of are since the subject is one (singular) and are is plural. Omit the comma after are.