Feb 14, 2010

Who's Been Messin with My Wikipedia? Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia, and Wired

I'll never forget when I first started to use the internet as a child, all the adults in my life warned me not to trust everything that I would read on the internet. Teachers were always telling their classes, don't go to this site for a reference, "It's unreliable!" As the internet became a more popular, and almost a necessity of life, the less I would hear the famous, "it's unreliable," quote! As I was reading this blog, it was like I was having flash backs to when I was a child. I cannot deny the fact that I was in complete shock when I read some of the sources that were editing Wikipedia. You would assume that a website would be reliable if people from the CIA, or members of congress are doing the editing, but that does not seem to be the case. I was in disbelief when I read that Congressmen were editing their own entries, which I shouldn't have been since there is scandal after scandal in the news about all different types of political party members. I guess if they can pull off some of the things you hear in the news, why wouldn't they edit themselves on the internet to look better!?!? I believe that if sources of this stature are editing Wikipedia, then they should let viewers know. Why hide who's editing these pages? Well, the answer to that question became very clear to me when I read Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia. It's unbelievable to me that Wal-Mart changes so drastically what they say about wages and what employees should make, or that Corporations are allowed to delete information involving integrity of that company. I was very upset when I read that one company erased information involving them in environmental disasters. With the use of the Wikipedia Scanner, I hope that the information on Wikipedia does become more reliable. I guess it's safe to say that all the adults in my life were right when they said, "It's unreliable!"


What I've Learned This Year

I wish college would teach this life experience to new teachers instead of teaching standards! standards! standards! I learned way back, before I even decided I wanted to be an educator, that education is all about standards. I do not think that I need to pay thousands of dollars to learn that lesson. I knew how important standards were when I was still in High School taking test, after test, after test, my junior year. I decided to be an educator because I wanted to make a difference in a child's life, I wanted to be that one person, that when they are grown up, looks back and thinks, she really believed in me and helped me get to where I am today. I want to educate children and let them know that learning truly is fun! I want to be the best teacher I can be, and I don't feel like learning standards is what will make me accomplish my dream. I feel that knowing, "how to read the crowd," will help me become a great teacher. Knowing that not every student is going to learn the same way or at the same speed, that will make me a great teacher. Understanding that sometimes you have to change things up a little in order to make progress in the classroom, that will make me a great teacher. Listening to my students, co-workers, and superiors, that will make me a great teacher. Having passion for what I do, that will make me a great teacher. I wish every person, in every classroom, that is entering into the field of education, could have an experience like Mr. McClung, before they had full control of their own classroom. The lessons that this teacher experienced, are lessons that cannot be taught from a book, or a little bit of observing. These are lessons of experience, these are the lessons that teachers should be taught.

Creating Digital Video Reflections

I loved what this teacher did! I love watching things more then I do reading them, I seem to learn better from watching, it gives me a visual component to look back upon and recall what I was learning. Doing digital video reflections is so much better then typing a response to an assignment I think! Part of the reason I like watching better then reading, is because sometimes words can be taken out of context, but when you watch what a person is saying, you get to see their facial expressions which makes the message more clear a lot of times. The pictures, and the video were an awesome touch as well! I think that since technology is such an important, fast changing epidemic, every classroom should have a "Digital Video Reflection" area! Great idea!!