Keeping Students Engaged and Excited

     Keeping students excited and engaged in their studies is one of the biggest challenges educators face in our schools today. Every school has some boring classes. Some students in these classes tend to loose focus on their school work because of the boredom in their classes. If students were actually excited about going to class because it was engaging, then grades would increase everywhere. It is not easy at all for a teacher to make a class engaging and exciting while at the same time teaching students everything they need to know. For many years the way of teaching has not changed much at all. There are some schools around the world that have found ways to complete this extremely difficult task of keeping students engaged and excited.
     Keeping your students excited and engaged has many positive benefits. There are ways to involve and engage students though. As stated in this website, pencil and paper is not fun, it is very boring in fact. Reading from textbooks and taking notes may take up the class period, but most students do not learn the information. Working in groups and discussing with other classmates to find answers to worksheets is much more engaging. Also for example in biology class we made power points about one chapter per group, and I learned much more by doing this opposed to taking notes. Review games are a fun way to make class engaging and exciting. I look forward to these review games because they are fun, but they also teach me a lot of information in the process. There are many other ways to keep students interested in your class, and also depending on what course it is, the ways of keeping students engaged will change. The goal teachers should have should be to make their classes something that students look forward to. Teachers should find a way to integrate games into their teaching, and if they do so they will find the many positive benefits an interesting class has.
     The way of teaching in schools needs to change. Teachers have been teaching students the same stuff for a long time. Everyday the world is becoming more advanced. As the world advances, so should the school system. If the school does not teach students up to date information, then they will start to become unprepared for the future of technology and other things. Taking notes and sitting at a desk all day is teaching of the past. Now with the aid of technology, classes should be more interactive and engaging. If teachers find new ways to keep students engaged and excited, then hopefully all students will learn and do well in school.

iPads Next Year

I believe that students should not be able to download whatever they want onto their iPads. I think the school should control what you download. If students are allowed to do whatever they want, many kids would get distracted very easily. Students would start downloading games and this would distract the students, causing their grades to drop greatly. Without these games or other apps, students would remain focused on their school work. If there is a way teachers can control the use of games, such as being able to look at your screen, then it would be alright to download items onto the iPad. If there is nothing like this, then nothing should be downloaded. Some students might be very angry at the end of the day because they have an iPad but they cant play games. Once they see that their grades remain well because they do not have games on their iPad, then they will be pleased.

'No Homework' Debate Finds Support in New Jersey

These parents in new jersey think that homework is taking up to much of the students time and it is effecting their health. I think that they are right for homework during the week. Most students have sports or other extracurricular things to do after school. This takes up time and limits the available time students have to do their work. This leads to students staying up late at night. By staying up late this is effecting the students health because they are not getting the amount of sleep they need. With limited sleep because of homework, it is actually effecting the grades students get during the school day. Therefore homework during the week can lead to a decrease in grade. This is why I think that students should only get homework on the weekends where they have extended time to do it and it is not affecting anyones sleep in the end. I think the new jersey parents should not take away homework completely, but just push to limit homework only to the weekends.

Online Learning

Technology has opened up many more oppertunities for school. The internet has been incorporated into education in many places around the world now. The internet could spell the end of snow days, as said in this article. Some places around the school no longer have snow days because of online learning. Many schools, like mine, still have no school when there is snow out. These snow days can really affect students because it sets them off track of thier education when they have a snow day, and it cuts down on the days of vaction you have over the summer. Some schools do not have to do this now. Many schools are now starting to use online classes when there are snow days. This allows students to have a longer summer vacation which is great. Hopefully soon all of these advances will be added to every school.

Common Sense Media

This website is a great website to help students and parents understand the major issues around digital citizenship. This website promotes good online citizenship by posting sites that show good citizenship and there are no links to bad websites. On this website there is a option that contains tools and curricula To teach students about becoming responsible digital citizens. Also there is a search box that has a suggestion to search advice on digital safety. Overall this website is a good place to go to find information about good digital citizenship.

Is Google Making More People Want to use the Internet

Google has been coming out with many new applications. Today during class I was introduced to Google music beta. This is an application that allows you to upload music from your iTunes or other device so that you can access it on the Internet. There are many more applications that take things that usually can only be accessed from one device, to be accessed from anywhere where you can get Internet. Examples of this are google documents and google presentation where you can share word documents or PowerPoint presentaions to anyone with gmail, and you can access it anywhere also. So instead of having to carry a computer around or a USB drives you can just go on google docs and download an essay or project very easily. I believe that all of these advances are attracting more and more people everyday.

Google Fast Flip

"Google Fast Flip is a web application that lets users discover and share news articles. It combines qualities of print and the Web, with the ability to "flip" through pages online as quickly as flipping through a magazine. It also enables users to follow friends and topics, discover new content and create their own custom magazines around searches" (Google News). Fast Flip is a great application to use. If you want to view any article from anywhere all you have to do is type in a topic in the search box at the top of the page. This website organises the online pages into different sections such as: popular, sections, topics, sources. I recommend this website to anyone who is interested into recent news stories and news and information from different sources from around the world.

BHS Acceptable Use Policy

I think this policy is very reasonable. It only restricts us from doing things that should not be done anyway during school so I think it is a good policy. I do not think that the punishments for not following the policy should be listed though. Certain people could break the policy in different levels of severity so the punishment levels should be adjusted depending on what you did. For example if someone broke one policy and one person broke several, they should have different punishments, therefore I do not think the punishments should be listed. I be live a policy that focuses more on education and awareness instead of strict penalties to stop students from misuse of technology is a better option. I think this because if people are just given strict penalties then would be afraid of the possible punishments that could occur, so their learning would lessen. On the other hand, I think a policy that sets the guidelines for using technology only for education would be very affective. People would focus more on their education and it would benefit their learning greatly.

Google Cars

Google has been working on a project that does not involve the internet. They have made a car that can drive itself in traffic. Most of this project is a secret, but we do  know that the car can drive itself due to some rare demos that have been released. This car uses artificial-intelligence software that can sense anything near the car and mimic the decisions made by a human driver. This is a great and useful advancement in cars created by google. This creation is made in order to find safer ways for driving, because the software engineer who heads the project has a personal childhood experience of a close friend who died from unsafe driving. This car could potentially save many lives because of its amazing ability to avoid crashes with its intelligence. There has been videos released of examples of this cars driving skills. This video is an example of it in action.

Cafeteria Food

Cafeteria food might not be what you think it is. Most people just think that is regular food that is cooked and served. Well in most cases you are wrong. The food served at lunch in most school is processed food that contains processed meet with preservatives and other ingredients that are bad for you. These ingredients are used so meat and other foods can be frozen for long periods of time and then cooked for later use.

This video shows Jamie Oliver investigating the foods served at cafeterias. He asked the lunch ladies that cook and serve the food if they know what they are actually serving. They just think that it is regular food that there is nothing wrong with. He tries to convince them that they are very wrong, which they are, but they will just not except the fact the food they serve in their cafeteria is all processed and it is the cause of obesity for many, many kids across the nation.

Goal 6: Invite Them In

To complete this goal I have to brainstorm ways to invite a teacher, parent, or administrator to see the learning taking place in your classroom. Since I am not a teacher and I do not have a classroom of my own. I am going to brainstorm ways for other people to see what I and others learn in my classroom.

• Create a blog
• To share the ideas of students I could create a blog, and on this blog I could post some assignments, essays, projects, etc. that students have completed.
• Create a school website
• To share every one's idea to anyone with the link, I could make a school website that has links to each individual classroom blog.
• Make a newspaper
• If you make a newspaper you could put updates of what students are working on in different class rooms, and give this newspaper to anyone you wanted to invite into your learning experience.
• Invite them into your classroom
• If you wanted to show a teacher or an administrator what you are working on, let them actually join your classroom for a day so they can see what your classroom environment is like and what you are working on.

Goal 5: Reflect, Step Back, Act

To complete this goal I am suppose to reflect on my best and worst lesson this week or last semester then share this reflection.

So far this week I have only had one full day so far because it is Tuesday, so I will be reflecting on Monday. Yesterday my best lesson would have to be in biology. I think this because we learned the most out of any classes I had that day. We are learning about how ecosystems work. Yesterday we learned specifically about food chains and the carbon cycle. We learned how carbon cycles throughout the world and through living and nonliving environments. Also we learned how nutrients cycled throughout organisms in a food web. This lecture was very educational and I gained much information from this class. On the other hand, my worst lesson or least productive class yesterday was my history class. My period had long block yesterday so it was an hour and fifteen minute class. For the first half hour we took a quiz, which was quite easy. Then after that we did nothing. We were suppose to read over the next chapter but no one did, and our teacher did not enforce us to do so in any way. During this class I learned nothing more then I knew before I entered the classroom.

Goal 4: Leave it Behind

For this goal I am suppose to make a list of ways you can leave your stress behind and not carry it with you into the classroom. Some stress relieving techniques are...

• Take deep breaths and try to calm down
• If you just chill out for a little and you take deep breathes you will find that this calms you down, and if you are calm you most likely will relieve your stress.
• Exercise
• If you are stressed, a good way of getting rid of it is exercising. If you go for a run or if you play a sport you will find this as a good method of leaving your stress behind.
• Release your stress physically
• For some people stress eventually turns into anger. The best way to release anger for some people is by punching something, such as a pillow or something that wont break or hurt you, or by screaming out loud.
• Take a break
• By just taking a break from all your work, or whatever causes you stress, this will actually help you leave some of your stress behind, and this might help you focus better in the future.
• Hang out with friends
• If you are stressed and you want to get rid of it, hanging out with your friends is a great way to do so. If you are with your friends you usually do not think of whatever you are stressed about. This will take your mind off of the subject you are stressed about, and it will most likely leave some of that stress behind also.

These are some great stress relieving ideas, and if you don't want to carry your stress into the classroom, then you should try these.

Goal 3: What Do You Believe About Learning?

For this goal I am suppose to make a bullet list of what you believe regarding how you and others learn. I believe that every person learns a different way. Some people like learning things over and over again. Some need someone else to show them how to do something, like a tutor. Just because you learn a different way it does not mean you are going to do better or worse than someone else who studies or learns another way. Here is a list of some ways people learn...

• Flash Cards
• Verbally (repeating what they need to learn out loud to themselves)
• Reading (reading strait from a textbook or other source)
• Tutors
• Interactive learning (such as games to help you learn
• In the classroom (a teacher teaching you the information is the best way of learning)
• re-writing (re-write what you are trying to learn many times)

Goal 1: Be a Beam

For this challenge I am suppose to help another student that might be stressed out or struggling in another subject. In my geometry class I help other students. I am pretty good at math and I get good grades in it, so if anyone needs help or does not understand something that I know good, I help them. For example if we are working on a worksheet in class and I finished and someone does not understand something, I will help show them how to do it if they ask me for help.

30 Day Challenge

I am participating in the 30 day challenge. Everyday I will be completing at least one of these 30 goals until I finish.

Osama bin Laden's Death

On Sunday, May 1 2011, president Obama announced the death of Osama bin Laden. Osama was the most wanted man in the world because of his association with 9/11 and the fall of the twin towers. Celebrations started everywhere in the United States when news of his death spread. He was killed by American forces in Pakistan. Osama was killed in a raid by Navy Seals in Abbotabad, a scenic military town just 100 miles away from the capital Islamabad. Many may have though he was living in a cave somewhere in Pakistan, but it turned out he was living in a million dollar mansion. The United States is not a happier place with the news of this mans death.

iPad Effect?

I believe that iPads will not cause a major problem with distraction. Right now most kids have smart phones or iPods that can be used to access facebook anyway. The students that actually want to do good in school and get good grades will not get distracted while using the iPad, but some other students might. Overall I do not think that the iPad will cause a major problem on students' focus. As stated in the article For Students, What is the "Facebook Effect" on Grades, facebook can be used to great benefit sometimes, and most students like to be engaged in online collaboration. Facebook, as proved in studies, actually increased students engagement in extra curricular activities because of the constant connection and communication. There would be negative effects to iPads also. Facebook has also proved to make around 20% of students grades drop, which is not good. I believe that there are more positive attributes to the iPad then negetive, so students should embrace the iPad and put it to good use.

iPad

For the last two days I have using the iPad in class, and I think it is great. It is very easy to use, and it is fun. You can search the internet quickly and switch between many tabs quickly. The multitask option is great because I can switch between many apps at once, or between the internet and applications. I also like how the iPad has a spell check built right into it, so no matter where you are typing it is automatically edited. Typing is also fairly easy. Some people might think it is hard to type on the iPad but I do not have a problem with it, and I like how you can make the keyboard hide when you want a full screen of what ever your looking at. Being able to download apps anywhere where there is internet is also great because apps can be very helpful for you, and even your education, and the ability to download any apps is awesome. I recommend that people who have not tried the iPad yet because they do not think that they will like it, look into it and try it because it could be really helpful, and it is fun to use.

Espn ScoreCenter

This is a great app for any sport fan. This app allows you to stay updated with your favorite sport teams. All you have to do is click "add team" and then pick which sport, which league, and then you pick the team you want. There is also the alert option where you can receive alerts or notifications about your team. You can choose which points of the game you would like to receive alerts such as (for hockey): game start, each scoring play, each period and final, or final. This is a great way to stay updated with your favorite teams when you are not near a TV and you can not watch it. There is also the game cast option during the game, where you can watch the play by play stats such as fouls or turnovers in basketball or hits in hockey. Also this app has any the schedule of upcoming games of any team, and also it shows you the results of some teams you might not have added to your favorites. If you missed any games or you are wondering what time upcoming games are, this has it all. I recommend you get this app if you are a fan of any sports team or many sports because it is an easy way to stay up to date and to keep track of everything.

What Do Students Know About Positive Digital Footprints?

I agree with this article. It is very important to keep a good digital footprint because it can seriously affect you. Many children do not think about their digital footprint and they just do whatever they want to online, but they need to be trained that you cannot just do what ever you want on the Internet and not have a negative consequence. I agree with Bill Ferriter because its not right to just tell children and students to stay offline because the Internet has so many positive benefits, and to not use it would have a negative influence on people. These are Ferriter's recommendations...

1) A tiered-approach to Internet safety that provides basic guidance for all students and more targeted instruction for students likely to be at-risk online.

2) Structured opportunities for students to do good work online, whether it's sharing their learning about the world or promoting civic service in their community.

I agree with Bill because if students are taught the right, safe way to use the Internet then they can use it to gain knowledge, and learn how to use the Internet to do good work and to accomplish tasks, and keep a positive digital footprint.

My Picture Tour



This is the main entrance. This is the way me and most of the other students enter and exit the school everyday.



This is the statue. This is in the main entrance way, and  I pass by this every morning in order to get to my homeroom.



This is the cafeteria. I go here everyday to eat lunch between 4th and 5th period.



This is the library. On days I have study I go here to do my homework.



This is the lower library. When the library is closed I come here to do my homework.



This is the rubber gym. This is where I go for most of my gym classes.



This is the boys lockerroom. This is where I keep all my gym and sports equipment, and where I go before practices for lacrosse and football.








UConn Wins Their 3rd National Title

On Monday April 4, 2011, The University of Connecticut Huskies defeat the Butler Bulldogs 53-41 to win their 3rd national title. Coach, Jim Calhoun, also received his 3rd national title with the Huskies on this night. It was a night to remember for the UConn school and students, as the 8,000 UConn students and fans who were at the game started storming the court with excitement after the game. It was an exciting night for the Huskies and especially Kemba Walker who scored 16 points that night. This was not just an offensive night for the Huskies though. They held Butler to only 12-for-64 shooting, which is only 18.8 percent, the worst ever in a title game. This game made head coach, Jim Calhoun, a very happy man. At age 68, he became the oldest coach to win the NCAA championship, and he joined John Wooden, Adolph Rupp, Mike Krzyzewski and Bob Knight as the fifth coach to win three NCAA titles. The Huskies ended their year with an 11 game winning streak, we will find out next year if the Huskies can beat this years amazing record.

Boston Bruins

The bruins have had a very good season this year. They have played 76 games this year so far. They have 6 games left in the regular season. They won 43, lost 23, and lost 10 in overtime. This gives them an overall total of 96 points. Right now they are in first place in the northeast division, ahead of Montreal by 7 points, who has 89 points. The Bruins are in 3rd place in the eastern conference and 7th in the whole league. Right now the bruins are on a 2 game winning streak. On march 27, the bruins beat the flyers 2-1, and this was a big game because the flyers are first in the east right now. On march 29 the Bruins defeated the Blackhacks 3-0. If the bruins win there game tonight versus the Maple Leafs then they will clinch the Northeast division. They already have clinched a playoff spot. Many people hope that the bruins will do well in the playoffs, and I believe they will go very far. Most likely the team that the bruins will play in the playoffs is the Montreal Canadians. The bruins are 4-2 versus the Canadians this season. They have lost some that were as bad as 4-1, but they have also beat the Canadians 7-0. There is no way to predict how the bruins will play against the Canadians in the playoffs, if they do play them. I hope the bruins clinch the division tonight, and keep their winning streak going all the way through the playoffs to the Stanley cup. 

MBTA Worker Falls 30 Feet

Video of firefighters talking about rescue mission

Today, on March 30, MBTA worker Edward Rowe fell into a narrow shaft inside the concrete structures that support the Charles Street/MGH Red Line Station in Boston. It took several hours and 40 firefighters to remove Edward from this hole. The Red Line train station had to suspend activity at the service between Cambridge and Boston because of this event. Buses had to take the passengers on the train between Kendall Station in Cambridge and Broadway Station in South Boston. This rescue mission was very difficult for the firefighters because they could not fit into the 2 by 2 hole that Edward had fallen into, so they had to pull him strait up. Once he was hoisted out of the hole, Edward was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital for treatment of his two broken legs. This occurrence led to some changes at the MBTA station. Instead of using plywood planks to cover the holes, which Edward fell through, metal covers will be installed system wide.

Bruins Beat Flyers 2-1

 

This video shows the game winning goal scored by  Brad Marchand on a rebound. This win is a pretty big deal for the bruins because flyers are ranked #1 in the east and bruins are #3. This just shows that the bruins have the potential to beat any team they try to, even number one. Last night on March 29, the bruins also defeated the blackhawks 3-0. This winning streak, I think, is the beginning of a streak going into the playoffs. Me and many other people hope that the bruins do well in the playoffs, and hopefully this win versus the Flyers is a good sign.

What Not To Post On Facebook: 13 Things You Shouldnt Tell Your Facebook Friends

The 13 things you shouldnt tell your facebook friends are....

1. Your Birth Date And Place
2. Your Mother's Maiden Name
3. Your Home Address
4. Your Long Trips Away From Home
5. Your Short Trips Away From Home
6. Your Inappropriate Photos
7. Confessionals
8. Your Phone Number
9. Your Vacation Countdown
10. Your Child's Name
11. Your 'Risky' Behavior
12. The Layout Of Your Home
13. Your Profile On Public Search

I agree with these 13 things that you should post. For #1 you should not tell people your birth place and date because this is important information that could be used to recover more information about you. Giving out your mothers maiden name is also giving away an important piece of information because a lot of security questions for certain accounts ask the question "What is you mother's maiden name?". Giving away your home address gives anyone the opportunity to use that information for bad use, such as robbing your house. When you let everyone know on facebook that you are taking a long trip away from home it is pretty much letting robbers know that they have the chance to go rob your house. Letting people know you are taking short trips away from also give robbers the opportunity to break into your house, but just with a smaller window to do it. Inappropriate photos could prevent you from getting a certain job that you want in the future, or it could get you in serious trouble. Confessionals could be really bad fro you because, for example, if you post that "I faked being sick today and skipped work" and your boss sees it, you would probably get fired from your job. Other posts confessing things could also get you in a lot of trouble. If you share your phone number on facebook, anyone with that information could call you. Posting your vacation countdown is the same as letting robbers know when they can break into your house. If you post your child's name on facebook gives identity thieves chances to steal children's identities. If you insurance company find out about your risky behavior, they might not want to cover you anymore. Revealing the layout of your home to a potential thief is not a good idea. If you allow people to see you profile on a public search gives any one with a facebook account to access your personal information. These 13 things you shouldn't do on facebook are very important and I believe that everyone on facebook should listen to these ideas.

Earthquake in Japan

On Friday March 11, and 8.9 magnitude earthquake struck japan. This earthquake caused much destruction and devastation to japan. A massive tsunami was caused from the tremor of this earthquake, which caused even more destruction to japan. As a result of these occurrences a nuclear plant meltdown and exploded. The sum of all this disasters left a total of about 10,000 people dead and many more left homeless and without resources. Also people became trapped in cars, houses, and other objects for many hours, maybe even days. Many people in Japan are in tough situations and any help they can get will be beneficial.

Technology in Class

Technology has start to become a major part of daily life today. More and classrooms around the world are using technology. Laptops and iPads are the most popular and most common technology used in schools. Reasearch and regular assignment are done on these devices. According to studies, students are more engaged in their work when they are looking at a labtop or and iPad instead of looking at a book all day. Many schools are starting to switch to this 1 for 1 program, for example my school is switching to this next year. Classes in schools, and even my school, have tested using iPads for a class or a week to see the responses from students, and most of them have been positive. People are starting to think that using technology in classrooms is an important lesson to prepare students for a future of technolgy.

Google News Timeline

I believe google news timeline is a good tool to use for school. This is a website where articles from the news is shown. This application organizes the news. There is a search bar at the top where you can search news and then it organizes the articles in order of the date. It allows users to view news and other data sources on a browsable, graphical timeline. Information that you can search and that it including on this website are recent and historical news, scanned newspapers and magazines, blog posts, sports scores, and information about various types of media, like music albums and movies. To use this application all you have to do it select the type of information you would like to search (ex. news, music) and then type in the title or topic of the news you are looking for and then search it. This application can be useful to anyone because you can search the news easily and find information for school or just for fun. I recomend people using the app. becasue it could be useful if used in the right way.

New Generation iPad, The iPad 2

Apple inc. comes out with the iPad 2 on march 11. This iPad is much improved from the the first generation iPad. It has all the same amazing features and more. The iPad 2 has 2x faster Internet and 9x faster graphics! It is also 33 percent thinner then the first generation, and it is 11 percent lighter. It also comes with two cameras, one on the inside and one on the back, which can be used for facetime. Even will all of these added amazing feature it still contains an incredible 10 hour battery life. There also is a new cover that sticks right to the front of the screen. When this cover is on the iPad it locks and goes to sleep so you do not waste battery during the day. With all these features it still has the unbelievable price of $499. I think that this new iPad 2 is an amazing upgrade, and I believe it will help in education also.

Should Teachers Have a Facebook?

In the article "Teaching the Facebook generation" the answer is no. I do not completely agree with this opinion. It is true that teachers should be careful with what they are putting on the Internet. If teachers are putting their personal information on Facebook or on the Internet a student can easily find it by just searching the teachers name. If a student acquires a teachers personal information it could be a problem for the teacher because rumors could start to spread that could potentially hurt the teacher. Teachers still can have a Facebook if they want, they just have to be more careful with what they put on the Internet. Facebook should not be taken away from students because i think that i can be used to the advantage of teachers by posting homework and information. Facebook could potentially be a good tool for school, but personal information should not be posted by anyone, especially teachers.

iPads Are Better For School

I Believe that iPads are a positive contribution to schools. A study proved that iPads create a higher education. The iPad had been tested and college and had proved that it can keep up to college level. The iPad's characteristics made it easier for college students to keep up during lectures and it helped in other aspects also. Previously kindles were tried in schools to see if they would be easier than textbooks, but when the iPads were introduce it was found much easier to use because of the easy navigation between different pages and topics. The iPad is better in many was also

The iPad can also be better financially. The iPad can save you money because of the characteristics of it. One example is, you would not have to pay for your textbooks if you had an ipad. Textbooks can be downloaded onto you ipad and this is much cheaper than buying a huge $65 textbook. Also, most math classes require a calculator that can cost up to $200, but on the app store for the ipad you can buy the same calculator for $2.00. Besides for school work, the ipad can save you money. For example, if you get the newspaper everyday or if you have a magazine subscription it costs you money, but on the ipad you can just look up the newspaper or magazine online for free. Overall I think that ipads will be a positive contribution to schools because they are financially better and they are easier overall.

Should Cell Phones Be Banned From School?

I believe that cell phones should not be banned in school, and that they should be allowed. Cell phones should be allowed in school because they can be used to help students in school. If a student is absent or late one day the student can send the homework to another student to show the teacher, so that the teacher knows the student did his/her work. Also if a student needs to get a missed assignment or homework for that day, he/she can text someone to find out what it is. On cell phones there are also calculators, and these can be used for math equations during class or whenever else it is needed. Also, a student could use the phone's camera to send pictures of notes to classmates or to record the class so he/she could use that to help for learning. If a cell phone is banned from a student then that student would not be able to bring it to school, then it could not be used for after school either to call for a ride or for any other uses because the student would not have it. There are ways  that cell phones could be used for bad uses though. For example people could text during class when there not suppose to, or they could play games instead of paying attention. Without cell phones students would still find a way to communicate with other students or find a distraction during class, so it would not matter if they had a cell phone. Overall cell phones have a positive influence toward school and they should not be banned and instead encouraged for good use.

Is the Superbowl performance going downhill?

Superbowl XLV was not one of the best. The performance of this Superbowl was not as good as expected from the start. To start it off, the attendance record was not met. The construction of seating at the game was not completed in time for the game resulting in a loss of fans that should of been at the game. This was not a good way to start of the Superbowl. Another mistake of the Superbowl was the national anthem! The singer of the national anthem, Christina Aguilera, messed up on the national anthem! The worst thing you could do to start off a Superbowl is mess up on the NATIONAL ANTHEM. This mistake should not of been made. Also the half time shows have not been as good as they use to be. This halftime show was not a very good performance, and many people will second my opinion. Hopefully the Superbowl staff will make next years Superbowl a better one to watch then this years.

I just made a new Voki. See it here:

10 Ways Facebook Strengthens the Student- Teacher Connection

I believe that facebook is not bad for the student life but it actually can be used to benefit students. Most teachers believe that facebook is bad because they think that it is only used for socializing. As said in the post in The Innovative Educator facebook, if used in the right way, can be helpful to teachers and students for their education. For example Facebook can be used to connect teachers and students. I agree that Facebook could be used so teachers and students can get familiar with one another and understand each other.  Also, instead of calling every single student to let them snow if school is canceled or delayed, it could just be posted on Facebook once and every student would be able to view it. I believe this is a much more efficient way of notifying students of school updates then calling them. I also agree with the idea that instead of learning nothing on snow days and taking days away from summer, the work needed to be learned that day can be posted on Facebook so students can just click on teachers links to get the work to be done for the day. If a student has a question then the student could just message the teacher or chat them about what they need to ask. Facebook is also a place where students can learn if they look at certain links from posts that have educational information. The ways Facebook can be used for educational purposes, I believe, should be followed in all schools and I recommend looking at the document about how Facebook is good for education to anyone who is interested.

Changing Education Paradigms

I beleive that education should be the way described in this video. The ways of education now are boring and this video shows a more interesting way of learning. I agree with this video completly because the way of learning in school is uninteresting and u beleive it should be more interesting to learn. The fact that the ability of divergent thinking decreases over time surprised me because I would think that as you get older you get smarter, therefore your thinking ability would increase opposed to decrease. I recomend this video to anyone that is also bored of school and wants an intereseting education for once