Friday, March 7, 2008

Army Men

So for a class I'm in we had to make a video that had no words and no planned acting/actors. Well after a lot of brainstorming and collaboration we decided to make a video about the war and how it's happening and yet we often don't even think about it. Here's what we did:

We bought a hundred or so of those little green plastic army men and set them up right outside the outside entrance to the bookstore:

Well we set up all these little guys like they were in a war. They covered a good area of about 7' square and then we set up a few cameras so they were hidden. Then we left and just watched. It was so interesting to see what people would do. Many would see them, stare a little, then walk around. Others were completely oblivious and would walk through them, kicking them everywhere - some noticed what they did, others were still oblivious even as they were launching these minute militiamen to their doom. We had a few stop and play with them for a little bit and we had a few people who looked around to see if there were being watched and then stole some!

How oblivious we are to what goes on around us - I didn't even know it was elections for BYUSA until 2 days ago. There's a war being fought but because it doesn't directly affect me in anyway days go by that I don't even think about it.


Monday, March 3, 2008

Viktor Frankl

I had a thought as I was walking across campus and just pondering. What is it that defines success in someones life? Some would define it monetarily, others by acclaims, prestige, or awards. Others would say it's found in relationships with other, families, gospel living, or someone's personal conversion level. However you would define it I think how you achieve it is interesting. I had a good friend send me the following quote by Viktor Frankl (if you don't know who he is click here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viktor_Frankl) about success.

I think it is interesting that he says success is to be found by not looking for it. I think to a large extent this is true - People who genuinely love what they do and get lost in it generally find success. And most of the time it seems that the success they find is appropriate to their own goals. A teacher who loves teaching finds success in affecting the lives of his/her pupils as they get lost in the subject and field they are passionate about. They don't find success as a businessman may define it (monetarily) but they find it as they would define it. I think however you define success, the key to achieving it is to do what you love and what is important to you and success will find you.

"Again and again I therefore admonish my students in Europe and America: Don't aim at success -- the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side effect of one's personal dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. I want you to listen to what your conscience commands you to do and go on to carry it out to the best of your knowledge. Then you will live to see that in the long-run -- in the long-run, I say! -- success will follow you precisely because you had forgotten to think about it."

~ Viktor Frankl
---Man's Search for Meaning

P.S. Check out this website - the most beautiful pictures I've seen in a while:

http://thefairest.info/top.html

Friday, February 29, 2008

An interesting Paradox

I have noticed something a lot lately and I thought I would blog about it today. Yes, 'to blog' is a verb (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog). So here I am sitting in class the other day working with a group on a project when one of the members of the group receives a phone call from her husband. She steps out and I overheard her say: "I'm in class, you know that. . . No, I'm in class. Yeah, yeah, call me later. Yeah, I already told you - I'm in class. Yeah, love you too." Then she came back in and said: "I'm so sorry about that, what did I miss?"
I almost started laughing - what a change. On the phone with her husband she had been short, quick, almost rude, but to us she was nothing but sweet and pleasant. I knew she didn't love me and yet I sure liked how she talked to me a lot more than the way I heard her talk to her husband.
Interesting, huh? Isn't it always that way? We treat those who are closest to us way worse than others. We are the nicest to those we don't really know. Shouldn't it be the other way around? I mean, in a way it makes sense; you are most comfortable with those closest to you and so you act more 'naturally' - you aren't as worried about what you say or do because we know they will love us in the end no matter what.
But, wouldn't it be cool if we acted the same to everyone no matter what? I am in no way saying that I am good at this - I know that I am probably my worst self around my family - but, wouldn't it be refreshingly nice to meet someone and know that it didn't matter who you are - they're going to be the same.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Laban o Bawi (Fight it out or withdraw)?

Me and my buddies have been talking about this for some time now and I and curious if anyone else has some insights into this. Please feel free to post a comment if you have any insights. Let's say you go on a date with someone and they do something that you don't really agree with. It's a little thing, nothing big, but at the same time it's something that is important to you. What does that mean to you? Let me give an example: (note: this does not apply to me, I don't hate Coke drinkers in anyway, I drank it at every filipinos house my whole mission, just an example) Let's say you don't agree with drinking coke - it's just a personal thing, you don't want your kids to drink it, etc. You take someone out and you have a fun time, but in the course of the date you find out they are a huge coke drinker. Not only do they love it, but they think that you should love it and can't imagine why you would be so crazy as to not drink it as well. Well the date was fun - not the best you've ever had, but not the worst for sure. There are a few other people you want to take out as well and the time comes for you to decide if you want to take this person out again. Do you let that small thing that is important to you deter you from taking them out again? I mean you are supposed to date with 'your eyes wide open.' But, at the same time, people can change. What do you think? Is that being too picky? Aren't you supposed to be picky? But, don't you have a ton of weaknesses too? But, if you can choose who you date - wouldn't you just as soon find someone who doesn't do that? What do you think?

Now realize, I think this only applies to things that are not church doctrine / commandments. For example is someone if breaking the word of wisdom I think that's a totally different boat, but things like caffeine, TV on sunday, homework on sunday, Movies, language, clothing style, etc. are all things that could fall in this category.

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Philharmonic Orchestra

I have a interesting question that I would be interested to know if anyone can answer. I went to the Philharmonic the other night - it was way good by the way, I would recommend it to anyone who might be considering going. - and I came away with an interesting question. Why does the conductor leave, come back, then leave, and then come back again - is it just so that we can clap for him more? Does he use the restroom? Getting a drink? Anyway - I decided it would be kind of fun if all my roommates did that for me every time I left the room. I would definitely walk in and out as many times as possible - man, milk that baby for all it's worth. But, maybe there really is a good reason that I just don't know about.

Monday, February 18, 2008

BYU

I just wanted to address one of the interesting situations I find here at BYU. Why do we have BYU anyway - well obviously there are many reasons, but I think one of the biggest is that the church wants there to be a place that the youth of the church can meet each other, court, and marry. Well here's the problem I see, it is so flipping hard to meet new people at BYU. Sure, every semester you meet all the people in your ward, and then there's the occasional person who has the locker next to you in the RB but, other than that - it seems to me that it is really hard to just meet new people. You meet and get to know the people you work with, you get to know your ward, and the people in your major begin to look familiar to you - but what about the 1000's of others on campus? I know there are things like dances, stake activities, etc. But, what really happens at these events? You go and then you hang out with your friends / ward. It almost defeats the purpose - now I'm not blaming this on anyone - I just wish there was another way to meet some new people. And maybe the bulk of the problem lies with me but, maybe it lies in the system . . .

Tuesday, February 12, 2008

The captivity of our fathers

I usually don't have religious posts but, this is something that I have been thinking about and then I read this verse today that went right along with it.

Alma 5:6 – “Have ye sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea, and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-suffering towards them?”

I was driving back to the Colony on my way home from my house in Orem when I used the power windows in my car because it was getting hot inside. All of a sudden it hit me like a ton of bricks – my parents don’t have power windows in their car. Why do I? then it just kind of washed over me – all the things that I enjoy that my parents don’t. my laptop is way nicer than any computers my family has, as is my car. I began to think about when I was younger, when we first moved to Orem. I remember going with my parents at night to help them clean the courthouse. I didn’t know why we did it, I just knew that we did. With age comes understanding. My dad had left his job in West valley and moved to Orem so that my mom could be closer to her parents and so that we could live in a house where each of us could have our own room. My parents were cleaning the courthouse each night because money was really tight. My mom was teaching piano for a few hours a day and my dad was teaching full-time, speaking on the weekends, and doing EFY. How they did it, I really don’t know, but why I do know. They wanted us (their kids) to have the things they never enjoyed – and now we are. And I know that we will continue to enjoy things my parents never dreamed of. I know that I am guilty of not retaining in remembrance the sacrifices of my fathers and the blessings of the Lord to them. Think back to the pioneers – why did they do what they did? I’m sure there were many reasons, but I know one of them was because they wanted their children to have things they never did. They wanted their kids to have experiences that they knew they would never get to have.

Friday, February 8, 2008

Country Dancing

I would just like to make a case for country dancing as a good idea for a first date. I took a gilr the other night and it was our first date - at first I was a bit apprehensive as the potential for failure is great anytime you do something like country dancing, but, I was pleasantly surprised by how well it worked out. It was awesome! First of all: country dancing involves touching - now don't take that wrong, it's just that you break down the touch barrier right away. There's no weird awkwardness, etc. Second: if you take a dancer (which I did) it provides the girl an opportunity to be in her element, to be comfortable, and to teach you some really cool stuff. Then if you have any athletic ability and can catch on quickly you can quickly impress her. I like letting the girl be in her element on the first date so that she's comfortable and she can just be herself. Third: country music - I mean where else can you 'YEEEEEEEEEE-HAW' and fit in with everyone. Fourth: there are a lot of boys in really awkwardly tight pants, really gay looking suspenders, overalls, etc. It makes you look good in comparison. And last but not least: I challenge you to pick me a first date that allows you to look at your date more - I mean it's too bad for her cause all she has to do is stare at your face, but it can be great for you if that's the only thing you can really do. Anyhow - I make my case that country dancing is a great first date idea.

Monday, January 28, 2008

President Hinckley

Yesterday President Hinckley passed away. I found out last night around 7:45. It was hard for me – a really sombering thing, but at the same time it was a happy thing. He’s with his wife now. He isn’t suffering, and what a grand and glorious reunion he must have had with all the people he’s affected. I just wanted to write down a few of the memories I have from President Hinckley:

I remember a few years back when I was probably a teacher; he prayed for us. we had a special youth fireside and he introduced the 6 B’s. Then he took the last 15-20 minutes and he prayed for us. I can’t remember anything in particular that he said, but I remember how I felt. I was really grateful/happy to hear a prophet of the Lord pray for me.

When I think of President Hinckley I can just see him shaking his cane, ‘knighting’ President Eyring, and just smiling. He was always so happy. I’m sure he heard about all sorts of bad things that were going on, I’m sure he was intimately aware of all the people doing wrong, and yet, he was happy. It seems to me his theme was: “Don’t worry, it will all work out. Just do a little bit better.” I love that he was always asking us to do just a little bit better. He was optimistic – he knew that we could do it and he inspired that optimism in me.

President Hinckly dedicated the Philippines for missionary work and his prayer is very special to me. He promised the saints there that if they would keep the commandments and pay their tithing they would have: rice in their bowls, a roof over their heads, and clothing on their backs. I saw this promise fulfilled many many times.

President Hinckley had the ability to lead everyone, and at the same time he knew how to work one on one. Everyone I have ever met who has met him has said the same thing. He loved

Saturday, January 26, 2008

A midsummer night's dream

So last night I went on a date. It was a blind date - you know how those can go . . . But, it was actually way fun. She was really cool, easy to talk to, fun, outgoing, cute as a button, etc. But, the real reason I' blogging right now is because last night's play was a Shakespeare play. Well, I wasn't too excited about that to be quite frank, but I was so taken back. After the first 15 minutes I was more confused than I had been since I saw Rosencrantz and Gildenstern are dead awhile back. I had not the slightest clue what the heck was going on - what's worse the 10 year old kid in front of me seemed to be doing totally fine. But, as time went on the loose-ends started getting tied and it all started coming together. It was absolutely hilarious and I left there wishing that I could fork out another $20 and see it again. I know that my audience of people who read this blog is like 3 but I would highly recommend to all of you that you go and see it. They had tons of Capoeira in it - and that was entertaining in and of itself. Plus the guy who does all the flips is a kid from my Dance 180 class. There is a play within the play that will make you tear up it's so funny - and of course Genna kisses some random guy over and over . . . That seems to be her part in every play I've seen her in. Maybe I need to get into drama . . .

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Afraid?

I think all too often in this life we are scared of a good thing. Why? Why in the world we be scared of something good? I think it all goes back to Newton's second law (I think it's the second) - "Things resist change; something in motion is going to stay in motion unless acted on; something stationary is going to stay that way unless something acts on it." We are the same way - it's just easier to keep things the way they are. I have a friend who recently started dating a girl and she started acting weird. Before they were 'dating' she was fun, outgoing, always happy and excited, etc. Now she wants to do things like 'read short stories' and avoids the fun things they loved to do before they were dating. Why? Well, I don't claim to be any sort of expert but, this is one idea I had.
Now she's committed; they're dating - and that means change. Now something is at stake, there's something to be lost and that makes us scared. So rather than allow herself to invest herself completely in something that is so good, she draws back, she starts acting weird, and doesn't allow herself to get too far in because that means change. Change is scary, it's hard, it means sacrifices and awkward moments, and moving out of our comfort zone.
All I know is that all too often I think we are afraid of a good thing - yea it's hard, changs makes us feel weird, it forces us out of our comfort zone but isn't that what this life is all about. No one would have ever done anything great without doing things that pushed them.
We need to allow ourselves to enjoy those great chances that God gives us - yea it might not be exactly what you had planned for your life, but, hey - why not enjoy it?

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Swords

Words of Mormon 1:13 – “King Benjamin . . . did fight with the strength of his own arm, with the sword of Laban.”
Isn’t it interesting that even though this was 215 years after Nephi and his family left Jerusalem that King Benjamin was still using the sword of Laban. Many prophets were reported to have used this sword in battle (2Ne 5:14, Jacob 1:10, W of M 1:13, Mosiah 1:16) and this sword has almost taken on a mystical, supernatural feel/aura about it. As I was thinking about this I began to wonder: are there any “swords” in my life that have been passed down through generations, things that me and my family look to as a protection, strength, or a saving power? What kind of metal could that have been that they were still using 215 years later and then even 2430 years later (D&C 17) when Joseph Smith sees it? What does it represent? In my life? I see the sword of Laban as a symbol of the power that comes with obedience – Nephi got this sword because he was being obedient to the commands of the Lord; those who wielded it were the righteous. Joseph Smith was only able to see it/handle it after he had exhibited his obedience. I think one application in my life, one thing that I see as a ‘sword of Laban’ is my journal. I have been recording experiences I have had, blessings I’ve received, and spiritual opportunities the Lord has given me. These have come in consequence of obedience, and these are things that I plan on passing on to my children. I like what president Eyring said in the past conference about these sort of things: as we read them we will see more and more the power of the Lord in our life, our faith will increase (leading to an increase in spiritual ‘power’) and we will be more grateful. Interesting.

Monday, January 14, 2008

Movies

I got a phone call from a girl yesterday thanking me for something I had asked her that I didn't really even think about twice. I had asked her if it was unrealistic of me to hope for a girl who didn't want to watch PG-13 movies. I know that seems really wierd, but I don't and it would be nice if the girl I dated/married didn't either. I know that there aren't really any girls out there like that (none that I know of), but maybe even if she was just willing to stop watching them - I know it's really selfish of me, but it's just one of those little things that I think about that would be nice. Anyway, I asked her and she said she didn't think so and we moved on in our conversation. Well she called me up last night and told me that she thought about what I asked her a lot and apparently she had gone on a date the night before. The kid she went out with told her they were going to go watch a movie that was PG-13 and she didn't really want to watch it, well, she asked him if they could watch something else and so they did. Anyway it was really cool for me because I didn't even think about that conversation again - it was such a little thing, but to her she had thought about it a lot more after that. Too bad she's off limits to me to date (she dated one of my buddies) 'cause now there is a girl out there that doesn't watch them . . .

Friday, January 4, 2008

Guitar Hero

So the other night I played guitar hero for the first time. I was pretty skeptical at first but oh my good golly goodness that was awesome. I only got to play 3 times before I felt like I was intruding on the people who owned the house/wii (I didn't know them, a friend of a friend). My last round I played a level 5 and hit 93% of the notes! Over the break I also played the wii (boxing & tennis) for the first time and I'm hooked. What is it about electronically doing things we can't do nearly as well in real life that makes it so fun?
I don't know if I want my kids to have the wii - it's a good exercise (I was sweating), but is it what I want my kids to experience? What if my kids never actually played tennis but played to a 'professional' level on the wii?

Sunday, December 23, 2007

Friends

We had a get together the other night with some old high school friends and it was such a great experience. It's great that even though we all have gone our different ways and some are married, some still in school, some working, etc . it seemed like we had never graduated (in the sense that we were all good friends, it wasn't wierd, etc.) I think that that might be the definition of a real friend - someone who you can not see for months and then when you see them again it's like you were never apart, you just pick up where you left off, like you saw each other yesterday . . . I don't know how to describe it - some people you just click with, no matter how long the interim between meetings you just pick up where you left off and talk about anything. Not just anything though, you talk about the real stuff, the important stuff - you don't need to talk about the superficial stuff that you talk to everyone else about. Friends - like it says in "It's a wonderful life;" "No one is poor who has friends."

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Partay!!

Well we didn't really do anything in class today except for the party. It was fun and boy am I learning fast what it's like to be el presidente. Seems the only thing that everyone has is an opinion and the only thing that everyone agrees on is that stuff needs to change :) Funny how it works out like that.
I think the party went well and we got a pretty good representation of the major there - there are a few things I want to do differently but I'll save that for our little meeting on monday . . .

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Class


I thought class was fun today - mainly because I was laughing at everyone get all up and stressed out about everything. I think that we all knew all along that we needed a rubric, I just didn't understand why it took so much talking and arguing to get it done - funny times. Anyway Today I want to blog about design - I have started working for cloverlogos.com doing all their design work (for pay - not very much but pay none the less) and it's fun to get back into it again. I think it's a nice way to always get the creative juices flowing - I just did two logos/headers for gadgetgiftstore.com and they are pretty sweet if I do say so myself. I still got it - I can manage my way around photoshop and illustrator although not nearly as well as I used to be able to - apparently it's not one of those things like riding a bike that just comes right back, but I was able to manage. Take a look. . .

Monday, December 10, 2007

Technology Rich Lesson Plans

This was fun - it was cool to start actually working on a project - checking out the resources available, exploring different possibilities, etc. I think that next time you teach this class you may want to have them actually do this at the beginning because this is what's exciting. I know that you need to talk about all the other stuff as well, but maybe the order could just be tweaked a little to build up the excitement at the very beginning.
One other thing - I never knew I would be so attached to del.icio.us - I used it a ton while I wa searching for resources for my lesson. I was talking with someone in my ward who is a sec ed major and she was telling about how there are tons of del.icio.us accounts out there for teachers that she uses all the time while she's getting her lesson plans ready - what a great idea. It's all about collaboration!

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Lesson Plan

I thought today's class was both insightful and fun. It is fun to actually take a real life situation and go through the steps required to accomplish what you need to. It gave me a bunch of ideas for cool things I could use a whole semester for to go through with kids. I think it would be so fun to talk to the administration at a school and get it approved to have a student redo the school logo, etc. I think it would be awesome to have your kids design a new floor for the gym, or football field. Fun stuff like that where the kids could actually see what they did go to work - another one I just thought of: why don't we let the kids design their own senior pictures, backdrops, t-shirts, etc. Today was a good experience because it forced us to think through the process from start to finish and deal with some of the real life situations that we will encounter.

Friday, November 30, 2007

Private VS Charter VS Public

Well, I've already blogged on this once but I don't mind talking about it again. I think that public education is the way to go - no where else in the world can your kids be prepared for the future and gain a real life experience like they can in school. I do not mean to say that private and charter are bad - they aren't, they do a lot of really good things, and I would not mind at all sending my kids to a charter school - I don't really think I'm a huge fan of the private. At a charter school kids are given an excellent chance to excel in a particular area - they can receive chances they otherwise wouldn't have, and perhaps more personal attention. On the other hand, I think that the some of the value of public schools lies in the fact that they are so broad - if I only every studied/focused on the things that I wanted to I would not know half the things that I do. There is power in learning things you aren't necessarily intrigued by, there is power in being experiences and being with people who you don't choose to be with.

Thursday, November 29, 2007

Referendum 1

I liked today's class - I've been meaning to get myself educated on referendum 1 for a long time and it was a good chance to finally learn the stuff that I needed to know so that I can actually talk about it intelligently.
It was also a good chance today to see the difference between the different types of schools. Honestly I would like to teach at a public school just because I love what public schools symbolize to me. They symbolize education for everyone, fair and equal treatment for all, etc.
DOWN WITH REFERENDUM 1

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Random facts

I'm glad that we did what we did today in class. It was nice to just have someone talk us through the process of getting hired, starting school, etc. It's all those questions that we all have and no one ever answers. I know that I need to talk to Bev and get my plan for graduation figured out and all that.
One thing I am constantly trying to figure out is exactly what I want to teach. I mean I like all the stuff we do - but that's the problem, I like it all. There really is one thing that I feel really deeply about and have a huge passion to teach. I mean I like the whole design stuff, and i feel that I am more inclined towards that than I am to anything else . . . I don't know. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Teaching

Today was way fun. I love the kids - they're so funny. It was fun and I think they really did learn a lot of new things. In my intro to seminary teaching class we read a quote by President Packer that said that the most important tool a teacher has for teaching is his/her eyes . I totally agree with that (who wouldn't, he's an apostle . . .) - it is so crucial that you are constantly watching those you are teaching. Assessing whether learning is happening, checking for questions, disagreement, boredom, distraction, etc. The best thing I think we did was introduce ourselves at the beginning - the ability of the students to call us by name and our ability to call them by name was incredibly valuable. The knowledge of someones name might be the most important thing you can have when teaching them - I'm not sure, but at the moment I can't think of something I'd rather have.

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Jr High

This may be my longest post ever. Today we went to teach at the JR High and the kids were . . . exactly what I expected. I was shocked at how surprised everyone was by the kids. What do you expect from a 14-16 yr old? They don't have an attention span of 10 minutes, they are annoying, they do say stupid things, they don't want to participate, they know everything, their hormones are ranging, they want to be cool, - WHAT IN THE WORLD DID YOU EXPECT? We were all the same way when we were young. Isn't that why you become a teacher? To be with those kids, to help them, to love them despite all the annoying things they do?
All I heard was: "Is discipline allowed?" "Ugh, I want to kill that kid!" and "These kids are terrible!" I was at a loss for words - which was probably good since I would have gotten myself in trouble if I would have said anything, but I guess I just don't understand. That's why I love these kids - the times when they do listen, when you do get something through - that's when it's all worth it. Yeah, it's hard, it's not always roses, power points, and perfect answers - but that's what teachings all about. That's the challenge of it - you've got to figure out how to connect with them - what can you say, what question can you ask to get them involved, what's the next activity that could spark some interest . . .
I don't know - I just think the kids acted exactly as expected - yea, that doesn't mean that they acted good - but I don't think we should have been surprised in the least bit by them.

Teaching is figuring out how to reach the one kid who doesn't want to be reached, teaching the annoying kid something he doesn't want to learn, and making a difference in the life of the kid who won't realize it until he's 25. Now I'm rambling and sounding philosophical so I'm done.

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Class

I stand by my last post. It is definately harder to prepare a lesson plan with a group than it is to do it with just one person. It was a good activity for me I guess to learn how to better work with groups - there's just so many different ideas, things to do, etc.

I am excited for our lesson on thursday but i think it will be very interesting to see how all the parts mesh together - and I think we are all going to be surprised at how fast one hour goes. I know in my experience at the MTC that time flies - one good activity with a little instruction will easily take up an hour.

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Lesson Plan

Today's class was interesting. I think it is much harder to prepare a lesson outline with multiple people than it is for me to do it by myself. I think it was also interesting to see how time constraints affected what we were able to do. I think that you could do some awesome things if you were given a whole semester to explore some of the cool things that have to do with technology.

All in all I think it got me more excited than anything to teach. How cool will it be when you can take a class and start small - using the whole semester to build up to one sweet project?!

Planning can be annoying at times, hard, and time-consuming but it is so vital. A little frustration now saves loads of heartache later.

Saturday, November 3, 2007

STL's

Today's class was fun. I was just reflecting on how much you can get people to do by playing off of their competitiveness. Like at the beginning of class how we played that game and we were split up into two teams going head to head. I use much the same technique at the MTC often creating two teams and then setting up a game. The only difference is that at the MTC I always make sure that we tie :)

I wonder sometimes how effective it is to build off of competitiveness - is there a better way? Is there another way to get people that excited without using competition?

I don't have the answer - just something I've been thinking about.

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Tests

Well all we did last time was those tests - but heres something I was thinking about. I had never done before any of the things we were required to do on the test but, I think the definition of being technologically literate is being able to figure it out even if you've never done it before. I'm not saying that I'm literate or anything I just think in our day and age it's not so much important anymore that we know how to do things, rather the skill we need to develop is the ability to draw on previous knowledge in order to figure things out. I think most programs these days use fairly similar icons, commands, etc. I was able to do those tests just because I was familiar enough with those programs, or similar programs, that I was able to figure out how to do what they wanted me to do.

I think it goes back to the STL's. The most important thing is not that we pound a whole load of information into our kids - rather we need to help them become literate - give them enough experience with technology that when something new comes along they can figure it out.

Friday, October 26, 2007

Wasatch

K, this visit was pretty sweet as well. I was just amazed at how much this one teacher was able to do. It took a long time, but I guess that's just what you need to do - find a school you like, find your niche, and start building your dream. Boy would I love to take over for that guy when he retires . . .

It was good for me because I was able to see what you can do - you don't have to just teach the same thing every year, follow the state curriculum, and do what every other teacher in the state is doing. Find what you love, make it fit within the state curriculum, and then have fun.

I'm glad we went - even though it was a little early . . .

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Personality

I liked the point that was made today - you can know everything about being a teacher, have all the standards memorized, know all the stupid names of the theorists, etc. and still be a terrible teacher. I doubt Shum knows half that stuff - yet he's awesome. When it comes down to it - teaching really is an art and some people are more prone to it than others. I do think that it is an art that can be learned (Pres. Packer said it is so I wouldn't dare disagree) but I think that it comes easier for some than for other and that some people spend far too much time worrying about lesson plans and far too little time building their own relationships with those they teach.
It was an interesting thing for me to think about - I wonder if I have that personality? Could I be a Shum? I do like oldies and classic rock . . .

Friday, October 19, 2007

Granite Technical School

Okay - this was by far the coolest visit ever. First of all the school is incredible - by far the nicest facilities I've been in yet. The teacher was awesome - he was running 2 classes at once - they were made up of student from high schools all across the district. It was a really relaxed classroom environment and the students were just working on their own most of the time. The teacher was doing some awesome things I want to do when I teach.
He had recorded all his longer lectures about how to use Maya and posted them online so the students could watch them again as a tutorial if they were lost.
He was using the moodle incredible efficiently - he said this was his main source of contact with the students. He also interviewed them once a semester to build solid relationships and talk about grades.
He posted all their work online on a public website so they could show it off to friends. He did this rather than printing out everything they make. This saved on printing costs, but he also told them that if they made something really incredible he would print it off and mount it somewhere in the class.
The students work was incredible - they were making things that I could never make. It was awesome - by far the best one I've seen. Pretty much there wasn't anything that I would change about that whole set up.

Class

Well besides the fact that no one was there to get out the video camera for us for the first 25 minutes of class, I thought today was a great day in class. I liked the STL that Rachel presented on agriculture and the changes in technology that have been made in that field. My first impression was - "this is dumb, who cares about agriculture?" Then as we began to discuss the changes that had happened, and the way it affected us today it became clearer and clearer to me why I needed to know about it. I was thinking that this will be an interesting thing to teach to high school students - they could probably care less about that kind of thing - but, they need to know it. A wise men once said: "Kung nakalimutan mo ang pinanggalingan mo, 'di ka darating sa pupuntahan mo." Or in english: "If you have forgotten where you came from, you'll never get to where you're headed."

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

3 Amigos Video

Monday, October 15, 2007

San Diego

Well we didn't have class on Thursday but I was in CA anyway . . . :) I thought I would write anyway because I did learn some good lessons in the past few days. I was at work at the MTC tutoring when my supervisor came in to observe me. He sat there quietly for awhile and afterward I asked him for some feedback - He gave some positive feedback and then he dropped the hammer. He said: "This is great, but why only here?" He then went on to explain how as he observed me teach he kept asking himself why I kept referring only to things they would do in the tutoring room and not ever mentioning things the missionaries do in gym, or at the dorms, or in class, or during their personal study, etc. It hit me pretty hard - as most good feedback does - and I realized that he was totally right. I need to help the missionaries make the connect better - what they learn in one place will help them everywhere else, and vice versa. I realized that this is the same in the classroom - it's all good and fun if we teach some students something, but we have to help them see how it can apply to their English class, and their home life , etc.
So this is my new focus for the next little while - helping those I teach see how everything they are learning is extremely inter-connected and inter-dependent. I found this funny as I was reflecting on it since the first time I taught STL 3 I tried to make the point of making connections using chocolate chip cookies - a lesson I apparently didn't learn well enough myself . . .:)

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Pres. Hinckley Article

I really liked that we started class today the way we did by reading that article of a talk given by Pres. Hinckley here at BYU many years ago. I think that the article is precisely the reason why I want to go into teaching. There are so many things you can do that will get you a paycheck but the real reason I want to be a teacher isn't for the paycheck (if it was that would be sad considering the check won't be that big anyway) but because when I teach I get a sense of fulfillment out of what I'm doing. Seeing someone else learn, watching them finally get it - that's what I like. I can think of tons of teachers who have helped me learn so much and when I think of how much I admire them . . . it gives me something to shoot for as I teach - as much as I want to be the cool teacher - I would much rather be the teacher that some kid feels comfortable going to with a tough question. The best thing about this class I think is that I really think by the end I will be able to answer the question: "What is teaching?"

Monday, October 8, 2007

STL - 12




These are pictures of the ppt used when teaching STL 12


Thursday, October 4, 2007

Alma Mater

It was cool for me to get to return to my alma mater and observe some of the teacher I took classes from - this time with a much different perspective and attitude. One thing that really stuck out to me was something that my old drafting teacher said to me - he showed me the 3-D printer the district had bought for the school and some of the stuff they had made and then said: "That's why it's fun to teach technology . . . There's always something new, it's always changing - you're not stuck with some textbook for 5 years . . . Every workshop you go to they're trying to get you to buy something new and implement it at the school."
I think that's why I would like technology over something else - it's always changing, there's always more to learn, more to do, and you never get stagnant - at least you know if you do get stagnant that there's a problem.

Wednesday, September 26, 2007

STL - 2


STL


Teaching Styles

I know that we talked in class the other day about all the different learning styles - I thought it was interesting to see all the different teaching styles - especially as me, Jess, and Amanda were teaching yesterday. It's interesting because I think each person taught the same way they learn. I can see Amanda learning in a very direct way - lectures, notes, slides, etc. While Jess on the other hand, I see him as a very hands on, visual, experience type learner. I am somewhere in the middle I think - very much a inquiry based learner - questions are key. As I was thinking about how it went and the differences it hit me that we probably tend to teach the same way we learn since that is what makes sense to us. I think one of the challenges of teaching then, is to learn how to teach in a way that doesn't make any sense to you, but helps someone else.

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