PLN 7

In “Play 60? Not in the USA!” by Gary Stager, the author mentions a commercial that he saw encouraging kids to play 60 minutes a day. He points out that the enemies of play are the people that turn classes into “joyless test-prepping sweatshops”. What matters to me is that some schools have removed recess from school. Recess is the best part of school for kids! Kids need reccess for developing friendships and using their excess energy so they can focus. Without it, schools might as well be sweat shops. This is what matters to me in “Play 60? Not in the USA!” by Gary Stager.

PLN 6

In “We’re Not Merely Wasting Talent. We’re Poisoning It!” by David Warlick, the author talks about how many successful, somewhat famous people did badly in school. He goes on to say that now if a student does badly on a test the repercussions will be worse than they would have been ten to twenty years ago, regardless of any talents. David also points out that talents ignored by high stakes testing are ones that are important in real life. What matters to me in this article is that school is supposed to help us, yet some people do badly in school and still become successful. What does this mean for people that do well in school? We should reform schools into a place where important talents are what are taught. This is what matters to me in David Warlick’s “We’re Not Merely Wasting Talent. We’re Poisoning It!”

PLN 5

In “The End of Textbooks (June 2003)” by Gary Stager, the author talks about how he is excited that Texas legislature is using text book funds to buy laptops for some schools. He was then disappointed when he found out that the laptops would be used as text books. Gary goes on to talk about his opinion that text books are made out of distrust for the teachers. I agree with his opinion. Textbooks too often “rule” classes, with just mindless reading instead of actual comprehension or practical application of what we read. Text books are just watered down facts, with the takeover of censorship to blame. This is what matters to me in Gary Stager’s “The End of Textbooks (June 2003)”.

PLN 4

In “Dr. Warschauer visits East and Hopkins” by Dan Maas, the author asks the question “Do you think that computers in the classroom are a waste of time and money? Why or why not?” I do not think computers are a waste of time and money because they open up new information to their users. Students can use them to research a topic they are writing about, or double check facts found in books. Computers are a valuable source that kids can use to post work online for others to see or comment on. Computers also can be used to correct spelling and grammar, so kids can see how they misspelled a word and correct in next time. Almost all modern jobs use computers, so why is it a waste of money to let kids get used to what they will use their whole lives? This is what matters to me in Dan Maas’s “Dr. Warschauer visits East and Hopkins”.

PLN 3

In “Change Congress” by Will Richardson, the author shows a video that says Congress cares more about their funders than the people. The video goes on to say that to change, we will need to re-create Congress. I agree with this because we won’t be able to change unless our government changes. Problems don't get solved with the same thinking that created them. The campaigns of Congress members need to be funded by the people that believe in them, instead of by private groups giving thousands of dollars. This is what matters to me in Will Richardson’s “Change Congress”.

PLN 2

In “Everything I know about NLCB (now RTTT) I Learned from Primetime Live” by Gary Stager, the author starts by talking about the scientist Stanley Milgram and his experiments. Milgram tested the willingness of a participant to obey an authority who instructs the participant to do something that may conflict with the participant’s personal conscience. Stager talks about how ABC did a similar experiment and that it is similar to teachers teaching to standardize testing. This shows how easily most people just follow orders and don’t act on intuition. The world will not get very far if this is the attitude that people have. More people should stand up for what they believe instead of following the crowd or what they are told. This is what mattered to me in Gary Stager’s “Everything I know about NLCB (now RTTT) I Learned from Primetime Live”.

PLN 28

In “I Read (?) The News Today, Oh Boy” by Karl Fisch, the author shares a video he found online. The video shows new technology for magazines. All someone needs to do is buy one of these at a store that sells them, and then they could download their magazines from the internet by logging on to the magazine’s website with a subscription. This new tech would likely save thousands of trees by reducing paper usage in magazines, reduce ink usage, and save money on postage. This is what matters to me in “I Read (?) The News Today, Oh Boy” by Karl Fisch.