“Especially in an era when religious affiliations and beliefs seem to drive some of humanity’s most violent conflicts, the requirement that public schools remain free of religious indoctrination is paramount.” (Toshalis, 2008, 189)
All posts by Emily Ann Jacobsen
Get out your phones!
My students are always connected: on their phones the minute they walk into the classroom and the minute the bell rings. And honestly, I am exactly the same way. I understand the need to keep checking what is going on and see who is trying to reach me. There is so much simplicity and ease in sending a text message instead of calling someone on the phone and my students have expressed similar feelings. So since we are all on the same page, why can’t we use cell phones to everyone’s advantage in the classroom too? Continue reading Get out your phones!
Videogames in the classroom?!
“Good video games incorporate good learning principles, principles supported by current research in cognitive science (Gee 2003, 2004). Why? If no one could learn these games, no one would buy them, and yet players will not accept easy, dumbed-down, or short games. At a deeper level, however, challenge and learning are a large part of what makes good video games motivating and entertaining. Humans actually enjoy learning, though sometimes in school you would not know it” (Gee, 2005, 34)
All that Victoria Secret stuff
“I don’t want to be a teenager, but I am a teenager. It’s confusing: the kids in my class are like acting like they’re adults already. Having all this Victoria’s Secret stuff, the lotions and perfume, and doing what girls do in music videos. I think that we should talk about things, learn more about ourselves. A lot of people are confused about their identities. Carmela.” (Cushman, K., & Rogers, L, 2008, 15)
Being mindful of our students’ resources
“Teenagers have adopted this technology very aggressively, in part because it’s inexpensive now, and it’s mobile. Everything a teenager does is about being mobile and untethered….with the complexity of our world and the scheduling kids have compared with twenty-five, thirty years ago, it’s a newer way of connecting socially.” (Philip R, 2007, 75)