An Open Letter to Educators

This weeks assignment was to read the blog, "An Open Letter to Educators" by Morgan Bayada and to watch the video by Dan Brown. I found both of their opinions on educaton very interesting. They both brought up very good points about the education system in universities nowadays.
Every student in college has or has had a boring teacher who will do nothing but stand at a desk and flap their lips for hours about information that could be better understood by researching on the internet. I for example, have a history teacher this semester who does just that. He sets up a powerpoint and displays it on the overhead projector. He reads it to us and does nothing but talk in a monotone voice and explain information that puts me to sleep. Whats worse, is that he hands us copies of the powerpoint so whats the point of coming to class? Does he just like hearing himself talk? I think so. I dread going to this class and when I am there, I would rather run face first into a concrete wall. I have gotten such horrible grades on the tests because he will put 1 essay worth 75 points and 5 i.d questions worth 25 points. Therefore if you happen to not know the essay, or don't understand completly, because he is such a horrible teacher, you automatically fail the test. Even if I memorized the information, it would be burp back education, because the second I walked out of that class, I would throw all the information out of my head.
That is not the education I deserve when I am paying money I don't even have (loans=debt)to get a degree.
In the video, Dan Brown says that he dropped out of the University of Nebraska becuase he felt, his schooling was getting in the way of his education." I think he should have stayed in school. Although we all as students, will have a professor who bores us to death, we need to suck it up and do the best we can until we reach our goal of a degree. We can use those horrible teaching styles as an example of how NOT to teach our future students!

Alabama Learning Exchange

The assignment this week was to research the ALEX website and see all the great things it has to offer teachers. I personally am already familiar with this website. I was introduced to it in my classroom management class. Since then I have used it in my classes to create lesson plans, and I have found it extremely interesting and helpful.
When you go to the website, it has numerous links to go choose from such as courses of study, podcasts, and lesson plans. All of these links serve a great purpose and gives you great insight to be an effective teacher. What I really like is that you can choose a grade level and choose a lesson plan based on the course of study. It is filled with the grade level requirements for the state of Alabama which is also very helpful. I would recommend this website to anyone and I will use it in the future to construct my lesson plans!

Randy Pausch's Last Lecture

I really enjoyed Randy Pausch's last lecture. I found that he was a very optimistic and inspiring person. He has been diagnosed with cancer and only has a few more months of good health before he dies. What he discussed was his childhood ambitions and dreams and how he achieved his goals. I think that anyone could relate to this lecture. I really admired that no matter how much he was going through at that time, he never once acted in a negative way, but used his situation to inspire anyone to carry out their dreams and live each day as if it is your last. I would have really liked to see him do a lecture live, it really must be amazing to meet a person so optimistic and just enjoying what is left of his life. I know I could never be like that. I feel that anyone could benefit from this lecture whether you are in a rough patch in your life or not. This will really make you stop and think about what you have and how great life really is. I am sure that this man made an impact on all who had the pleasure of meeting him. RIP!