VII. Using Blogger as a Teacher

As a future teacher, I can use Blogger often. In many ways, it will provide a useful tool in connecting with my colleagues and friends. I can also subscribe to many different blogs regarding education. In this way, I will be able to research education topics in blogs that provide different opinions on the various issues. With Blogger, I can also keep a private record or entry throughout my various teaching encounters. This will be particularly helpful in my first year of teaching. I can go back and look at my various posts and reflect upon where I was at as a teacher then to where I am in the future. Blogger will be a useful tool to use in my future as a teacher!

VI. Using Google Reader as a Teacher

As a future English teacher, I could use Google Reader in a variety of ways. For myself, I can use it to find different teaching resources such as lesson plans, project ideas, particular templates, etc. I can also use it to keep up with the ever-changing policies and reforms going on in the field of education. For my students, I can show them how to use it for different research projects to find certain articles that may be difficult to find using just a typical search engine. The articles they may find, on Google Reader, have the potential to be more scholarly and useful. At the middle school level, especially in English, making sure students learn how to properly research, even if I am just demonstrating it for them, will help to better prepare them for their future schooling where they will have a high-requirement to do so!

V. Disconnection to Education

Although all of the articles from my subscriptions related to education, the one article, "Five Keys to Educating the Next Generation of Leaders", probably least related, or connected, to me. I am not disregarding the fact that it is important to encourage or promote those five qualities in my students. The five qualities, as a refresher, being: language, leadership, authenticity, breadth, and resilience. However,  I don't think as a Middle School English teacher I can base my lesson plans off of these qualities. Regardless, the article, although one of the farthest from connection to me, still hit on key points. In terms of authenticity, I do agree with its point in promoting self-awareness amongst students. At that age, developmentally, many students struggle with knowing who they are, identifying who they want to be, and a lack of being able to properly portray their self-image. As their teacher, it is my job to try and embrace individuality amongst my students and allow them to go through the process of discovering their own self-awareness. In short, the article did hit on vital points to utilize as a teacher, but it was least connected to my role as a English teacher.

IV. Connection to Education

Out of the different articles I read, some connections were obvious. Is America's education system struggling right now? Why, yes. Thank you for confirming that for the millionth time. Is the use of technology in the classroom a hot-topic? Of course, nearly every 12-year-old around you has the latest iPhone 5. Centralizing classrooms around technology is inevitable. In fact, it may even be detrimental if it doesn't happen. Also, the Guardian article about the English mentor connected to me, especially. I am planning to be a future Middle School English teacher, so the article really hit on key points that I could possibly encounter during my future years of teaching.

III. New Information

All of my subscriptions, the NY times, Forbes and the Guardian, provide tons of new information I had never really thought of. The article from the NY Times that was about school's encouraging students to B.Y.O.T. (bring your own technology) was completely new to me. When I was in middle school and high school, which was truly only a few years ago, personal use of our own technological devices was highly discouraged. In fact, after only a few referrals, many students received In-School Suspensions for cell phone use. I understand that the article isn't encouraging students to text each other test answers or to disrespect the teacher by blatant inappropriate use of their laptops, but it is still surprising to me. Schools are having a hard time keeping up with the technological needs in today's ever-changing society. Their budgets simply do not meet those high-requirements. Although surprising, it definitely makes sense that schools are going to start taking advantage of the many technologies students have access to at home. However, I wonder how many problems it will provide for the lack of students that do not have their own laptop. Will the schools provide for them and not for the others? Interesting questions and potential problems are sure to arise.

II. What Types of Feeds and Why

When I was trying to decide what types of feeds I wanted to subscribe too, I was thinking of keywords that would pertain to my field the best. As a future teacher, it was important for me to find subscriptions that had articles related to my future career. Particularly, with so many issues going on in the field of education right now, I really wanted to read up on them. The first feed I subscribed to was Forbes. When I searched "education", Forbes has a ton of stuff that came up regarding it. They had a few articles that touched on different point-of-views. For example, the article "Why Our Education System is Ripe for Disruption", really stood out for me. I thoroughly enjoyed the read! I also chose the NY Times to subscribe too. They had a lot of great articles related to "education and teaching". Instead of providing possible solutions or viewpoints, like Forbes, they wrote on articles about specific schools, locations, or states. I liked that because it didn't just give you a biased-opinion. The NY Times told stories about what was happening in education around the world! I also found only one article on the Guardian, but it was one of my favorite. It provided an inside look to a lady that is a classroom mentor in a English class. As a strive to be a future English teacher helpful hints, points-of-view and identification of potential issues or problems that may arise are all very helpful to me! 

I. Summary of RSS Feed

 When searching through "Google Reader", I tried various search options that would lead to be possible subscriptions pertaining to education. Particularly, articles that I found most interesting. Some of my search options included: "education", "english education", "teaching", etc. Some of the most popular subscriptions that came up were of the more famous websites, blogs, and scholarly journals. I found great posts by the New York Times, Forbes, and The Guardian. Amongst them, I found two articles from Forbes, two from the New York Times, and one from the Guardian. Each of the articles is on a different topic, but all of them regard an issue in education. Some of them offer possible solutions to problems, while others include a job descriptions, an article about Japanese students, etc. There was a plethora of information available on Google Reader. I enjoyed searching through the various sources trying to find articles that I sought fitting to my role as a future teacher or just that were the most enjoyable to read. An article from Forbes, "Why Our Education System is Ripe for Disruption", offered a possible answer to why America's education system is going through such turmoil. It was a point-of-view I had never even thought of. In the article, Naveen Jain, author, states, "We conveniently place the blame on problems that stem from budget cuts, teacher layoffs, inadequate technology in our schools and our education policies. We need to recognize the fact that our education system is NOT BROKEN but has simply become OBSOLETE. It no longer meets the needs of the present and future generation." I thought this was interesting because he brought up how American society places blame on budget cuts and the lack of funding in education, and then say that the solution is to introduce new teaching methods into the classroom based off our old teaching ways. Jain points out just how "flawed" that solution is. He suggests thinking a new and innovative way- bringing things teachers never thought possible into their classroom. Allowing thousands of students, all whom are individuals, grasp ahold of their individual abilities to learn and interpret new information. He is basically pointing out that our system isn't flawed because of the lack of finances and school resources. It is flawed because America is trying to teach students based off of methods that were designed 60 years ago- with job opportunities that don't even relate to the skills they are taught. Although that's only one of the articles I found, the rest provide a large variety of interesting reads relating to education. Another article is written by an English mentor, who is planning to become an English teacher next year. She talks about her role as a mentor and the difficulties she finds in being a teacher. It's interesting to hear what she thinks of it. Another article posted by Forbes is about "Innovation: The Five Keys to Educating the Next Generation of Leaders." There five keys are as stated: language, leadership, authenticity, breadth, and resilience- all followed by an abundance of reasonings why these "keys" are pertinent to America's next generation of  businessmen. The NY Times posted an article saying that some schools are advertising B.Y.O.T. (bring your own technology) and stating there reasonings behind it. I thought this one was interesting because so many schools have policies and classroom procedures regarding cell phone use or prohibit laptops, but now, the tables have turned. Schools are starting to encourage use of personal technological devices, emphasizing the fact that it saves schools money! The NY Time also posted an article about Japanese students seeking to study abroad. Unlike other Asian countries, like China, Japan's number of students-abroad was actually declining, according to a study. Yet, another study has came out that Japan's students abroad population is beginning to increase, with the Australia and Canada as the hot choices. 

Bibliography:
      "Behind the Job Title: My Role as an English Teacher." The Guardian. Web. 7 March 2013. http://www.guardian.co.uk/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2013/mar/07/english-mentor-student-support     
      Doss, Henry. "Innovation: Five Keys to Educating the Next Generation of Leaders." Forbes. Web. 19 March 2013. http://www.forbes.com/sites/henrydoss/2013/03/19/innovation-five-keys-to-educating-the-next-generation-of-leaders/      
      Jain, Naveen. "Rethinking Education: Why Our Education System is Ripe for Disruption." Forbes. Web. 24 March 2013.http://www.forbes.com/sites/naveenjain/2013/03/24/disrupting-education/
      Richtel, Matt. "Some Schools Urge Students to Bring Their Own Technology." NY Times. Web. 22 March 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/23/technology/in-some-schools-students-bring-their-own-technology.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=0      
      Tanikawa, Maki. "More Young Japanese Heading Abroad to Study." NY Times. Web. 24 March 2013.http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/25/world/asia/25iht-educside25.html?partner=rss&emc=rss