New Insights Every Day

I still have not figured out the Google Reader deal, even though I had clicked and clicked! However, I have had a breakthrough which is just as exciting! When I opened my blog this morning to post, I realized that all of the blogs I clicked to "follow" show up on the dashboard of this blog site. I feel like I am way behind on understanding all the web lingo and places to click, even though I have always been a "computer" person. Being a "web" person is different, I guess.

The "viral video" idea is great! I show video clips to my classes frequently, as it seems this culture is drawn to that media. I have one son who loves to read and watches very little TV (22 years old) then I have another (19 years old) who has always been drawn to video. I have kidded him since he was 15 or so that one day he should write a book -everything I need to know I learned on video. I am kidding, of course, because I lament the loss of the importance of the printed page to this generation. I see it in my classes at school, as well as in my son. But, I could rant about it all day, so I must ask myself - what is most important? My job is to teach students to think and improve their critical thinking skills- hopefully that will include reading, but if they can be "hooked" by video, then I decided it is worth using.

The article by Eric Brunsell, "Teaching Kids to Think 2" was very helpful to me in laying out a plan for developing critical thinking using the popcorn video. I like the ABC plan - activity before content - that he discussed, and the McCain 4D problem solving approach. I know that I have seen ideas similar to these before, but for some reason these struck me as as very useful for my classroom. Sometimes I just need a fresh idea!!