Feb 14th Blog Assignment

Can Wikipedia Be Trusted

I never thought of Wikipedia as a reliable source of information: The idea of a free encyclopedia where information can and is shared by anyone: "Wikipedia calls itself "the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit,". In a world where Internet access is available to everyone: Who's checking the facts?It is no wonder company's have been caught changing information in there favor and that it is the number one used search engine for fact checking. Why wouldn't huge conglomerates want there consumers going to a search engine where they can edit the facts. Taking this into consideration when checking facts I would stick to .edu's, .gov's, and proven companies and sources such as Webster's, and Encyclopedia Britannica.

To Wikipedia's credit they never claim to be factual. Even Webster's definition of an encyclopedia: "a work that contains information on all branches of knowledge or treats comprehensively a particular branch of knowledge usually in articles arranged alphabetically often by subject." or any other definition of an encyclopedia I could find, claim to be 100 percent factual without error. In any case be careful of information perceived factual displayed on the Internet or otherwise. Being a sceptic is sometimes beneficial, especially when dealing with information mass displayed to a huge audience.

Response to "What I've Learned This Year"

Mr. McClung after his first year teaching in Noel, Missouri makes seven distinct points about what he's learned to be a better educator after his first year.

Point 1.) How to read the crowd, McClung discuss's the importances of when giving a lesson plan how important the crowds reaction is. When giving a lesson it's pointless to ramble on about the information if the students are not focused on or understanding the material. As educators during a lesson we must be able to judge how effective the lecture is being (according to the crowd) and be able to deviate in order to secure positive retention and understanding.

Point 2.) Be Flexible, When teaching we can not hold our lesson-plans and ideas to one unchangeable plan. Every student is different so we must be able to change to be the most effective.

Point 3.) Communicate, As in life communication is key. You have to be able to communicate with your students. If there not doing well; why not? and are you conversing with the student on how they can do better or why they are doing poorly. Knowing the problem is have the battle, once you know what the problem is, its usually easier to fix, communicating with your students will allow more understanding which will promote learning.

Point 4.) Be Reasonable, Lofty expectations lead to crushing failures. Educators want the best for their students and want to teach them as much as possible, by setting realistic, reasonable goals, students and teachers will both be successful and more excited about learning.

Point 5.) Don't be afraid of Technology, Technology is vast becoming the most effective way of teaching. We must embrace these new ideas and teaching tool's to promote the most effective learning environment. We cannot be afraid of thing 's we don't understand, as teachers we must adapt to things that are new and might be scary to us in order to be the best educators we possibly can be.

Point 6.) Listen to your Students, Knowing how a teacher is perceived by a student is key. Yes the teacher teaches but the student learns. If a teacher is not listening to the students learning needs and desires there not being fully effective. Student opinion is so important in regards to there motivation, interest, and excitement towards the material being taught.

Point 7.) Always keep learning, Probably the most important idea Mr. McClung makes. Educators have to always continue learning, if educators fail to learn everyday, how can they expect there students to.

Mr. McClung makes vary astute points on becoming a better educator and I look forward to reading more of his ideas.