It is important to have a talk with our students about drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. If we dont, we don't know where ou students are going to end up. A lot of it depends on the grade level of the students. My article was about a girl who was as young as second grade, who overheard her friend talking about smoking pot. Her friend's brother does it but the fact that a second grader would be mentioning it blows my mind. This is where we have to be super cautious about these topics. If we hear our students speaking about any of this, it is important we address it right away.
When I was in sixth grade, I went through the DARE program at school. It stands for Drug, Abuse, Resistance, Education. I feel like it really helped me be aware of all that at a young age. The scary thing is many people forget about everything they learned in these programs by the time they get out highschool. Their mentalities have changed completely. Many people get themselves in horrible situations as they progress through highschool. As teachers, we can address the issue right away and contact their parents if there is a problem with this at school.
The Teacher Panel was very insightful. It was very nice to be able to hear other experienced teachers and their points of view.
They did a nice job on letting us know what to expect during our first year of teaching. It was also very helpful talking about resumes and what they are looking for. Interviews were also a very nice topic to discuss. We went over questions we should be prepared for during them. Interviews are really what helps us look good. It is important to be professional and be relaxed. The teachers informed us to look over the mission statement of the schools beforehand. Be ready for any different kinds of questions! As a future elementary teacher, I will most likely run into things that make me laugh every single day.
The Tech Tour was awesome. It was very well prepared and the teachers did a nice job organizing it. It was nice to be able to move from classroom to classroom and listen to what the teachers had to say. They showed us many different kinds of technology that will really help us in the future!
I did not realize how much technology has changed since I was a kid. Wow, kids these days are having a completely different experience than I did! It is so important for us to keep up with technology as teachers! It is changing so rapidly, that we cannot get behind, for our students' sake! It is important to make sure technology does not completely take over our children though! They need to know how to problem solve and do things on their own. Otherwise, they will miss out on many important life skills. We need to make sure they do not miss out on that. When we do use technology in the classroom, we should keep in mind the importance of it and make sure it not overdone. Our students always come first!
ED460 Personal and Social Well Being is a course taken by college students in education during their student teaching semester. Topics covered include: poverty, child abuse, bullying, drugs, alcohol, and tobacco, counselors' role in school, adolescents and choices, and the use of technology.
I agree with what you said at the end of your blog about making sure that our use of technology does not keep students from learning important life skills as well. It reminds me of what was mentioned during the technology discussion at AMS about our society being pretty individualistic and so being in danger of losing some important skills regarding interpersonal communication. Just as relationship skills are essential to a successful teaching career, relationship skills are also essential to our students' lives as well. We need to teach students not only how to "google" something to find out the answer but also how to seek out face-to-face interaction with people who have experience in whatever area is being researched.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what it is, but kids really do forget the DARE training against drugs in middle school. At our public school, I think it almost became a joke among the students where they would repeat certain warning phrases they learned from the DARE program mockingly before they drank or did drugs. I wonder if there was some way students could internalize the seriousness of the situation. I think telling real, local stories of students their age dying or being severely damaged by this behavior could be effective.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you about the teacher panel. I think that getting to ask first hand about what to expect our first year was the most helpful.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to remember that the students we will be teaching in the next 5 years will have a different experience then the kids we had our first year teaching. We have to stay up with current means of technology.
When it comes to young students talking about drugs, I think we have to do more than discuss it. What is important is that intervene and allow them to talk to us about why they are talking about it, and what they know about this. I believe this will help us to get to the root of the problem.
I also completed the DARE program in 5th grade. I completely forgot what the letters stood for. Thanks for the reminder, Jenny! As for your article, it is shocking that a girl so young heard about smoking pot. I agree that teachers, especially at the elementary level, must be cautious about addressing whatever subject comes out of a young child's mouth, but they must also take action by addressing issues when necessary. Who knows what a difference that one adult, the teacher, could make in a child's life?
ReplyDeleteI also believe that while technology can open wonderful doors in education, students still need to learn to problem solve on their own. I think that this is where plagiarism often comes into effect. Although technology can be enlightening, it can also cause students to be lazy, like excessive googling as Laura mentioned or pushing the limits of copying on-line to flat-out cheating. We as teachers must be on guard but more importantly, make our expectations and consequences known to students.
I liked what you said about tech. and life skills. It is so true, if we let a computer run our students lives, their life skills will be nothing. I see it today! With texting and such, teenagers think that holding a conversation over text is normal and that is a converation. I say wrongo bongo!
ReplyDeleteI like what you said at the end about our students always coming first! That is something that is so important for us to remember. It is a good question to ask ourselves when we are writing lessons or evaluating a lesson we have taught: "How did/ will this help the student?" Is it just easier for me to put them all on a computer and all I do is walk around and monitor? Teachers should never resort to technology for the easy way out!
ReplyDeleteSome teachers are scared of learning all of the new things about technology. But, also we must ask ourselves how this will help students. Like we learned from the discussion, we are preparing students for jobs that do not even exist yet! That is one crazy responsibility!