Digital Natigrant

When I read the word technology, I immediately become consumed with a variety of responses. Emotional and logical thoughts spill out over the idea of technology. Should I become terrified that one day we will be in a post-apocalyptic state, relying on John Connor working side by side with the California State Governator, or should I be excited at the prospect of getting lost in virtual worlds of perfect learning experience enriched by standing in the fields with red coats and yankees in a Holodeck.

Fortunately, I currently stand in a world where the technology is still fairly limited to being a tool rather than being a sentient being. As such, it is fairly simple to approach technology willfully. I have had the good fortune of growing up surrounded by the exponential growth of the technological age. In third grade, I was fording the rivers along the Oregon Trail. In eighth grade I was programming in Basic and other simple programming languages. Two years later, I watched as the world wide web was exploding its way into mainstream society, outside of just the institution of education. By my first years of college, most every student had their own personal computers and it was actually required as a part of my college degree to own and understand how to operate programs necessary for architecture. I was at the cusp of a dramatic change. As Prensky (2001) points out, "Our students have changed radically. Today's students are no longer the people our educational system was designed to teach."

Certainly, I am not a Digital Native, as defined by Prensky (2001), I did not grow up with "the digital language of computers, video games and the internet" as all of today's youth have. I, however, do feel that computers have been a big enough part of my growing up that I am a well adapted Digital Immigrant. I am continually trying to develop my understanding of how to use computers more efficiently, and how to enlist them within my role as a teacher. This, interestingly enough, conflicts with my belief that mathematics instruction should occur without the aid of a calculator. I am looking forward to seeing how I resolve the idea of using technology, while refuting the use of a calculator.

My age puts me mostly outside of instruction that involved technology in the classroom (at a high school level), outside of one "Computers" class. For my undergraduate work, we were required to implement tools provided by computers, and took classes instructing us how to use these tools. However, I have not successfully experience instruction which used technology to help educate. I look forward to learning ways in which this can be done. As Prensky (2001) points out, "Digital Natives are used to receiving information really fast. They like to parallel process and multi-task." I believe technology in the classroom will assist in this new nature of learning that has evolved with the introduction of computers. I had not thought of the point brought up in the video Pay Attention - Final Cut that the average college graduate has sent and received over 200,000 messages. That "sure seems like a lot of time spent with the 3 R's!"

It is on my responsibility alone, that I must take the initiative to be as "Native" to technology as I can be. As Prensky (2005) explains, "Even if you are the most engaging old-style teacher in the world, you are not going to capture most students' attention the old way." I feel excited to be finally entering teaching, but I am a little nervous about being a front runner to digital teaching. I can't define how I will incorporate it yet, as I have yet to understand completely what is available for my use. I suspect that as I develop my curriculum, I will work to continually find ways to implement and include technology within my lesson preparation.


RESOURCES:

Prensky, Marc (2001), Digital Natives, Digital Immigrants-- a New Way To Look At Ourselves and Our Kids

Prensky, Marc (2005), Engage Me or Enrage Me -- What Today's Learners Demand (in Educause Review, Sept./Oct. 2005)

Introduction

My name is Roger Binschus.

I am currently enrolled at Concordia University seeking a middle school/high school Advanced Mathematics endorsement. In an ideal world (as I see it now), I would like to have a job at a high school, teaching both 9th graders and 12th graders geometry and calculus.

I have always excelled at math, but I took relatively little in college, while attaining my Bachelor's of Architecture Degree from the University of Oregon in 2002. When I made the decision to leave architecture to teach high school students, I returned to Portland Community College and burned through a handful of Math Courses to refresh my brain, including a few new concepts above the standard high school math curriculum. I have experience teaching in the Outdoor Education environment through Multnomah Counties Outdoor School program, and found my passion for teaching with this experience.

One can never go wrong with me and pizza...I know, it is such a canned simple answer... but if I had to pair my vast array of culinary delights down to one food, I would have to choose pizza. It is versatile with toppings, but above all, it is riddled with cheese. Life, for me, without cheese would be a tragedy fit for an epic Shakespearean play. Another fun thing... A mathy pizza image



Pulled from http://truthpluslies.com/2011/02/21/pi-zz-a/


Oh, for kicks, lets throw out my favorite animal as wellPulled from http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3017/2679262701_dbfb47414c.jpg

RedditGifts Exchange

So, this is a bit late, but I promised rrrojer that I would get a photo-blog up...and since my web page creation skills are rudimentary at best, I have to apologize for the long delay. Also, try not to be too critical of the layout... I am still experimenting with blogspot, and deciding if it is, infact, what I want to do.

Let the story begin:

....So, sometime in late October, or early November, I was surfing the internet, when I stumbled across a brilliant idea.



Someone on Reddit suggested the idea of a world wide secret santa gift exchange.



What a brilliant idea!!! I checked my bank account and verified that I had the available funds to donate a gift to a fellow redditor, as well as my standard $537,412 donation to "The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement"

Not long after I signed up, I received my certification email. I was the proud new owner of a reddit gift exchange partner. Giggity giggity, huhn, allllright.


As I am unemployed, I had all the time in the world to research the person I was buying gifts for. Unfortunately, I found them to be more of a Reddit Lurker....so I had little knowledge as to what kind of person that I was buying a gift for. Nevertheless, I donned my gloves

And went out into the cold Portland air.... I knew that I would survive the walk to the store, because my heart would be filled with the warmth of sharing and caring.

Along the way, I passed houses adorned with lights, and passed seasonal decorations. I was overcome with the passion of the Christmas Spirit, I triumphantly whistled the tune to "All I want for Christmas" as I kicked the dead leaves on the dirty ground.


When I reached the store, I was at a loss for direction. What should I buy my giftee? I knew my giftee was a female, so I turned towards the pink section of the store.


But, I was overcome by that inner voice, the one that had grown in my head ever since I took Women's Studies 101 at the university, urging me to think outside the confines of my patriarchal upbringing. No Pink.

I then turned to Edward, of Twilight Fame. Who wouldn't swoon over his sparkly charm? But then I realized Twilight sucks.



So, I naturally resorted to the age old standby perfect gift for all seasons.
Bacon!



Wait...no reddit memes allowed. I strolled around the store and found something that would work. Who doesn't enjoy drinking and gambling? But, I realized that at home I had no wrapping paper.

I walked down the wrapping paper aisles....


.....and picked a simple paper that had the dual benefit of not being a "strictly-christmas" wrapping paper.


At home, I proudly showed off my gift...

Yes, my friend, that is a drinking roulette table...

The next morning, I began the wrapping process...


....tape the end down, to allow a tight form fitting wrap.


.....Fold the edges to generate clean lines



....Fold the corners down, trim excess paper, and fold the edge again for "clean presentation."


....Adorn your gift with a pretty ribbon.


Caution: Do not use around animals or small children, product can cause suffocation.


...Et Voila!

Attach a card


....wrap in packaging paper, and head to the post office.


Now came the long wait.
I was still in Portland, but I knew that I was going to be heading to my parents place for the holidays, so I asked my secret santa to mail the present there.

Here I am, excitedly receiving my gift.

It was a cardboard box!!!! How exciting. I remember playing with cardboard boxes as a child, but I had no idea it would be so exciting and nostalgic to receive a cardboard box. I sat at the table with the box, discussing all the things we could do together, while it idly sat by, sipping on his coffee (though it prefers Tea), and eating its buttered toast.


After breakfast, the box and I played a couple hands of cribbage.


The box told me that it wanted to go for a drive.... So I took it out to the car, so that it could see the San Juan Islands. Unfortunately, the box had trouble seeing over the steering wheel.

So I positioned myself in the drivers seat, and the box sat over on the passenger's side of it's best friends ride.


Later on, while doing some last minute Christmas shopping, the box was feeling charitable. It donated some money to the man ringing the bell outside the store.


Box and I went home and worked on a puzzle....a family tradition over the holidays. It was already starting to feel at home with me.


When our brains tired of doing the puzzle, we played some chess....

....and checkers

That afternoon....the box was taking a nap.

....when I had a brilliant idea

First... I got a box.... and then I cut a hole in the box....

Suddenly, while looking into the hole in the box....I realized there was something inside the box.

My gift wasn't just the box!!!! My gift was six specialty teas from Adagio Teas !!!!

I love tea!!!

Whoever was my secret santa, thanks for the tea. I will enjoy drinking tea on my porch whilst taking in the ocean air.

Thanks reddit for having such a fun christmas time activity. I hope to do it again next year.

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Feel free to comment this post, as I am still trying to figure out all the details to blogspot.