Wednesday, July 4, 2012

A moment about computers

Today I'm going to bring you an education post.

http://www.educationnews.org/parenting/technology-could-lead-to-overstimulation-in-kids/

Go ahead and click have a look Ill take a coffee break and wait for you to come back....

OK are have you done your reading yet? Good here we go on my tangent then...

While at TCCHS and in no way is this limited here but is in fact at least a state wide requirement to show your use of technology in the classroom. And as technology gets more advanced the use of that technology expands. The school that I was at it is part of the program that every student at the high school level will have a laptop to use in the classroom as well as most of them being able to take them home everyday.


That's right take home as well.

While there is a school of thought that teaches we must teach students the next level of devices to allow them to stay up to date on the real world work force we have to take a min and think about this.

First of all the students can not have their hands on the computers at all hours of the day. Anyone who has had to teach a bunch of students has found out the hard way just how many times they have had to repeat something because the kids are not on the website that you told them to go to and finding the information out but are in fact on YouTube, or Facebook or in the case of what happened one day writing emails so dirty that the child protection software flagged it as potential child molestation.

This is not something limited to the High School setting, just ask anyone who has sat in the back of the class in a college setting or even anyone who has had to monitor employees on the computer in a real world job.

The military is filled with memo's every day of reminding troops that the computers are not for playing around on.

And yet we are over stimulating the kids with technology that they are not prepared for or don't have a respect for. Until we stop over-saturating kids with power with out respect for it we will continue to see low text scores.

Here see for yourself

That study was done in 2010 of the top 65 counties, we placed 14th in reading, and that was our high score! Studies have shown that information found on a computer are less likely retained by the brain. And here we are making it a requirement almost across the board for the kids to do everything on the computer.

Less structure in the classroom with unlimited access to technology does not produce an educated workforce, it also does not produce soldiers who have self control or discipline.

- The Leer

Hello world

Wow so here we go...

Hello everyone I would like to welcome you to The Leers official blog! The first thing I would like to do is introduce myself I am The Leer. Once upon a time it was SSgt. Leer, member of the USAF, to be specific I was an AMMO troop. AMMO being short for Munitions Systems and that being just a complicated way to say I built, drove around, and stored Bombs.

Yes, I did say that Bombs. Having that as a job is one of those cool/uncool things that you have to deal with for a long time. First of all when you're at a party and want to impress or startle people when they ask what you used to do you just happened to throw out you used to work with bombs and watch their eyes widen and watch them trip over their tongues as they search for something to say.

Or it can be the most uncool thing to say when an potential employer asks what you did in the military and you say bombs. Knowing how to put a 500 lb torque on something does not really translate itself in the classroom and why you know how to get the message across to a pack of unruly students.

Which brings us to the next part of the blog.

Soldier

When I was stationed in Kuwait I exposed to something that started giving me seizures. And when I returned to my duty station I discovered the hard way just how hard it is to be a AMMO troop with epilepsy. After only a couple years I was finally out of the military and facing the dreaded "real world". The dreaded boogie man to the military troop facing the end of his career.

Luckily my meds have kept me seizure free I have enjoyed freedoms not enjoyed by others. But it has given me something new to scare people with.

"Whats that your epileptic but still ride a motorcycle? Wow"

But all kidding aside the Military and the DAV have given me a chance to do more with my life.
One of these things that the DAV did give me was an education. In specific an education in Art, I began my college in 2006 and in 2010 I graduate with a degree in Visual Studies with a major in Art Education and minors in Art History as well as Advanced Studios.

I graduated in the winter of 2010 and by the start of the new school year I had a new Career as a High School Art Teacher at Todd County Central High School in Elkton, Ky.

Teacher

Sadly this was not to last. At the end of 2011 it was announced that due to budget cuts 12 teachers in the district would be cut. Now this is NOT a hate blog about my school district. I am actually proud of my time there with TCCHS and and proud of my achievements with the students there.

But it would be unfair to not acknowledge that it did happen. So now the final part of the title

Artist.

I have searched and applied for teaching jobs in the State of Kentucky, the state that I have my certificate in. But until such a time that I find a job full time I must fall back on something else that the DAV gave me a chance to learn. ART, and being an ARTIST. I will be putting some pictures of my art up here for the world to see but I will also be posting links and comments on others art and why its important to education as well as the military.

So be prepared I hope its going to be a wild ride but well worth it.

-The Leer