Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Is Social Media hurting our parenting skills?

This is my own personal rant - do not take offense please. I was just thinking to myself about how kids seem to be getting wilder and doctors are prescribing ADHD medications at more rapid paces. This has been blamed on nutrition and too much stimulation. I agree that some of the food out there is way too high in extra dyes and chemicals, but I don't think that's the problem. In fact, I wonder why we aren't blaming parents more? So, then I was thinking about some people I know and their parenting - how they maybe do not discipline children when they should or let their kids be independent when they may not be ready to be. Why is that - why is discipline stepping to the wayside? I think part of it may be social media. I think Facebook and Pinterest are creating bad parenting and here's why. Mothers are spending more time on Facebook and Pinterest and seeing these wonderful things that others are creating and hearing about how other moms are completing a million things in a day with no problems. So, they of course want this perfect life and in order to get it they are not disciplining their children. They are letting the children do things that will help them look better and possibly while their children are doing inappropriate things they are too concerned with what is going on with Facebook. Don't get me wrong, I do not think all parents are like this nor do I think I am perfect in any way. There are many times I am too easy on my daughter and let her get away with things. I am just noting that we cannot let Facebook and Pinterest, nor any other social media tool, make us feel as though our children do not need limits and rules. We also cannot look at what others post and feel bad about our own personal parenting. Our children need rules and limitations and I think more parenting is the best prescription for these children!

Wednesday, July 11, 2012


Reflection #2

So, we are nearing the end of the Educational Technology course I am taking. I have learned a lot – way more than I had anticipated. For me, personally, the best thing that I think I can take away from this course is a more open attitude towards technology. I have somewhat been afraid of technology in the past – afraid that I won’t understand it, afraid that it won’t work when I need it, and afraid to get out on the internet because of a fear of exposing myself to others. That fear of exposure has definitely been lightened by taking this class. I even tried to post something on You Tube, but it would not let me. Instead, I posted it on screencast.com, which was a big step for me! I still have more to learn about sharing online, but I feel like I got a great start in this class.
Something that I learned in this class that I will not forget tomorrow is that I need to be utilizing technology to learn from others. We had to go to a website that had all of the presentations from the Global Education Conference in 2010 and 2011. I had no idea that all of these presentations were available to anyone! Wow – think of all that can be learned from listening to these! I will also continue to grow my PLN and will not forget about that.
As far as applying what I have learned, I will just say that I am excited for the new school year! I know that there will be bumps in the road and that time will not always be on my side, but I really am looking forward to using VoiceThread with my students and just introducing them to some of the technology I have learned. I really want to try my final project idea with my classes this year and I hope that I have the time and technology available to do that. I have attached a link to the video of my final project in case you are curious – but it entails students creating an instructional video for math. Even if I do not have enough time to utilize everything I learned in this class during my teaching, I can at least use some of it in my other doctorate classes that I will be taking. Last semester I would see everyone presenting in cool new ways, so maybe now I can be one of those presenters by using something I learned in this class. I am very grateful for this class and have definitely learned a lot about technology and its many uses!
~Michelle


http://www.screencast.com/t/MddicfJzGWup

Monday, July 2, 2012

Blog Post #3


My Response (Michelle):

It’s pretty clear in this research that the parents have a strong influence on what kids prefer, which makes sense because kids spend most of their time at home with their parents. I think eventually most children’s books will become e-books; just think about how much quicker and cheaper they will be able to be produced. But, it will take time to convince parents. This past year at the school where I teach, we took away paper folders that were sent home every Friday and instead used e-folders that parents could connect to through the school management software we use. You would not believe how much resistance has come from that - the parents wanted to go back to paper forms! There are still many parents resisting. I’ll be honest, I resisted at first, but now I see how much easier it is and, although it is a pain at times, I do enjoy being able to get materials quicker and not lose them on my desk. Many parents still need to be convinced, but I think eventually e-books will be preferred.


In response to Annie Murphy Paul http://anniemurphypaul.com/ :

Parents and Kids Still Prefer Print Books

How are parents and their kids using e-books at home?  Lori Takeuchi, director of research for the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop, discussed preliminary results from a new study on this subject during her speech to the American Library Association’s Annual Conference.
Almost half of the respondents to the center’s survey (553 out of 1,200 parents) said they read e-books to their kids, while 332 said they owned e-readers but chose not to share them with their children. Some of the top reasons caregivers choose not to introduce e-readers are that they prefer print, they find e-books more difficult to read, and they worry that their child will want to use e-readers exclusively.

Link to research by Lori Takeuchihttp://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/slj/home/894882-312/lori_takeuchi_delivers_aasl_presidents.html.csp


Link to my comment:

http://anniemurphypaul.com/2012/07/parents-and-kids-still-prefer-print-books/#comment-2214