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About Me

My name is Kelsey Fercho, and I am currently a senior at North Dakota State University double majoring in Human Development and Family Science and Elementary Education through Valley City State University. My hometown is Casselton, North Dakota, which is twenty miles west of Fargo. I love working with children, so I have been working in child care for five and half years. I am currently an assistant toddler teacher at Early Years Learning Center in West Fargo. I will graduate in the spring of 2014, and I am hoping to find a teaching job in the Fargo area where I can teach 2nd or 3rd grade. When I am not at school or working I enjoy spending time with friends and family, watching movies, listening to music, cooking, and baking. One of my favorite things to do is cheer on the Bison football team! I joined the herd down to Texas for the championship last year, and I hope to have the opportunity again this year!

Wordle

Word clouds are a fun tool to use in the classroom! Wordles allow children to make a creative representation of themselves through words that describe them. The words they use more frequently appear the largest.

Reflection 2

    The first article I read by Marc Prensky was titled, “The iPad is Coming! (Or is it?).” In his article, Prensky discussed some of the benefits of using iPads in the classroom, as well as some potential problems with it. One problem he mentioned is how do we keep the iPads safe with students using them. iPads are very expensive, and I can imagine they are not the most sturdy device in the world. Prensky suggested solving this problem by purchasing cases for all of the iPads. Would this solve all the problems associated with students using iPads though? No, I do not believe it would. Many young students have not mastered responsibility yet at their young age, and they could easily lose it.
    The second article I read was titled, “Using Cell Phones for Exams.” Prensky believes that students should be allowed to use cell phones during class because that makes it so that students do not have to store as much information in their brain. His view is basically, why should we do the work when technology can do it for us? My opinion, though, is that yes, we should take advantage of technology, but we should not be completely reliant on it. What would happen if you were relying on your phone for a test, but for some reason there is no service available? I think if phones were allowed to be used in classrooms, students would not pay attention in class because they would be too distracted texting their friends or updating their facebook.
    By reading these two articles I could tell that Marc Prensky is very pro-technology. He believes it should be used whenever possible. I agree with this opinion to some extent; however, how much learning are we really doing if we rely solely on technology?

Marc Prensky 

Reflection 1

I believe Brad Flickinger’s “Educational Technology Bill of Rights for Students” blog made some very good points. Students can benefit a lot from the use of technology in the classroom. I think numbers 7 and 9 are the most important points on the list. It is very important for teachers to teach their students how to use 21st century technology because, as Brad mentioned, students will need to know how to use it in the future. It is also imperative that teachers teach their students about the dangers of the internet. Cyberbullying has become a big problem in this generation, and teachers need to be aware of risks as well. I do not necessarily agree with number 5 on the list. I think the use of social media in school would become more of a distraction than anything, and students would abuse this privilege.  I also disagree with the comment somebody made that “Mr. Flickinger doesn’t live in my world...” We are living in a world of technology, so this blog was very relevant. What is wrong with being proficient in technology?

Educational Technology Bill of Rights