You never think it can happen to you... Boy can we be so wrong..

One community brought to tears.. There is a dark cloud over Chardon Ohio this week.

Tj Lane a junior at Chardon High School, arrived at school Monday morning with a hand gun and a knife.. Students were carrying on like usual, the first bell rung and they headed to class.. My brother, Johnny, was in the cafe and left to go to class in room 203. Tj stood up in the cafe and took aim at three students and fired away, from less than five feet away.. He then ran down the hall took aim again hitting  2 more students, .. The ass. football coach Mr. Hall chased Tj out of the school where he fled on foot.. Mr. Ricci was in his room when the lockdown was put in place with the first shots being fired.. He heard moaning in the hall and dragged a wounded student into his room, where he did first aid. He let the student, Nick, call his mom and dad and his girlfriend on Riccis cell phone. My brother was right down the hall under a computer table crying.

I woke up this morning to my mom calling my phone at 843 that morning, I actually ignored her call then realized it was odd for her to call so early since she knew I had class at ten.. I called her back and the first thing she said was "There was a shooting at the high school.." I couldnt help but start crying and cut her off asking "Is he Dead?!"  My mom at this point was balling like my self.  In the midst of the two sentances I was up with my pants on and just a bra on standing in my house hallway. My mom said "I dont know, I cant get ahold of him, the school isnt answering" and I had my mind up I was going home. My roommate had awoken thinking it was my back again since two weeks before I woke crying and went to the hospital.. She came out seeing me crying on the phone.. I know I asked if I can come home, and my mom said "No, but I have to keep my phone open, Ill text you as soon as I know anything" She was already at the school outside waiting.. She later texted me saying students were coming out, but she didnt see Johnny.. For what felt like an hour I waited, trying to find a news channel covering the story but Erie didnt have anything, so I went online and got all the stories.  At 900 my mom called me "Hes alive, Im with him". I heard Johnny in the background crying.

I have never been so afraid in my life.. I never thought anything like this would have ever happened to me or even to my high school.. We dont live in that kind of town..  Tj ran down the road to his car where he turned himself into to bystanders. He was arrested on woodin road, he had a gun and knife on him.

Throughout the day rumors flew of the students who were shot, and who the shooter was. Daniel Parmertor, Joy Rickers, Nick Walzack, Demetrius Hewlin, and Russell King were the five students attacked. Sadly the day dragged on as names were being said as to have passed away, finally the news would confirm each deceased. One by one, all the way till midnight. Three students have passed: 1. Daniel Parmertor, 2. Russell King , 3. Demetrius Hewlin.. The other two students are still in serious condition.. 

I knew the shooter Tj Lane, He was a freshmen when I was a senior.. He was in my, along with 4 other seniors, mentoring class.. He was a quiet kid, but I never ever would have thought he could do this... Never.. He clearly was disturbed to be able to do this..

One school, One community, Five victims.. Our hearts beat as one as we all sit in awe, crying and wondering why did this happen to us.. I thank god for those teachers who saved my brother and so many others, along with thanking the Police and the FBI and The Swat team..

Our school will never be the same, our community will never be the same.. Those students who witnessed their friends being slain, will never sleep right again.. I couldnt even make it an hour today with out crying... 2/27/2012 <3

I could post a million videos about this, but itd be easier to just google, Chardon High School Shooting 2/27/2012, watch what you like but it isnt easy to read the stories or watch the interviews.. I link several words here to important articles but there are so many more.. Please the only way to not repeat history is to know it..

Money, Money, Money, MONEY!!!!

Sorry in advance about this long blog and my ranting.. It’s a touchy subject for myself and I’m sure many others.              Think about how much you pay for college?.  Now think about how much in aid you received last year compared to this year?.  Big difference isn’t it?  That’s because of state and government aid has been cut yet again for students going for higher education.  I read a Policy matters article on congressweb.com , where they talk about how tuition prices have gone up and how state and government funding has been cut. They are basicly shutting the door on opputunity for students...

                In the article it has the top 10 higher education state policy issues in 2011. I will direct you to the two I’m discussing, number 4 and 5. “Given sustained financial pressures on students and families, combined with ongoing state budget crises, state student aid programs will be further stretched in 2011.” I know this is an old statement but it’s a current issue, we have been hit with the start of the cuts this year. President Obama has gone away with the ACG (Academic Competitiveness Grant) which affected me and I’m sure many other students. I’m not clear on his reasoning’s and honestly I don’t care to understand.  That’s not the only one he has gone away with, which is the sad part.  The report “cautions that “the worst might still be yet to come at the state level” due to states’ economies lagging the national economic recovery.”  And we thought it was already bad, I hate to think about how much it’ll be next year for me to attend school. The states have lessened the amount of aid given to their students which was based on need and metric. I currently have already racked up 10,000 in loan debt for when I graduate (I’m only a sophomore) and I still pay almost 1000 a semester on top of my loans for housing, books, programs, and class material. During the 2011 year, published tuition prices continued to “escalate at a level far exceeding inflation. According to the College Board, published in-state tuition and fee prices at public four-year institutions—averaging $7,605 in 2010-11—increased $555 or 7.9 percent compared to 2009-10.” That’s also in-state rates, which I’m an out of state resident.  Why does the cost keep rising? I realize states that rely on proceeds from cigarettes or the lottery is in danger, but there has to be another way to supplement the money. Education should not be this hard and costly to achieve.

            What I don’t understand is why college is so expensive in the first place? What does our money really go towards?  It’s clearly not put aside for books for the students, that’s just another tab the student has to run up. It clearly doesn’t go to busing all students. Sure we have a few buses that well drive students around the campus or up town or to the mall. Students should have to pay a fare for those and dis-clude it from tuition. Majority of students don’t even use it and we are paying other students free gas rides. We rarely get paper copies of anything anymore, so our money isn’t spent on paper.  I know the construction on campus isn’t funded by our tuition but why not use alumni donations to lower the cost of attendance? Overall I just please need someone to explain this to me.

                 I understand I’m probably being closed minded about some issues but this just doesn’t make sense to me.  Let’s take away the students ability to pay for higher education.  Therefore lowering the number of students with degrees, who will someday run this country. Makes sense right?!  To save our world tomorrow we need to help the kids today. That’s why I want to be an education major. I want to teach the bright minds of tomorrow and help those students who will someday be taking care of me.

To Tweet and Post Or Not To Tweet and Post???

       In our last class we spent majority of the class discussing our peaks and pits about PowerPoint, twitter, facebook and more, when it comes to the classroom.  Our class seems to be in agreement that those tools aren't appropriate for all age groups.  I stand firmly, as you can tell in all my posts, that there is no need for pre-k to 3rd grade using social networks in or out of the classroom. They need to learn by experience and hands on things, and by asking questions to teachers or parents.  Like mentioned in class kids these days are already glued to their phones and facebook/twitter why would we want to start kids even earlier? I do however think Teachers regardless of what grade they teach, should be staying connected though social networks. It does provide helpful ideas and tips every teacher could use.  But i do feel there is a point when its too much. It is hard as a college student having to maintain a blog, twitter, gmail, facebook, read the book, and cant forget all our other classes.  Oh plus our normal emails, then the schools email, and also D2L. I could only imagine how a teacher would feel. We do need to make sure we stay connected with the real world and try not to lose our face to face skills. There are ppl out there already that have lost those skills, and I just don't want my students to become those ppl.
   I know how to work facebook (Alicia Pierce), gmail and I'm becoming pretty comfortable with blogger (Here and now, The Start of it all) , but Twitter (AliciaMP21) i honestly don't understand the point? My first impression is its pointless and a waste of my time. Ill give it a try and I hope in class ill gain the reasoning behind tweeting... we'll see i guess.


* Something to chew over:
   Haven't you ever been in class when your teacher puts on a PowerPoint or overhead sheet and expects you to take notes and still listen to what they are saying? They read the material and go on to the next idea while you are still writing the last topic out. If teachers still stuck with paper copies students could focus more on the discussion and it'd help the learners who need explaination first then work it out...  

I need to become a networked learner...

While reading the pln's chapter two, Im realizing i need to open up more to the technology in the classroom. But like the book says "it all begins with your individual practice", which is where this blog comes in, Im trying to incorporate it into my life.  The book also mentions Twitter, Diigo, Facebook, Google Reader and Blogger. I use two of those network sites, although i didnt realize that until now. I use facebook and blogger. I dont really understand the point of twitter, and i have no idea what Diigo or google reader is.. I love how the book admits on page 37 paragraph 2, that "face to face networks" are still very important and needed. Towards the end of the chapter, it talks about being in the talking to an "empty room" effect. I feel thats the pharse Im stuck in. Im just posting becasue i have to not because i have readers or followers waiting. I havent hit that moment when i realize why Im doing this or how well this help me grow as a teacher? I guess I understand the books view that haveing networks in your personal life can help you broaden your views, opinions, and ideas, but in class we talk about how we can use it in class. Thats what where Im having trouble. Im more of a Rudolf Steiner kinda teacher, I discourage tvs and computers at least until later ages.. The chapter ends with "Your netwrok will grow, and your learning will never be the same." Im looking forward to having a growing network and having my opinions changed with my learning styles being perfected..

A Powerpoint?

My first reaction to putting together a powerpoint to use in my future classroom was lets say a little less than exciting.  I had no idea where to start or what I could even put into a lesson on a pp. I had to look through all the standards and find one that would be easy to put in a pp. Which was hard because I  want to teach younger students and i feel things are better taught with a hands on approach. If i were to use this pp in a classroom it would be in conjuction  with fake monies. That way its a hands on thing. Because of this project i di learn a few new things. I learned how to embed a pp in a blog! (Win for me) I also got to play around with pp more and become more famialiarized with the functions. Although i could not get certain things to load i worked around it and found other ways. Im not entirely sure I got my lesson totally through on the pp, but i tried.

The power of PLNs

I read the first chapter of PLN and its all about understanding the power of PLNs. The first chapter goes into detail about "the Big Shifts" and how its not easy to transition into, how there are new literate standards to adhere by because of the new shifts. It also talks about how skills will be changing and the effects of networking, and how we need to look forward  not backwards" because its a change we have to face.  This chapter just assumes teachers will be embracing the new technology age and just adapt. I personally have a few questions about that, and i disagree with a few of the statements.

             I understand the world is changing and its a new way of life to have your cell phone attached to your hip. Along with the new ipads and such coming out too. But do we really want our four to eight year olds being glued to the computer, or having phones or ipads at such a young age? Those early years are the most influential years of a childs life. Freidrich Froebel once said those years are about "free work" and play. His theories were designed to stimulate learning, through self-playing and activities accompanied by songs and music. At such an early age thats critical in the development of the young ones. Think about it this way. Yes bringing technology into the classroom is a great idea for students who can determine the difference between  good information and bad information. The book says these issues are just an "easy way to not have to deal with the real world realities".  That’s not true. You can use technology in the classroom to a point with young ones, but when it comes to fifth graders then go all the way and jump right into the personal learning networks.  There’s no reason to have a five year old on a computer chatting up some professor about anything when they can’t even comprehend what’s being discussed.

      The book states that using networks in school will have these 7 effects

"1. students are better prepared for life and work in the 21st century

2. classrooms are more engaging

3. students are responsible for their own learning

4. instruction is more individualized

5. adults become better at their jobs and build problem-solving capacity

6. students are safer

7. schools save time and money."

I do agree with number 1, 2 (to a point), 5 and that’s it. I do not agree with the others. How does exposing five year olds in kindergarten to the wide world net make them safer? That doesn’t make any sense. Then for number 3, what do we do about the students who need help or what about when the students fail, is it all on them now? Not the teacher? As for number 7 yes the school might save money with not having the need for the teachers, but what about all the computers and web cameras and attachments that costs money?

      I do realize I am an early childhood and special ed major so clearly all my questions would be in regards to those levels. I think PLNs would be very powerful in the right grade levels but as for me i find no need for them in my future classroom. Although I would be using them in my personal life to better myself as a teacher but in the classroom I only find a need to use a smart board, or power points to interact with students. They dont need to be web surfing just yet.