Intelligence Is A Number: One

Somehow among human beings there is hypocrisy that walks the streets.
It’s like a whore! Opens its legs and hides its face. Sometimes it shows its rosy cheeks and puckered lips to get close to you to kill you with a kiss.
White supremacy dances against the wind; it wants to be the leader and control on every step it takes.
Forcing Spanish Indians, Mexicans, Jews, Russians, Hungarians, Italians and Negroes into an assigned dance floor, stamped; numbered.
White supremacists choose to deny other cultures. From the beginning of time, they have established a foundation based on ignorance, which is ironic. If we dissect the word ignorance, it comes down to an action to ignore. Human beings are not built to ignore, they are in fact here to immerse in the deep waters of the given land in an attempt to understand its own kind. White supremacists believe everyone that are not they, are no worthy of plunging into the royal blue sea in search for mother pearl; instead they herd beings right into a cesspool. We are boxed in and be given a placebo life; where we think we are in control but in reality we are sheep. We do as we are told. We behave just like they want us to; we conform. We stay still in mud.
It is time to rise out of these cloudy waters and slide right into an ice-skating ring to beautiful take on the land we were given to share, as brothers. Put an end to a story of being puppets and begin to create light entwined with magical tree branches to lift us to the highest potential of creation.
United we are one. We must reach out for our inner wisdom and be One.

Promoting Overall Health

EME2040 was invited to attend a discussion given at the Miami Dade College North campus on the importance of promoting global education. Professor McNair and Dr. Kenny broke down the urgent necessities on teaching literacy through out the world especially to woman and the high number of orphans left by AIDS.

There have been many attempts by different organizations to reduce illiteracy; UNESCO began a Global Education Initiative in 1990 where 155 countries gathered to conclude of the urgency it exists to teach how to read and write to all of the world’s citizens. Unfortunately, due to differences in cultures, women are less educated than man. They do not even get the chance to attend early education. If women had the chance to be educated even if its only learning how to read and write, they would increase there chances of survival and independency even if there duties have already been arranged by their culture; because what happens when their husband leaves them or dies? What happens to their children whose only resource is their mother’s knowledge? This is high stake matter for women to be educated is best describe by one of the professor’s McNair’s quotes, “If you educate the womb, you educate the Nation.”

AIDS was declared to be an epidemic in 1984 after the first spread in Africa, which became an epidemic in Zaire, Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Kenya. The AIDS virus is believed to have started from African primates and monkeys; I personally believe that it was a man made virus to be spread out through out the world as per Kissinger’s number 200 policy for the sole purpose of reducing the world’s population just like the H1N1 virus is.

If we all become aware of the grand necessity needed to promote literacy and act upon the matter by volunteering, becoming a tutor or an activist; united we can eliminate the problem but usually we are lazy and if this matter is not affecting us personally, we tend to disregard it completely. If we promote literacy we can also expand the education on how to protect from any virus through pamphlets, billboards, etc.. At the same time we must be fully conscious of our surroundings and understand that we are part of a chain, therefore anything that happens to any distant neighbor eventually will come back to affect us.

My Class Experience

By attending 2009’s fall semester at MDC, and taking a course in Introduction to Technological Education; I have learned the importance of understanding the purpose of becoming a teacher. I have learned, to listen to what my insight is responding to a class discussion on types of philosophy of education, I objectively analyzed perennialism, essentialism, progressive education, existentialism, social reconstruction and pragmatism/experimentalism and came to the conclusion that regardless of the educator’s philosophy on the method of teaching, it lays the importance sense of the educator to be aware of the current state we live on. Human beings, are in an oppressed society where they do not use their inner wisdom, only using primal senses. We have not tapped into our inner wisdom to its maxed. Therefore, for an individual to become a teacher, a guide into the innate, a sense of a higher responsibility should take into place. That is to be as awake as much as a being can be. Applying critical thinking to every action educators take at all times, not only inside of a classroom, but outside of the classroom As educators we need to tap into our wisdom and allow the flow of white light and radiate its light at all time. If a teaching profession is chosen, the individual shall understand fully the magnificent energy it holds. This energy has endless possibility to turn into a sour lemon or a sweet melon. We hold the keys to another being’s creation. It is important to be awake in the world we live on and begin to awake everyone else. One way I propose is to hold seminar using the transpersonal lesson plan and promote it through out the community so everybody can be involved in society’s molding. I have also learned about behaviorist lesson plan that is more of direct teaching and no collaborative learning; I have also learned about constructivist lesson plan where its integrated with collaborative learning, inquiry-based learning and is more student oriented, which I like very much.

Extra Credit - National Hispanic Heritage Month

I was born in Medellin, Colombia and left my country at 10 years old. My father came to the United States before my mother and I came; the reason for this new future was because of a horse. The horse’s name was Plebeyo; he was a white stallion full of brio and elegance. My father was his trainer in Colombia when the owner decided to conquer North America with the Paso Fino breed; taking us back to when I was two years old. It was our first trip across the Atlantic. We moved back shortly after I turned three years old because my mother was not happy, so we went back to Colombia to later come back to the states when I was 8 years old. He came to set a foundation for the family, then soon after I turned 10, my mother and I moved back to our new home, United State of America. Forming a new life in a new country was difficult, there were a lot of things that I had to adjust to; learning a new language, mix cultures, the roads, e.g. highways, the eclectic foods, and the amount of police patrolling the streets. But just like anything else that is part of nature, I adapted. I integrated my being to this new living and embraced its adjustments. I love how I became part of a new world, how I enveloped into the collage that forms the United States. I love waking up and reading the newspapers, always encouraging the Latin community to embrace their heritage. We are all now, Americans. Coming to the National Hispanic Heritage Month celebration this year at the Miami Dade North Campus, took me back or should I better say, it embraced what my background has brought into this new world we are residing today; United States of America. If it wasn’t for the spoken word uplifting our spirit to another realm, or the Mariachis that Professor McNair invited to proclaim what most of us Latinos grew up listening to, coming from our great grandparents, grandparents, parents, uncles, aunts, cousins and friends singing their heart out to, or the Flamenco dancers taking us back to our true heritage, Spain. Reminding us how much passion, dedication and identity we have evolved from, or the salsa dancers from the New World School of Miami or Kiki Sanchez Latin jazz we would not be who this country has become to be. Thank you! America for allowing us to be all one.

Technology in the Classroom

I believe technology is a resource to increase knowledge to the inquirer. It is imperative for teachers to integrate different methods of learning into the curriculum. Technology is one of those methods used in a classroom that may become very helpful for both the teacher and the student. I believe that technology is a form of language that breaks down barriers that were once there, because teachers are able to automatically bring up worksheets and have it displayed in the classroom for example. Technology allows having the class review any resource and even write down the answers right on a smart board. Technology is used everyday; our houses are equipped with technology, from air conditioning as a commodity to the stove used to create the essentials of life, food. We use electric toothbrushes, electric razors, alarm clocks, and television sets where we obtain an ever increasing percentage of our knowledge. Computers have become the modern books, an easier way of accessing information; increases knowledge, increases ways of searching, it allows the inquirer to have all type of information at the end of their fingers tips from the comfort of their home. Technology disables the inquirer to go outside to search for knowledge; technology enables the inquirer to use it in a sufficient manner, well that is if indeed the inquirer is properly using it. I still believe in the importance for the inquirer to search outside of their comfort home, to create projects boards and use clay to form their hypotheses instead of using illustrator or Photoshop for example, but I am also very aware the importance of implementing the habit in students to use technology for their advantage; search engines is a rare form that it has taken a world of their own, because there is absolutely nothing that compares to having a thought or desire to enter it into a search engine and magically for it to appear, giving you the accessibility to the wishful knowledge that is typed.

Philosophy of Education

My overall philosophy of life is that human beings are to develop their own identity for the benefit of society. This philosophy is what leads my life, which melts into what I believe my philosophy of educations is ought to be. I do not believe teachers are to impose their own wishes on the students neither believe that facts are to have the last word. I believe factual information can be expanded and be changed by new ideas and theories. I believe teacher’s solely purpose in a classroom should only be a medium between the student and resources needed to expand their own thought. Teachers are to assists inquirers; it is imperative for teacher to think ahead and have guidance questions to the new path. When problems arise, student’s purpose is to think deeper and find a solution. I believe that wisdom in the animal race - human beings, is innate. I believe is a necessity for the schools to find ways of teaching that provides tools for human beings to advance their knowledge to have advantage over any type of situation. As human beings, we need to be inquisitive within our own selves, a form that only may lead to a sort of form of knowledge. With knowledge, a student has the upper hand to dissect principals in the attempt to find their meaning. A student should be thought the basics, and what are meant about basics are writing, reading, math, and natural science; furthermore the curriculum should be designed accordingly to the student’s interests. The importance is for teachers to evoke student’s imagination; for the students to activate their creativity and explore its surroundings. I also believe human beings have a role in society, and the role in society needs to be completely chosen by its author and for it to be executed to the highest form of responsibility for the overall benefit of society’s wellness.

What is a Digital Story

Human beings experience things through visuals. We wake up and open our eyes and we receive light, then we begin to see shapes and these images go straight into our brain. These visuals are process internally to later be expressed externally. A digital story is a collection of visuals anda audio dedicated to capture a moment to be an informative message. Teachers in classroom, use digital stories to tell events, history, biographies or be applied to any subject that they choose to express. It is a form of expanding the objective. Digital stories are to be received by the viewer after it is processed by the viewer’s mind. Using digital stories is a good way to expand forms of learning. Now these days, society has become more technologically advance and have taken further steps to apply to ways of receiving knowledge. Some people may say, that we no longer sit down and read a book, it has become more convenient to turn on a computer, dvd, tv, projector, iphone, etc.. Where we can search for anything we want to know about; maybe a digital story clip of Darwin’s seminar when he traveled to Africa. The author of the digital story may even choose to include to Darwin’s seminar, images of the elephants, zebras, hyenas, lions, and hippopotamus among the many other animals that Darwin talked about at an auditorium when he recorded it. Even further, the digital storytelling author may decide to select to add part of his own images, representing his own trip to Africa. Digital story can be manipulated in endless forms to display emotion, moment, place, ideas, experiences, etc. A digital story is much effective because it allows the viewers to form a physical bond to the story since it broadens the viewer’s knowledge, transmitted via images, voice, music, and visual effects. Digital stories should be implemented to all classrooms, because it will engage the student to learn and pushes the learner to express itself outwardly.

Telecollaborative Lesson

In today’s time, most of the people’s routine begins with checking up on their e-mail, blogs, online networks, news updates, and many more of the web links they enjoy and incorporate into their lives. The World Wide Web has become the new modern library; here you have an endless possibility to gather information about any interests there is to imagine. Teachers across the world have created a way to use the endless wire ring the net provides in order to expand the knowledge in classrooms by exposing their students to others experiences who leave across the globe. Teachers are organizing formulated telecollaborative projects by tying them in directly to the student’s curriculum. This method of teaching must be established with a clear objective, and its purpose must prove that it can only be accomplished via the structure of a telecollaborative project. Before beginning a telecollaborative project, teachers should learn about other’s telecollaborative projects that have already been delegated by other teachers; this gives teachers a better understanding of the dynamics of a telecollaborative project. Teachers must be aware of all of the necessary work this type of project involves before deciding to go into it. They are required to allocate time to respond to all of the correspondences they will be receiving from students or anyone who gets involved. Teachers should also understand there will be many factors that will come in into play when using technology and classrooms that are not physically present. Like dealing with people’s schedules, technical errors, time differences, etc... Teachers should also maintain all records of the telecollaborative project, that way the knowledge found, can be distributed to the overall community either by individual’s online search or by the teacher informing the media. This is a great method of sharing knowledge; it uses the World Wide Web as a piggy back ride in order to develop a world community. The telecollaborative project gives the citizens an enormous gift of compassion and the understanding that we leave in an inter-dependent society.

Cooperative and Collaborating Learning

A community is identified in biological terms to be a group of interacting organism sharing an environment, and in sociology by the mid-1950s there were 94 definitions. All definitions, concluded to the main idea that a “community” is a group of interacting people living in a common place. Schools are no differing. It is important for the student to succeed at being part of a community. Knowledge should be attained by student’s understandings of searchable truths, surrounded by other members of their community. Students should have a guide, which teaches them how to be a responsible citizen through learning to collaborate with their community and be an active member in contributing to society. With cooperative and collaborating learning, students are encouraged to work together in small groups on a clear objective. It is imperative for the teacher to watch for signs of student’s abilities and weaknesses and decide how to pair small groups. Some of the critics of cooperative and collaborating learning find this teaching to cause problems for students who are more advance, as they may be held back by students with a lower-level of thinking. But there is evidence of students with a higher-level of thinking to actually excel and to enjoy from this experience; for these students, form different ways of thinking. They define or learn to explain their knowledge in different forms when this knowledge is being passed on to others. But nevertheless, it is the teacher’s responsibility to mold the group that fits and works together for the purpose of elevating a higher-level of thinking of each groups’ member. It is also known for students to come across with other’s student’s ego. When conflicts arise, the teacher who chooses to use this form of learning in their classroom is expected to resolve it as soon as it occurs and show to their students how to deal with one another. The Teacher provides students with keys to use for eliminating future negative outbursts. The teacher is also encouraged to be as specified with the details of the lesson plan. The teacher breaks down the objective for the students to use their in group exploration in finding the meaning, and provides to the students all of the necessary tools to come to the final work. For example, the teacher should create rubrics at the beginning of any assignment. Students also need to be indulged in feedback by the teacher on a regular basis, reassuring their progress. When students participate in cooperative learning, a student develops interpersonal skills, nourishes weaknesses, and acquires other ways of thinking. The student also applies principals of constructivism when working in groups. They create new ideas based on personal and shared foundations of past experiences and understanding. Students integrate inquiry-based learning when working in smaller groups; asking deeper questions to any subject given. Our society lives in an interdependent universe; therefore we must learn to work with one another, walking together while we develop higher-levels of thinking for the benefit of our community.

Inquiry-Based Learning

Inquiry-based learning, its a method capable of reaching into the depths of the mind. It questions what is it that "I" know and how do "I" know what "I" know. Inquiry-based learning is a form of teaching knowledge. It is a free format used by teachers and students to form their own views using the questioning technique to be applied to everything that it is being taught. The technique of inquiring what we know and the technique to think further to what we want to find out. This type of thinking can lead us into unlocking hidden treasures of our universe. Several fundamentals should be applied, they are known as the "ten rational powers": recalling and imagining; classifying and generalizing; comparing and evaluating; analyzing and synthesizing; and deducing and inferring when studying the path of self-questioning.
Students are encourage to apply their critical thinking skills to question what is the meaning of what it is being learned. It is known that self-initiated questioning, should begin to be taught in schools from the lower grades. In 1961 inquiry-based learning was implemented to all grades after the Educational Policies Commission suggested the need for it. They stated that American Education must develop its education by applying the fundamentals called the"ten rational powers". These "ten rational powers" were implemented in the fifties, when the United States government was in a race with Russia's technological and military advancements. The educational board promoted students to think creatively in the search of how to solve problems. Later, in the sixties, the so-called alphabet soup curricula were pushed in the schools (BSCS, CHEM, SCIS, ESS, PSSC). This was an interesting period to use inquiry-based learning, nevertheless it was a very good time for inquiry-based learning to be introduced in the schools for the availability to be used by the masses that were exposed to other way of thinking and it brought the experience for the students to explore their consciousness. Today's education system, is based on a report that was made by President Ronald Reagan called "A Nation At Risk" in 1983 after the American education was viewed to rank below the rest of the world. Currently, our schools priority is to apply reasoning instead of promoting critical thinking and creative process. We can only hope to brake these walls of reasoning and allow our mind to explore into the abyss of discovery.

Constructivist Lesson Plan

A constructivist lesson plan consists of awakening the student’s mind. A teacher uses this platform in order to help the student form its own conclusion to a situation established. When the constructivist format is set in motion, the teacher presents a situation or a matter for the students to acknowledge and discuss. The teacher points out different elements needed for the student to pick up from and gives them the preliminary tools to have them begin to break down the lesson. The teacher requires the student to apply their critical thinking skills. The teacher builds a bridge for the students to connect the dots to the intended objective. In the constructivist lesson plan, the students are usually placed among other classmates by grouping or they may be in an open format classroom where the individual can speak up in front of their peers; which indeed, this is essential in this type of a lesson plan. It makes the student listen to its own thoughts and attentively hear others perspectives of the situation. I personally enjoy thinking critically. I like to select a topic and start to carefully tear it apart. I like the engagement it exists when two minds or more come together to share their found knowledge. I enjoy when someone questions my findings; for this action alone makes me want to think deeper into the subject and pushes me further to find and adopt a fully understanding view of the factual information gathered. This alone will be the key to support any of my findings. I love not to be limited by forms of guidance. I do need guidance, at the same time I want to be able to explore the full potential of my mind. I believe that the constructivist lesson plan is a great format that accentuates the human being’s capabilities to explore and find. Giving free reign for students to search on their own and come up with their own findings. I believe this can be very exhilarating for a teacher to be part of. For the teacher will not only become the impulse of the student’s driven energy but he/she will help excel human being’s consciousness.

Behaviorist and Constructivist Lesson Plan Differences

The difference between a behaviorist lesson plan and a constructivist lesson plan format is that one is delivered and received in a structured process of thinking and the other is taught and learned by providing the students wider latitude to process the given information and freedom to come up with their own conclusion. The behaviorist lesson plan was designed by Madeline Cheeks Hunter who took it upon herself to come up with a plan in order to raise American education after seeing how public education was being criticized for dropout rates, falling test scores and discipline problems. Madeline Hunter required for teachers to be educated and to fully understand the three realms that she defines as teaching before implementing Hunter’s eight steps design lesson plant. These three realms include: content, learning behaviors of students, and teacher’s behaviors. Hunter’s behaviorist lesson plan consists of students understanding the purpose of the lesson; build a bridge to the activity by either providing a handout or asking a question for the student to begin to see the link between the purpose and what is he/she is to figure out; the teacher exposes the material to be used in order to achieve purpose; then the teacher shows them what is there to be done and how to; checks their understanding and gives a summary of what the intention is and what will be the outcome.

A constructivist lesson plan format will include and not limited to by the teacher’s guidance. The student is presented with a situation then follows with the teacher designing how are the students going to learn the objective, e.g. grouping. In the constructivist format, the students will build a bridge but instead of being the teacher directing the way, the students are given the chance to attempt to explain what the situation is and how are they going to resolve it. The teacher measures the student’s knowledge by their explanations, and he/she states the new guided questions in order to spark the student’s awareness, leading them to a better understanding of the process and how to solve the problem. After, the students exhibit their findings to their classmates and they reflect upon the overall classroom responses.

Instead of soaking up the sun; I will envelop in her dreams..

Toni Dalton All rights reserved, no use authorized without permission.

Lesson Plan Reflection - Motivation

As human beings, we are habitants of one of the eight planets of the solar system. Our planet goes around the sun accompanied by three other smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, and Mars which are primarily composed by rock and metal. The outer other four planets are composed largely of hydrogen and helium, known as gas giants. Our physical bodies can live on Earth because it is mainly composed of hydrogen, helium, oxygen and carbon which are suitable elements for providing us with the main things needed to survive: food, water, shelter and oxygen. We also have another advantage to our existence, which is how perfectly Mother Earth is distance from the sun since this star’s core can reached up to 27 million degrees Fahrenheit. As human beings evolved, this information began to surface. It has taken centuries for our species to process these facts; there are a lot more inquiries that we continue to investigate in an attempt to learn what these are and properly understand them in order to apply what is found to the benefit of our specie’s survival. An educator plays a big role in our society as he/she is part of the process of attaining and distributing the knowledge to secure human beings existence. The importance of this should motivate educators to understand well their subject of teaching in order to explain to their pupils in different forms their lesson plan; taking in consideration the five different ways of learning: verbal, visual, tactile, kinesthetic, and aural. In a lesson plan, an educator recognizes and summarizes the importance of the topic to be instructed to and learned by the students. He/she writes down the procedures to follow as a guide for him/her to walk the students through the process of understanding the intent of the subjects’ material. Giving the educator time to organize in their mind the knowledge to be taught and helping them guide the classroom to achieve understanding as he/she writes down what it is expected from the students; what they are going to do in order to comprehend the lesson, and how is he/she is going to demonstrate its knowledge. It is imperative for educators to know their importance they play in molding the children of their own world and this can be accomplished by a well put lesson plan.

Beginnings

Sometimes when we think we have it all figured out, life gives us a new window to paint a beginning to a frame of our lives. In here, I would like to create a colossal of clouds where the sunshine rays strike the depths of my heart as it makes it pour out its reds, splashing unto the pavement of my soul; opening and determining the purpose of my path.