Fountain Pens - The Wave of the Future?

Last week there was a blog that discussed the future use of technology in the classroom. It posed the question of how long would it be until each student had a laptop of their own. There was also an interesting article attached to it which discussed the relevancy of handwriting today. If we did get to the point where students used computers to write, would there be a place for handwriting anymore? In the article it revealed that most teenagers and children today don’t remember or even know how to write in cursive. Is this becoming an ‘archaic’ and unnecessary form of writing today?

Well one school in Edinburgh, Scotland is taking a stand against this. They’ve actually required that all students learn handwriting using the ‘old fashioned’ fountain pen. The principal claims that this is improving the quality of the students’ work because it forces them to concentrate and pay more attention to their work, which then in turn creates higher self-esteems.

Here’s the link to the article:

http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/life/story.html?id=a5a892a2-86fc-4946-990f-2530c5cbe30a&k=41506



I think that it’s interesting that they are using fountain pens to get kids to handwrite. However, I don’t know that it’s necessary to use ‘fountain pens’. I do agree that handwriting shouldn’t be neglected though. I think that teaching younger students how to write in cursive also allows them to strengthen their fine motor skills and it’s probably better exercise for their brain as well – in comparison to typing. In the class that I interned my co-op still taught the students how to write in cursive and I think that one day when I have my own classroom I will too.

Here’s the article from the other blog about handwriting becoming obsolete, if you haven’t read it already (originally posted by Lindsey):

http://www.buffalo.edu/news/pdf/December06/TorontoStarSrihariHandwriting.pdf

National Geographic Kids

Here's a website that I've come across a few times. It's the National Geographic for Kids. Great website! It has lots of animal facts, interactive games, video clips, education news section for kids, craft ideas and reproducibles for teachers.


http://kids.nationalgeographic.com/


Definately visit the 'Creature Feature'. (Click on the Animals Tab, then there will be an option to either click on Amazing Animals or Creature Feature). I really like this because you get lots of pictures of the animals, Facts, a video/sound clip, a map of where this animal is found in the world, an e-card and a 'printable version'. Really cool!

Stressed

This is unrelated to technology in the classroom... but I have to ask it. Is anyone else stressed after going to that resume/interview seminar? I didn't know getting a job could be so complicated! :)

Let's try this blog thing for a second time

I'm at work right now, taking a short break and I thought I should enter my second blog. I hope that I'm doing this right. I wasn't sure if I was just suppose to 'post new' or if I was to create another blog. This is blogging my mind! I want to become efficient enough using this blog gizmo to possibly incorporate it in my 'future' classroom like the teachers Alec showed us. I wouldn't even know where to start teaching my class (especially if it was a grade one class) how to do that. But I guess nowadays kids are probably smarter at using the computer/internet then most adults are now.

My boss is now having difficulties with the printer. I do like technology and I can appreciate all it can do for us.. however, their are days where it seems it would just be more simple to use a pen and paper. Like today for my boss. heh. I've given up on my printer at home because of its constant breakdowns. It always seems to fail you when you need it the most. I get you could say technology is selfish. :)

On side note.. my job at the museum right now is actually very technology involved. (did that make sense?) What I'm trying to say is that I am currently working on developing the 'layout' of a Kids' webpage off the museum's main page. I'm not doing the computer stuff, I am just actually drawing it out (on a piece of paper with a pencil). So, in order to do this I have been doing a lot of research on other kids' webpages from other museums and educational sites. When I come across some good websites I think are worth sharing I'll post them for you to do with what you will!!

Here's one for starters:

http://www.nhm.ac.uk/kids-only/index.html

This come from the Natural History Museum of London. It's quite colourful and interactive. It has some fun games for the kids ( for instance - What dinosaur are you?, Volcano explosion, dinosaur defender.. etc.) , it has naturecams, and animal facts. If you ever do a unit on Dinosaurs it has a great 'Dinosaur Directory' - lots of good info! Enjoy! :)

My first blog in Ecmp 355

This is my first blog in Ecomp 355. I am looking forward to this class and I feel that I will be learning a lot about computers this semester!