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On January 31st, 2014 I read the article 20 Awesome BYOD and Mobile Learning Apps on a website called Cool Cat Teacher. I thought this looked like an interesting article because it was just what we have been talking about. We have been looking at what improvements technology has made to make education easier. This article takes a look at what is new in the app world and what’s helping out kids the most.

This article shows you different apps that are very helpful for note taking and interactive programs to teach your students. It talks about Microsoft OneNote, which is a good way for kids that don’t want to write, or can’t read their own handwriting. You can make it easier by using Evernote and Skitch so that you can use your notes in cool ways, and retain information better. Apps such as eBooks can help you have your textbooks and school materials on the go wherever you are. They talk about individual writing and how Microsoft Office is still at the top, when it comes to writing essays. If you are going to take part in collaborative writing, Google Drive is almost the best when it comes to students simultaneously editing a document together to create an essay. Office 365 is also coming out with efficient programs to help out with collaborative writing. Blogging is a very update and modern way for students to write out what they have learned. Cloud Sync is new, and it’s a way for students to submit their work on their device wherever they are.

For this teacher, it really does seem like she needs to take it a little bit slower so that the students don’t get overwhelmed with all of the new ways to learn. I do think that all of these things are a good idea, but making sure that the student understands what they are actually doing with the learning apps. Google Drive is an exciting way for students to all edit a document at the same time. It is a good way to go about group projects. I think as a future educator it will be important to make sure that these students have the right knowledge about these apps as they need to be able to use them. I think that creating a calendar for your students to use to remember assignments such as blogs, group projects, and to just keep their personal life in order in general.

I’m glad that I got to read this article, because it shows me what technology is being used today. Now, I know there will be so much more out when I finally start teaching, but reading articles like this will help me keep up with what’s going on. Teacher’s should always be looking into what’s new and what other teachers are using, and trying to change things. They shouldn’t make it so boring just to say that “Get out some paper, were going to take notes, and you’re going to listen to me in a monotone voice and probably fall asleep.” It’s important to keep the students awake and engaged in what you’re teaching.

The article that I chose was Preparing Students for Romantic Relationships. Richard Weissbourd, Amelia Peterson, and Emily Weinstein wrote this article, it was found in the “Kappan” magazine. It was from the December 2013/January 2014 issue. Teachers should be teaching more to the students then just the required curriculum, in my opinion. Middle School and High School students are hormonally going through a lot at the time. They have more to learn in their high school years than just the core classes. School districts should make it required to have teachers trained in things such as sexual education. I chose this because it is a strong belief of mine that many students struggle with these kind of problems and there is no one there to help them.

“Schools should do more to prepare students for romantic love and sex.” This is the main topic of the whole entire article. What many teachers don’t realize is that besides the negative effects of pregnancy and STDs, children can also develop problems such as substance abuse, depression and school troubles that come from romantic anxiety and failure. The teachers that do teach minor sex education in classes such as health and physical education, are not even specially educated in the topic of sexual and romantic relationship education. Adults often hand over the responsibility for educating kids about sec and love to other students, brother and sisters, or media. Parents often don’t feel like it’s their role to take on, then whose role is it? Someone has to be here to teach these kids about one of the most imperative thing in their lives at the time. Teachers should veer their teaching of sexual education to focusing more on developing, maintaining and ending romantic and sexual relationships.

In my opinion, this is a very significant topic in teens lives, they do need to be further educated in the subject of relationships. Teachers and adults need to focus more on producing the students emotions and integrity then things that are less important. Thus, curriculum is not, not important. It is extremely important and crucial in teens education career, but they also need to be taught things that will help them get through those years. We lose many students due to suicide and depression, teachers can help in these areas by developing strength in relationships.

Many students are often harming themselves, physically and emotionally when it comes to the multiple hookups that they encounter. They go into hookups sometimes hoping for love and come out emotionally damaged because all that person wanted was sex. In studies, it shows that 87% of students, grades 7-12 reported experiencing sexual harassment in the previous year, with negative effects such as missing school and not sleeping much.

The effect that these can have on teachers is that, some teachers are basic and don’t know how to deal with any personal problems and only know how to teach students the information they need to know. A teacher needs to take on a more important role in the student’s life. In some cases, the kids look up to the teachers and ask for guidance, a teacher should be someone you can trust, someone you can talk to and connect with, not just someone standing at the front of the room teaching boring lessons.