The first post I read on Mr. Mikulski's blog was Should Teachers Assign Homework?. In this post he talks about Mr. John Spencer's(yes, the same one who wrote the pencil cartoon)views on homework. In Mr. Spencer's opinion, homework is the main assignment where cheating occurs, therefore don't assign any. However Mr. Mikulski doesn't agree with this practice. He says homework IS needed as summative assessment and as a way for holding students accountable and teaching them responsibility. Mr. Mikulski points out that there should be higher standards than just making the students responsible for showing up to class. He agrees that too often teachers handout easy crosswords and word finds which is unacceptable, but thought provoking and meaningful homework is necessary.
Comment #1
I loved this post by Mr. Mikulski! I 100% agree with him. Although I know Mr. Spencer to be respectable man, I simply cannot understand why he would feel this way about assigning homework. I agree that thought provoking and stimulating homework SHOULD be assigned to students. It takes more than just lecturing on a topic during class time to help them understand. Of course no one likes homework, but it's a part of learning and life. I feel that homework does instill the value responsibility in students and hold them accountable for succeeding.
The second post I read on Mr. Mikulski's blog was Managing Your Online Footprint. In this post Mr. Mikulski talks about an online conference he participated in using Google Hangouts. They discussed a topic he feels very strongly about-how students use the internet. He says that even though students spend up to 11 hours per day on the interest they still don't understand that what they put on there now will affect them in the future. Google never forgets, it is there forever. For example he describes an 18 year old kid who posts pictures of him playing beer pong to his Flickr account. Now fast forward 10 years that same kid has graduated from law school and did exceedingly well on the bar exam. Future employers or clients will always see the picture of him playing beer pong and the picture of him in his cap and gown right next to each other on an image search engine. Mr. Mikulski points out that kids do stupid stuff, that's part of growing up. The problem is that the pictures of the stupid stuff are saved forever.
Comment #2
This was a great post by Mr. Mikulski! It brings awareness to a trending problem. Children should be more aware of the consequences of posting revealing pictures online. They should know that those pictures will stay with them forever. I know that when I apply for a teaching job the principal will probably do a Google search on me. Luckily, I have never posted embarrassing pictures online that could prevent me from getting the job. I think as teachers we want to incorporate technology and the internet into our classrooms but it is important to teach our students proper internet safety.
I read several blog posts by Mr. Mikulski and I have to his blog has been my favorite by far. Keep up the good work by Mr. Mikulski!
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