"Broken" Duke University/Center for Documentary Studies

I watched a podcast/video called "Broken," which is a HIV education film from South Africa. In the video, a little girl, Dolly, is raped by her intoxicated father. The brother comes in and catches what the father has done to his sister and tries to help her. The father then tried to beat the little boy. Later that evening, the mother arrives home from work and questions Dolly why she has not yet cooked dinner. The girl burst out crying, so the mother asks the brother why she is crying. He explains to her that the father raped her, but the mother simply tells the boy to stop lying and asks the father did he rape Dolly. Of course, the father response is, "No, that is a lie," and that is the end of that.

So many parents ignore signs that a child is being hurt. In this case, the mother is actually told what the father has done, but she thinks because he simply says he didn't do it that he is telling the truth, despite the little boy's claim and the girl crying. The mother is so concerned with staying with the father that she ignores what she is told. The father is so busy drinking alcohol that he cannot see how he is hurting his children. The message of the movie is the children are our future, stop hurting them.

EDM 310 Podcasts

In my EDM 310 class, I, and my fellow classmates, and two other group members had to put together a podcast and present it. Before this class, I, and probably many of my classmates, did not know what a podcast was. Before preparing to put our podcasts together, we were required to listen to some podcasts to get a feel of how to put one together. We were not perfect, but for our first times we actually did good.

My group members included me, Kim, and Brooke. We talked about the history of blogs, how we can implement them into the classroom, and interesting blogs. Our knowledge of the topic was thoroughly explained, we were all well prepared, and we talked clearly and intelligently. We could have been a bit more laid-back and conversational, but as a whole we did great!

Rachael, Keller, and Joye did an awsome job to me. I mean they did really good. They were knowledgeable and they were conversational. The word "um" was used too much, but they were very good!

Susan, Bridget, and Angela were also very in-depth with their information. Like us, they also could have been more conversational.

I believe that we all did well over all. We could have been more conversational, more natural, more comfortable with each other and our topics. We now have podcasts under our belts, and I'm sure if we had to do another one we would do better.

Mathematics with Technology

Judy Chandler-a technology integration specialist, mathematics teacher, and a mathematics mentor and trainer-discusses how she has encountered many teachers that do not consider technology as a valuable classroom resource for their students. She has heard various excuses/reasons for them not implementing technology into their classrooms such as: my students are doing just fine without technology,we have to finish the book by a certain date, technology is an add-on (it is not essential to the students' learning), I do not have the time to learn about technology, or I do not have the time to include technology in my lesson plan.

Some of Judy's colleagues, as well as many other teachers, wondered and questioned what role does technology play in mathematics and education. Judy explains this by relaying the National Council of Teachers in Mathematics' findings that technology is one of the six key principles of high-quality mathematics education; that technology is essential in the teaching and learning of mathematics and that it enhances the students' learning. Judy goes on to explain that by implementing technology into the classrooms, students can become fully engaged hands-on with the material at hand and can get feedback. Technology can promote critical thinking and offers a different approach to demonstrate learning.

Many students, like myself, are more of a visual learner and can learn much easier when the material is and interesting and easy to relate to. Judy makes many great points that by implementing technology, it allows the student to have fun while learning. The student can enjoy interesting tools specific to math, such as interactive examples. Judy's goal may have been to give a better understanding of how technology can not only help the students in mathematics but also the teachers, but she actually makes a good point essential to all areas of study. I believe that the points that Judy makes in her discussion will help teachers in Science, English, and all other subjects as well.