Additional Assignment #5

 Tom Johnson's Adventures in Pencil Integration.

~While reading Mr. Spencer’s post, I did realize all the metaphors he uses throughout his writing. Though, I may get the wrong picture from the metaphor, at least I’m recognizing they’re there. I tried to get the big picture from the stories but I could be wrong. The first post I read was “The Medium Shapes the Learning.” In this post Spencer talks about changing the mediums. Mediums would, to me, be the form of technology because he mentions the film studio. It’s a different tool than just using a pencil for example. I think here he is talking about technology in general. Change is good and it should happen but not just for the fun part of it. Learning should be looked at carefully when choosing new tools to add (technology).  The next post was “He Just Likes the Class for the Pencils.” This post was about technology and respect. The child in the story didn’t just like the class for the computers or the “pencils”, he enjoyed it because of the over all class. The Nice Guy Teacher got to know the child and gave him a fun way to experience learning, and that is something all teachers should do
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~“Sketchy Portraits: 8th Grade Identity and Pencils”, was the next post I read. This post became kind of “sketchy” for me. It talked about pencils then it talked about a child being mouthy to a teacher. Spencer goes on to say that it’s not really the kid’s fault, but the other teacher can be angry and he understands. Spencer understands but he also see’s that the kid is in eighth grade and he is wanting to be treated like a child and an adult. His last statement is very good though, “She’s writing the world in ink and I’m sketching it out in pencil”. I think this is talking about how the other teacher is seeing just the black and white . She’s not seeing all the other things that matter besides being literal and permanent things in life. Spencer is sketching the world in pencil because there’s so many different shades and ways you can use a pencil. He’s saying that he learns from his students not just embraces being their teacher.

~The last post was “Just Teach Them to Solve for X “ which was very good. I liked that it was explaining metaphors with X. I like that the kids are sketching pictures to understand X.  The story is about math, the teacher wants them to understand how variables work by using metaphors and sketching. Learning and life is dangerous. They both change beyond our control. I like that the author says he wants them to see that language shapes our perceptions of reality. This post to me is hard to explain, so I’m very sorry if it’s far fetched. I really enjoyed this post though, it was my favorite.