Week 5

My Thoughts on Wikipedia

When I was in high school, my English teacher forbade us to use Wikipedia as a citation for our research papers. We definitely complained and did not completely understand why until one day a boy in our class opened our eyes. He called the teacher over to his computer to show her an article that he supposedly found on Wikipedia. It was about a young fisherman who caught a record-breaking fish in the Gulf of Mexico that year. The article starred my very own classmate himself! He had logged into Wikipedia and completely changed an article he found simply because he thought it was funny. Our teacher was quite aggravated as she explained to us that what he did was a prime example of why Wikipedia is not a reliable source. I have to mention, however, that Wikipedia did in fact change the article back the next day.

I understand that Wikipedia is an open encyclopedia so that viewers can contribute to its articles. However, the world will always have those immature people who like to ruin the best of things for the rest of us! After seeing firsthand what someone can do to an article, I am highly disappointed in Wikipedia. If I were going to be an English teacher rather than a math teacher, I would definitely disapprove of my students using Wikipedia. Our students need facts not false pieces of information typed in by someone as a joke or by someone who has no experience in what they are writing about. The sad part is that the people who are doing those things to Wikipedia would probably be extremely mad if they were handed false information that was presented to be true. It honestly makes me sick.

Mr. McClung’s Blog

Mr. McClung’s blog is extremely heartfelt and touching. He honestly cares about his students and how well they are doing in his class. He knows that not every student learns the same way, and not every student is going to succeed at something the first time they do it. This is why it is our job to “pick them up and dust them off” so that they can try again. I love how he states that “No lesson is ever perfect. The lesson you teach and the one you plan are always different.” This is a great tip for me because I am truly a perfectionist, and I need to be prepared for the fact that not everything will always go as planned inside a classroom.

I also believe that it is extremely important for teachers to truly listen to their students. If our students are not learning, we obviously are not doing our job! I remember what it felt like to help a fellow classmate understand a topic and to see their “lightbulb.” I cannot wait until I get to see all those “lightbulbs” lighting up one by one in my class. It is important to know your students so that you can read their expressions and know when their “lightbulb” is on or off. Mr. McClung is extremely insightful, and I feel his tips will be invaluable to me as a teacher.