Thursday, January 22, 2015

IT 6230 Unit 1 Blog

As a high school teacher I have only worked with students in the Millenial generation. I am a part of that generation as well as I am 30 years old and born in 1984. I can remember exactly where I was and what I was doing when some of the events they mentioned happened. The biggest one that I feel I have lived through is 9/11. This is a day that many people will never forget. It happened my senior year of high school. I remember watching the news footage in my zoology class. I have friends that have been a part of the Iraq wars. I think the events that they mentioned definitely impacted our generation and my life. Another event I would add is the power outage that went on in 2003. One part in the video I thought was very interesting was when the girl held up a sign that said only 18% of her teachers knew her name. When I think about how education changes and moves to online and hybrid classes, I wonder how much technology will effect students and their relationships with their teachers. I also found it alarming that 63% of teachers do not let their students use technology to create as assignment.

I feel some of the things that they have used to describe our generation are true. I think my students are big into gaming. As a teacher I try and relate things to the games they play. Most recently I used the trivia crack app as an example in class. I also feel that my students are very socially conscious. The students seem to care a lot about the opinions of their peers. A negative opinion or rumor has a huge impact on a lot of students in class. This is something that I think does describe a majority of students I teach, but I’m not sure I would say the same for myself or my friends. Students in this generation are big time multi-taskers. An example I would give is students have a much easier time staying focused on work in class while listening to music. Many students study to music. This is something that is very true for me. The last thing I find to be true is the thought that our generation is tech savvy. I know that many students help their parents use technology.


One thing I disagree with is a characteristic given in the introduction video. I would not say that today’s students are spoiled rotten. I have many students that work to support their family or that have to wait for 2 hours after school for a ride home. As a coach I often have to drive my athletes home from games or practices. I think that there are some students who are spoiled but I believe the majority of today’s students are not spoiled. Another thing I would disagree with is that the generation is healthy lifestyle. I think that the opposite is true. Many students spend time on technology now instead of being active.

Monday, January 12, 2015

ON YOUR OWN BLOG

My name is William Puvalowski. I am a teacher at Lake Shore High School. I teach Physical Education as well as Health. I am in my 5th year teaching. I graduated from Wayne State University. I am in my second to last semester in the IT program at Wayne State. I will finish my capstone this spring summer.

Sports and coaching are my two major hobbies. I currently coach three sports at Lake Shore. I coach football. I am the varsity Offensive Coordinator at Lake Shore. I coach freshman Basketball and I am the Varsity head softball coach. Outside of sports I enjoy playing cards with friends and also playing trivia.


I am in this class and the IT program because I have always liked using technology and I feel it is a great thing to use in our classes. Students are more engage in the material when a teacher uses technology. Using things technology helps students relate to the material being taught.  I know that education is moving to a more internet and online type of format and I would like to stay ahead of the curve, so I chose this program.