Technology in the Classroom

Technology is everywhere around us.  It is constantly being used and new types of technology are being created at an ever-increasing rate.  Therefore, why is it that, in most colleges, instructional technology seems to rarely be used and instead there is a heavy reliance on instruction by lecturing?

As a senior going to college next year this is a sad reality.  While some colleges are changing the ways they teach, most of them are still using the archaic methods for teaching that they have been using for decades.  Therefore, college, the place that is supposed to prepare you for jobs, is not embracing how many jobs now use collaboration and technology.

At Cape Fear Academy I use technology on a daily basis in most of my classes.  I don’t sit through lectures and takes notes in the traditional manner that many other students do.  Instead I get to use technology and do collaborative projects with my peers.

My teachers have integrated technology into a lot of my assignments as well as their lessons.  I have used sites such as voice thread to explore The Odyssey and its many themes.  A voice thread is a website where you create a power point type presentation but you can narrate each slide and also have others comment directly onto the project.  I have also used wikis where my entire class had to work together to define and explain various terms about European history.  In my government class, our teacher frequently shows us videos from online that explain topics in a straightforward manner to give us a another explanation for something we are studying.  Even my weekly vocabulary words for my literature class use technology; we get to quiz ourselves on the words using games online.  This is much more interesting than simply staring at a piece of paper trying to memorize twenty words and their definitions.

Integrating technology with learning has been a great experience for me.  I feel as though I can learn information more quickly and more thoroughly through its use.  There are so many different sources online that I can also use in order to learn more about a topic.  And this is heavily encouraged by my teachers. They realize the massive amount of information out there and they motivate us to take advantage of it.

It seems that college will be completely different from what I have been taught at CFA though.  While I may not get to use as much technology in my classrooms in college, I will always have the skills that I have obtained from CFA so I can be ready for the work force.

Yaggin’ 2012

“The chamber will now revert to the passage of this Senate Bill.” I heard this phrase repeatedly throughout my several days of meetings at the YMCA North Carolina Youth and Government Conference, aka YAG. I have been a “Yagger” for four years now, and each year I have a different experience. For example, I was a Senate Clerk this year, so I got to experience the conference as a leader. I sat in chambers (formal sessions for bills) all day, so I was able to watch the parliamentary procedure process occur from the stage in front of everyone.

Each year, I learn a little more about current issues in North Carolina, and YAG ends up being a great educational experience in different ways. Some memorable events from this YAG conference were seeing friends I’ve made from freshman year, being honored as a four-year senior, seeing my younger sister become engaged in parliamentary procedure, and watching my friend Fields be inaugurated as governor of the entire conference. Next year, I am definitely going to miss Youth and Government so much that I might just have to join their college staff!

Having a “Yaggin’” Time

This past weekend I attended the 20th North Carolina Youth and Government Conference in Raleigh and had a good time listening to bills being debated, catching up with old friends, and having the position as a Clerk.  Our classmate, Fields, being the governor was great; he did the best job speaking to everyone in the conference, and because he is one of my good friends, other girls from different schools were very jealous when I told them I hang out with him all the time.

At the conference I was a Senate Clerk with my good friend Rachel for the second year.  We were lucky to see a very interesting perspective of Chambers while sitting with the committee chairs and the “PO’s” while listening to debates on bills.  There were a ton of really interesting bills such as legalizing cannabis, and limiting women to only four pregnancies which were highly debated.  Cape Fear Academy had many bill authors and I loved hearing them present their bills in front of the juniors and seniors in the Senate Chambers where I was a clerk.  My favorite bill was the one about creating an Autobahn like the ones in Germany.  Think about how awesome that would be!

At the Governor’s Gala, the UNC Clef Hangers, a vocal group, performed, and my new friend and I were right in the front dancing and singing along with them.  Afterwards we got pictures with the Clef Hangers  and talked to them about Carolina.  Overall the conference was a great success for the third year in a row that I have attended, and I am sad to say that it was my last one being a senior.  I am going to miss all the friends I have made at Youth Leg and all the memories that were created in the past years.

I’m a Yagger

Yagger: a person who attends the North Carolina Youth Legislator Conference and has immersed himself or herself in the understanding of government.

As of this year I am a fourth year veteran Yagger and every year I have made the trek to Raleigh and debated bills with my fellow Yaggers. Although I’m a returning senior, every year there are different memories and new people to meet.

This year I decided to take on a leadership position at the conference, to give back to the conference that I have loved so dearly. I decided to be a Committee Chair and run a committee of junior and seniors to amend bills and to help people learn Parliamentary Procedure.
As mentioned before, I’m a Yagger; I know this conference inside and out. Teaching Parliamentary Procedure was probably the easiest part of the whole conference, for it was the one part that I knew really well. Instead of being that scared freshman I once was at this conference going to leaders and asking questions, I was the one answering questions. I was the expert on the issues, people looked up to me.
It was great to be able to give back to a conference that has been a major part in my life for four years. To be able to help out even a little bit with something that has given back to me was the best feeling. Also so see friends that I only get to see once a year was awesome and to meet new friends is even better!

Out-of-the-Box Friday

After more than half of the student body at Cape Fear Academy headed out for Youth and Government, the halls were left empty and quiet. For the remaining students like me, the Friday school day with less than half of the student population missing was to be long and boring. This year, however, the teachers got creative. They came up with the great idea of creating “Out of the Box Friday.”

This was a Friday like never before. Instead of going to our normal classes, we did activities that stretched our creative minds while allowing us to have fun.

My first activity was Arts and Crafts lead by Ms. Dervian. Since it was about to be Valentine’s Day, we made adorable love jars. We brought mason jars in from home and decorated the outside. For the inside we looked up love quotes online, neatly wrote them on colored paper, folded them up, and put them inside.  It was such a creative idea and a perfect Valentine’s Day present.  My mom adored it!

We also practiced recycling by turning old t-shirts into cute tote bags. It’s always fun to turn something old into something new. Even the boys enjoyed this one! In addition to doing these fun crafts, my friends and I took turns drawing each other. I was surprised at how well they turned out. Definitely something to frame!

After arts and crafts, I took part in the photo scavenger hunt. This was my favorite part of the day! Everyone in the group split up in pairs to tackle the funny tasks we were assigned to accomplish within a certain amount of time. I was paired with a senior I did not know. We had a great time running around CFA and brainstorming different ideas for our collection.

After the scavenger hunt it was time to watch the movie, Stranger Than Fiction. I cuddled up on Mrs. Holliday’s comfortable chairs and enjoyed one of my favorite movies for the remainder of the day. It was a perfect way to end a day full of fun, laughter, and new friends. ‘Out of the Box Friday’ was a fantastic idea of making a day that would have been lost into one that was joyful and exciting!