Blog Post # 14 Special Assignment

I understood the metaphor that Tom Johnson used in his post regarding pencils and computers.  Mr. Johnson used a metaphor to descibe how students use their computers as a gaming or playing device rather than as a tool to improve their academic skills.  I felt I wrote a more indepth paragraph about the metaphor because Mr. Johnson also had a link to another teacher, Larry Ferlazzo.  Between to the two post, I felt the post discussed a deeper issue of not only the students using the computer for games but parents that do not have any computer skills and cannot help the student/child use the computer in any other way.  Children who use a computer at home still need guidance and direction and this cannot be achieved at home with a parent if the parent does not know how to properly use the compter.  So the computer (if there is one in the home) becomes a gaming device. 
I also do not believe that computers lower testing scores.  Even if a child is using a computer to play on, rather than using it for academics they are still learning the way around the computer and soaking up some type of knowledge that may end up being beneficial in the future classroom.  We bloggged about a teacher that used a "Virtual World" with her students and the teacher did not know how to create certian things but her students did.  The teacher learned from her students and I will take a chance and say that those students knew how to do that because they played on a computer.  So in the playing with pencils metaphor I do understand.

Here are some metaphors that I have encountered or have used myself:

"Between a rock and a hard place"
"My plate is full"
"I am on overload"
"It is so hot outside you could fry an egg on the ground"
"I'd rather shoot myself in the foot"
"They are so slow, that we will be here until next Christmas"

As educators we can give examples of metaphors to our students to intoduce them to the students.  We can also use them in the classroom and apply them to our class to see if students are understanding the concept of a metaphor.  Also have the students write some down that they have encountered like we are doing in this blog.  Have the students come up with their own and see if they make sense and work.  Maybe have the students blog about metaphors and get responses from others around the world.

Metaphors are a figuire of speech.  We use metaphors to describe a situtation that we may be in.  To give an understanding or to relay a concept to another person.