1. Twitter Assignment
Eric Starr
CI-350
Eric Sheninger
I decided to follow this high school principal because he stands against the current
way schools are being taught. His ideals coincide with the ones stated in CI-350 and I
decided to follow this principal because I wanted to delve further into this idea. The first
thing I noticed about him is that he is popular on both Twitter and The Huffington Post.
Throughout the semester he would often times link his blog for Huffington Post to his
Twitter account.
One of the articles I was most impressed with was ‘Essential Elements of
Effective Leadership’. In this article, Eric explains what he believes makes a real leader.
The two examples that stood out the most to me were his sections on Modeling and
Learning from failure. When discussing modeling, Eric states that any good leader
should lead by example. This sounds general but in reality it goes hand in hand with
someone who is an educator. For better or for worse teachers are held to a higher degree
of exceptions more so than many other professions in society. In Learning from failure
Eric states perfectly that without the risk of failure, nothing will change. This is brilliant
because it goes hand in hand when addressing the problems we have with today‟s
education system. Sure when we decide to fix it we might run into failures but our
failures make a nice foundation for us to stand upon when trying again for success.
Tom Altepeter
Tom is a former principal who specializes in the recognition of intercultural
responsiveness. The article he shared that stood out to me was the one that dissected the
„knockout game‟ that is apparently on the rise across the country. In the article, the
author argues against the idea that the knockout game is a black thing, which has been
claimed by most of the media. The article states that in fact these attacks have never been
an only black thing, acts of teenage violence occur in all races. The article also shoots
down the idea that this is the new thing for teenagers by stating that criminologists agree
that acts such as these are extremely isolated. In conclusion, the article mentions that
putting an emphasis on these crimes with claims that it is becoming more common can be
dangerous for everyone by explaining that it can make people paranoid to an extent.

2. Dwight Carter
One interesting thing that Dwight shared on his Twitter was an article that
explains culture and selfishness. The article had somewhat of a Thanksgiving theme to it.
The article also argues that our culture has a fixation when it comes to instant
gratification. The main point of the article is that it is the actions we take that have a
long-term affect are more important than those that have a short-term affect. In the end,
the article made me take a step back and reevaluate what I think can help my community
and loved ones.
Josh Stumpenhorst
Josh is the 2012 Illinois teacher of the year. Throughout the semester he has
shared some interesting stories on Twitter but being drawn to history like I am, „Lessons
from 1967‟ really drew me in. Although Josh didn‟t write this blog entry, I still found it
interesting. The author of the blog explains that she was given a large cache of 1960s
LIFE Magazines. In one of those LIFE Magazines it mentions how the Commissioner of
Education at the time made many statements that ring true to this day when discussing
the problems in the education system. „We continually have to be asking, “why are we
doing this like this? Only because we did it like this last year?” We shouldn‟t back into
the future looking wistfully at the past.‟ This is still a problem even today and it
shouldn‟t be. We have gone through the same formula for years now and people still
wonder why it isn‟t effective to our children. Finally, the blog brings about another
problem with schools. The problem it mentions is that schools are generally not a happy
place (fruity). Fun is not encouraged in our current school system when it should be. If
children cannot enjoy their time while in school then it is a wasted experience.
Harold Blanco
Harold posted some interesting articles and blogs throughout the semester as well.
The one that I thought was most helpful was 10 Pros and Cons of a Flipped Classroom.
I am all for allowing the teacher to have greater freedoms and for students to have greater
freedoms, which might be clear by what I have stated in class and my assignments. I
liked this because it addresses what is good and what is bad about using the flipped
classroom technique. I love the idea of students learning their own way; however, I
realize that this can be far too trusting at the same time. If there is a way to possibly have
our cake and eat it too with this technique I would love to try it one day in a classroom of
my own.
In conclusion, following these influential people in today‟s education community
has been a good experience. It further reminded me of what has been explained in CI350 and that is that today‟s educational system is broken. We as teachers need to take
heed and bravely step into a new future of teaching.