Reflection

Well, I never would have thought this at the beginning of this course, but I am sad it is over. I have really begun to understand why I should incorporate technology into my classroom. It isn’t to just be entertaining…it is more about teaching in a way that our students have been wired to learn. From early on children are put in front of a TV, they use a VCR or DVD player and they can play games on handhelds or computers. As an educator it is my responsibility to train these children in the ways that my state says I need to in order to prepare them for the future.

 

At times during this class I felt pushed to my limit and out of my comfort zone. I, however, now feel more confident in “trying” new things and incorporating these activities into my classroom…even if I might fail in front of my students. Most likely they will know how to fix my error or learn right along side of me.

 

I always felt that I lead my classroom more like a tour guide. I would give the information and then allow my students to expand on their learning through small group discussions, paired activities or group projects. With this course now at an end, I realize that there is still some letting go I need to do. Although I have a room of 6 year olds, I do believe that they can do more that I am aware of. I am very excited to give it a try and see what happens. I feel that my attitude toward technology is more of a want then a have to mind set. Teachers that are complaining in my building about having to use a SMARTboard that they did not ask for infuriates me! Why wouldn’t you? They make learning so much more productive and engaging. My students, after only 53 days in school, are leaps and bounds above my previous classes, only because I can do more in the same amount of time.

 

I plan to attend the Tech Conference in Columbus, Ohio in January, to continue my learning with technology.  Now that I know what they are talking about (ie. Wikki’s and podcasts) I feel that I will benefit more than I did last year. My two long-term goals for myself are: incorporating a blog into my class website. I would also like to use valuable websites for extending lessons within my classroom. By using websites as tools to teach, I can also include these on my website to allow sick students to still get information or allow children to share what they are learning at school with their parents. Both of these goals will take some convincing with the school system. At this time there are many blocks on websites and blogs are not apart of the school approved website portal. I plan to submit my ideas and request to my building principal and then seeing where she feels I need to go next. Our district prides itself as a leader in providing technology and readying students for the future. With this in mind I am hopeful that I will be able to prove the worth of these learning tools.

Podcast!!!

Hooray, my first podcast and hopefully not my last! My 1st graders loved being able to record and then listen to themselves talk. I hope to continue this for my classroom website, where the kids will be able to tell a story they wrote or answer questions about a topic we have been studying. I even thought recording them giving their parents the ingredient list and directions to make a Thanksgiving meal might be hilarious!

You will notice the kids wanted to keep touching the microphone so that is the noise you will hear. All the charades in the world did not get them to stop. :) 

Enjoy! 

Partnership For 21st Century Skills:  

http://www.21stcenturyskills.org/images/stories/otherdocs/p21up_Report.pdf

I initially was taken back by the overwhelming amount of information. This site seemed more like a business plan than an educational site for resources to draw on. I felt it was very wordy and a hard read. I do not enjoy (personally) looking at so much text. I was also concerned by the fact that it was written in 2002 and most support came from legislators and not educators. However, that is usually how it is.  

While reading their site information, I tried to disprove their thoughts and theories and came away not able to. I did, however come away thinking, "how many hours do they think we have in a day?". The No Child Left Behind requires us to prepare our students on particular core standards and shoot for the sky when it comes to state testing. While their theory is admirable, I am concerned at how much of their ideas I could reasonably incorporate. Of course, I am willing to "give it a try", "bridge the gaps", or "zap the holes", but at some point I have to send them to Art, Gym. Music, Library, LUNCH! :) 

As a contemporary educator, I want to allot for the very best for my students and teach them the necessary skills they need to succeed in their future jobs; after all that is why I became a teacher. Well and for the cool themed clothing you can wear...wink, wink!

I did like that they bullet pointed steps needed to incorporate 21st Century technology. This at least gives me a jumping off point as well as a guideline to follow when I am trying new things or need new ideas to try to implement 21st century skills.

Blogs in the classroom

I have been tossing around the idea of a blog in a first grade classroom and what that might look like. I have to tell you, at first I thought this is crazy, I have 1 child that draws symbols and shapes to spell her name, 4 at a kindergarten reading level and 3 that entered 1st grade with a second grade reading level. However, with much thought, I have decided to incorporate the ideas from a conference I went to this summer on differentiating in the classroom.

A speaker talked a lot about differentiating homework with choice boards or tic-tack-toes. This allows children to pick the homework that best suits their learning abilities, learning styles, etc, but still has the same learning outcome as all the other choices.

With that said, I believe that I will make my blog a choice on the homework. I will post several questions based on the weeks theme or literature from the reading curriculum. They will then need to post their thoughts, favorite parts or an answer to a question. There can be three choices for three levels and/or learning styles.
For example we discussed animals and their body parts (teeth, eyes, tails), I could have one post suggest they explore their stuffed animals and sort them based on teeth, nose, eyes, etc. They can then tell me how they sorted them and how many was in each group. Another group could write a list of words that describes an imaginary animal with 3 eyes, 2 noses and 600 teeth. Lastly, I could have a choice to pick 4 animals and write a word that rhymes with that animal or it's body part. Ex. cat/hat, pig/wig, eye/my, nose/rose. Most likely parent help will be needed beyond logging in.

Technology as homework would excite a lot of students. We do work on the lap top cart at school, visit the computer lab, use iPod shuffles and utilize the SMART board. Taking that excitement home may show parents another side of what we do all day at school. Of course this would only be part of the options for homework since technology may not be accessible in all homes.

I would love your thought and any ideas!

Smart Boards

I am on day number 15 of loving my new board. So far I have incorporated lunch count, morning calendar, interactive websites for science on my Smart Board. Today I received a surprise package...an airliner. I have it plugged in and charging, but would like to hear your thoughts on how you utilize this device.

Thanks for sharing!

This is my very first time to create a blog. I have commented on others but have never made my own. I am excited to get this up and running. Once I am an "expert" I will attach a link on my classroom website so that I can communicate with students as well as parents.