Reflection 3

Where do I begin? I have learned so much from this course and from each of you who invested time in this online world of technology. Though I did not comment on all of your blogs, I visited you and read your musings. I am exploding with ideas. I have used technology in my classroom but not to the extent this course has taught me.

I feel I have a responsibility to my "digital learners" to get on board with this - to learn from them and to have the real techies help support my efforts. I worry that there will not be enough time to put into practice what I have learned. I am also afraid of forgetting the "how to."

I am going to set up a classroom blog site with Lori's help. I have encouraged my grade partner for next year to do the same. I would definitely like to attempt a Wiki. I will encourage others in my school to take this online course.

I look forward to seeing how all of you implement the ideas we have found here.

School 2.0 - Assignment 11

Anyone who has been reading my blog knows that I am amazed about using technology in a way that opens the world to students. You also know that I am somewhat fearful, hesitant, worried, and though much older than most of you, I am still willing to learn.

After visiting School 2.0, I am filled with wonder. We say that technology is another way for students to learn. We have heard that we in America are behind our European and Asian counterparts. The implications of School 2.0 reach far beyond a school system. My first reaction was that I had left Earth and was now on another planet. (I am now thinking that will be a possiblity some day. It probably already is and I don't know about it yet.) Every stakeholder in the community must be invested if this concept is to take off.

I just returned from vacation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Along the way in the service areas and hotels, I took advantage of their "wireless" connections. I never really paid attention before now. It seems that every major stakeholder would have to have access to the internet. I know that some of the students I have taught did not have computers in their homes, so it means that for them to be "effective" learners in this technological age, they need the community at large to support them by providing connections easily accessible to them.

Is our part of the world able to financially invest? Who will do the education necessary for a school 2.0 to happen? What about our schools in the city? When I taught at School 28, we had one computer - in the main office - no place else in school. I know that there has been some improvement but our city is a long way off from being "wireless."

I would like to see everyone in our community work as collaboratively as the map of school 2.0 demonstrates. I wonder if we could even get everyone in our schools to agree that this is an important model to look at. I don't know if I would change anything about this vision of tomorrow's schools. In some ways, I am relieved that I will be retired when, if this happens in our corner of the world.

Assignment 10

Dr. Zhao has challenged my conservative thinking about using technology in the classroom. I have used the computer for research, scavenger hunts, games. I have not considered the global implications, and responsibility to encourage our students to communicate with learners in other cultures. At one point he asked us to "imagine what is possible" - I heard myself add "within restraints". I am still bound by tradition, yet I am unsettled by the realization that styles of learning must include digital learners. Unsettled because I am not one but I need to prepare to be a better teacher for and with my students who are!

I totally would like to see an online course designed for our students. A language course seems the most viable. I liked hearing about Dr. Zhao's Mandarin Game. I have used the Oregon Trail when teaching the westward movement. I have led my students through scavenger hunts during our study of Medieval Times. There is so much more to think about. I see that I limit how and what I want them to learn. Yet, I smiled when the video mentioned using cell phones
to complete a given assignment. It reminds me that we must provide meaningful homework to capture and engage the interests of our learners.

Dr. Zhao reminds us to believe in the power and creativity of our students. I do. He asks us to trust them. Perhaps it is myself or people who would use technology incorrectly that I do not trust. I feel I need to be savvy enough to help children respond to a global world.

Assignment 9

Wow! When I listened to Kevin and went to his website, I felt many emotions. There was excitement tempered by fear and insecurity. There was wonder filtered with a moment of sadness at being older and near the end of my teaching career. I felt affirmed and comforted by his remarks especially when he talked about not needing to teach everything about technology. When he spoke about offering technology as a choice to students and letting them explore the how to, I felt relieved.

I liked the quote on his site:"Do whatever it takes to help learners reach their dreams and teach them to dream." That is why I became a teacher! I have found over the past twenty years that more and more students are devoid of dreams. That makes me sad and I often wonder if it is the world situation, the way families live in a fast paced world, or the way we teach, or a combination of all the above. A quote that has hung on my wall for the past 17 years is: "Teaching offers something. It offers love, not only the love of learning and of books and ideas, but also the love that a teacher feels for that rare student who walks into a teacher's life and begins to breathe. I teach because being around people who are beginning to breathe, I occasionally find myself catching my breath with them." (Peter G. Biedler) I look at each of my students as a "rare student" and now I know that I must, as Honeycutt, puts it: "play where they play". I also know that I need to keep breathing, learning, and risk trusting this technological world.

It seems that I am always preparing lessons that will encourage collaboration and problem solving. I use the interact units for Social Studies. In most units there is an element of journal writing. I noticed on Honeycutt's site an Oregon Trail lesson where students collaborated ideas. I will be teaching two Social Studies classes next year and I would like to simulate either the westward movement or an immigrant's journey. The classes could team up, each taking a different trail if I did the westward movement and create a journal of their venture. I am thinking a wiki might work for that. Maybe one class could use movie maker for an immigrant experience and another class could do the write-ups or even podcasts as they pretend to be immigrants and tell their stories. I have to think more deeply about this. My heart is beating fast! It could be from excitement or anxiety.

Reflection 2

I already discussed how I would use Wiki in my classroom. See my May 22nd post. I am confident that I could try a newsletter. Teri told me about a site she visited and I am going to check that out.

I was thinking that bookmarking could be used for certain projects to identify sites students could access necessary information. The sites would be chosen by the teacher but there would be some potential for students to add sites. I know this has to be moderated closely.

I sometimes wish that I had more time to utilize everything I am learning in this course. I am afraid that I am going to forget how to do everything!

I have also discussed the ways I am going to use classroom blogging. As soon as I get my classroom site set up in the fall, you may want to visit. There are so many doors to open using technology. I am in awe.

One thing I need to do for myself as soon as this course is completed is to get rid of my dial-up and move into wireless! I thought I would not ever be interested in doing so.

Wiki Usage in Classroom

I have to say this has been the most fun exploring. I liked the Village Wiki and see possibilities for Northwood. As all the video clips expressed, Wiki is the "collaborative sharing of ideas!" It is a place that demonstrates respect for student work. Students enjoy creating and hand on activities but they don't like doing worksheets. I don't like correcting worksheets, but I think that putting information in Wiki form would be fun for students and teachers.

I am not into classroom newsletters but I was wondering whether a Wiki would be an appropriate way to express what is happening in the classroom, to invite parents to add comments or would that be too difficult to control?

Presently my 6th grade students are working in partnerships on creating scrapbooks relating to WWII. I could see them using Wiki to do this and I am thinking they would spend more time drawing on and including primary sources. Next year, my 5th graders will make an immigration scrapbook. I want to be able to use wikis to help my students engage more in authentic learning. Maybe we would even be able to collect comments from immigrants themselves.

I like Wikis. I wish I had time to create my own now. I may try over the summer.

After listening to the Speed of Creativity, and visiting Next Vista, Teacher Tube, Clip Blast and You Tube, I feel that I have been introduced to a whole new world! Our learners live in a digital, virtual, and global world. I come from a world that was protected and now seems quite small. When we talk about the need to help our students work with others, we usually think of the work environment. We try to prepare them for the future. I now have to ask myself "Can I really do that?" "What does that mean?" We are preparing students to live in a bigger world than the one I grew up in.

I like the concept behind NextVista. I had a difficult time downloading the movies but I was able to connect to a few and just seeing what Next Vista has available was interesting. I like the quality of this site. I appreciate the fact that all content is vetted unlike You Tube where "anything goes". I did not open many videos in You Tube. I did not understand the educational value as I did with Next Vista. I am so aware that this is an incredible opportunity to bridge the gap between cultures. We, as teachers, can tell students what we have read but how different for them to hear and see a video made by a person in another culture!

I could see students and teachers making videos to help learn about our culture, and even addressing the curriculm in any subject. Teacher Tube was okay but I had to do a lot of sorting of ideas to find somehting I think would be educationally sound for my kids. I could see again students making a movie for their peers about something we learned in school, even putting some of the interactive skits they do to emphasize historical content would be a new way for them to invest and share their knowledge with the world. Talk about authentic audience! I think older teens would connect with this site.

I did not like Clip Blast. I would not want my students to have access to this site. It would be too distracting. I did have fun though, seeing clips of movies. I thought about viewing some of the political ones but veered away from them. Isn't that what our students would do?

I am not sure if I will use these sites in my own classroom. I need to ponder this awhile and listen to others who do use them. Am I too old to leap with the speed of creativity into this new vista?

Reflection for Assignment 4

While I do not consider myself a conservative, when it came to classroom blogging, I heard myself exclaim, "Like that would be helpful to learners! Hrumph!" I have to say that I have changed and I do see the value of blogging. It is a faster way to give instant feedback to students about their reading and writing. I believe it would be beneficial to meet students in a realm that they are comfortable in instead of always asking them to leave their comfort zone.

I hope to use blogging to enrich and enliven the deadly reader responses the students are expected to do. I will set up a classroom blog for that purpose.

A chance to speak out

Andy Carvin is considered an internet activist, author, and Ed tech expert. He alerts us to the fact that we have a chance to speak to the U.S. Secretary of Education about the role of technology in the classroom. In the blog "Open Letters on the Role of Education Technology", there is a questionnaire for anyone to complete in order to give public feedback. I did not add a post yet but I made copies of the article and the one posted comment. I will read them and hope to add my comments. I thought it would be something that you tech people out there would like to respond to. The URL is www.pbs.org/teachers/learning.now

Internet safety

I have visited the David Warlick site because Lori used it in her demo lesson and I was curious. There I met Mary Conyers who is a grandmother invested in helping children stay safe while surfing the net. She uses the analogy of preparing young drivers to get their licenses. Mrs. Conyers tells us not to assume that our children know how to be safe online. She cautions parents to provide information to their children that will help them visit only approved sites. I know that my sixth graders do not always make good choices.
Her advice actually reminded me of the classes that Lori did for our students.

You can get a free DVD if you visit wral.com.

It appears that David Warlick adds a new topic each day or so. You may have to scroll to find Mary Conyers but she is worth it.

Welcome to my blog

I am new to blogging and have created this blog as an assignment for an online course that I am currently taking. I hope to learn enough that I might set up a classroom blog to help students blog about books and current events, as a start.