Reflection

This course has helped me to develop my technology skills as a professional teacher by introducing various technologies that I may use in my classroom. I have been presented with ideas and encouraged to explore ways to integrate technology effectively into my classroom. I am now confident that with planning and practice I can implement the use of blogs, wikis, and podcasts. Until this class, I had never blogged, created a wiki, or podcast and now I am familiar with how to use these to engage my students in learning.

I have deepened my knowledge of the teaching and learning process by gaining a better understanding of the "digital natives" in my classroom today. These students do learn differently that I did when I was in school. Teachers today have to work hard to engage students in their learning environment. I believe that integrating technology will help to engage these students and encourage them to want to learn. My students want "hands-on" activities and projects. Using blogs, wikis, and podcasts will encourage the students to use technology respectfully and to work together to build skills for the 21st century workplace. I know that I need to pick up the pace as a teacher and integrate technology whenever possible. I am inspired to write grants in hopes to bring more technology into my classroom because this will make the difference in the education of my students.

Through this course I have learned that there needs to be a shift in learning from teacher-centered to learner-centered. Learner-centered education is much more powerful as the students are actively engaged in their learning. Student are encouraged to actively construct their own knowledge. Students work collaboratively and focus on real life problems. Teachers become facilators and learn along with the students. It is important for students to learn from their errors. I believe learner-centered education empowers students to take charge of their own learning. It provides the opportunity for students to be excited about what they are learning as they explore and search for information.

I plan to continue to expand my knowledge of learning, teaching, and leading with technology by becoming a member of the school's technology committee. They meet a couple of times per month to discuss valuable resources and how they may be implemented into the classroom. They also prepare training opportunities for other teachers in the school. I plan to attend the national technology conference in Washington D.C. this summer with a group of teachers from school. I will also continue to attend professional development opportunities when available. On my own time, I will continue to practice and search for ways to integrate the use of technology in my own classroom. As I become more confident in the use of technology in my classroom, I believe my students will also gain this confidence.

One goal is to have at least one blogging site unblocked for school use. I have already presented a proposal letter to the school's technology support person. He has stated that I am not the only teacher interested in using blogs and that he looks for something to happen in the near future. I wish to implement blogging as a regular part of my classroom curriculum where students use it on a weekly basis. Another goal I have is to integrate the use of technology on a daily basis whether it is using the Mimio Board, computers, or student response systems, I want students interacting with technology each day. I also wish to encourage my students to use the free learning resources available to students online. In order to do so, I need to update my personal website and actively promote this to the students. There are interactive learning sites that are available to students through which valuable learning can take place.

I believe that this course has opened my eyes to how today's students wish to learn, and had taken me many steps closer to meeting their needs. I hope to continue my journey in learning about technology in hopes to engage my students and motivate them to want to learn.

Student Technology Profile

Gabcast! Profiling the Students of Today #1

Where are we heading?

In moving into the 21st Century, teachers may be looking at huge changes in the learning environment. I do think that a "virtual learning environment" will become a great part of our classrooms. I do not feel that our jobs are in danger, but I think we are looking at changes in our roles as teachers. I believe students will need to become more self-directed in their learning and highly motivated in order to compete in the future work place. They need to be goal oriented and technology literate. In order for the virtual learning environment to become part of the classroom, there will have to be changes in school funding to allow for the purchase and availability for technology. Firewalls and blocks are going to have to be altered to allow for monitored blogging and use of wikis in the classrooms. I look forward to these changes but fear that they will come at a slow pace, putting our students even further behind in the technology race.

Thoughts on 21st Century Skills

I found this The Partnership for 21st Century Skills website to be full of interesting information. I feel that this is the path we must follow in order to prepare our students for the 21st century workplace. I like the Framework for 21st Century learning and how the outcomes are built upon the supports of Standards and Assessments which are already a huge part of what we do on a daily basis, Curriculum and Instruction which are constantly being updated and adapted to needs of students, Professional Development which is what we are doing now, and Learning Environments which I am constantly trying to improve to ensure that my students are learning in a productive environment. I was surprised by all of the resources based on promoting creativity in the classroom and how many are related to business. This is an area that I do not think to work on with my students, but would be easy to implement. The idea of incorporating life and career skills is vital to student education today. While I feel that it is extremely important, those also are not topics that I make a point to include in my curriculum. I did not find anything that I disagree with on the site.

What are the implications for today's students and teachers? More change. As an educator, one must expect change and welcome it with open arms whether you want it or not. Students need to become motivated to use technology and think toward the future. I would like for students to become more goal oriented. As a teacher I need to look at my curriculum and see what changes I can make to help ensure the success of my students. I feel that as a Reading teacher I have a great opportunity to use various texts to teach students information and build skills to help them be successful in their future careers.

On a side note...

I am so excited, I just have to share and I am pretty sure that 's what blogs are all about. I just became a health coach for Take Shape for Life. I began their rapid weight loss program 7 weeks ago today and have lost 31 lbs!! I have 20 more to reach my goal. My husband has also been inspired and began the program Sunday. I feel like a new person and really wanted to spread the news about this program. If anyone is interested and really motivated to lose weight please contact me at takeaction2008tsfl@gmail.com or visit my website http://www.takeaction2008.tsfl.com/.

You both bring up great points. Utilizing blogs in the classroom will be a challenge and require much attention and work with the students.

deidson - I would like for students to post on a weekly basis. If I allot time during station work for blogging, this would be a possibility for all students. I would like for students to respond to other student's posts and share thoughts and hopefully create dialogue and/or respectful debates about books. This would of course require the teaching of proper computer ettiquette and posting respectfully to one another.

Cesar - You brought up a great point that I really had not thought about...cheating. I will have to put much thought into what I am asking them to post so that I can be sure that they are actually reading the books and not merely researching the book and copying what others are saying. I have used articles that are available as pdf's but have not used e-books. That is actually a great idea...I will have to check them out to see what is available for my upcoming lesson. Thanks for the idea!

Using blogs in 8th Grade Reading

There are a plethora of ways in which I would like to utilize a blog in my reading classroom. One way I would like to incorporate a blog in my current unit is to have students journal about what they are reading and learning throughout the unit. I have collaborated with the Writing teacher and together we have created a unit based on the Holocaust. We are using several pieces of literature such as the drama The Diary of Anne Frank, which is in the 8th grade literature book, I Never Saw Another Butterfly , a collection of poems written by children in the Terezin concentration camp, and The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. There are also several pieces of non-fiction literature we will read throughout the unit. We will be viewing a couple of movies related to the same topic. I believe that students would learn from one another as they share their insights on these pieces of literature. In class only a couple of students feel comfortable sharing their thoughts and feelings about what they are reading. I believe that in asking all students to post to the blog that they would feel that the blog is a less threatening environment in which to share their thoughts. I would like students to treat each other and the topic with the highest respect.
Another way in which I would like to use a blog is for students to write book recommendations. I have students who are avid readers and even I have difficulty keeping up with all of the books they read. These students are constantly recommending new books that I should read. Some are extremely creative and captive in their descriptions of the books. I also have students on the other end of the spectrum which have great difficulty in choosing and sticking with a book. I believe that I blog such as this would promote more reading throughout the 8th grade.