Reflection

This course has helped me to develop my own technology skills as a professional and as a teacher simply by teaching me various kinds of technology available. Before this course, I didn’t even know what a wiki really was. I was also unaware of how to set up my own blog or how to audio record on a computer and compile a podcast. These are all extremely easy, yet intimidating tasks. After taking this course, I feel as though I have a basic and broader knowledge of technology. It has really opened my eyes to the possibilities out there.

I feel as though I have a better understanding of the 21st century learner and how their learning styles vary from previous years. By learning about the 21st century skills and learner, it has helped me to understand what they need to know and how they need to be taught. In most cases, the days of quite classrooms, notes, and test are becoming obsolete. These days, students need activities, projects and real world applications that keep them engaged.

I now realize that my students are very different than even I was eight years ago as a student in high school. Since I was in high school, things have changed dramatically. We didn’t all have cell phones, MP3 players, laptops, GPS, digital cameras, etc. All of these things have becoming common household items for many in very recent years. Because of these changes in society, our students have changed as well. They need to stay engaged in the lesson and are curious and more willing to try and figure things out for themselves. Therefore, our classrooms need to be less about the teacher teaching and more about the students learning. The teacher needs to be the guide on the side more now than ever before.

To continue learning, teaching and leading with technology I plan to first finish my masters in Technology in Education. This will give me valuable skills and knowledge on how to use technology in the classroom. It will also allow me to be a valuable resource to my colleagues should they every want to incorporate technology into their classroom. In addition, we often have professional development opportunities throughout the school year and summer teaching us how to use various technologies. I plan to take advantage of these opportunities.

One goal I have for my classroom environment is to help my students become more independent thinkers. Right now, my students are extremely unconfident in their abilities. They are constantly calling me to their desk to see if they did something right or want me right there while they do a problem. This makes for a very hectic classroom environment when I’m being pulled in thirty different directions all the time. I want to help them develop the confidence and thought process to figure things out for themselves. This is something I have to do from the very beginning of school so they get used to it and are comfortable with the process. In order to accomplish this goal I want to talk to veteran teachers to see what is working for them. I also want to research some ideas on the internet and see if anything is working for anyone else out there. Why reinvent the wheel when I can just adapt it.

Another goal I want is to have a more student run classroom where they have a team mentality. Rather than me always leading the class and taking care of everyday classroom procedures, I want the students to take ownership and feel invested in their classmates. One of my colleagues gives each hour points everyday based on how well they behave and how they are doing academically. At the end of each week, the class (team) with the most points earns the right to play a short game or gets a prize. I like this idea because the students feel invested and responsible for what happens. I also think it helps promote a positive atmosphere if all the students are going for the same goal. In addition, I hope it reduces the amount of classroom control I have to administer. If there is a reward in sight, other students will assist in keeping their classmates (teammates) on task.

Profiling the Students of Today

Here is a link to a podcast where I interviewed three students about their use of technology for social and academic use.

http://www.podcastmachine.com/podcasts/2174

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills

The Partnership for 21st Century Skills seems like a great organization that has the students best interests at heart. As I was browsing through their website, I was a bit overwhelmed. They have a great amount of information and it is a lot to take in all at once. However, once you start clicking and viewing some information, you see there are some great ideas.

I was surprised to see how few states actually participate in this organization. To me, it seems as though this should be a nationwide initiative. Preparing our youth for the 21st century workplace is something the entire country should be concerned with. Whether we, as a country, participate in this initiative or another, we clearly need to do something to get our students ready.

There was nothing in particular that I saw that I disagreed with on this site. However, I was not extremely impressed by some of the resources they provided. More often than not, I was directed to something that you have to purchase. This quickly deterred me. As educators, we like things that are free. I know not everything can be shared on the web, but spending more money out of my own pocket is not something I look forward to. However, if you are persistent you can find some great sites on the resources page. For instance, I really like the ALEX page from Alabama. It was listed under the math resources and was an editors pick. It had some great information.

I also thought it was interesting that this organization would come in and have a PD day with your staff. I think this would be a great idea and would love to have something set up with my school. However, since Michigan is not a state listed in the initiatives, I wonder if it is a possibility. I also think it would be great for our board to hear what this organization has to say. Sometimes, teachers and educators will know what needs to be done, but the board doesn't necessarily understand the need. I also think it would be great if this organization could send in consultants to walk around the building and give recommendations as they observe our teaching strategies and our classroom set ups. Too often we have PD days, learn great information, but then have difficulty implementing it into our own classrooms. It would be great if a consultant could walk around the building giving suggestions as they see fit.

Blogs in the Classroom

As technology is advancing, it is our responsibility to incorporate it (as much as possible) into our classroom. A blog is a great way to have constant contact with classmates and teachers. I teach 9th grade Algebra, which can be a very confusing subject for some students. Math can be a tough subject. However, if I were to create a classroom blog students would be able to post their questions about certain problems. In addition, I could post daily announcements, notes and assignments. This way, if students are absent or miss a class, they can easily access what we did in class. I think it would make my life a little easier because I wouldn't have 5 students coming to me each day asking "What did we do?" Has anyone ever tried this? I would be interested to see if it works. Also, the great thing about a blog is that you can create a user name, so students can ask questions using their user name. I know that some students may be embarrassed or too shy to ask certain question, they may think their question is “dumb”. However, using a blog they can be anonymous. By having students interact on a blog, it will also give me a better idea of how students are doing. If there are several questions on a similar topic, then I know I need to spend more time on that subject. Has anyone created a blog for a math class out there? If so, how did you use it? Did it work? Anyone got any ideas? I would love to hear them.

Back to School

Welcome back! to all you teachers out there! If you're week went anything like mine, I'm sure you are feeling extremely tired. Hang in there! It will get easier. The first two weeks are crazy.