Week 3 Post #1 A Portal to Media Literacy

Good Teaching Is Still Good Teaching

On the surface Dr. Wesh seems to offer all of these new ways of teaching but if you dig a little deeper his ideas for good teaching have been around for a while.  He is just looking at them through the “use of technology” lens. 

His first main point was significance.  Teachers need to make learning significant by showing students the big picture and creating a learning environment that values the learner.  The point he adds is to use the existing media environment. 

Vygotsky was published in the US in the 1960’s and has become a standard part of many teaching theory classes.  Vygotsky’s work focuses on learning being rooted in a person’s social context.  The most learning occurs when they are stretched just beyond what they already know and how it connects to them thereby making it significant.  Digital tools and accessing online networks allows students to have immediate feedback from many sources appropriate for various ages.

He also brought up the idea of questions being the catalyst for great learning.  Using questions to prompt learning has been around since Socrates.  Having someone ask just the right question at just the right time is powerful.

The challenge he presents to current teachers is to add technology in a meaningful way.  Leverage the powerful tools that allow us access to vast amounts of information and the tools that allow us to be part of creating and sharing information.  I like the ideas brought up in Scott McLeod’s blog that encourage teachers to embrace the tools our students are already using and teach them how to use them for learning.

This video reminded me of Sir Ken Robinson.  Every teacher should watch his videos.  His belief in being a passionate teacher who creates environments where children can flourish as learners is inspiring.  His belief is that this can be done when talented teachers pair up with the available technology.  Which brings me back to my title, Good Teaching is Still Good Teaching.  We need to use good teaching methods, love what we do, and love kids.  Technology hasn’t changed that part.  It is not a silver bullet that will fix everything.  It needs to be used well to achieve the things Dr. Wesh describes.

Week 2 Post #3

The Light Is Beginning To Dawn

http://www.000webhost.com/admin-review


When I would hear people talk about how they just found a great new app or heard about a new website I would wonder, how did they find out about that?  Working with the blogs this week has really helped.  I have been following Free Tech For Teachers for about a year but that was the only one.  Life, being very busy, I would go to the blog post and ignore all the adds and "stuff" on the sides.  In trying to develop my blog this week I went back to look at page layouts and details included on some blogs and low and behold many have suggestions for other blogs and websites you might find interesting.  Many of you might already know this but for me this was a revelation.  I just spent an hour following a path of blogs and websites, all on topics I'm interested in.  Free Tech For Teachers suggested iPad Insight which lead to iPad app suggestions and then I found videos from Math Pickle and on and on.  The hour flew by and I have some great resources for Monday morning at school.

Week 2 Post # 2

http://bighugelabs.com/onblack.php?id=2671382740&size=large

Reflecting or looking ahead?

My reflection on the class so far is really about looking ahead.  Looking at some of the topics that are on the schedule, I am very excited.  Our school just became a Google school last month.  I have been doing some experimenting with Google Docs and a few of the other tools so this is definitely a topic I want to explore.  Speaking of Google, has anyone else heard of Google Doodle?

 

We are also going to be using “blizzard bags” next year and each grade level needs to create an online blizzard bag.  The reading this week and making my first blog has me thinking this may be a good topic for my project for this class.  I really like when the classwork applies to what I’m working on “in real life”.

Week 2- Post # 1 How Flexible Are You?

  

Source- http://learningworksforkids.com/m2/parents/m2p_ts_flexibility.html

 

Athletes know they must stretch to prevent injury and discomfort.  Being flexible allows them to move and change directions quickly as well as stretch into some unusual positions.    The same could be said of what our students will need for the future, flexibility.  I agree with our text that technology is moving and changing so fast there is no way to instruct them on the specific programs or hardware they will need as adults.  It is more important to teach them how to be flexible in order to learn the technologies and how to apply them as fast as they come out.  Check our some examples of flexible thinking through technology.  For students coming out of school today, technology is not an option.  Even students not going on to college will face technology in their jobs.  We have been skiing this winter and at both ski areas the person monitoring and checking tickets at the lifts was using a device to scan tickets and enter data. 

Being flexible is not always strength for teachers.  Many of us have been in the same position for several years and choosing a grade level or subject we like means we don’t have to stretch and be flexible.  If you happen to enjoy technology, integrating it seems natural. If you don’t like technology it can be painful.  We wouldn’t expect the math teacher to take over the band class unless there was some training, and even then it might not work out without a lot of support if there is not some affinity for the subject.  Jen’sBlog and her swimming illustration really hit home.  My question is when does the teacher have to take some responsibility for being flexible and using some of these tools?

I have seen John Jake’s idea of “Making It Stick” with colleagues at my school.  If it isn’t supported, easy to use and improve education and learning, it’s a hard sell.  There are a few “techies” who like messing around with things to find out how to use and apply them, but for everyone else, his principles really apply.

On a personal classroom note, I have started blogging with my second graders this year.  We are using Kidblog which was easy to set up and easy for the kids to use.  Our writing curriculum includes many kinds of writing such as poetry, directions, fiction, and nonfiction.  Blogging is another genre of writing to be taught.  The fact that it can be used with any of our other subjects is a bonus.  I Love EdTech has a great list of blog topics.