Thursday, December 8, 2011
Hello there! Thanks for checking out what's new...I recently developed a new website and hope you'll take some time to check it out!
Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Integration Now!!
I went to a vocational high school for computer programming. My first year there they got mice for every computer. When I graduated, my college counted dBase, COBOL, Basic, and Fortran as foreign languages since I didn't know French or Spanish. Needless to say, whatever I did learn in those four years from 1990 - 1994 was obsolete by the time I'd hit college. Except typing. That skill will remain solid. But I have to admit, I'd chosen that path because I'd known, even then, that computers weren't going anywhere. And they haven't. They're everywhere. No matter where people try to run and hide, they are going to have to interact with a computer in some form. Sorry mom. You're going to have to learn how to work the remote!
As soon as a child is able to maneuver around a computer, they should be allowed to do so. Even though there is no Hal or Big Brother controlling us, it is obvious that computers are responsible for so much in our daily lives. To withhold a child from experimenting with, and learning from a computer would be a complete disservice to that child. This should be similar in classrooms as well. Most toddlers have experience playing with their parents phones (as a means to occupy them while said parent runs errands, shops, or tends to other business, etc...,) so why not continue this digital literacy right into their scheduled learning environment? Children are so much more capable of picking up and using information that they learn from a young age, why would we waste their youth and capabilities because of our ignorance? It would behoove us to invest time, money, and interest in our youngest generation and the technology that they will grow up with. My three-year-old niece already knows how to get out the laptop, set it up, and get online. I have to find the right website for her (Strawberry Shortcake,) but she knows exactly what to do once she gets there. I'm amazed by her. If she's doing this, with just a laptop, at age three, what will she be capable of, with so much more at her disposal, in a few years? An education that matches her capability is the only way to ensure that she stays this savvy.
A 21st century education is what we need to provide to all our children. In a 21st century learning environment there is no typical classroom, teacher, and student. It is an ecosystem where structures, tools, and communities come together and promote learning and interaction between and amongst people, whether in the same spot or in various locations. It MUST enable the student to learn in a relevant, real world; create applied and collaborative tasks, and support new technologies while expanding the students' ability to grow and learn in an ever-changing environment. We can never go back to classroom environments where students are mass-produced and schools are visually similar to the factories that surround them. As Daniel Pink discusses here we need to redefine our paradigms and find ways to match children up other than because they are the same age.
One way I can include 21st century skills into a classroom would be to have a virtual classroom/class website. This would be helpful for my students who were absent and students who were very interested in maintaining a high average. I could work with several students who might become interested in maintaining the site and have them come to update it daily. They could meet in a group and determine other elements and pages that we could include. It would be a great way to advertise and submit entries to writing contests, communicate with parents, and let my administrators that I am looking to advance my classroom with the technology with which I am provided. Having a class website might enable me to plan further in advance and keep on track. It could have a profound affect on some students who might not normally keep up with class. Sometimes, using a different method of approach with a student could mean the difference between "having them," and "losing them." Most often, I am able to interest more students in participating if we use a computer. When I had a laptop cart in my room, I would just post quizzes and and assessments online. Students merely typed in answers and printed it or emailed it to me. It saved so much time (and paper) and they could access them at home too, so there were never any excuses for missing quizzes. Students became so much more responsible and it was amazing how much growth was shown. To me, that was as similar as in, Extending Reader's Theatre: a Powerful and Purposeful Match With Podcasting, when the children were improving their reading fluency. Yes, I am saying that an irresponsible middle schooler is similar to a struggling reader. It's true. They are going through so much to figure out who they are - they are ALWAYS unprepared!
As soon as a child is able to maneuver around a computer, they should be allowed to do so. Even though there is no Hal or Big Brother controlling us, it is obvious that computers are responsible for so much in our daily lives. To withhold a child from experimenting with, and learning from a computer would be a complete disservice to that child. This should be similar in classrooms as well. Most toddlers have experience playing with their parents phones (as a means to occupy them while said parent runs errands, shops, or tends to other business, etc...,) so why not continue this digital literacy right into their scheduled learning environment? Children are so much more capable of picking up and using information that they learn from a young age, why would we waste their youth and capabilities because of our ignorance? It would behoove us to invest time, money, and interest in our youngest generation and the technology that they will grow up with. My three-year-old niece already knows how to get out the laptop, set it up, and get online. I have to find the right website for her (Strawberry Shortcake,) but she knows exactly what to do once she gets there. I'm amazed by her. If she's doing this, with just a laptop, at age three, what will she be capable of, with so much more at her disposal, in a few years? An education that matches her capability is the only way to ensure that she stays this savvy.
A 21st century education is what we need to provide to all our children. In a 21st century learning environment there is no typical classroom, teacher, and student. It is an ecosystem where structures, tools, and communities come together and promote learning and interaction between and amongst people, whether in the same spot or in various locations. It MUST enable the student to learn in a relevant, real world; create applied and collaborative tasks, and support new technologies while expanding the students' ability to grow and learn in an ever-changing environment. We can never go back to classroom environments where students are mass-produced and schools are visually similar to the factories that surround them. As Daniel Pink discusses here we need to redefine our paradigms and find ways to match children up other than because they are the same age.
One way I can include 21st century skills into a classroom would be to have a virtual classroom/class website. This would be helpful for my students who were absent and students who were very interested in maintaining a high average. I could work with several students who might become interested in maintaining the site and have them come to update it daily. They could meet in a group and determine other elements and pages that we could include. It would be a great way to advertise and submit entries to writing contests, communicate with parents, and let my administrators that I am looking to advance my classroom with the technology with which I am provided. Having a class website might enable me to plan further in advance and keep on track. It could have a profound affect on some students who might not normally keep up with class. Sometimes, using a different method of approach with a student could mean the difference between "having them," and "losing them." Most often, I am able to interest more students in participating if we use a computer. When I had a laptop cart in my room, I would just post quizzes and and assessments online. Students merely typed in answers and printed it or emailed it to me. It saved so much time (and paper) and they could access them at home too, so there were never any excuses for missing quizzes. Students became so much more responsible and it was amazing how much growth was shown. To me, that was as similar as in, Extending Reader's Theatre: a Powerful and Purposeful Match With Podcasting, when the children were improving their reading fluency. Yes, I am saying that an irresponsible middle schooler is similar to a struggling reader. It's true. They are going through so much to figure out who they are - they are ALWAYS unprepared!
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
In a Perfect World...
It would be ideal if schools had all the money they needed to provide children with an adequate education and the military needed to hold bake sales to buy another bomber, but that is not the case. It is becoming increasingly frustrating that teachers are expected to do more and more with less and less. What is so ironic is that with some investment in technology into schools, so many problems would be solved. Schools that endow money into themselves are really putting it into their students. Providing adequate training to teachers on technology that is present in schools is another way that schools would be looking into their own best interests. Without moving forward and giving teachers and students the chance to “upgrade” their teaching and learning, we are holding ourselves back.
Each website that I explored this week required basic computer skills in order to navigate it. I know people my age who couldn’t figure it out, and I know people half my age who would also need help with it – and they’re the ones who are supposed to know how! As for its use in a classroom, I am going to suppose that I am teaching a class called “Writing Across the Curriculum” for undergraduates. I would have these students use many of the websites listed, as there is such a vast array of choices and hours of information worth exploring. I want to group the students by specialty. Each group would have the mainstays; English, Math, Social Studies, and Science. The teachers would be required to teach about the same topic, just specific to their field. For example, if the English teacher was teaching, “The House on Mango Street,” then the Social Studies teacher would be working on the history of Hispanics and Latinos. The math and science teachers would be working on social contributions of that race as well.
I would suggest the use of www.readwritethink.org and www.thinkfinity.org to the undergrads, but I would also have them play around with the rest of the sites sorted into each section. There is such a wealth of information and websites on that page that it can be beneficial to any teacher, at any stage in their career. Readwritethink.org has lesson plans that can be tweaked to suit even the lowest of learners in a heterogeneously-grouped classroom, yet it can also satisfy the savvy, on-top of it all learner. I have used it in the past and have found the graphic organizers and vocabulary lessons helpful with introductions to writing assignments and anticipation conversations for new novels. I am just getting to know thinkfinity.org, but it looks as if it can be helpful. Right now it’s got a “hot topic” question up there about what 5 items you would buy for your school (technology-wise) if you were allowed to (no monetary limit.) It is approaching the time of year when I had my students write controversial topic essays. I like to have more topics than abortion, steroids, and euthanasia. I’d have liked the kids (in a disadvantaged neighborhood) to get passionate about what they should be exposed to in terms of technology and what the world is going to be like for them in the next few years. This topic would have got them going, and when they get revved up about something, they get zealous! I’m sure the papers would have been better this year than last, because the exposure to more websites for me would be good for them, no more just looking at lists of information, now they can watch videos and listen to podcasts to help create a piece of work. That is the ultimate gift to them – to watch their eyes light up and a smile come across their face as they realize that they just learned something.
Each website that I explored this week required basic computer skills in order to navigate it. I know people my age who couldn’t figure it out, and I know people half my age who would also need help with it – and they’re the ones who are supposed to know how! As for its use in a classroom, I am going to suppose that I am teaching a class called “Writing Across the Curriculum” for undergraduates. I would have these students use many of the websites listed, as there is such a vast array of choices and hours of information worth exploring. I want to group the students by specialty. Each group would have the mainstays; English, Math, Social Studies, and Science. The teachers would be required to teach about the same topic, just specific to their field. For example, if the English teacher was teaching, “The House on Mango Street,” then the Social Studies teacher would be working on the history of Hispanics and Latinos. The math and science teachers would be working on social contributions of that race as well.
I would suggest the use of www.readwritethink.org and www.thinkfinity.org to the undergrads, but I would also have them play around with the rest of the sites sorted into each section. There is such a wealth of information and websites on that page that it can be beneficial to any teacher, at any stage in their career. Readwritethink.org has lesson plans that can be tweaked to suit even the lowest of learners in a heterogeneously-grouped classroom, yet it can also satisfy the savvy, on-top of it all learner. I have used it in the past and have found the graphic organizers and vocabulary lessons helpful with introductions to writing assignments and anticipation conversations for new novels. I am just getting to know thinkfinity.org, but it looks as if it can be helpful. Right now it’s got a “hot topic” question up there about what 5 items you would buy for your school (technology-wise) if you were allowed to (no monetary limit.) It is approaching the time of year when I had my students write controversial topic essays. I like to have more topics than abortion, steroids, and euthanasia. I’d have liked the kids (in a disadvantaged neighborhood) to get passionate about what they should be exposed to in terms of technology and what the world is going to be like for them in the next few years. This topic would have got them going, and when they get revved up about something, they get zealous! I’m sure the papers would have been better this year than last, because the exposure to more websites for me would be good for them, no more just looking at lists of information, now they can watch videos and listen to podcasts to help create a piece of work. That is the ultimate gift to them – to watch their eyes light up and a smile come across their face as they realize that they just learned something.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
New Schooled Literacy
After reading all the assigned material it is clear that the definition of “new literacies” is going to change continuously over the coming years. It had already been painfully obvious for years that students were beginning to outshine their teachers in certain areas. I remember last year when we were having technological difficulties at the school were I was working, and I asked my administrator where I should turn for help. His answer was, “Kevin.” I am sure I looked perplexed. Who was Kevin? He continued, “You know, Kevin, from 7.1?”
Seriously? I’m supposed to pull this kid from class to have him figure out why my sound isn’t coming out of my computer? I did. He looked. He fixed it. Awesome. But, that is not his job. His job is to learn. Yet he’d taught me some things, and the kids all agreed, Kevin was the go-to man for these problems.
I guess there could be a number of problems here…the first one is that I don’t have the basic skills to troubleshoot on a computer. The second is that there is a lack of technological assistance in the school district, and the third is that the children don’t get enough exposure to technology to all be as savvy and at ease with technology as Kevin seems to be with it. Only about 15% of my students had access to a computer at home, and of those 15% about 5 had their own email address and had the ability to email me assignments and papers.
I can imagine that new literacies are going to be one of the most important challenges to impart into classrooms today and in coming years. Not only will the ability of our students change as they come to us more and more electronically adept, but our teaching environment must change as we embrace their knowledge and accept that there is no going back to 20th century learning. Books and print media, while still around now, are not going to be around forever. When I began my teaching career 14 years ago, I didn’t think that I would have to change so much to keep up with my students and the ever-evolving educational maze that is our present state. For the last few years I have known that I needed to know more about technology, and have wanted to implement it into my curriculum more and more, but was unable to do anything about it for lack of resources and ability to change the curriculum. Now, I see it is a necessity, or I am not working in the best interest of the child in my care.
I have been in a number of schools that both have and don’t have technology. I spent a year with a SmartBoard in my room and used it daily to teach geography, social studies, and English. I also taught in a district where I was given a computer that had a sticker on it that said “Y2K Safe!” and took 20 minutes to start up! In the districts where there is technology, there needs to be training. It’s great that the district is able to acquire technology, but without the knowhow, it’s useless. I agree with Marilyn’s blog (http://mciarleglio.blogspot.com/2011/11/response-to-week-1-readings.html?showComment=1320788091763#c3162245735738105220) and Cara’s response that there is little to no training on technology. We had this great program that allows us to see our students’ data, which skills they specifically needed help with and it broke down their answers to the DCMTs (district tests,) but I only got about 15 minutes of training on it, so it was useless to me! It’s the teachers who need to be taught and given some time to “give it a whirl” so that they are comfortable with it. I think it might be scary for some teachers to make a transition from “old and comfortable” to “new and innovative.”
While watching the Dr. Leu videos (http://ctell.uconn.edu/canter/canter_video.cfm?movie=1a_new_technologies.mov) I was thrilled to learn the word “deixis.” I now know what word to use to describe the world we live in. It does continuously change, and so does the internet. Cell phones do, video games do, and any other electronic toy will continue to change in our world. This new technology will force us to redefine our world, just like the motorized vehicle did for our ancestors over 100 years ago. We can never see the world in the same way again.
As far as the standards for NETS, they are superbly crafted and well-suited for their purpose. I found myself nodding with each one, thinking; surely this is the most beneficial for current and future students. After all, teaching one to help themselves is the utmost achievement. These standards are basic skills that go beyond basic. They set a regulation for success across the board. No matter what field a student goes into, they will be mandated to meet certain requirements and perform basic tasks. If these standards are to qualify as basic technological proficiency for all students graduating, then surely the educational institution they attended has done their job preparing them to do so. The world that they, their children and grandchildren grow into is going to change at a rate so much startlingly faster than anyone can imagine, that without providing this basic knowledge to them would be greatly disadvantageous. I am especially interested in the concept of digital citizenship, it is a realm of which needs to be discussed, but that can be easily overlooked. Teaching students how to be ethical, responsible, and safe while maneuvering this digital world that they will live in is essential to their well being and their growth as a human being. It is another way to help kids become socially aware of polite and expected behaviors. The best thing about all of this media is that those students who struggled with the “old school” way of learning, thinking, and processing, is that there are a lot more options out there for them now, and that is where the learning really begins.
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
End of Days?
As I stand in my parents yard, walking my dog around, hoping he'll decide to poop soon, I can't help but think that this is a very strange dose of events that keep happening to the environments that I inhabit. It seemed to be years that there was nothing but Hurricane Gloria for me to remember, when my family had put all the animals, horse included, in the basement. Now it seems like everywhere in the world humans are dealing with more and more of Mother Nature's wrath. What if the human race has produced so many people that we actually do wither out this earth right before our very eyes? I don't even have children and I'm scared for the future of what my possible children might inherit. I really don't see how so many people can get up in the morning and go out into the world and be angry and find ugly things. My favorite song is "A Thousand Beautiful Things" by Annie Lennox. She sings of finding the beauty and joy in everyday life. It has taken me almost 35 years, but I just realized that I have the best life on earth and I am the luckiest girl ever! I got to spend the last 3 days hanging out with my parents and my dog. I don't know if I'll get my power back tomorrow or Sunday, but my life rules because of the family and friends in it. I still don't like snow though. Just because I was born here...
Monday, October 31, 2011
Lost in Technology
I am actually just really proud that I figured out how to get to do this on my cell phone. Now I will have no excuses not to do my assignments! I have been without power or heat and am sanctioned at my parents for now. Can't really comment much on technological literacy at this point, but am more technologically savvy today than yesterday! I hope everyone is safe in this situation that is our current annoyance.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
New Girl
My name is Lisa and I've spent the last 13 years of my life teaching in cities, small towns, and suburban areas. Turns out the kids are pretty much the same in all areas and the administrators are still the obstacles that get in the way of what needs to be done. I no longer want to teach. I'm onto pursuing dream number two. Published author. I'm taking my paid time off to write and now I have the story that people will want to read.
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