Tech Yourself

I have so many teacher resource books that they are overtaking my closets.  I think I keep buying new ones because I want more ideas or the ones in the book don’t quite work for me.  When I discovered blogs, I’ve stopped adding to the book collection and I’ve now built up a rss feed collection.  I also like it because the blogs keep changing.  I also like to follow blogrolls of the ones I read and it’s like I’m in blog bookstore.  I keep discovering new blogs to read and they don’t take up anyspace in my already crowded closets. 

I started blogging because it was a required part of my coursework.  I have often read blogs especially teacher blogs.  I find them a source of inspiration and a wealth of ideas.  I think the great things about blogs is that you can see what other colleagues are doing out there in their classrooms or schools.  I recently started to look read blogs about technology integration in education.  The one blog I read and look for technology ideas is http://larryferlazzo.edublogs.org/.  I like his blog because I like to see his top websites in different categories.  For example, he has The Best “Fun” Sites You Can Use For Learning, Too.  I look here to see websites I can incorporate into my classroom. 

 The other blog that I read is http://coachingchronicles.blogspot.com/ .  I like this blog because they are trying to improve their school and teaching by working collobartively with each other.  They look to themselves to see what strengths they have to offer.  I also like that they post pictures of actual students work or videos of actual lesson.  It’s what I would like professional development to be at my school.  I can get great ideas to implement or share with my other teachers.

What is your go to blog to read about education?

I’m taking a class through Wilkes University that is in partnership with Discovery Education.  I have weekly assignments and I’ve been a bad student and blogger.  As part of our class assignment I have to blog on various topics and turn in various projects that incorporate technology.  All in hopes the I will teach using technology and teach others to use technology.  I also have been reading Five Minds For The Future  by Howard Gardner.  In the book he discusses developing the creative mind.  As part of creativity there also needs to be some expertise in an area.  The past few weeks I was creatively stunted by my lack of expertise in creating a digital story.  I am able technically able to create the story but I was at a loss for how to write the script that I would have to narrate.  The digital story was supposed to be about a something that we teach in class.  I was having difficulty synthesizing (another mind that Gardner talks about) and pulling together images, words, and videos into a something that I could use in the classroom.

I also think it the fear of not getting an assignment right that cause a mini break down and block.  I should take this to heart and realize that’s how the students feel at times.

In education we want to prepare them for the 21st century but we are still assessing individual performance.  Schools aren’t judged by their ability to encourage teamwork, collaboration, successful participation.  We have to come to a point where it is all about the test scores. 

We are preparing them for a future we do not know what holds.  Every society in time has had to prepare for a future that they did not know but ours is changing so rapidly and in ways we could never imagine.

I personally think that we have to start very young.  Students need to be exposed to many different types of cultures and people. 

I recently got a dog from the SPCA.  Although he wasn’t a puppy he was very small and I signed up for a puppy class upon the recommendation of the dog obedience instructor.  One of the things they told us is that you need to expose your puppy to many different situations, other animals, and types of people.  By doing this your puppy will feel more comfortable in different situations and be a good canine citizen.  We want our students to be respetful to all people. 

If we expose our students to different cultures and ways of thinking they will be more open and receptive.  If we allow them to work with other students through email, webpages, blogs, instant messaging, etc… we are taking pen pals to another level.  Colloboration and cooperation are key in today’s society and will be key in the future.  Julene Reeds shares some ideas in “Global Collaboration and Learning” .  The one idea I would try is to have email penpals.  It would be great to have one in different parts of the United States as well as in different parts of the world. 

By looking at others we can learn more about ourselves.  We expand our world view and realize that we don’t live in a bubble.  Hopefully we can teach students that what we do today actually impacts just not who we are but it affects the world.  We can’t just ignore what goes on in other parts of the world but we don’t have to react in ways that they have always done in the past. 

That’s the beauty of teaching you never know, how your students will impact the world.