My journey continues, but now for a little reflection at the end of this leg of the journey. As this course comes to a close, I will be reflecting on the following questions as honestly as possible. So, here goes ...
What do you see yourself using in the next year? Next year, my classes will not have 1:1 devices, therefore, I see this as an opportunity to explore and examine more of the applications, programs and activities available before actually using them in a classroom lesson. I also would like to work more with My Big Campus, Symbaloo, and Google docs as I am still a novice at using these applications, and investigating what others remain to be discovered. I am also really interested in learning more about creative visual tools like Movie Maker, Vimeo, etc. My students seem to enjoy using these programs and I feel that I need to learn to be adept at using them as well.
What will be most helpful in your professional situation? I found the suggestions for different apps very useful, however, I think I got the most out of the discussion about classroom management in the technologically innovative classroom. Keeping students on task seems to be one of the more frustrating classroom management problems in the digital world, but I found many good suggestions for possible strategies to alleviate this problem.
How can the information you learned over the past 18 weeks be used in the rest of your school and/or corporation? I find that it is very important to share resources with my colleagues and this class has shown how constructive that process can actually be. I found so many good ideas and I think that if we all consider passing new knowledge on, we will all benefit in the end.
I have learned a lot in this course, but I know that there is still so much more to learn. That is what keeps things interesting! :)
Wednesday, May 28, 2014
Monday, May 12, 2014
How can we teach students to learn by using technology?
In answer to this question, I must answer with another question. How do we teach students to think? Only then, will we be able to teach them to learn by using technology. The application of knowledge is no different now than it was in the time of Socrates. It does not matter if you are using a computer or parchment paper. What made Socrates a great teacher was that he made his students think. He inspired their curiosity and encouraged critical thinking skills. The devices that we use are not going to do anything to improve student learning unless we also teach them to think. Therefore the answer to the second question,"How can we teach them to demonstrate their mastery/understanding when they aren't given explicit requirements?" is easily answered. If they can apply the knowledge in a real-world situation, then they have mastered the skill. Education in the United States today could take a lesson from Socrates. It does not matter how many facts a student knows. What matters is how they can apply those facts to solve problems. If they are not taught to think, question, and create, then no device in the world is going to help them to learn.
In answer to this question, I must answer with another question. How do we teach students to think? Only then, will we be able to teach them to learn by using technology. The application of knowledge is no different now than it was in the time of Socrates. It does not matter if you are using a computer or parchment paper. What made Socrates a great teacher was that he made his students think. He inspired their curiosity and encouraged critical thinking skills. The devices that we use are not going to do anything to improve student learning unless we also teach them to think. Therefore the answer to the second question,"How can we teach them to demonstrate their mastery/understanding when they aren't given explicit requirements?" is easily answered. If they can apply the knowledge in a real-world situation, then they have mastered the skill. Education in the United States today could take a lesson from Socrates. It does not matter how many facts a student knows. What matters is how they can apply those facts to solve problems. If they are not taught to think, question, and create, then no device in the world is going to help them to learn.
Monday, May 5, 2014
Freedom, digital distraction and control
I would currently consider myself at the second level, control through technology. Students are allowed to use devices for very specific tasks, and they know that if they abuse this privilege, then they are banned from using electronic devices for as long as I see fit. So far, this strategy has worked pretty well, however, I do not consider myself at level three yet. Ideally, I want my students to self-check their personal device use, and use self-discipline to know when it is appropriate to use them and when it is not. I do not know if that will ever happen, but I like to think that I am attempting to instill these values into my students. That being said, I think that this reliance on technology is not always for the best. Students really need to take a step back from them sometimes and experience the world in a non-digital way. I found this video on the internet yesterday. You can watch it and make your own opinions. However, it really made me think and realize that I am just as guilty as anyone else.
http://blog.petflow.com/this-is-a-video-everyone-needs-to-see-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-im-speechless/?utm_source=ilmd&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=speechless
http://blog.petflow.com/this-is-a-video-everyone-needs-to-see-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-im-speechless/?utm_source=ilmd&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=speechless
Monday, April 28, 2014
Stakeholders
What are the top three things to communicate when introducing the
concept of technology integration to a specific group of stakeholders?
You can think of this as your learning objectives when preparing a
presentation, website, article, etc. In other words, what three things
must your audience understand in order to be fully supportive of the
school's mission to integrate technology?
For this Blog entry I chose to incorporate elements of the blog,Teaching Miss Cheska, and the "7 Ways to Increase Teacher Technology in the Classroom". Even though I chose teachers as my stakeholder group for my discussion post, the stakeholders I am really interested in convincing that I need a textbook program are the administrators and the parents. First, I believe that I need to "create a clear vision of what an ideal classroom with integrated technology looks like (Teaching Miss Cheska, 2010). I do not want technology in my classroom to be an afterthought, or addition. I want it to be a seamless part my everyday lessons and classroom culture. Second, I believe that stakeholders need to see the technology in action and know that using technology the correct way will seamlessly incorporate the academic standards necessary for a well-rounded foreign language education directly into the lessons. Third, I think that it is important to establish rules and regulations for electronic device use, especially in my room, since I want to know what my students know, not what they can type into Google Translate. This area is the most difficult area for me to get around. It seems that no matter how many sites are blocked there are just as many that the students can gain access to. As much as I would like to trust them, most would choose the easy way rather than relying on their own knowledge and skills.
For this Blog entry I chose to incorporate elements of the blog,Teaching Miss Cheska, and the "7 Ways to Increase Teacher Technology in the Classroom". Even though I chose teachers as my stakeholder group for my discussion post, the stakeholders I am really interested in convincing that I need a textbook program are the administrators and the parents. First, I believe that I need to "create a clear vision of what an ideal classroom with integrated technology looks like (Teaching Miss Cheska, 2010). I do not want technology in my classroom to be an afterthought, or addition. I want it to be a seamless part my everyday lessons and classroom culture. Second, I believe that stakeholders need to see the technology in action and know that using technology the correct way will seamlessly incorporate the academic standards necessary for a well-rounded foreign language education directly into the lessons. Third, I think that it is important to establish rules and regulations for electronic device use, especially in my room, since I want to know what my students know, not what they can type into Google Translate. This area is the most difficult area for me to get around. It seems that no matter how many sites are blocked there are just as many that the students can gain access to. As much as I would like to trust them, most would choose the easy way rather than relying on their own knowledge and skills.
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
21st Century Skills
For this blog entry, we were asked to answer the following questions:
Choose the 21st Century Skill you believe is most crucial to students' lives outside the school walls.
1. Why is this skill most important?
2. How might this skill be used in your Technology Infusion Plan?
3. How can this skill be assessed?
Choose the 21st Century Skill you believe is most crucial to students' lives outside the school walls.
1. Why is this skill most important?
2. How might this skill be used in your Technology Infusion Plan?
3. How can this skill be assessed?
However, I will get to that in a minute. There is something I would like to talk about first. Technology throughout history has been developed to make our lives easier. Technological advances often take a difficult, time-consuming task and make it much easier, leaving much more free time for humans to enjoy. However, what I have experience in integrating technology in the classroom has proved the opposite. Rather than making my job easier, less stressful, and leaving me more time to create inspiring and effective lessons, my life has become harder and more stressful with little or no time to be creative at all. It seems that teachers are given the technological devices along with a mountain of tools, but are given little or no subject-specific professional development. We are told to we can find everything we need on the internet. I did a search yesterday for "Spanish 1 curriculum". I got 2,000,000 hits. Who has time to search through 2,000,000 sites. There are some wonderful tools out there, yet I do not have the time to search through them all and learn how to adapt them to my particular subject area. I have never in my life felt more stress or more overwhelmed than I do right now. I feel like I have been asked to design and build the space shuttle with a million LEGOS and no directions. I wonder if anyone else feels that way?
Anyway, here are the answers to the questions:
Choose the 21st Century Skill you believe is most crucial to students' lives outside the school walls.
Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning.
1. Why is this skill most important? Without the ability to apply knowledge to real-world situations, surviving in the real world is very difficult.
2. How might this skill be used in your Technology Infusion Plan? Utilizing the concept of inquiry infused with technology, I believe, would help to develop my students reasoning and problem-solving skills.
3. How can this skill be assessed? Assessing the students' finished projects using a detailed rubric would be the best way. Also, asking students to apply knowledge with on-the-spot questioning would also check whether students can utilize these skills.
Ways of thinking. Creativity, critical thinking, problem-solving, decision-making and learning.
1. Why is this skill most important? Without the ability to apply knowledge to real-world situations, surviving in the real world is very difficult.
2. How might this skill be used in your Technology Infusion Plan? Utilizing the concept of inquiry infused with technology, I believe, would help to develop my students reasoning and problem-solving skills.
3. How can this skill be assessed? Assessing the students' finished projects using a detailed rubric would be the best way. Also, asking students to apply knowledge with on-the-spot questioning would also check whether students can utilize these skills.
Monday, April 14, 2014
My Philosophy of Education
"LOGIC WILL GET YOU FROM A TO B, IMAGINATION WILL GET YOU EVERYWHERE"
(Albert Einstein)
"Education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.” (Steve Irwin)
My education philosophy is based on the idea that I want to be an inspiration for my students not just a fountain of information.. I want to be able to talk to them like creative, thinking, thoughtful human beings and not be afraid to learn from them. I want to be a teacher that a student cannot only learn from, but learn with . I believe that the most important skills I can teach my students are the ability to think, to imagine, and to become lifelong learners. I do not want merely to teach them facts, but to inspire them to be curious, to inspire them to cultivate their own voice and to inspire their own confidence. I do not believe that teaching them to memorize facts for a test makes me an effective teacher. Knowledge is useless without the ability to apply it to the real world and solve real-life problems and investigate real-life mysteries. Facts are useless without the imagination and confidence to apply them in new and creative ways.
When I think about what kind of teacher I wan to be, I find myself, quite often, looking to my heroes for inspiration. Albert Einstein once stated that "education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think". Thomas Jefferson once said that "we should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers". Lastly, Mr. Nelson Mandela may have summarized my true philosophy of education when he said, "education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".
As far as technology and how it relates to my philosophy of education. Some of the main components of a great teacher are the willingness to try new things, the ability to adapt, and the desire to learn and improve. I am excited to incorporate technology into my classroom. However, unless I am given the appropriate tools and resources in order to make technology a natural part of my daily lessons, then it will always be just an addition, not an integration.
I had to write a philosophy of leadership essay for one of my graduate school classes earlier this semester. As part of that assignment, this is what we had to describe a learning experience that changed our lives. This is what I wrote. It is as true now as it was then and helps to shape my education philosophy to this day:
"It was the first day of Spanish 1, my freshman year. I came into class and my teacher started rambling on and I could not understand a single word. I was terrified. Then she picked up a guitar and started to sing. She sang the most beautiful song. I still could not understand the words, but the music made me realize that the words did not matter, the music is what mattered. The fact that I could enjoy something beautiful that I did not understand mattered. It was the beginning of a wonderful time of discovery for me. After the song, she went on to describe her adventures in the Peace Corps, hitchhiking through Central America with a backpack and a buddy, hosting tours to the Galapagos, and climbing mountains in Peru. She wove all of these stories into a mesmerizing tapestry of adventure and excitement. I did not realize it at the time, but that moment, thirty years ago, sealed my fate. That was when my thirst for adventure was ignited and my need to explore was born. I have never really thought about it until now, how important that moment really was; how significantly it has affected my life. In all honesty, if not for that moment, that teacher, I probably would not be here today; a forty-five year old Spanish teacher/ graduate student having experiences others only dream about."
This is how I want my students to look back and remember me. :)
(Albert Einstein)
"Education is all about being excited about something. Seeing passion and enthusiasm helps push an educational message.” (Steve Irwin)
My education philosophy is based on the idea that I want to be an inspiration for my students not just a fountain of information.. I want to be able to talk to them like creative, thinking, thoughtful human beings and not be afraid to learn from them. I want to be a teacher that a student cannot only learn from, but learn with . I believe that the most important skills I can teach my students are the ability to think, to imagine, and to become lifelong learners. I do not want merely to teach them facts, but to inspire them to be curious, to inspire them to cultivate their own voice and to inspire their own confidence. I do not believe that teaching them to memorize facts for a test makes me an effective teacher. Knowledge is useless without the ability to apply it to the real world and solve real-life problems and investigate real-life mysteries. Facts are useless without the imagination and confidence to apply them in new and creative ways.
When I think about what kind of teacher I wan to be, I find myself, quite often, looking to my heroes for inspiration. Albert Einstein once stated that "education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think". Thomas Jefferson once said that "we should not forget that the true purpose of education is to make minds, not careers". Lastly, Mr. Nelson Mandela may have summarized my true philosophy of education when he said, "education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".
As far as technology and how it relates to my philosophy of education. Some of the main components of a great teacher are the willingness to try new things, the ability to adapt, and the desire to learn and improve. I am excited to incorporate technology into my classroom. However, unless I am given the appropriate tools and resources in order to make technology a natural part of my daily lessons, then it will always be just an addition, not an integration.
I had to write a philosophy of leadership essay for one of my graduate school classes earlier this semester. As part of that assignment, this is what we had to describe a learning experience that changed our lives. This is what I wrote. It is as true now as it was then and helps to shape my education philosophy to this day:
"It was the first day of Spanish 1, my freshman year. I came into class and my teacher started rambling on and I could not understand a single word. I was terrified. Then she picked up a guitar and started to sing. She sang the most beautiful song. I still could not understand the words, but the music made me realize that the words did not matter, the music is what mattered. The fact that I could enjoy something beautiful that I did not understand mattered. It was the beginning of a wonderful time of discovery for me. After the song, she went on to describe her adventures in the Peace Corps, hitchhiking through Central America with a backpack and a buddy, hosting tours to the Galapagos, and climbing mountains in Peru. She wove all of these stories into a mesmerizing tapestry of adventure and excitement. I did not realize it at the time, but that moment, thirty years ago, sealed my fate. That was when my thirst for adventure was ignited and my need to explore was born. I have never really thought about it until now, how important that moment really was; how significantly it has affected my life. In all honesty, if not for that moment, that teacher, I probably would not be here today; a forty-five year old Spanish teacher/ graduate student having experiences others only dream about."
This is how I want my students to look back and remember me. :)
Friday, April 4, 2014
This is the first blog of my continuing Techno Journey. This course is entitled Technology Integration 101. In this class I am most excited to learn how to integrate technology seamlessly rather than treating it as a separate component of a lesson. At this point I do not feel that I am an expert in any areas of technology. However, I do have a keen interest in Citizen Science programs and the integration of citizen science into the classroom. I am not really sure where I will need to spend the most time. I look at this class as dynamic, so I will adjust as and explore as I go.
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