Educational Blog- Beth's Thoughts

I visted the blog called Beth's Thought on Technology in the Classroom. This is an amazing blog. I had difficulty choosing which blog to comment on because all of her blogposts brought about critical thinking and discussion on various issues within the classroom. I decided to comment on the most recent blogpost called Parental Participation. In the blogpost, Beth asked these questions of the reader: How much do we welcome parents in our classrooms? Do we just want them back up our policies on homework and classroom rules? Do we want them discuss how their children learn or what strategies work best for them? Honestly do you welcome their comments and suggestions?

I learned that involving parents into the educational experience of their children can be difficult because as teachers, we feel that we are placed into a fish bowl where our every move is being watched. However, I also learned from the blogpost that a child's best educator for life is often their parents. This got me thinking, so I decided to join in on the conversation that had been taking place through the comments on the post.

This is a great topic to really think about. It is so important to involve parents in the classroom, even though we may be hestitant or fearful to involve them. There were 2 comments that had already been added to this post, and it was really neat to be a part of this educational discussion. Although I am only a young, barely-experienced teacher, I felt that I had enough wisdom to add to the topic of conversation. I hope to receive thoughtful comments regarding my own comment to keep the discussion going. I was able to address both comments as well as my own thoughts on the content of Beth's blogpost.

I encourage everyone to check out Beth's blog. It is a great way to actively involve yourself in educational discussion, and to increase your thinking on certain topics of teaching.

Video in the Classroom

I read a blog entry called "Caught on Video" by Bob Sparkle, and let me tell you... what an amazing blog post! It was packed with ideas on how video could be used in the classroom. I never thought of video being useful in the classroom, but what an incredible idea! Why did I not think of that myself? Here are some ideas that I took and grappled with for awhile. I added my own little spin on a few of them!

• You could create a video of instruction to give to a substitute teacher; rather than a boring typed up (possibly confusing) lesson plan. Instruction is communicated more clearly when a person can see and hear it from the teacher.
• Weekly newsvideos (aka newsletters) can be recorded and posted to the class website or class blog. I loved this idea from Bob Sparkle's blog. Adding to it, I think that it would be brilliant to have the children present the information on the video. The teacher could give each student a sentence to say about upcoming events or important news. What a much more effective and exciting way to get parents involved with what is going on in the classroom and at school!
• Also, what a great idea to film short video clips of how each child feels on the first day of school. This could be compiled into a video and placed into the class portfolio online for parents to view. It also could help students with growth in their struggles by viewing this video at the end of the year.
• Another great way to communicate with parents through video is to send snip-its of the day in an email to parents. Its quick and simple, and the parents would absolutely love it!
• Videos can be used to inform absent students of what they missed that day during school. Important lesson highlights can be filmed and placed on the class website, class blog, or sent through email
• This was my favorite idea! Create an end of the year video featuring the students. what they learned during the year, and what they enjoyed most of the year. It would serve as a video time capsule. This could be viewed on the last day of school during the party. What a great memory to have. Many CDs could be burned for each student to take home a copy with them.
• Finally, have the students record classroom rules and routines for students coming into your classroom next year. It is a quick and exciting way for students to learn your ways of the classroom through their peers.

I will definitely be using video in my classroom. It is something that I had never thought of before, but now I am so inspired to make it useful.

Generation IM

       In the article Generation IM from Scholastic: Instructor, my eyes were opened even more facts about the impact of this digital age on children. The article states that "67% of preschool children use computers." Although I still sit in wonderment at comments like this, I must come to grips with the truth of this statement in order to be a successful teacher. It goes to show that early elementary students are in need of technology for stimulation, not just the upper grade-level students.

       My favorite quote from the article is this: "We need kids to think about problems in innovative and creative ways. We need to change the emphasis of education to focus on higher-order kinds of thinking." These higher-order kinds of thinking come through the use of technology. That is the new form of connection and communication in today's world. We need to take advantage of the available technology to prepare our students for the world they are going to face.

       I also liked the seven suggestions that the article provided to bring today's technology into the classroom. It did not just list the seven suggestions, but it also provided a detailed description, followed by examples to further explain how technology could best be put to use.

SMART Board Technologies

Michael Dunn, the CEO of Polyvision is quoted in saying, "How we teach, and not what we teach, must change in the United States if we are to have our students compete in a global economy." This is so true because the United States is now watching China, the UK, and Mexico outstrip us with technologies. The SMART board is a great way to have healthy and exciting interaction with students in a classroom. In an article titled The Wonders of Interactive Whiteboards, Neal Starkman shows the importance of having a SMARTboard in the classroom. A teacher stated that even "obstreperous students were politely raising their hands," which shows that these interactive boards can spark the interest of students that normally seem unresponsive or unwilling to learn.

So what are the advantages of having a SMARTboard? How can I incorporate an interactive whiteboard into my teaching? Here are a few suggestions from the article:

• Write, erase, and perform mouse functions with our finger, a pen, or anything with a maneuverable, firm surface
• Write in digital ink over applications, web sites, and videos.
• Capture your work or save your notes drectly into different software applications
• Show students information through visual activities, such as showing deep-sea photography when studying oceanography
• Make math fun by drawing shapes and identifying angles while studying trigonometry
• Import virtually anything from the Internet and edit and manipulate it

The options continue and the possibilities seem endless for the use of an interactive whiteboard for the teacher and his or her students. Phillips, a sixth grade math and science teacher at Euclid Middle School in Littleton, Colorado, "has seen students blossom, not only as a result of learning more efficiently, but also from helping teach classes and even train teachers in the technology."

The SMARTboard creates a unique partnership between teachers and students. It is our job as teachers to create relationship and learning opportunities through this new technology, rather than let the technology get in the way of student learning.

Turning on the Lights

I read an article entitled "Turning on the Lights" by Marc Prensky that opened my eyes to the needs of students in today's age. It was stated in the article that when teachers demand students to power down all electronic devices -- cell phones, ipods, internet, etc. -- they do not realize that they are also powering down the students' brains. This was so interesting to me, and it started to get me thinking. How can I keep my students engaged in my classroom through their world of technology without it being a distraction to their educational experience? We ask students to power down cell phones so that we can keep them as focused as possible during lessons, which I believe is very important. Yet at the same time, it is crucial to provide other resources of "light" in technology to advance their growth in learning.

I agree with the article when it explains the zeitgeist- the change of the times. It used to be that "we [teachers] were the people who showed the kids the light." It was the job of the teacher to lead the student out of intellectual darkness and bring them into an understanding of knowledge and success. Now it seems that students are coming into the classroom having already accessed much knowledge from the home and other outside sources through the internet. They are technologically literate, meaning that they can learn anything with the touch of a button. So, now then what is the task of a teacher? I believe that it is our job to direct their knowledge through the use of technology. Yes, they come to the classroom having already known everything that interests them through the touch of a button; However, it is still our task to guide the students to new knowledge, of more than just video games. The task of the teacher is still to push the students to a greater level of critical thinking. The only difference now is that teachers must achieve this through a new dimension called technology. If this can be accomplished, then students can have a successful educational experience.