Techno Diva

Classroom 2.0 is intriguing.  There are many resources that will benefit me as a teacher.  I also like the discussion format for asking global colleagues for feedback, ideas and help.  My decision is still in the formative stages as to how I plan on using social networking in the coming school year. I hope I can incorporate it in some fashion, but not just to say that we use social networks at school.  It has to be meaningful.

Classroom 2.0 and Twitter have some truly interesting ways for teaching and learning. The parts I explored looked very professional and yet seemed doable by novices with some help and practice. Many of the ideas and discussions gave me ideas for working with my students. The Twitter limit of 140 characters would be a plus for my students. Often finding the right word or combination is a real challenge to them.  Knowing they only have 140 characters will give them less stress than trying to write a paragraph about a topic.

Social networking will most likely become a part of my tech classes this fall. I really like the idea of student feedback and questions in a non threatening way. For my professional use, I can see it as a way to truly cast a broad net into the stream of global consciousness and haul in a tremendous catch of the day.

Assessment of Learning-v-Assessment for Learning brings up some interesting concepts. Just what are we assessing in our students? With all the current pressure on teachers to have their students pass standardized tests and to improve the test scores over time, have we missed the real reason for education? Does differentiation for the sake of saying we individualize for each student really mean that we have multiple lessons and learning levels in each class group? Do we truly offer learning at each child’s own pace and learning style? Can we?

Google Docs are a wonderful way to collaborate and share information without have multiple copies floating around in cyberspace. Both students and teachers can benefit from using Google Docs. I can store my lesson plans and worksheets online and access them from home without having to lug my laptop to and from school.  It also solves the problem of documents stored on the school server being inaccessible from home.

I see my students using Google Docs to work on projects and scripts for pod casts and more. Parents can also access these documents so they can assist their student in completing assignments with clear directions and even pictures to help them see what I am talking about.

Professionally, I can see sharing research and reports, helping each other create surveys, collect and graph data, and create presentations with multiple input from not only across our campus but also from around the globe.

I have used YouTube both in the classroom and in my personal life.  You do have to be careful and pre-screen the videos for content and language.  Teacher Tube has some startling content for teachers. The first one I watched was Pay Attention in which the facts about 21st century learners hit you right in the face. We really don’t have the option of not using technology to engage our students.

Podcasts are a boon to me.  I teach technology and this method will definitely help me stop feeling so much like a continuous loop tape. I can refer the students and their parents to podcasts for at home reinforcement and for clear step by step directions with or without pictures. My biggest disappointment was not being able to hear my podcast on Podbean. The message said error loading file.  I deleted the file and republished it but the same error message appeared. I tried a couple of others’ podcasts and the same thing happened. I hope this is only a temporary glitch. I will check back later and see.

Another problem occurred when I tried to save my WAV file as an MP3.  I finally figured out I needed to change the default settings of AAC to MP3. then it worked fine. Learning curves and detours are a part of technology and it is good to remind me right before getting students involved in learning.

Wow!  What a great way to put in my collections.  I can’t wait to share with my reader’s group at church and with others at school.  Now there is a record of the books I have.  I can choose to add or just let my library stand still. What a great tool for bibliophiles.

This website is very helpful.  I can see using it for students– for homework sites or research sites, for parents–for compensatory sites and tips on dealing with LD and ADD students, and for my colleagues for sharing sites without clogging up our school servers or emails.

In tracking stories about education and educators, I came across a “creepy” one that gave pause for much thought about the impact we have on students. It is entitled simply My Favorite Teacher. It was published in Esquire magazine and is truly thought provoking and creepy. I won’t give away the story but it is about a student visiting his favorite teacher from high school after 30 years have passed. Don’t read this one too close to bedtime and it is definitely not for students to read.

I attended the “Never Too Young” session.  I teach first through sixth graders so learning ways that I can use technology with my youngest learners was a plus. I had not thought about using blogs with my younger students but it might prove very useful for all of us.

The main points were to use online learning from the beginning of learning, parents, teachers and especially the students benefit from sharing thoughts and learning online, and that crossing the school grades is beneficial, too.

I learned some new to me websites that will help my students and their teachers use technology easily. 

The anytime, anywhere delivery option is such a boon to timestressed teachers.