Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Feedly

I just started using Feedly to keep track of several blogs that I've come across that give me ideas and inspiration for my future classroom- and the pathway there.  Scholastic has a list of "Top 20 Teacher Blogs" which is where I got the few that I've started to follow.  There is a blog for student teachers and a forward thinking tech blog, both of which are my favorites so far.  I plan to add more to my feed, but I want to make sure they are blogs that will be useful to me and not, for instance, ideas for high school teachers.  There are so many out there.  Slowly but surely, I think I'll start to build a great base of blogs that provide me with lots of insight!  

Saturday, May 25, 2013

Week 2- It's Starting to Click

Summer school is in full swing and I'm finally feeling like I've got a bit of a handle on all of the new technologies available to teachers.  VoiceThread.com is a site that allows users to post videos or voice-overs.  Last week our class did an activity with the site and everyone answered a few questions.  It was a little bizarre to hear my voice play back as I answered, but also pretty neat.  Once a thread is started, users can listen to the responses of everyone else on the thread, played in one sequence.  The end result was close to an hour of conversation between classmates.  I can definitely see myself using this technology in my future classroom.  I'm not sure that it is something an elementary teacher could assign as homework being that some students will not have access to internet at home.  However, as a tool in the classroom or as part of a lesson, I think it would work well.  Students with writing disabilities would certainly benefit from such a way of learning.  It is a free site, although users must be age 13 or over to create an account.  This road block may be alleviated by sending a permission slip home to parents.  That's a subject we are still discussing and working through in the MAT program.  Overall, I think VoiceThread is a great tool and I am delighted to discover it for classroom use as well as for communication between far-away friends! 

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Lots To Learn- 21st century skills, NETS-S, NETS-T, and TPACK

As I enter my third semester in the MAT program at Meredith, I am realizing that I have a long way to go before I feel confident in my skills as a classroom teacher, particularly when it comes to using technology in the classroom.  Most of the terminology and ideas are new to me.  Here, I will attempt to explain what I am learning- to both myself, and my audience!  21st century learning is a whole new world.  The old ways of learning (writing a sentence 100 times on a chalkboard) are becoming obsolete, and iPads and chat room collaborations are building a significant presence in the classroom.  The Partnership for 21st Century Skills is an organization that champions 21st century readiness for all students.  "P21" provides resources to help teachers stay up to date with technology by blending together the 3R's and 4C's (Critical thinking and problem solving, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity and innovation). The framework P21 advocates a comprehensive view of teaching in the 21st century and learning in today's world.  


 
Image: P21 Mile Guide


While P21 leads the charge for 21st century learning, there are many ideas that campaign for the cause. TPACK is an organized way to identify the knowledge and expertise teachers need to teach with technology and to be effective in their teaching.  Content knowledge, Pedagogy knowledge, and technology knowledge are the componenets that make up the TPACK framework.  To fully understand TPACK, a teacher must also recognize the information that lies between the three knowledge bases. 

NETS-T and NETS-S are still more terms we have looked at in class, although I'm still working on getting a firm grip on all of the acronyms!  These are the standards for evaluating the skills and knowledge needed to teach, and learn, effectively.  The website states, "Simply being able to use technology is no longer enough."  How true a statement that is.  In the world we live in, students must be able to use technology capably, and teachers must be able to teach technology with complete knowledge of the trends themselves.  That's all for today.  I'm off to class tonight- stay tuned for the next round of new-to-me technology concepts in education! 

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Hello! 

This blog is my attempt at openness and sharing with other pre-service teachers about using technology in the classroom.  I think it's exciting that so many classrooms are incorporating technology into their everyday lessons.  I hope to do the same when I'm FINALLY teaching!