Blog 9 reflection

I enjoyed reading Courtney Berry’s blog.  Her and I had a lot of the same ideas about how some teachers are set in their ways and find it hard to “embrace” the new ideas/changes.  I am also having a hard time letting go of my “control” and just letting my Kindergarteners go on their own.  I finally opened up the computer station and I was surprised at how well the students just picked up the mouse after a brief lesson and have figured out how to use it! My next idea is to use the iPads for a math lesson and use it to work on number sense using the Doodle Buddy app. 

Hallie also had written about the student’s point of view. I hadn’t thought of that. I was only thinking as a teacher.  She mentioned the low functioning students in her class.  I, too, have the same question as her.  How do we get those students to become more independent, especially in a class as large as mine?  I feel like if I let them go, they will get lost in the cracks, so I need to hold their hands, figuratively.

I like the idea of a question wall. I probably won’t implement it yet, maybe after the New Year.  My students still do not quite understand what a question is.  I still get long stories whenever I ask if they have any questions.  But it is good to model, so maybe I will put it up and just ask myself questions so they can see how it works. 

What are the challenges in shifting content from “what” to “where” and “how”?

I’ve been stuck on this question for a couple of weeks… thinking and processing and trying to make sense of it all.   What are the challenges and the shift in education?  I was reminiscing about when I first started teaching.  18 years ago for me! Yikes!  Seems like a lot has changed in just those few years.  I saw an old picture of my first classroom. I had chalkboards! And I had to make my own teaching posters by making a copy of a picture and using a Opaque Projector, tracing the picture onto a poster board, coloring it myself and then laminating it.  Times have certainly changed for the better.   Now, I freak out whenever my Mimio board isn’t working.  I’m excited for the use of new technology. 

However, I am not that “old” in teacher years.  I like to try new things right away.  However, I do see a challenge when I see “older” teachers trying to learn the new technology.  Not with all teachers, but with a few.  They are so used to their “old school” ways that they are intimidated by the fast and “easy” technology.  I might be off track here, but the different generations have different attitudes about technology.   When I was in high school, I got a typewriter for Christmas! Now, kids are getting their own laptops and not just using Word to publish a paper, but also using different types of media. 

 I feel pretty fortunate in my district to have access to a plethora of technology gadgets.  We have laptops for the middle schoolers and high schoolers, and iPads for the elementary.  Mimio boards are in all the classrooms. 

Now that I’m more focused now, I’m thinking that the challenges now are not just using the technology for lesson preparation and publication.  The challenge is now how am I going to integrate the technology into lessons?  Even now, I have only used iPads and computers as learning stations, nothing as a tool for learning.  Not that they aren’t learning anything.  Students are “hanging out, messing around, and geeking out.” Through these practices, students are figuring out their interests.

 I guess another challenge is management.  Not just for behavior, but also for the whole keeping track of the equipment (then there is the updating of the software), which goes back to not enough time in the day.  Regardless of the challenges, “most believe that technology will become ever more interwoven into the fabric of academic life.”  (Glenn, 2008).  Change is inevitable, it is not going away and we need to embrace it.

 

Glenn, M. (2008). The Future of Higher Education: How Technology will Shape Learning.  New York. The Economist Intelligence Unit. http://www.nmc.org/pdf/Future-of-Higher-Ed-(NMC).pdf

Ito, M., S. Baumer, M. Bittanti, d boyd, R. Cody, B. Herr-Stephenson, H. Horst, et al. 2009.  Hanging Out, Messing Around, and Geeking Out: Kids Living and Learning with New Media.  Cambridge, MA:  MIT Press. http://mitpress.mit.edu/sites/default/files/titles/free_download/9780262013369%20_Hanging_Out.pdf

Thomas, D. and Brown, J.S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change.  [Kindle Edition]

Blog 8 reflection

Blog 8 reflection

What resources/ideas did I share this week?

I shared my experiences, as that is what I know best.  I only work with Kindergarteners and my experience is limited to the basic ABCs and 123s at this point.  However, that is not to say that I don’t do any questioning or inquiry with my students.   Those can happen at that level, too.  I hope that I can get my students to begin questioning themselves and figuring things out with little help from me.  I don’t want to just hand information to my students.  I have learned, from experience, that getting handouts does not help me learn.   I have to experience the turmoil and anguish in order to “learn” best. 

What can I do differently?  Ugh… it’s a pattern… I catch up.  Then things come up and I get behind again.  I wish that I lived in a perfect world.   I hope that I am contributing to others learning.  I don’t feel that I have anything entirely new to share that hasn’t been shared already, but I hope that someone will gain something out of the experiences I share. 

What did others share that made a difference to me?  Courtney Berry had a good question about students that are behind in school.  What would be the best learning practice for them?  I also am wondering that.  I want to give students the experience to learn.  But, I am afraid to try something new with 30 little ones.  I have been researching the Project Based learning activities and hope to try something in my classroom.  

What are the importance of inquiry and questioning in your discipline? How do/can you nurture student passion in your classroom?

At first, inquiry and questioning appear to be the same thing.  However, I thought about this for a while.  Anyone can answer a question and “know” the answer as mentioned by the authors.  I can ask my students a lot of questions to check their knowledge of something.  To inquire about something is to ask many questions to find the deeper meaning, to find out the “why”.   “Inquiry” is defined as “a seeking for truth, information, or knowledge — seeking information by questioning… Inquiry is not so much seeking the right answer — because often there is none — but rather seeking appropriate resolutions to questions and issues.” (Exline, J. 2004)  I keep coming back to this quote.  It isn’t about finding the right answer; it is about getting our minds to think.  I like to play games with my students.  We are learning number sense right now.  Well, I will put a number of pictures on the board, and write a number to go with it.  I will pull out my puppet, “Puzzled Penguin”.  I will say to them, “Puzzled Penguin thinks he has the correct answer, but he isn’t sure.  He needs your help.”  I believe this is not just questioning, but getting them to think about ways he can fix the answer.  Maybe the number is 4 and there are 5 puppies.  How do we fix this?  Maybe the change the 4 to a 5 to match the pictures or maybe someone will say to cross out one of the pictures.  It is fun to see the “light bulb” turn on when the students finally “get it”. 

 

My mentoring project is slow going.  With a group of 30 students, and a brand new teacher, I have only been able to show her the basics of Mimio.  She is a new teacher and is overwhelmed with the newness of school and doesn’t appear to be confident with the technology.  I am making adjustments to make the project work though. 

Resources 

Exline, J. (2004).  Inquiry Based Learning. Concept to Classroom. Thirteen. Online resource. http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/inquiry/index.html

 

Katz, Lilian. (2000).  Engaging Children’s Minds: The Project Approach. Ablex Publishing Corporation. Stamford, Connecticut. 

 

Thomas, D. and Brown, J.S. (2011). A New Culture of Learning: Cultivating the Imagination for a World of Constant Change.  [Kindle Edition]