Response to blog

I read the iLearn Technology blog. I chose this blog at first because of the title and it sounded like a good place for a first time blogger to go. I’ve never looked at a blog before and the layout threw me off a little bit at first and then I realized I can collapse the comment section, which made it much easier to navigate. I loved that the second post I saw on there was about Pintrest. I was excited to read about and see pictures of all the great projects that can be done with students. I’m really into creative, fun and engaging activities and blogs like this one make it easy for teachers to find activities and lessons. There is so much information available and you can even search the blog to find exactly what you’re looking for.
  
  This blog is about integrating technology into the classroom and my ideas about what that meant before I read this blog are completely different now. When I thought about what it meant to integrate technology into the classroom, I primarily thought about hardware like iPads or netbooks. I’m really blown away by this concept of flip teaching, where the student watches an instructional video at home and then comes into school and practices in the classroom which cuts out a lot of time. It is such an awesome idea because more students will do their homework, and less time will be spent in class prepping everyone one what is supposed to be done.

I love how easy this blog is to read. In every post there are pictures and links that you can click on and it will take you to the website you are reading about. It really is amazing how the information is organized and displayed here. It is also very easy to read because each post has sections that explain what it is, how to integrate it into the classroom, and tips on how to use it in your classroom. I will definitely be revisiting this blog and using the awesome resources it describes.

 

Response to Giving Reluctant Students a Voice

                 I thought that Giving Reluctant Students a Voice shows how students can contribute when given more time and freedom in responding. When students have to respond right off the bat, quickly in class, they are afraid of giving the wrong answer or how they may sound in front of their peers. It’s difficult to think of a response without having the time to write down your thoughts, I admit to doing this sometimes in class but then I lose track of the class discussion. There are so many advantages to class blogs or online forums where students can have the time to organize their thoughts, edit their responses, and at the same time not lose track of the discussion. There is also a level of separation that may make students feel most comfortable because they are typing and not saying what they think in front of the whole class. I think that on-line responses should be an options for all students.

Standard of focus for the semester

This semester I am going to focus on Earth Sciences for fourth grade. The SOL standard is as follows:

ES.4    The student will investigate and understand the characteristics of the Earth and the solar system. Key concepts include

a)      position of the Earth in the solar system;

b)      sun-Earth-moon relationships (seasons, tides, and eclipses);

c)      characteristics of the sun, planets and their moons, comets, meteors, and asteroids; and

d)      the history and contributions of the space program.

              There are many activities for different learning styles on this standard that are accessible through the internet. NASA’s web site has a plethora of interactive activities and games that can be used individually or in groups. For students who learn more through hands on activities, there are lessons and activities on NASA’s website, along with websites like Pintrest, which give you step-by-step instructions on how to do an activity. If I wanted to, for example, teach my students about the size and makeup of the planets relative to the sun, I could use these online resources to teach them in a variety of ways.

             For students who are hands on learners, I could have them make each planet with different amounts of clay. For students who are visual and auditory learners, I could have them watch a video on YouTube about the size of the planets and the sun. For students who are artistic and visual learners, I could have them search the web for a scale of the planets in our solar system and have them draw them on paper. Another great web resource for students exploring the size of our planets is the website The Scale of the Universe 2 (http://htwins.net/scale2/?bordercolor=white). There is an activity for every type of learner, we just have to find it, and the internet is a wonderful tool for finding these resources.

Response to Digital Media* New Learners of the 21^st Century

The Quest to Learn school is fascinating and creates an exciting learning environment for students. The idea that learning can be fun because it is happening through games is fantastic. I really liked what was said about tinkering and the power and importance of play. The majority of learning that happens today is through memorization and regurgitation, and all for an assessment. The skill of memorizing and retaining facts is becoming less important as the skill of navigation and finding facts becomes more realistically applicable to what’s happening in the world today. Technology and communication is evolving and we need to evolve with it. Problem solving skills and innovation are acquired by students in schools like Quest to Learn and it’s inspiring that a student can take control of and have passion for what they are doing in the classroom. Creating games and using multi-media tools creates critical thinking skills and engaged learning through hands on activities.

 I liked what James Gee said about how games are all just sets of problems, and how you have to learn certain information in order to  beat the game or move up to the next level. This is an incredibly easy way to have kids become fully engaged in what they are learning. One of the students from the school said that she liked beating the games, and in order to win you have to study. Students are building games themselves, so they are thinking critically, trying to solve multiple problems at once, and having fun while doing it. Students are motivated because they want to win and they want to become better. There is also a lot of collaborative work, where students create stories and work together to create animated videos that tell stories. It takes the basics of reading, writing, and math to a new level of thinking and problem solving. It’s very, very cool.