I had a lot of fun planning this unit with Addie! We both like to read and thought it would be fun to do a multicultural unit including a book we read as students. The House on Mango Street is a unique book in the sense that it can be used in classrooms of many ages and can be analyzed very deeply or read for its surface value story. I would say our first success with this unit was going with an idea that we felt passionate about and were excited to teach!
It had been awhile since we had last looked at The House On Mango Street, so we re-read the book to bring our content knowledge up to par. At this point in the teaching program, I feel very comfortable planning lessons and knowing all the steps of a lesson I need to touch on when instructing students. However, I do think that I am still struggling with natural technology integration in my lesson plans. The more I observe and see it done, the easier it becomes. At the same time, when I am planning lessons I reflect a lot upon my own experiences as a student (because I was a student that loved school) and the ways in which I learned. However, technology was not included as much in instruction when I was in middle and high schyool and therefore, my reflections do not always bring the greatest lesson ideas to mind.
I would like to get to a point where I naturally incorporate technology and different technological devices into my lesson plans (depending on my future classroom resources). I find myself often planning lessons and then going back and incorporating technology in once I have the core structure of the lesson done. Sometimes its hard to go back into an already-made lesson and try to incorporate technology into it, and many times it causes you to cheapen the level of technology used and this is something I definitely want to avoid doing to my students. I think it would be great if I could become a teacher that always included technology into my core planning and instruction.
Wednesday, June 22, 2011
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Media in the lives of 8-18 year olds
The findings in the article discussing media present in the lives of 8-18 year olds does not surprise me one bit! I have a cousin who just graduated from 8th grade and I am perplexed at how the youngest member of my entire extended family knows so much more about technology and the different venues in which technology is available than do all of my adult family members. I actually would have been more surprised if the usage of media by children and teens was less than what results showed in the Key Findings section of this article.
I think that the growth of technology in the last 10 years has had possibly the most significant impact on the development of young people today. I often discuss with my family how my parents use to have to sit in a public spot at the one phone in their house to call their friends. Now, children and teens are in constant contact with each other through the available use of cell phones - texting and calling, the internet - social networking websites and chat friendly applications, and interactive video games. I think this has created a more comfortable and much stronger connection between members of the American youth, however, I think it has also crippled this group of people because they no longer have to encounter a face to face situation if they do not want to and therefore are less prepared for these events.
There are both good and bad aspects of this increase in usage of technology among youth today. The good thing is so many people are connected in a way they have never been able to be connected before. Students are able to be much more aware of what is going on in the world through the use of the internet, they have the capability to meet and make friends much easier than that of yesteryear, and the resources available to students has increased tenfold. However, do students and youth necessarily take advantage of all of these opportunities? Of course not! Even though there is so much more available to the group of 8-18 year olds because of technology, much of their focus is spent on the "social" part of technology. With the capability to find out what happened across the world only ten minutes ago, students rarely capitalize on the opportunity to become aware. On top of that, even though things have been made so much easier for them through the use of technology, students are still not motivated enough to bring that aspect of technology into their academic curriculum in some cases, but would rather use technology for music, video games, t.v., etc.
Being aware of this, whenever I bring technology into my classroom for my students use, I will make sure to highlight out the ways in which technology can really enhance their learning and their opportunity to find resources so quickly. I will hopefully be able to spark their interest and make them aware of how so much of the world is right at their fingertips.
I think that the growth of technology in the last 10 years has had possibly the most significant impact on the development of young people today. I often discuss with my family how my parents use to have to sit in a public spot at the one phone in their house to call their friends. Now, children and teens are in constant contact with each other through the available use of cell phones - texting and calling, the internet - social networking websites and chat friendly applications, and interactive video games. I think this has created a more comfortable and much stronger connection between members of the American youth, however, I think it has also crippled this group of people because they no longer have to encounter a face to face situation if they do not want to and therefore are less prepared for these events.
There are both good and bad aspects of this increase in usage of technology among youth today. The good thing is so many people are connected in a way they have never been able to be connected before. Students are able to be much more aware of what is going on in the world through the use of the internet, they have the capability to meet and make friends much easier than that of yesteryear, and the resources available to students has increased tenfold. However, do students and youth necessarily take advantage of all of these opportunities? Of course not! Even though there is so much more available to the group of 8-18 year olds because of technology, much of their focus is spent on the "social" part of technology. With the capability to find out what happened across the world only ten minutes ago, students rarely capitalize on the opportunity to become aware. On top of that, even though things have been made so much easier for them through the use of technology, students are still not motivated enough to bring that aspect of technology into their academic curriculum in some cases, but would rather use technology for music, video games, t.v., etc.
Being aware of this, whenever I bring technology into my classroom for my students use, I will make sure to highlight out the ways in which technology can really enhance their learning and their opportunity to find resources so quickly. I will hopefully be able to spark their interest and make them aware of how so much of the world is right at their fingertips.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Can Technology be TRULY beneficial in our classrooms?
I would like to start this post by saying that I don't believe everyone will always agree on the proper way to implement technology into teacher instruction and academic curriculum. However, I do believe there is a way to analyze what Oppenheimer, the Alliance for Childhood, and NET-S has said about technology in the classroom, and produce a technology literacy program that could be beneficial to students.
Oppenheimer made it very clear in his book The Flickering Mind that he believes technology has not benefitted America's classroom and that it has even hindered learning (through evidence of programs and studies). I think Oppenheimer made a very strong point in his first chapter when he said that America pushed for all these computers to be brought into the classroom, but once they got there the teachers and students had no idea how to use them to their full capacity. It wasn't necessarily that students and teachers couldn't understand how to use the computers, but there had been no proper training or guidance on how to use these new devices. Therefore, the promise that education would be revolutionized with the introduction of the computer had not been delivered.
The Alliance for Childhood is close to what we are aiming for I believe. They are pointing out that it is not necessary to have technology take over our classroom because of the need for our students to develop on their own without any crutches, but that we can incorporate computers and other technology into our instruction to enhance student learning. I personally like the Technology Literacy Program and the teacher candidate suggestions they have outlined in Tech Tonic. From personal experience, I have definitely been in classes where I spent more time trying to figure out how to use a program than I spent on going through the actual content needed to be presented. This is what we need to avoid. The NET-S outlines a great way to have teacher's use technology in the classroom by providing black and white suggestions.
Knowing what Oppenheimer has said about technology in the classroom, I think it is first important that before it be introduced to students, teacher's are able to fully explain and use the device or program. After this had been accomplished, it is the role of the teacher to then implement this new technology literacy without letting the technology take over the classroom learning experience. It is important for our students to develop on their own without spellcheck and various other technological tools that have made it easier for students today. However, as educators we must always remember that we are the ones who created technology in the first place and we are the individuals in charge of the technology. We must learn the necessary skills for life without the aid of a computer or other technology, but once this quality has been digested by our students, then we can introduce technology to enhance learning, communicating, expression, and understanding of new material.
Oppenheimer made it very clear in his book The Flickering Mind that he believes technology has not benefitted America's classroom and that it has even hindered learning (through evidence of programs and studies). I think Oppenheimer made a very strong point in his first chapter when he said that America pushed for all these computers to be brought into the classroom, but once they got there the teachers and students had no idea how to use them to their full capacity. It wasn't necessarily that students and teachers couldn't understand how to use the computers, but there had been no proper training or guidance on how to use these new devices. Therefore, the promise that education would be revolutionized with the introduction of the computer had not been delivered.
The Alliance for Childhood is close to what we are aiming for I believe. They are pointing out that it is not necessary to have technology take over our classroom because of the need for our students to develop on their own without any crutches, but that we can incorporate computers and other technology into our instruction to enhance student learning. I personally like the Technology Literacy Program and the teacher candidate suggestions they have outlined in Tech Tonic. From personal experience, I have definitely been in classes where I spent more time trying to figure out how to use a program than I spent on going through the actual content needed to be presented. This is what we need to avoid. The NET-S outlines a great way to have teacher's use technology in the classroom by providing black and white suggestions.
Knowing what Oppenheimer has said about technology in the classroom, I think it is first important that before it be introduced to students, teacher's are able to fully explain and use the device or program. After this had been accomplished, it is the role of the teacher to then implement this new technology literacy without letting the technology take over the classroom learning experience. It is important for our students to develop on their own without spellcheck and various other technological tools that have made it easier for students today. However, as educators we must always remember that we are the ones who created technology in the first place and we are the individuals in charge of the technology. We must learn the necessary skills for life without the aid of a computer or other technology, but once this quality has been digested by our students, then we can introduce technology to enhance learning, communicating, expression, and understanding of new material.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Where does Technology fit into my Philosophy of Education?
My personal philosophy of education is one that consists of the ideals aligned with Progressivism and Humanism. As a teacher, it is important to me to not only help my students develop academically, but personally, socially, and emotionally as well. The ultimate goal would be to produce independent thinkers that would be prepared for changes in the world one day. I believe all students are naturally curious creatures trying to make sense of the world around them, and for this reason, I think it is very important to provide ample opportunities for my students to seek new information and discoveries. This is the place where technology could fit in. Through the use of computers, my students will be able to discover new websites, programs, and software that will help their academic knowledge to flourish. I would take my students interest in various other forms of technology and try to incorporate them into my lesson plans. If I had access to a smart board, I would allow my students to participate using the board during our activities. If I had ELL students in my classroom, I would suggest using an iTouch for language development. This is a technological tool that most kids love using! Although there are limited resources at many schools, I would make the most of the technology around me to present information in a new and exciting way for my students. The paper-and-pencil way can be too monotonous for students and I think a great way to capture their attention and focus is to incorporate any type of technology into your lessons so that the students are retaining the information being conveyed.
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