September Assignment-Using Resources

I spent some time reading about using blogs as student portfolios.  It does seem like a cool way to showcase student work.  The two obstacles that would hold me back are: 1. I don't feel comfortable enough yet about blogging to be able to teach the kids.  2.  Not all families have computer access and would be able to check out their child's blog.  While I know the latter is only a handful of families, public education needs to be accessible to all.  So, if I did use blogs for portfolios I'd need to find a way for those families without technology in their homes would be able to participate and share all the great things their child is doing.

At first I was concerned about making the blogs public.  Not all students/families would necessarily want their child's work online for the world to see.  Is there a way to limit access to a student's blog online so only their family could see it?

I also spent some time reading about the Framework for 21st Century Learning.  It's pretty incredible to list of skills our students/children/grandchildren need to be successful in this century.  Things we could not have imagined when I was a student.

21st Century Learner

This video is a great abbreviation of the PBS video we viewed.  It really does a nice job hitting the highlights!

iGeneration Idea

Chapter 1 is of interest to me because it's the beginning of middle school for our 5th graders and the beginning to all the research they will do through college.  I love the Wonder Wheel in Google.  What a great tool to help the kids focus their searches.  Typically when 5th graders research, we give them the subtopics we want them to address.  It'll be interesting to see if Wonder Wheel brings up some/most of what we want the to know.  The activity at the end of the chapter seems very worthwhile for the kids to go through to really understand the Wonder Wheel and be able to use it effectively.  I also like the common sense questions that are asked in this chapter.  Fifth graders tend to believe whatever they see in print.  They need to start slowing down and questioning the texts they are using.  They want the information to jump off the page and bite them and don't spend the time to really read, think and synthesize the information before they use it.  Is that too much for them?  I look forward to reading chapter 1 in great detail.

PBS Video

1.  A point was made in the video that when kids stay up late reading or spend an exuberant amount of time playing a sport, writing or some other activity adults generally think that's positive.  The opposite is true when kids stay up to all hours gaming.  Adults consider too much gaming an addiction.  The point was made that gaming is actually problem solving.  Gamers must solve numerous problems to advance to the next level.  While I've never thought of it as an addiction, I have to say I'd rather my own children and my students spend their hours on activities other than gaming.  I understand the video's point that gaming is teaching problem solving and that students need those skills to be successful.  Too often students give up quickly if they don't understand something in a tradition school class.  Video games can actually teach them perseverance.  But why doesn't that carry over into the classroom?  When a child beats a level big cheers go up and they're excited and proud.  When a child masters their multiplication facts it doesn't must the same enthusiasm.  So, is lots of gaming really teaching them problem solving and perseverance?

2.  Asking students to memorize material is a 20th Century skill.  The video said we need to teach children how to navigate in messiness and confusion and if they can make sense of it then that's a 21st Century skill.  I think the reason the majority of schools are still traditional is because the adults don't understand all the technology that's out there and many teachers don't know how to incorporate it into classrooms.  We are raising and teaching "digital kids", but we're not "digital adults".  If the adults and teachers aren't comfortable with the technology they tend to shy away from it and go back to what they know.  Unfortunately for most it is those 20th Century type skills.  Lots more professional training needs to happen for teachers to feel qualified to use all the technology there is out there.  Yes, that's up to the teachers to do for themselves, but the districts also need to provide the necessary equipment and support so we can teach to the 21st Century.  As the video said that leaves the poor schools and students behind and the richer areas have the students who are better trained and will be able to get the jobs in technical fields.  That's not right.

3.  When students are given technology they become more invested in what they're learning and are able to learn it at a deeper level.  The example of the museum scavenger hunt in the video is a good example. The students are learning 20th Century content about the civilizations, but then have to manipulate that content to produce something technically to show a deeper understanding and to teach others.  This is an area in technology that I fall short.  I always say I want to do more that just the basic keyboarding, etc but haven't learned enough about it myself to go further.  There is still a lot of content that students need to learn.  I'd like to learn some ways for them to take that content and create something with technology that will enhance that learning for them.  Students are also more invested when given choice and given an authentic audience.  Both of those I need to learn to do better.

4.  The opinion that technology is hurting our youth's literacy skills is one that I use to share.  All kids need to be able to write because it's how we communicate with others and share what we know.  The five schools that were profiled all used what would be considered 20th Century literacy skills.  The students were all reading, they were all writing and they were all communicating.  It was brought up in the video that maybe society needs to change our definition of literacy and being literate.  None of the students could have produced the amazing projects they did without basic literacy skills.  Then they took it to a new level by showing their technical literacy.  It seems as though they are way more literate than we give them credit.