First Podcast

http://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/13592

My podcast includes interviewing my two cousins who are currently in the second and fourth grade. They were introduced to technology at a young age and use it everyday.

A Glance at my Learning

Natalie Laverne Shirley

Reflection Paper

Course 4

Professor: Theresa Pepe

06/12/2012

            Developing skills of the 21^st Century is a necessity for teachers in the classroom today. Throughout the past eight weeks I have learned of the implementation and need for technology integrated lessons for our students. While many people still feel driven to the methodological ways of teaching I have seen the changes that teachers must incorporate to the classroom for our students to become functional in society.

            Teaching is a difficult, yet passionate profession to delve. The more hands-on activities that we involve our students with deepen their knowledge of understanding. I have learned that with technology implemented into our lessons our students will be able to learn on a level at which they have never dreamed

            Technology and collaboration are two of the greatest changes we can implement with our children. Blogs, wikis, and podcasts are all forms of technology that I have never used before entering into this course at Walden. Furthermore, I see the advantages of such technology and the collaboration aspects that they have for our students. Skills of the 21^st Century must be met within the classroom no matter the difficulty it puts upon teachers theses are a few ways for this to happen.

            Thornburg stated in last weeks’ video, ”We must now move from a director position in the classroom to becoming the facilitator.” Since the beginning of this fourth course I have tried to take less control over the classroom. I have given my students assignments in which they must collaborate and use technology to find the answers. In this process I have made myself walk around the classroom and answer the needs of the students instead of teaching the material to the students. I have a better understanding of the importance of this change due to the videos and readings I this course.

            Students’ achievement should be the greatest goal for our teachers. I have found that not only do I want my students to learn, I want them to grow and grasp the concepts. Furthermore, I have found that creating a classroom that involves technology and collaboration fits the needs of the students and can be met on a daily basis. If we create an environment that prepares out students for the society of today and the future our students will continue to flourish outside of the classroom. I plan to implement blogs, wikis, and podcasts in my classroom to create an environment that my students’ needs. The desire for myself to keep learning of the wonderful things happening in other classrooms will allow me to stay active on my current blog and possibly join several which implement technology.

My first goal that I hope to accomplish in the next two years is to have a set aside computer time for my students each day for at least forty-five minutes. This will allow my students to become well acquainted with blog, wikis, and podcasts. They will learn of the importance of collaboration. I plan to get this task started earlier rather than later with permission from the administration at my school. I will show my administrators my reasons for wanting to complete tasks in the computer lab and what we will be working on each week.

 My second goal is to setup a classroom wiki in which students and I as the teacher work together to solve problems and share what we know. This project will allow me as the teacher to become more of a facilitator instead of a director. I will participate in this Wiki to help students when they are confused and to monitor the site in which the wiki is found. I plan to accomplish this goal by setting aside classroom computer and cell phone time to incorporate all students.

        I have learned an immense amount of knowledge about the technology that can be utilized in the classrooms. Eight weeks ago I could have never imagined myself using a blog or even setting up a wiki. I am so grateful to have learned the new strategies for the classroom that teach students new ways of learning and engaging them in the process.

Partnering with 21st Century Skills

Natalie Laverne Shirley

 21st Century Skills

 

 Partnership with 21st Century Skills is a phenomenal website that elaborates on the connection teachers can make with the 21st Century Skills we are teaching and how to use them within the classroom. I love how this website lists the ways that we can make the skills easier for teachers to implement in the classroom. It has plans and support systems that the teachers can use to help them. It defines the 21st Century skills and tells educators how we can implement them inside the classroom.

  The world is constantly changing and it is imperative that we are changing with the fast world. The website shows a diagram of how they foresee the 21st Century skills and how it should be mapped out in our brains to make it easier for educators to imagine.

      This website stated, "It is important for us to maximize the impact of technology." I agree with this statement, yet we need to make it relevant to our students. The website gave a brief overview of the idea of the virtual education world and how it can be implemented.  It is hard to believe that this type of learning is already being introduced and used.

Partnership with 21st Century Skills also touched on the idea that students and teachers should be able to work in an environment with changing priorities.  I disagree with this idea of learning. Students of really young ages need to be able to focus and manage one priority at a time. Although this is realistic for students and teachers of older ages, children need a slower change. Students are quite permeable, yet it is imperative they are not feeling stressed with the change.

Partnership with 21st Century Skills suggests a great deal of implications for the students and teachers in the classroom. It suggests teachers should be implementing technology in the classroom as the society changes around us. There is a great need for students to be learning with tools that will help them in the "real world" as they grow older. The teachers are asked to create lessons that include the dispositions of the 21st Century skills and we are able to do this with collaboration and with the help of this website. The main idea I got from this website is that students should be collaborating with the use of technology and using it as frequently as possible.

Resources

The partnership for 21st century skills. (2011).

http://www.p21.org/

Students and blogs in the classroom

            Blogging in the classroom can be used for several different subjects within the fourth grade. One of the largest subjects that my students focus on is writing. The use of blogs for writing would be interesting and fun for each of the students. This blog would allow them to collaborate using the computer, Ipad, or computers at their homes.

            In the fourth grade the students are expected to write three different genres.  These genres include: informational, narrative, and persuasive writing.The RSS feed would allow students to collaborate with other fourth grade students that are blogging. The students would be able to subscribe to each of the other students blogs so they would be able to share ideas and feed research off of one another.  They would be able to post their writings and showcase them to the other students in the global world. I would be able to watch their progress as a collaborator. 
           I feel as though the students would enjoy working on through the blog  because in their eyes it is more interesting than using the normal technology of the pencil and paper. My students love to showoff their hard work in the classroom, and this would allow them to work super hard to show a larger crowd just how great their work can be. They would be solely responsible for researching and receiving the ideas needed to produce a quality paper. 
         The blog will allow the students to have a desire to work hard and they would be manipulating the standard way of writing!

Ipad=Awesome!

The I Pad is a great invention that students are able to integrate and manipulate within the clasrroom! My school has just received an IPad for each classroom and I cannot wait to see the awesome things that come of this!