An Interesting Post from my RSS Feed

An interesting post from my RSS feed was from the blog History is Elementary (http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com/). The post on this blog that I found most interesting was Students and their labels. Throughout this post the writer discusses problems in the world today with all of the different fashion that each individual student has. Many students tend to focus on brand names when picking out clothing, and picking out their friends. The author of this passage states that we all are guilty of liking certain brands, however this has become an issues with students belittling and alienating their peers because they are not wearing the same thing as each other. This then creates a huge barrier to the learning process.


To avoid such situations the author of this post meets with each student in the class every nine weeks and has lunch with them. This is her way of bonding with the students and getting to know what they like and dislike. During lunch any issues are bought up that need to be solved. It was during this time the author realized clothing bias was involved in her classroom. Due to this she decided to incorporate a history lesson on clothing to show the students that everyone has their own unique style. To really get the point across that clothing should not matter, the author uses the presidents of the United States to show the different interesting and unique ways they use to dress, and how important each person was to our country.

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NextGen Teachers

http://nextgen.ning.com/


The Ning group that I found most interesting was NexGen Teachers. This group is where a bunch of teachers can get together and focus on improving education through all of the new technology that is or will be available. As we advance further and further, technology is becoming more prominent in the classrooms. Many teachers are not aware of the resources that are available or simply do not feel comfortable using them due to lack of knowledge. There is also many school districts that cans imply not afford all of the new technological advances available.


I feel that this group can help me as an educator to become familiar with the different technologies, as well as provide ways to incorporate technology into a classroom of a district with little funds. I really like how all of the blog posts give a lot of information about all different areas in education. For example, information about workshops, guidelines for student blogging, what to do at a new job, courses to improve the English language, etc... and each blog post deals with ways to incorporate technology into each area.

The Learner of Today.....

A learner is like a bird. Each and every day birds travel throughout the world to different destinations, whether it be looking for food or traveling due to changes of the seasons. There are many different types of birds that exist throughout the world, which can relate to all of the different cultural backgrounds that we encounter. Just as birds are always flying to new destinations, learning takes many different paths as well. With many different forms of technology present a learner will never run out of things to explore. Education has come a long way and is based now on many nontraditional approaches. The generations today have the opportunity to explore and learn through many different technological advances that are becoming prominent methods of learning throughout all classrooms. Siemens (2005) said, "learning is a continual process, lasting for a lifetime." As the years progress, more and more technological advances will be made, and learners will be required to keep up with this continuation of new information. Siemens (2007) has also noted, "It's not just what we know today that is important. It is our ability to stay current as knowledge changes. An average individual now needs to find a way to stay current over the coarse of a lifetime." For example, in classrooms technology is being incorporated more and more into daily curriculum. Many teachers are not familiar with all of the different advances and do not feel comfortable using them. However, for the benefit of our students we as educators need to learn and incorporate the many different forms of technology into our teaching!


References


Siemens, G. (2005). Connectivism: A learning theory for the digital age. International Journal of Instructional technology and distance learning. Retrieved September 12, 2009 from http://www.itdl.org/journal/jan_05/article01/htm.


Siemens, G. (2007). The changing nature of knowledge. Retrieved September
13, 2009 from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMcTHndpzYg&feature=PlayList&p=3E43054A8703F57A&index=0

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3 Ways to use Blogs in the Classroom

1. Blogs can help increase parental involvement in the classroom. Weekly I would post new material on a blog so that the parents have access to what their child is learning. Some of the materials I would place under this category would be spelling word lists, dates for upcoming events/tests, new chapters that the child is starting, etc... Picture would be provided so that parents are able to see the activities their child is taking part in. This is a great way to get parents involved that may live far away as well.


2. I would have the students create a blog of their own for journal entry purposes. At the end of the day/week, it all depends on how much time is left, the students will be required to log into their blog and write a journal entry based on the new information they have learned. They would need to write some positive aspects and negative aspects of the activities they took part in. All of the students blogs would be linked to the teachers blog and parents could look at what their child had to say about the material they have learned.


3. I would also use a blog as an interactive research project for the students. If each student was given a specific topic they could blog about the different information they find each day. The students could also put interactive links and videos on their blog for others to look at. When the project is finished the students could share their blog page with the class as a mini presentation on all the information they have found for their project. This could be a fun nontraditional way for the students to take part in a research project. They would enjoy that fact that most of it can be done using technology rather than handwriting a paper based on the information being found.